Jalen Gaffney Transferring

[ColchVEGAS]

Best of luck to Gaffney wherever he lands. He is talented, but for whatever reason it did not materialize at UConn. I think confidence was a huge factor in his not progressing and not so much the perceived lack of ability many here are saying. If he can get his head together he can be a very good mid major starting PG and a good high D1 backup.

I think Diggins is the greater loss to the team as I think there is a good college point guard there. He was clearly not as ready as the staff thought when he arrived, but that does not mean he is not any good and should be considered a bust.

 

[husky99]

Click bate......
And thank you gif for your time in a uconn jersey

 

[Waquoit]

The leap Andre took from December to March was monumental. He brought the ball up for us against Nova, while also shutting down gillespie at the same time.

Yes, he's erratic at times, but he's physically unguardable to the average sized PG, and a better athlete than everyone on the floor. He reminds me a lot of a more athletic Kyle Anderson, an NBA point guard.

And players get better

 

[Waquoit]

With all due respect, you and the guy who coaches high school (?) are mistaken. The movement is overwhelmingly downward in both sports.

But like they all said to me in Little League when I invariably had two strikes. "It only takes one!"

 

[ColchVEGAS]

All the Jackson at starting PG talk is crazy. He does not have to assume all the PG duties to be our primary facilitator and use his court vision. I think they target a legitimate PG to assume to roles of dealing with pressure, but ultimately Jackson will be the primary facilitator in half court sets. Use Jackson for his strengths, not what we need to fill.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Click bate......
And thank you gif for your time in a uconn jersey

 

[Chief00]

One thing is clear - so much for the Randy like building a culture narrative.
We need to be built on winning instead.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Pros and Cons. First, the Pros:

1. There are a few strong candidates to contribute next year, that we didn't see much of this year - Johnson, Floyd, Karaban, Akok. All relatively high-level recruits.
2. Though Karaban and Floyd haven't played they practiced with the team and know the system.
3. In Akok's case, he's coming off injury, and the first year back after an Achilles tear is never strong. So a big jump is possible.
4. The "core" of Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo is reasonably solid - a 2, a 1/3, and a 5.
5. Hawkins can shoot, and is very springy.
6. Jackson can handle, and sees the floor well. He's a voracious rebounder.
7. Sanogo has a boatload of good post moves and a soft touch.
8. The recruit coming in, Clingan, brings size you can't teach and good hands
9. There should be a number of good guards available in the portal

Now the Cons:

1. Players who had the option of staying didn't. (Age-wise/opportunity-wise can't blame them.)
2. Too much size and not enough ball-handling ability on the current roster. One through four all need ball handling skills and the ability to drive when it's available.
3. That wasn't helped by losing the only two designated ball-handling guards on the current roster.
4. We need more shooting also, not just ball handling. I guess we're hoping that Floyd, Karaban and Hawkins become lights-out from 3. That might happen. Then again ... maybe not.
5. Not sure Jackson can excel as a PG. He didn't have to be that guy this year.
6. Not sure Akok will ever be again what we anticipated pre-injury.
7. Not sure Hawkins ball handling is good enough to be driving threat one-on-one.
8. Would love to have seen more passing out of doubles/triples from Sanogo this year.
9. Unclear what we'll see from Floyd, Karaban. Optimism says serious players, but they haven't "done it" yet.
10. Clingan is a freshman big, playing behind a 1st team all-BE guy who will get the lion's share of minutes, so not sure that's much of a contributor.
11. Those good guards in the portal that we covet might want to play elsewhere.
12. The fact that the current guards are leaving might influence those decisions.
13. You'd expect the program to be on solid footing at 5 years into the Hurley era. Hard to make that case as of today.

 

[AdamaNation]

he was, but I wouldn’t count on it. He was a super anomaly. He was a Texas commit for over a year so missed a ton of key time in the recruiting process.

That said, I still look at him as a completely unreal recruiting win. Even relative to him, we were late to the party. He was pegged to return to Texas, or to commit to Kansas or Kentucky. And instead, we swept in and got him without even a visit. Top 15 recruit. Might be pound for pound the greatest recruiting win I’ve ever seen at UConn all things considered.

Drummond boat and daniels giff. Nice class.

 

[Fishy]

If he’s one of the ‘best PGs available’ …….

Who do you folks think end up in the portal?

There will be a handful of good ones.

 

[navery12]

Who do you folks think end up in the portal?

There will be a handful of good ones.

There's actually quite a long list of PGs already who project to be better than Gaffney. And a lot of them are really good players

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Yeah, he is quite obviously not one of the better available PGs on the portal. But not surprised that people are pretending that was somehow an accurate statement, certainly helps the narrative.

