Jalen Gaffney Transferring

[WhereistheDove?]

We’re one injury away from having Andrew Hurley be our starting PG.

Good thing the season doesn’t start tomorrow.

 

[CTBasketball]

Good thing the season doesn’t start tomorrow.

Season never ends!

 

[HuskyHawk]

We’re one injury away from having Andrew Hurley be our starting PG. Gaffney would have been a good reserve guard, but we are very thin right now at the most crucial position.

A lot of us seem hell-bent that we’re finding 2-3 fantastic players in the portal. I doubt that.

Honestly, isn't he the only PG on the roster now? Unless you count Andre Jackson.

 

[CTBasketball]

Honestly, isn't he the only PG on the roster now? Unless you count Andre Jackson.

Andre Jackson will be the starting PG next year.

 

[Sonova]

Those same talent evaluators brought in James Bouknight, who was the #66 recruit in his class. He turned into a lottery pick. They also brought in Adama Sanogo, who was the number #85 recruit in his class. He may be an all-American this year. They also brought in RJ Cole from the MEAC and Tyrese Martin from the A-10, who turned out to be good Big East players who will play professional basketball somewhere.

Never said they missed on everyone. Or even most. But they haven’t exactly nailed the PG position in their last two tries, now have they? And given Hurley’s belief in Gaffney the last couple of years, why should I feel good about his next attempt where there isn’t an RJ safety net?

While the roster assembly game has fundamentally changed, I think there’s a reason we don’t see don’t many teams filling the most important position on the floor quite like this.

To paraphrase the person to whom I was responding to, how is that so hard to understand?

 

[RJScootin]

Jalen made this decision a week ago. I'm no insider but he dates the sister of a coworker of mine. She said the reason he was leaving is that RJ was coming back but obviously that's not the case.

Best of luck Jalen, not the level of talent we needed to move this team forward.

 

[Rico444]

Honestly, isn't he the only PG on the roster now? Unless you count Andre Jackson.

I know Floyd isn't a PG, but I'm sure he's more of a point than Andrew is.

 

[JMick]

I don't really get why people are freaking out about these two transfers

Do we really think we can't find two players in the portal that can match their production from last year? Because as long as we do that, it's not a net loss

Obviously we have to upgrade, but the team isn't getting any worse from these transfers.

 

[nomar]

How is it hard to understand that being concerned about losing your only returning guards before you replace them is at least a reasonable take?

Or how about trusting the same talent evaluator(s) who missed on the two players (one of whom played for 2 years on your team) to - this time - identify the “right talent”?

Are you really that blindly trustworthy? Or are you just obnoxious to anyone who brings up a concern?

I think it's reasonable to be concerned until we land some guys. Obviously the worst case scenario is losing our only 2 PGs and not replacing them with anyone.

But I think it's also reasonable to believe we will replace them with quality PGs, given who we are and what we can offer.

I also think that even if someone has doubts about Hurley's ability to spot HS talent (which I find rather silly), it's another thing altogether to think he's incapable of figuring out who played well in college this past season.

 

[alphasigko]

Not surprising, but think about the roster turnover at this point. Whaley, Polley, Cole, Martin, Gaffney, and Diggins are all gone, and that may not be the end of it. Crazy.

I think this begs the question (excluding Whaley and Polley who had to leave anyway) does the departure of Cole, Martin, Gaffney, and Diggins cast a bad impression on Hurley, that something is not "right" with the program?

 

[Kitaman]

This means rebuild 2.0. Lowering expectations next season, but it appears everyone is eligible to return the year following.

Transfers are a great option, however a new PG (especially transfers) need time to adapt to the new system, coaches, players and of course Big East basketball. Hurley will have some hard work ahead of him this off-season into next.

I honestly felt with RJ, Martin, Whaley and Polley leaving was going to hold us back next season. Now with Gaffney and to a lesser extent Diggins, this means a complete rework. Nonetheless next season will be interesting and hopefully Rebuild 2.0 will be the last and final, and then back to dominance. At least the coaching staff is intact, which is very important with losing so many players.

Its AJ's team now, lets hope his leadership skills shine.

 

[JMick]

I think this begs the question (excluding Whaley and Polley who had to leave anyway) does the departure of Cole, Martin, Gaffney, and Diggins cast a bad impression on Hurley, that something is not "right" with the program?

No. Two graduated and two didn't play.

 

[nyhuskies13]

Really hope this doesn't turn into another Hurley soundbite for the next 2yrs

If we have to hear, "to be where we are now, after losing 6 players last year and all our guards... rebuilding the roster..."

 

[Sonova]

We currently pay DH $3M to coach the team... coaching includes recruiting. Last I checked I work in sales which has nothing to do with recruiting college basketball players to UConn. So exactly what option other than blind trust do we have? If I don't trust him I would want him to be fired. There are really only two options here.

It’s a fan message board. “Concern” and “discussion” feels like fair middle grounds here between “Fire Hurley” and “Everything is Wonderful because we pay our coach $3M”. That’s all. I 100% hope my concern is unfounded.

 

[KembaStepback]

Really? You recall this kid was recruited to play in the AAC, right? Jackson and Sanogo are Hurley recruits. They bad too? One is a 1st team all conference center and the other is the best defender in the conference. Don't like Hawkins? You are lost, sir.

