Hamidou Diallo Graduates

[BUConn10]

C'mon man if UConn is just UConn and UK is Harvard that's way off.

UConn would be Stanford Law if Hami grew up in Oakland. And then he'd have to move far away to be at a Yale/Harvard. I get that it's one year, but on a scale of 1-10 how excited do you think Hami is about the idea of moving to Lexington, KY vs staying home with his friends and family?

I guess, but only because sports prestige and "hot-ness" of athletics programs rise and fall much more rapidly than a law school like in the example I used. To be completely honest with you, at this moment, UConn basketball is NOT on par with Stanford Law in their respective fields.

If a Law school's primary job is to get you the best job as a professional lawyer post graduation... then at this moment UConn basketball is doing a relatively poor job of getting its players jobs as professional NBA players, when compared to the names competing for Diallo. You can kick and scream all you want because its not the brightest outlook but its the truth. As far as getting guys to the NBA goes, we have absolutely nothing on UK right now, nothing. you can point to development or whatever you want, but these kids only see two simple numbers: how many guys do you get drafted in the 1st round, and how much are your guys making in the league. In both of those fields it is currently a no contest.

 

[jgeorge322]

makes me nervouse about diallo coming here if he can just recruit a kid for such a short period

Recruit... bag full of money. Whats the diff really.

 

[husky429]

i still think our biggest comp is the nba, ollie has invested way too much time into hamidou. every other player ollie invests in he gets ... major targets since he took over : hamilton, Adams, Gilbert, MAL/Diallo. Sure we got beat in the Wenyen recruitment, but i think he has targeted HD way harder... and coached him.

Who else was playing in the games tonight to warrant so many scouts showing up? I assume they weren't ALL for Hami, even if they were checking him out

 

[BUConn10]

Interesting idea, but what if Calipari pays scouts to go to his targets' games for the sole purpose of selling his NBA pedigree to them? Sounds ridiculous when applied to 99% of D1 coaches, sounds totally plausible and almost expected when applied to John Calipari.

 

[upstater]

We didn't get on Wenyen particularly early, and even once we got on him it was clear that we were splitting time between him and other similar recruits.

The one guy we went after with everything we had in the arsenal and didn't get was Abu. And given our rebounding issues for 2.5 years now, that was a killer miss.

I seem to remember and article about Abu in which either he or his family said UConn stopped recruiting him in the summer. For some reason then, UConn came back heavy after the summer. Too late.

 

[jibsey]

I'll state up front that this is maybe a dumb question just to get that out of the way, but why would a kid who is going to be on a team that has endless hype, big game matchup and prime time network exposure come to us especially if he's likely to be one and done? If we fall out of the top 25 which does happen to us, his games would not even be covered on Sportscenter wrap up. All of his competitive games OOC (except one or two) are basically over by jan 1. OK with him we are a top ten team just like Kentucky? I know KO has been all in on this kid, great relationship and all, but if he pulls this off he should get a Nobel prize.

 

[scotty0330]

I will say having watched last night Sidney wilson does not have to apologize to anyone for his athletic ability. Not as strong as hami but his ability to get up and get to balls via alley oop or just flat out block was crazy. Kid was very impressive yesterday.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm thinking it would be great to have him as a Husky if indeed it turns out he makes his way to Storrs. Having said that, if he intends to stay only one year and showcase his game for a year I am not of the belief he is a must get. This especially after seeing where we stand in the very early stages of 2016-17. This team and its talent is on course for a nice run in 2-3 years not next year. Lots of growing up to do, lots of people who need time to get better, feel better and grow into their college games. Almost of the theory another solid 4-5 star who will need to stay around for 2-3 years minimum may work out better for the program, but I won't devalue what Hami does for us on the recruiting front.

Anyway if he comes, he comes and we are all happy. If he doesn't the only thing that will piss us off is Calamari took him away with he help of WWW.

 

[superjohn]

This thread is an absolute disaster.

