Hurley confirms Hass is coming back

[JB75]

Now just one more piece. Please mr Karaban. One more year.

 

[FearThePups]

Hass with his abilities on both sides of the ball and vast experience in crunch situations was necessary for us. Yea!

He is vital. He had such a leap in his development from 2 years ago to this past year it left me awestruck. He and Samson were fire starters last year. Really feeling better that our team is returning intact despite losing our starting five. Simply incredible. Now let’s start construction on a new and much larger basketball venue with Madison Square Garden and Phog Allen field house vibes. Our home games need to be on campus. Both the men and women’s teams, fans and the state of Connecticut have earned this.

 

[caw]

We’re all talking a lot about Hassan coming back, but really excited about Samson too. The fact that he’s willing to compete for minutes with Reed really speaks volumes about his character. And it provides us with two excellent options at the 5 - and both very different players that give us a ton of versatility.

Samson will be important for the offense because he really does play the five role well on that end. A bit stronger and more disciplined defending and he should be fine. Hope he has another big jump in his game.

 

[HooperScooper]

No announcement or twitter post. Like we were told, he’s back.

“I see us like we have in the past just being strategic, looking for one or two additions to fortify some positions. We’re excited about some of the young players that we’ve got coming back. We’re excited about Hassan and Samson Johnson, two key players from last year’s team, coming back.”

That quote is from last week. Why did Zagoria wait until this week to release that?

 

[shizzle787]

I didn't want Brea before but now I do just to put Kentucky to shame. Brea and Karaban to make a 13-man roster would be amazing.

 

[dingaling]

I'm kinda surprised (yet elated) that Hass is coming back. While it's obvious he loves playing here, I was questioning "what's in it for him"? He's graduated, he's unlikely to get any NBA sniffs, although overseas $$ are there for him. Is he going to take grad classes to set him up for a different career? Or is he gonna make enough NIL bank that he can put off overseas for a year?

Maybe he likes playing basketball at UConn?

 

[Huskybass]

I'm kinda surprised (yet elated) that Hass is coming back. While it's obvious he loves playing here, I was questioning "what's in it for him"? He's graduated, he's unlikely to get any NBA sniffs, although overseas $$ are there for him. Is he going to take grad classes to set him up for a different career? Or is he gonna make enough NIL bank that he can put off overseas for a year?

I'm sure Hassan can get some nice NIL opportunities given his role on a National Championship team, especially within Connecticut.

Thrilled to have him back. He gives us a badly needed veteran presence. If Karaban returns, we are loaded.

 

[connVA]

No announcement or twitter post. Like we were told, he’s back.

“I see us like we have in the past just being strategic, looking for one or two additions to fortify some positions. We’re excited about some of the young players that we’ve got coming back. We’re excited about Hassan and Samson Johnson, two key players from last year’s team, coming back.”

I won’t believe it until I hear it from Borges

 

[OceanDoggie]

Diarra's value per Barttorvik

 

[SoCalCanine]

Two things we can surmise from the return of Hass:

1) Obviously Liam didn't meet Hassan's asking price for taking over the UConn Headband Concession. Maybe Hass will take him on as a junior partner?

2) If Alex DOESN'T return, I think that will not only cement Diarra's starting role, but also will maximize his minutes because he will be the only experienced leader type on the team. If Alex comes back, Hurley MAY want to separate their minutes some, so he always has experienced leadership on the court.

 

[KembaRunner]

Just excellent news...especially with so many brand-new UConn players.

Question: put Karaban to the side for a minute: Is Hurley done for any more additions?

Yes.

 

[controlfade]

This is yuuuuuge !!!!

 

[KembaRunner]

I'm Thankful he's coming back and excited to be able to watch him play for another year.

So this puts an end to all speculation about Hass entering the portal because they added Aidan.

I wish folks would stop all the speculation like: this recruit is not coming here or that existing player is entering the portal or not coming back. Let's just enjoy the process without claiming we know s*** about something the we have no idea how they will play out.

Considering we were told “Diarra will make his decision by the end of the week” several weeks ago and heard boo, wasn’t there reason to be worried?

Maybe others were speculating, I for one was just concerned. Love me some Hass!

 

[uconnfan68]

Diarra's value per Barttorvik

View attachment 100254

Please report any errors? Wrong class for the “others”.

 

[AntG168]

Considering we were told “Diarra will make his decision by the end of the week” several weeks ago and heard boo, wasn’t there reason to be worried?

Maybe others were speculating, I for one was just concerned. Love me some Hass!

