It actually does fill a glaring need for practice players that are better than walk on caliber
Jacob Ross Commits
- Thread starter drayenob
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Players would be smart to start doing this more often. The "Covid year" mid-major guys did quite well in their fifth seasons (far more than they would have gotten as freshman had the NIL system been in place).
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They need bodies.
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They can’t just have 10 players. They need practice bodies and depth in case there are injuries.
In the transfer portal era it doesn’t make sense to bring in a guy like Adams with the roster this team has. He’s a borderline 4/5* and will be disgruntled without playing time and transfer. A depth 3 star knows the situation and understands he’s deep depth. He’s coming to develop.
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With the larger rosters we can fit Ross AND add 2 or 3 more players if the staff wishes.
Fishy
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Ehhhhh….this is kind of a one off. Most mid-major guys would be better served by going to a mid-major and actually playing.
He can either hit the market and try again next year or he can just stick it out here and maybe see the court down the road.
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Welcome Jacob Ross to Husky Nation, bleed Blue.
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Nope, but he will see the same amount of playing time, which is sort of the point. Adams was never going to see the floor next year.
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I'm very curious how this will go for UConn and filling the 11-15 roster spots. Because I agree, this makes a ton of sense for UConn, but for almost every recruit going somewhere at the mid-major level and playing will almost always be better
dingaling
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One would think playing against the best in practice would make you better.
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It makes sense for us for sure. Makes zero sense, imo, for Ross. But whatever. I’m hoping we try to bring in a few veteran low/mid major types to fill this out. Guys who have played a bit. Perfect world, they don’t see hardly any minutes. But if an injury or three happen id love to be able to plug guys who have actually played D1 games. Don’t know if that’s feasible, just my hope.
BGesus4
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I mean I wouldn’t say zero sense.
He gets to spend at least a year playing d1 ball with his brother…which not many people get to do, and he’ll have a pretty good idea of where he is developmentally at the end of the year. If he plays at a mid major for any number of reasons there’s no guarantee that puts him in good place to transfer after one year
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To a point, sure. But 90% of the practice reps are going to the rotation guys, and game reps are where you develop
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He's got some good quickness, lateral movement, hesitation and length. Pretty good for a player of his ranking. Might be an underranked baller. Jayden, if I remember correctly, wasn't ranked high considering his ceiling.
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If you had told me a month ago we'd have one J Ross on the roster for next year, I wouldn't have thought maybe.
But 2x J Ross' was definitely not on my bingo card.
But 2x J Ross' was definitely not on my bingo card.
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We will. Think the PF/C spot is a priority as that guy may need to see real minutes. Then after that another deep depth guy or two, with one being a combo guard.
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I think 90% of Jayden's problem is between his ears. he certainly has the physical tools. If Jacob is a more confident and heady player, you never know, he could end up as good or better for us even if not as talented. Anyone watch him enough to get a sense of his mental game and overall talent?
In ‘91 they definitely did. You can sort of see it in a few of the clips in this video.
If he actually redshirts, he can just go play at the mid major next year and get his full four years of playing. Redshirting pushes the NIL earning years one year later, advantageous relative to peers.
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Yeah, 4 or 5s
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If we can use an aggressive big guard willing and able to drive through traffic, absorb contact and score there may be minutes for him. There weren't many finishes last year like he showed in these highlights.
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I still think we need someone who can play point guard in future years(not this upcoming year) or at least backup in 2026-2027 as we could lose both Demary and Smith next year. Smith through graduation and Demary NBA. It is nice we got 2 good pgs this year in the portal but not sure we can do that every year.
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Dove
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I read this very sentiment on X yesterday.
Hunt for 7
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Needs to work on his left hand. If you can’t use both hands at the level UConn plays against it limits a players ability to finish when going to the rim. Ball is example one he has no right hand if he did he would have finished a dozen more drives last year.
These kids are all so good even at a 3* level they are not pushed to work on their craft. Any high level division 1 recruit should absolutely have a better than average off hand if they plan on getting to the basket effectively.
There may be some exceptions but those kids are athletic freaks who just jump over people or are so quick they can just get away with it.
Wish the current crop of high school coaches spent more time on developing the player rather than just letting them score 25 pts even when they know there are parts of their game that are just not going to translate at the next level. But winning is way more important to them than developing the player.
I played on a high school team that had two people secure div 1 scholarships in high school in 1980 and I can assure you if you used the wrong hand in the lay up line pre game no matter how good you where it meant you were coming off the bench to start the game. We all had decent off hands it was not an option. He did let us get away with jumping off the wrong foot but when we did there would be some practice reps for those who did it.
But he looks a little less athletic but very similar to his brother. I think Jayden has that kind of handle but when he speeds up those cross overs and between the legs moves become to telegraphed and rushed and he starts fumbling the ball.
I think the brothers have a chance to play two season together at UConn and that is pretty cool. We should all stop with the Jayden bashing, he clearly bleeds UConn blue and if he was at all frustrated with the coaching staff more than he is disappointed in his own development his brother would never had chosen UConn.
More than anything else this gives me hope that we are going to see a different Jayden next season which could be a really good thing for us if for some reason Mullins struggles a bit on defense. If Jy Ross can be then lock down defender we need gives us a ton of options 1-3 next year.
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