 

[Connecticut13]

I don't really get why people are freaking out about these two transfers

Do we really think we can't find two players in the portal that can match their production from last year? Because as long as we do that, it's not a net loss

Obviously we have to upgrade, but the team isn't getting any worse from these transfers.

Well, I mean clearly we can find two players in the portal that match their production from last year - given that they didn't produce at all. That's not the point. The point is that we no longer have any point guards on the roster -- not one. We need to find someone to fill RJ's role (first team All Big East) and then we need to find some capable of back-ups.

 

[polycom]

It’s a fan message board. “Concern” and “discussion” feels like fair middle grounds here between “Fire Hurley” and “Everything is Wonderful because we pay our coach $3M”. That’s all. I 100% hope my concern is unfounded.

You must not read my posts then if you think I'm the everything is fine guy. But I digress.

 

[Fishy]

so far our two worst players transferred and people act like the sky is falling. i don't even count these as losses, these are two players it appears uconn was going to try and recruit over via transfer portal anyways. we have 4 scholarships open, i'm sure the plan is to bring in a few guards of varying years of eligibility remaining, while working in floyd and eventually castle and then we hopefully will be back on track.

wish gaffney and diggins the best. stinks it didn't work out here but they'll have opportunities elsewhere. hope it works out for everyone involved

Sound logic until you remember that the guy who recruited them is the one who is going to be the one to find people to replace them and he’s now shopping the discount aisle.

Congratulations NCAA on the new the transfer portal rules. Gaff and Diggins were not in the greatest situations. The old transfer rules would of likely shackled both to UCONN. I'm happy they are free to find a better opportunity right away.

The old rules were clearly in place to protect the Universities. It's nice to see some rule changes that are explicitly designed to help the athlete.

Not really.

Watch how many kids in the portal are out of college basketball next season. The portal is the greatest sleight of hand ever in college sports. Biggest function of the portal is to convey players downward and the ones already near the bottom are conveyed out.

 

[nyhuskies13]

This means rebuild 2.0. Lowering expectations next season, but it appears everyone is eligible to return the year following.

Transfers are a great option, however a new PG (especially transfers) need time to adapt to the new system, coaches, players and of course Big East basketball. Hurley will have some hard work ahead of him this off-season into next.

I honestly felt with RJ, Martin, Whaley and Polley leaving was going to hold us back next season. Now with Gaffney and to a lesser extent Diggins, this means a complete rework. Nonetheless next season will be interesting and hopefully Rebuild 2.0 will be the last and final, and then back to dominance. At least the coaching staff is intact, which is very important with losing so many players.

Its AJ's team now, lets hope his leadership skills shine.

Exactly... I think its fair to ask how many years he gets at UConn without any significant wins in the post season

Does he get 6yrs in the seat without an NCAA tournament win? Without an appearance in the BE Finals?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

He 100% knew. This has been written on the wall for months. He's not gonna say "oh I think Jalen might be leaving" before it's official

The complete ignorance by some here about how public relations & messaging works is comical.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Hurley named Jalen as a guy he had to get the right people around yesterday. Fair to say, Dan didn’t know Jalen was leaving.

Or there's two ways to get the right people around him...

 

[aburks41]

This means rebuild 2.0. Lowering expectations next season, but it appears everyone is eligible to return the year following.

Transfers are a great option, however a new PG (especially transfers) need time to adapt to the new system, coaches, players and of course Big East basketball. Hurley will have some hard work ahead of him this off-season into next.

I honestly felt with RJ, Martin, Whaley and Polley leaving was going to hold us back next season. Now with Gaffney and to a lesser extent Diggins, this means a complete rework. Nonetheless next season will be interesting and hopefully Rebuild 2.0 will be the last and final, and then back to dominance. At least the coaching staff is intact, which is very important with losing so many players.

Its AJ's team now, lets hope his leadership skills shine.

Good. Many of you don't want to hear it but this team NEEDED a complete rework. We started 3 players last year that couldn't shoot the ball. 3!! We had 1 player who could create his own shot and that guy was 6' tall. This roster need a complete shakedown. Some people fall in love with players and it's hard for them to realize that they are not really all that good.

 

[August_West]

so far our two worst players transferred and people act like the sky is falling. i don't even count these as losses, these are two players it appears uconn was going to try and recruit over via transfer portal anyways. we have 4 scholarships open, i'm sure the plan is to bring in a few guards of varying years of eligibility remaining, while Haha the portal....literally in the portal. This is not difficult to do.

We currently pay DH $3M to coach the team... coaching includes recruiting. Last I checked I work in sales which has nothing to do with recruiting college basketball players to UConn. So exactly what option other than blind trust do we have? If I don't trust him I would want him to be fired. There are really only two options here.

 

[JMick]

Well, I mean clearly we can find two players in the portal that match their production from last year - given that they didn't produce at all. That's not the point. The point is that we no longer have any point guards on the roster -- not one. We need to find someone to fill RJ's role (first team All Big East) and then we need to find some capable of back-ups.

How is it not the point?

Yes we 100% need to fill Cole's production

Yes Hurley has done a terrible job recruiting PGs. The stater should be on the roster already and isn't

But that's irrelevant to these two players transferring. We will find two players who are at least as good as Diggins and Gaffney were

 

[Captbluefin]

Andre Jackson will be the starting PG next year.

Does anyone actually think that’s going to work?

He does not cherish possession of the ball and is way to reckless. He would be a very good point forward who is the #2 guy in regards to distribution.

The press will murder us if AJ is our point.