Interesting that as soon as you see you are losing this debate on Gaffney you go right to Diggins, Floyd and Akok... although each situation is unique unto its own. Proof positive you are on the wrong side on Gaffney, no matter how many immaterial points you want to make to try and "bolster" your argument.
Before I go any further, because I am loathe to disparage anyone who has played for us, let alone a young man who came here and put in blood, sweat and tears for 3 years as an upstanding member of this team. I 100% hope that Gaffney goes somewhere and has the type of senior year that Josh Carlton just had as a post grad transfer at Houston. I truly mean that. Furthermore, I am by no means a blind Hurley sycophant.
But for you to post here Jalen Gaffney got shafted by this coaching staff is not only nonsensical, it is non-factual. Do you actually watch the games?
FACT: Jalen was a net negative the overwhelming percentage of the time he was on the court, particularly in high pressure situations. It is the main reason why Hurley had to play Cole more (particularly in the 2nd half of games) then he wanted to.
FACT: If he had worked at improving his defense, he still could have been a valuable member of this team... but his defense was below average, to the point that Hurley didn't feel confident having him on the court at the end of games, despite his decent free throw shooting numbers.
FACT: His statistics all went DOWN this year from Sophomore year. So that is 100% Hurley's fault? Sorry, no.
Sophomore #'s: 41% shooting, 36% from 3-pt., 6.1 ppg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 rpg
Junior #'s: 34.5% shooting, 29.5% from 3-pt., 4.0 ppg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 rpg
Dig a little deeper and this is what you find, which is most telling: his best 4 statistical games this year were against: Central Connecticut, Coppin State, LIU and Grambling. This highlights that he is best suited playing at that level.
Here are his stats this year in 19 regular season Big East games: 30% shooting, 20% from 3-pt., 2.3 ppg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 rpg.
and 3 post season games (he played 16 cumulative minutes) 0 points, 1 assist, 0 rebounds, 1 steal.
Under the crucible of playing against higher level Division 1 competition, he wasn't good enough.
This narrative that losing Jalen Gaffney is such a big black mark against Hurley is... not supported by the facts of his 3 years here, particularly this last one.
The truth is he became unplayable. You want to blame Hurley for this? Fine. But Jalen was given plenty of opportunity to prove he could play at this level, and more often than not he did not positively influence the game for us when he was on the court against good competition.
But you go ahead with dying on this hill... no matter how much the actual statistics (and his actual overall in-game play) do not support your stance.
Unfortunately, this play from the end of the Battle For Atlantis game best encapsulates Jalen's time at UConn:
✂️ Jalen Gaffney missed 3 against Michigan St.