 

[8893]

Yeah, he is quite obviously not one of the better available PGs on the portal. But not surprised that people are pretending that was somehow an accurate statement, certainly helps the narrative.

Again, numbers matter. We are told that there were some 1,700 players in the portal last year and that there are already some 1,100 or more this year. For easy math let's say there end up being 1,500 this year and merely 1/5, or 300 of them, are point guards. If he is ranked 30th among them he is in the top 10% of available point guards, which would certainly make him one of the better ones.

 

[navery12]

Again, numbers matter. We are told that there were some 1,700 players in the portal last year and that there are already some 1,100 or more this year. For easy math let's say there end up being 1,500 this year and merely 1/5, or 300 of them, are point guards. If he is ranked 30th among them he is in the top 10% of available point guards, which would certainly make him one of the better ones.

And we're UConn, so that's an easy player to replace even if he was in the top 10% of PGs

 

[8893]

And we're UConn, so that's an easy player to replace even if he was in the top 10% of PGs

I agree that we should be able to move up the food chain. I just want to see it happen, because we have a coach who is pretty new at the portal game and said he wanted to avoid it last season. He has done well with established recruiting relationships over time, but from the outside the portal looks like the speed dating version of recruiting and I just don't know how well he'll do there. We'll find out soon enough.

 

[pj]

I really don’t understand Cole and Martin, they did not leave on a high note, and their talent ceiling perception may not be as high as they self identify. They played hard and did things the right way work wise but just did not have the talent level to get us to the next level. I think they could have been good complementary players but that’s hard to do after being the top dogs.

I don't follow this. "not leave on a high note" - do you mean losing their first tourney game? Or being disaffected in some way?

"they could have been good complementary players but that’s hard to do after being the top dogs" -- are you saying they should have come back for 6th and 5th years of college? I doubt that's in their best interest.

 

[huskyfan224]

No way Thompson from Purdue should be that high

 

[TIP-IN]

Best of luck, hope you get what you want.

 

[bendm]

if we were coming off a trip to the sweet 16 then 99% of the posts here regarding roster construction wouldnt be so negative, and the thing is, no one can say for sure that how we finished the season has impacted roster construction at all to this point.

cole and martin were graduating either way; gaff and diggins wouldnt have gotten any more PT against arkansas and gonzaga than they did all season. in other words, we'd still be looking to fill 4 open schollys, just without such a bitter taste in our mouths.

we didn't lose any underclassmen we were depending on and hurley's biggest strength remains recruiting, so why not view this as a positive? this is the opportunity to improve the overall talent level on the roster that we all hoped for.

 

[Umami Zen]

Who do you folks think end up in the portal?

There will be a handful of good ones.

You're killin' me.. Chumming the waters. Your spin is never dull. Keep doin' what you do.

 

[Umami Zen]

Pros and Cons. First, the Pros:

1. There are a few strong candidates to contribute next year, that we didn't see much of this year - Johnson, Floyd, Karaban, Akok. All relatively high-level recruits.
2. Though Karaban and Floyd haven't played they practiced with the team and know the system.
3. In Akok's case, he's coming off injury, and the first year back after an Achilles tear is never strong. So a big jump is possible.
4. The "core" of Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo is reasonably solid - a 2, a 1/3, and a 5.
5. Hawkins can shoot, and is very springy.
6. Jackson can handle, and sees the floor well. He's a voracious rebounder.
7. Sanogo has a boatload of good post moves and a soft touch.
8. The recruit coming in, Clingan, brings size you can't teach and good hands
9. There should be a number of good guards available in the portal

Now the Cons:

1. Players who had the option of staying didn't. (Age-wise/opportunity-wise can't blame them.)
2. Too much size and not enough ball-handling ability on the current roster. One through four all need ball handling skills and the ability to drive when it's available.
3. That wasn't helped by losing the only two designated ball-handling guards on the current roster.
4. We need more shooting also, not just ball handling. I guess we're hoping that Floyd, Karaban and Hawkins become lights-out from 3. That might happen. Then again ... maybe not.
5. Not sure Jackson can excel as a PG. He didn't have to be that guy this year.
6. Not sure Akok will ever be again what we anticipated pre-injury.
7. Not sure Hawkins ball handling is good enough to be driving threat one-on-one.
8. Would love to have seen more passing out of doubles/triples from Sanogo this year.
9. Unclear what we'll see from Floyd, Karaban. Optimism says serious players, but they haven't "done it" yet.
10. Clingan is a freshman big, playing behind a 1st team all-BE guy who will get the lion's share of minutes, so not sure that's much of a contributor.
11. Those good guards in the portal that we covet might want to play elsewhere.
12. The fact that the current guards are leaving might influence those decisions.
13. You'd expect the program to be on solid footing at 5 years into the Hurley era. Hard to make that case as of today.

