Jalen Gaffney Transferring

[Dove]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dove]

Okay. This one is crushing. Now concerned.

 

[Tenspro2002]

If Andre is our starting point guard next season it will be by necessity, not design.

Any suggestion otherwise is complete fiction imo.

Yeah, he's great as a second option or a guy who naturally uses his passing ability in the course of the game, but he shouldn't be our primary facilitator.

Even if he can create for others, he's not able or willing to create for himself, which is a big problem with the offense breaks down.

But this is all moot. Hurley didn't let Diggins and Gaffney walk without planning to land a transfer PG (of which there are many).

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Does Doron Sheffer have any kids? I’d love an unflashy, calm, cool, collected customer to run the offense.

 

[UCfor3]

I remember when many were mad that DH wasn't using the portal to get better faster or fill in holes in the roster like many others coaches. Now that he is...people mad at that and the portal is all castoffs and throwaways. I get the PG angst, but Cole greaduated and
Gaff was going to be a senior and if he he played more than a few spot minutes next year Hurley would be hammered for that and we would struggle mightily. Diggins is the only one I'm conflicted on. Just because he wasn't ready to contribute this year doesn't mean he is going to be a bust as some have said. Just might mean he needed time at the college level and wasn't ready right away. That used to be the norm for some freshman outside the top 60. It's unfortunate that we played so many close games because I believe in playing freshman for a variety of reasons. With so much pressure on winning, it's a fine line between development for the future and winning games. Sounds great in theory until we lose a game to St Johns because Diggins had a turnover spree and put us behind the 8 ball.

 

[jdb50]

Not surprised by Gaff leaving. How could he trust Coach Hurley would play him next season more than 6 minutes a game. There are many words spoken about culture etc but your eyes tell you based on what happened this year the best move for Gaff was moving to another program. The players have more control over their careers now and that is good for them. It is the reality of College ball that you are recruited over every year. Having to sit on the bench due to your choice of school as a high school senior as your career moves on is now hopefully over for players that find the right fit if they transfer.

 

[SouleMan]

I mean I just simply disagree. I think he’s in a much better position as a distributor than us relying on him as a scoring wing.

His natural tendency is to find people in scoring spots. He has the vision, passing skills ams athletiscism to get where he needs to be and find people in spots where they can score.

He’s more of an asset at the PG position imo than any other position. His assist numbers show this.

He can be something really special at that position and I think Hurley thinks so too

Actually I think he'd be most valuable as the first pass after a guard penetrates/shifts the defense. He reads the openings well.

We need someone to creates those opportunities by occupying 2 defenders with a drive/probing dribbles. This year Cole was our only penetrator (normally resulted in a shot attempt for himself).

 

[awfuldan]

“Not a huge surprise,“ in retrospect? Or did you believe this was coming, say, 3 days ago, i.e., pre-Diggins transfer?

At the end of the season, I would have put Gaffney at the top of a hypothetical list of players most likely to transfer. I really like the kid and was rooting for him hard. I think there is recorded history of me on this board defending him. But it is absolutely impossible to deny that he had a really, really, really bad year. He didn't get a ton of playing time, but it was for a reason. We desperately needed him this year and he just didn't get it done. The conference numbers are dreadful. I think there was a pretty shocking clip of the DePaul coach mic'd up at the Gampel game telling his team something to the effect of "Don't worry about guarding #0 he's afraid to shoot" and that's exactly what it looked like.

I think it makes sense for him to seek out a fresh start at a slightly lower level program with lower expectations. I think there is a world where he would have been a good player for us next year, but I think it would have been absolutely brutal for him if that wasn't the case.

Diggins was more surprising and disappointing to me for sure.

 

[87Xfer]

I’m going to assume Corey has been killing these guys in practice

I'd love for that to be the case.

 

[QuickDraw]

lots of minutes available for potential recruits,,,sales pitch

 

[UConnSwag11]

Does Doron Sheffer have any kids? I’d love an unflashy, calm, cool, collected customer to run the offense.

 

[87Xfer]

Our biggest issue isn’t going to be able to fill the roster. There is plenty of talent out there. There could be a possibility that he gets A following year recruit to reclassify. The big problem that I see is half your roster or more is going to be new to the system. Team chemistry is going to be hard to develop quickly as well, and do the pieces fit in that regard because there is going to be a lot of new ones. Everything will have to break right. We won’t know until we see it on the court in November.

I'll take better overall skill and roster makeup, with some work needed on the chemistry front rather than another year of the opposite.

 

[Conndog]

Good for Gaffney! Go where you can get some serious minutes. I understand completely too why Diggins left- he didn't get a chance to play or develop. That's what happens when a recruit with good reputation is denied playing time- if they are smart, they seek another opportunity. Are there any others recruits that didn't get a chance to play much? I'd be nervous. Hurley might want to actually play his talent in the future.

