Gandy Malou Mamel stats

[Notyetready]

Re El Alfy: Geno was miced-up for a Husky practice session prior to El Alfy going to the FIBA tournament last June. Watching the full team practice session he remarked about AL Elfy getting a feed from Paige while driving to the hoop for a smooth bucket, "they are going to score a lot of points together." I was a bit skeptical until then but Geno should know.

 

[rvwsleep]

A post player who can score and defend consistently against Cardoso or Betts is, by definition, an All-American and a WNBA lottery pick. Dorka, Olivia, and Aaliyah were not at that level until almost the end of their college careers.

For that matter, neither were Cardoso or Betts. Do you remember Cardoso at Syracuse or Betts at Stanford? UConn played Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament in Cardoso's freshman year, and she was not a big factor in that game -- in part because she was not in physical shape to play major minutes.

So please don't expect Jana, Gandy, or any other post whom Geno recruits out of high school, Europe, or the transfer portal to play at that level in her first year at UConn. That will not happen. The BEST case is to find someone who can reach that level by the time she leaves Storrs, and is motivated to do so. That would be the next Stef Dolson or the next ONO, which is the most that UConn fans can realistically expect. And with UConn's talent at other positions, that should be enough to contend for a National Championship.

The big "O" (Olivia Vukosa) will play major minutes as a freshman. She's the closest player to Stewie since...
Stewie !

 

[oldhusky]

After seeing Gandy's stats from last year, I can see how come she was not popping up on top HS rankings, and of course she was new to the US, and clearly more project than fully developed.

Now with much better per game stats, and as a Uconn recruit in her second year in the US, she won't be off the radar any longer. Talent evaluators will be comparing her to other top bigs in the 2025 class. I hope to see her name show up on those top player lists as her season progresses, and move up further during her senior year.

If she doesn't start to get some mention on those lists, then it will be hard for me to get very excited about what she will bring to the Huskies. Last year off the radar project. This year scouts will be paying attention, and next year if she is rising rapidly in the ratings Geno probably found a diamond in the rough. If she still is not ranked I don't think we can expect much of a contribution.

 

[HopJim]

And a couple more:

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While I am as optimistic as anyone on this Board, all these pictures show is an aggressive player competing with others 3-4" shorter than her. I have seen videos that are much more positive, just as I have some that are less so. Not sure it is worth the effort to justify how great she will be-will be up to her to demonstrate why Geno signed her. Post injury may take multiple years. On a related note, kudos to the coaching staff for literally covering the world for talent. For long time posters, when did you ever expect Geno to look at Egypt for players?

 

[HopJim]

The big "O" (Olivia Vukosa) will play major minutes as a freshman. She's the closest player to Stewie since...
Stewie !

I would say, "more like Stef,' but if either is true and she is in a UConn uniform, who cares?

 

[cohenzone]

Very true, I'm not from Missouri but ya still have to Show Me.

The thread is a little silly. Obviously we have to see how any player does in college. Neither Megan Walker nor Christyn Williams ever consistently dominated the way one might expect for #1 ranked recruits. But some things do show up in pre-college competition such as aggressiveness, ball handling that usually don’t go away in college. Jana shows a lot of what we could use right now. Hopefully it shows up next year.

 

[Bone Dog]

While I am as optimistic as anyone on this Board, all these pictures show is an aggressive player competing with others 3-4" shorter than her. I have seen videos that are much more positive, just as I have some that are less so. Not sure it is worth the effort to justify how great she will be-will be up to her to demonstrate why Geno signed her. Post injury may take multiple years. On a related note, kudos to the coaching staff for literally covering the world for talent. For long time posters, when did you ever expect Geno to look at Egypt for players?

You’re right — though in at least two of the pics those players aren’t smaller. Geno will make something of her if it’s at all possible. My point wasn’t to get in Geno’s way, but merely to address the suggestion that she’s a project like Piath and Amari. The pics show that she is aggressive and has some moves. I have no idea what Jana’s ceiling is, but her baseline is clearly not the same as theirs was. You can’t teach heart — a player has to supply that.

 

[HuskyNan]

Sometimes I marvel the Boneyard hasn’t driven me completely around the bend. Since Jana was hurt posters were complaining/trashing Geno for not recruiting more bigs. One poster even accused him of refusing to recruit big girls, others wanted Geno to just grab a random big kid and coach her up. Now, Geno lands a promising prospect and people don’t want her because she’s not on some list. Unbelievable.

I know some here won’t watch the UConn men because the men have the nerve to dunk in games but if they did, they’d know that Dan Hurley brought in a big man named Adama Sanogo who, like Gandy, started playing hoops later than his peers. Hurley managed to take that project and make him one of the most valuable players on the National Championship winning team, who won the Final Four MVP and is now under contract with the Chicago Bulls.

Why don’t we at least let the kid finish high school before putting her down? People that have actually seen her play seem to be impressed. Give her a chance to impress you, too

 

[EricSD]

You seem to have forgotten El Alfy whose story has been delayed for a year.

Is this thread about Jana?