We were told he was coming back. People just didn’t believe it because he didn’t have an announcement

 

[superjohn]

We were told he was coming back. People just didn’t believe it because he didn’t have an announcement

You nailed it on Mahaney before the commitment!

 

[BlueMAB]

We were told he was coming back. People just didn’t believe it because he didn’t have an announcement

AND because he participated in senior night. People wanted to hear more than he is “expected” to return before taking a victory lap. It’s perfectly rational.

 

[TheChamps990411]

If Karaban comes back you have AK, Diarra and Johnson as three experienced upperclassman with sophomore studs coming back, two transfers that are going to be really good and a loaded freshmen class is crazy. With DH and staff ready to put it together and have it running on all cylinders by March, wow!

 

[ec33]

We were told he was coming back. People just didn’t believe it because he didn’t have an announcement

Hurley complicated it with his "Hass will have to accept his role before deciding to come back." Until then I never thought otherwise.

Apparently Hassan never did either (or it wasn't a difficult decision).

 

[Robrio89]

Of all the roster news I’ve been waiting to hear about, this is the biggest. We need a primary ball handler and defender for next season. I see him as a starter and potentially having a breakout type season. He is the leadership that the team will need this upcoming season, especially if AK doesn’t return.

 

[dennismenace]

I'm kinda surprised (yet elated) that Hass is coming back. While it's obvious he loves playing here, I was questioning "what's in it for him"? He's graduated, he's unlikely to get any NBA sniffs, although overseas $$ are there for him. Is he going to take grad classes to set him up for a different career? Or is he gonna make enough NIL bank that he can put off overseas for a year?

He might have a lot of reasons:

Another season of the exposure of playing in a unique program with budding legendary coaches and the unparalleled opportunity to go for three straight national championships.

Maybe this sounds like more exciting than playing in Turkey or Bulgaria.

He will have NIL money so there are financial incentives.

He will be sharing this experience with his brother Mamadou who is on the coaching staff.

Perhaps he sees coaching down the road as a possible option and soaking up what this experience makes him a better player and potential future coach.

LOL Maybe he wants to console the BY fans who are/were holding their breath on his staying or leaving.

Maybe he just feels he wouldn't miss the opportunity for anything in the world.

Thank you Hass!!!

 

[Conndog]

Now just one more piece. Please mr Karaban. One more year.

no inside knowledge, just speculation, but I think Alex comes back because 1) he wants his degree, 2) he wants to be part of history with getting a 3-peat, 3) he wants to recover his outside shot which seemed to have regressed for some reason, and which I fear will prevent him from getting drafted higher. Not sure how he will fix it, maybe he can get help with the mechanics. He sure practices his shooting enough

 

[TheShot1990]

There were a few games last year where an opposing guard was lighting it up and I saw Dan turn to the bench and Hass was tearing his warm-ups off. "I'm gonna put an end to this $hiiiit right now" was the look on Hass' face. And he did.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

No announcement or twitter post. Like we were told, he’s back.

“I see us like we have in the past just being strategic, looking for one or two additions to fortify some positions. We’re excited about some of the young players that we’ve got coming back. We’re excited about Hassan and Samson Johnson, two key players from last year’s team, coming back.”

Great news, and a nearly perfect post. Thank you!

I wonder the source for the quotation that's in italics, because it's not within Zagoria's NJ.com article. It definitely reads as Dan Hurley's exact words, but where do they appear, so I can point my sister to them.

This is something to let us exhale even more, and then wonder about the Alex and the 13th scholarship in a more relaxed fashion.

What a week!

 

[3rdbass]

Great news, and a nearly perfect post. Thank you!

I wonder the source for the quotation that's in italics, because it's not within Zagoria's NJ.com article. It definitely reads as Dan Hurley's exact words, but where do they appear, so I can point my sister to them.

This is something to let us exhale even more, and then wonder about the Alex and the 13th scholarship in a more relaxed fashion.

What a week!

It is in the article on the bottom of the page and it is coming from Hurley from his Zoom call. I guess you didn't scroll down enough.

“I think for us, we want to keep intact obviously as much as the roster as we can to obviously hold on to a championship culture with people that know what it’s all about,” Hurley said during a one-on-one Zoom to promote his partnership with Bai WonderWater.

“I see us like we have in the past just being strategic, looking for one or two additions to fortify some positions. We’re excited about some of the young players that we’ve got coming back. We’re excited about Hassan and Samson Johnson, two key players from last year’s team, coming back.”