 

[shizzle787]

If you can sell two high-level guards they will play 30 minutes a game, I think we will be fine. If we are really playing a box and one, Sanogo/Clingan will be the one. The other four spots can be rotated between 6-7 guys playing 20-35 minutes a game (more for Hawkins, Jackson, transfers and a little less for Karaban and Floyd). The only problem with losing Diggins and Gaffney is that we lost effectively the number 11 and 12 guys. It's going to be a hard sell for those two spots but two starting spots are up for grabs and I think they will be ridiculously easy to fill.

I assume the 7 wing/guard players will be
Jackson
Hawkins
Karaban
Floyd
Johnson or Akok
Transfer #1
Transfer #2

Springs and whoever loses the Johnson/Akok battle doesn't make the roster.

 

[my2cents]

This is not how you build a successful, top level program. A team that loses in the first round was not at a great starting point to begin with.
Add to that, a group of totally unknown players coming in.....not a good plan.

 

[EnochRoot]

I'll take better overall skill and roster makeup, with some work needed on the chemistry front rather than another year of the opposite.

I mean, Villanova is in the freakin Final Four and maaaaaybe Justin Moore gets picked in the NBA draft.

Team chemistry is huge.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

This is not how you build a successful, top level program. A team that loses in the first round was not at a great starting point to begin with.
Add to that, a group of totally unknown players coming in.....not a good plan.

Sometimes unknown is better than known. Gaffney was a known entity and it wasn’t good. I can see the argument for Sool if you believe in his potential, but Gaffney is easily replaceable.

 

[shizzle787]

Sometimes unknown is better than known. Gaffney was a known entity and it wasn’t good. I can see the argument for Sool if you believe in his potential, but Gaffney is easily replaceable.

Diggins couldn't beat out Gaffney in practice. He was a known quantity to the staff and he wasn't good but I agree with your premise: I would much rather have a proven college player than a unproven kid out of high school. Don't get me wrong-recruiting top high school talent is very important, but once you get out of the top 150-200 high school players, a high-level transfer is going to be a better bet.

 

[shizzle787]

This is not how you build a successful, top level program. A team that loses in the first round was not at a great starting point to begin with.
Add to that, a group of totally unknown players coming in.....not a good plan.

It's 2022. The transfer portal is everything now.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Diggins couldn't beat out Gaffney in practice. He was a known quantity to the staff and he wasn't good but I agree with your premise: I would much rather have a proven college player than a unproven kid out of high school. Don't get me wrong-recruiting top high school talent is very important, but once you get out of the top 150-200 high school players, a high-level transfer is going to be a better bet.

I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm just saying there's at least a respectable argument to be made for Sool's potential since he's a freshman. Gaffney is very much a known quantity and the chances of him getting much better are pretty negligible at this point in his career.

 

[Dove]

In the 2020s coachin' ain't easy with these Millennials and their ' I want it now!!' vision. Programs always have to be planning the recruiting over currently rostered players. Sad and real.

If Gaffney didn't see mega minutes next year then someone was on campus looking at us or he just plained lacked cajones.

Mush on you Husky dawgs!!!

 

[freescooter]

At the end of the season, I would have put Gaffney at the top of a hypothetical list of players most likely to transfer. I really like the kid and was rooting for him hard. I think there is recorded history of me on this board defending him. But it is absolutely impossible to deny that he had a really, really, really bad year. He didn't get a ton of playing time, but it was for a reason. We desperately needed him this year and he just didn't get it done. The conference numbers are dreadful. I think there was a pretty shocking clip of the DePaul coach mic'd up at the Gampel game telling his team something to the effect of "Don't worry about guarding #0 he's afraid to shoot" and that's exactly what it looked like.

I think it makes sense for him to seek out a fresh start at a slightly lower level program with lower expectations. I think there is a world where he would have been a good player for us next year, but I think it would have been absolutely brutal for him if that wasn't the case.

Diggins was more surprising and disappointing to me for sure.

How could Diggins be a surprise? Guy needed Mapquest to find the floor and his coach basically said he wasn’t that good. I’m surprised he isn’t announce it in January.

 

[DogPounder]

Did we give Ollie the same chance?

Check the trajectory of Ollie's record here and get back to us...........

 

[DogPounder]

He’s improve his handle but still needs work. His court vision is great and he’ll average more assists and less TO with other scorers in the court. He needs to work on getting to the rim. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be beating his man off the dribble for a dunk or layup unless it’s lack of confidence. I think he’ll be a very good PG/PF (if that’s what he ends up playing) when all is said and done

Exactly, having shooters (JH, CF and AK) on the floor will open up the floor for AJ to make moves to the basket.

 

[YoungFree]

Good luck to Jalen. Not a huge surprise by any measure. We need some guards!!

Now we have 0 experienced guards...interesting...how many scholies we have now? 5? 8?