 

[champs99and04]

This is probably obvious, but I don't think it's contradictory to believe that A) he's sincere in his desire to attend college and, B) there is a good chance he changes his mind between now and April. I'm fairly certain the same thing happened to Drummond on multiple occasions (first when he was going to do another prep year, and then second when he insisted he was going to return to UConn as a sophomore).

As for his game, for those who have seen him a lot, how does he compare to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at this age? Is he a potential similar impact player in college? Obviously MKG was young for his class while Ham is a year older.

 

[husky429]

This is probably obvious, but I don't think it's contradictory to believe that A) he's sincere in his desire to attend college and, B) there is a good chance he changes his mind between now and April. I'm fairly certain the same thing happened to Drummond on multiple occasions (first when he was going to do another prep year, and then second when he insisted he was going to return to UConn as a sophomore).

As for his game, for those who have seen him a lot, how does he compare to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at this age? Is he a potential similar impact player in college? Obviously MKG was young for his class while Ham is a year older.

Vastly different players. I think the only similarity is they both have no shot from deep.

MKG was using his size at this level more. Hami is still pretty skinny. And while MKG is a great athlete he's not a FREAK like HAmi is.

I think hamodiou projects as a better scorer at the NBA level if he puts it all together. MKG is an otherwordly defender though; Hamd is all potential there but has only shown it in flashes

All IMHO of course.

 

[upstater]

Ummm, Hami? There is a nearby school that has lots of playing time for a guard this very season, say as soon as Christmas you can find lots of playing time at UConn.

 

[BUConn10]

This thread will end ugly.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Ollie is out watching Hamidou tonight

 

[WrenchFan69]

Ollie is out watching Hamidou tonight

Hopefully asking him to enroll in 3 weeks

 

[Jay-Bone]

Uh oh, the Hami to Kentucky crystal balls are starting to roll out......

 

[JimHurley]

Hami seeing how terrible we are cannot be a good look. We're 3-4 with losses to Wagner + Northeastern and 2 point win over BU while Kentucky is on an absolute tear right now. Wouldn't surprise me if Hami is starry eyed and rolls with UK at this point.

 

[BUConn10]

From an impartial point of view, Diallo would be foolish to bank his one year to build his draft stock on this current situation. Hurts to say but its reality.

 

[JimHurley]

From an impartial point of view, Diallo would be foolish to bank his one year to build his draft stock on this current situation. Hurts to say but its reality.

Yup, exactly. Hard to admit it but that's the truth.

 

[upstater]

From an impartial point of view, Diallo would be foolish to bank his one year to build his draft stock on this current situation. Hurts to say but its reality.

Doesn't really matter. A one-and-done is typically just icing on the cake. They are not the ones you build on--they are the ones who take you over the top. So... The key to competing at the highest levels for UConn is the development of the current guards, with the addition of someone ANYONE who can rebound.

 

[Leebo]

Hami knows as well as any other person who follows the program that our situation is weird, and he probably talks directly to members of the team about it in some respect. Unless he thinks next year will be similar, it shouldn't factor into his decision significantly. Plus, he's not deciding for a while, let's just take a breath.

That being said, it's always been possible he doesn't come here.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Doesn't really matter. A one-and-done is typically just icing on the cake. They are not the ones you build on--they are the ones who take you over the top. So... The key to competing at the highest levels for UConn is the development of the current guards, with the addition of someone ANYONE who can rebound.

Yeah imo we need talented big men. Getting diallo would be great and help the program forward with those types of players. But Ollie is doing well with guards and wings but we need a legit 7' large body talented big man. That being said still want diallo badly to come here

 

[GuardU]

Yup, exactly. Hard to admit it but that's the truth.

Didn't seem to hurt Ben Simmons draft stock

 

[Yankees32123]

Didn't seem to hurt Ben Simmons draft stock

Sorry but Ben Simmons is miles ahead of Hamidou Diallo. They are not even close.

 

[GuardU]

Sorry but Ben Simmons is miles ahead of Hamidou Diallo. They are not even close.

Well if he's projected as a lottery pick without having to play in college, I'm not sure how much further along he could possibly be.