I'm exhausted.. Are you bummed or optimistic?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Strange to me that the only PGs on the roster are leaving when the top spot is wide open. I wonder if Hurley already has someone lined up.

 

[BGesus4]

Strange to me that the only PGs on the roster are leaving when the top spot is wide open. I wonder if Hurley already has someone lined up.

Or he made it clear in their end of the year chats that they were each a long way away from getting the keys

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I'm exhausted.. Are you bummed or optimistic?

Sorry, I had to itemize. 60% bummed, but hoping to see that level drop.

 

[Fatroony5]

Pros and Cons. First, the Pros:

1. There are a few strong candidates to contribute next year, that we didn't see much of this year - Johnson, Floyd, Karaban, Akok. All relatively high-level recruits.
2. Though Karaban and Floyd haven't played they practiced with the team and know the system.
3. In Akok's case, he's coming off injury, and the first year back after an Achilles tear is never strong. So a big jump is possible.
4. The "core" of Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo is reasonably solid - a 2, a 1/3, and a 5.
5. Hawkins can shoot, and is very springy.
6. Jackson can handle, and sees the floor well. He's a voracious rebounder.
7. Sanogo has a boatload of good post moves and a soft touch.
8. The recruit coming in, Clingan, brings size you can't teach and good hands
9. There should be a number of good guards available in the portal

Now the Cons:

1. Players who had the option of staying didn't. (Age-wise/opportunity-wise can't blame them.)
2. Too much size and not enough ball-handling ability on the current roster. One through four all need ball handling skills and the ability to drive when it's available.
3. That wasn't helped by losing the only two designated ball-handling guards on the current roster.
4. We need more shooting also, not just ball handling. I guess we're hoping that Floyd, Karaban and Hawkins become lights-out from 3. That might happen. Then again ... maybe not.
5. Not sure Jackson can excel as a PG. He didn't have to be that guy this year.
6. Not sure Akok will ever be again what we anticipated pre-injury.
7. Not sure Hawkins ball handling is good enough to be driving threat one-on-one.
8. Would love to have seen more passing out of doubles/triples from Sanogo this year.
9. Unclear what we'll see from Floyd, Karaban. Optimism says serious players, but they haven't "done it" yet.
10. Clingan is a freshman big, playing behind a 1st team all-BE guy who will get the lion's share of minutes, so not sure that's much of a contributor.
11. Those good guards in the portal that we covet might want to play elsewhere.
12. The fact that the current guards are leaving might influence those decisions.
13. You'd expect the program to be on solid footing at 5 years into the Hurley era. Hard to make that case as of today.

Well stated, I’m basically in the same boat as you. Having to grab two PGs and needing one of them to be a home run to have a good season next year isnt ideal. It’s certainly doable, I’d just rather them not need it and instead be supplementing around already proven talent. They’ve got some nice pieces, but not enough of them. They’ve got to nail their portal guys and it’s hard to say how that will turnout. I’ll remain hopeful until I see otherwise tho.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'll be honest, I'm disappointed Gaffney is leaving. I recognize that he had some cringeworthy moments and has not seized a role within the rotation but I still felt like he could be an impact player as a senior. So much of his issue seemed to be confidence. He's a better player than he's shown. The people who are saying it's a fait accompli that he's a mid-major talent are the same people who were saying he was the best pure PG on the team a year ago so I put absolutely zero stock in their opinions.

The fact that he is leaving with so much PT available leads me to believe Hurley knows something we don't - which, to be clear, is always the case - but still, I was hoping Jalen could have a productive senior year in Storrs.

 

[storrsroars]

The people who are saying it's a fait accompli that he's a mid-major talent are the same people who were saying he was the best pure PG on the team a year ago so I put absolutely zero stock in their opinions.

Pitt under Capel was one of the teams who originally offered, along with SJU, Clemson, Xavier, and Florida. Gaffney would certainly get 30 mpg at Pitt if he and they are still interested. Won't win anything, but he'd play.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The fact that he is leaving with so much PT available leads me to believe Hurley knows something we don't - which, to be clear, is always the case - but still, I was hoping Jalen could have a productive senior year in Storrs.

That's my take as well. I find it difficult to believe that Gaffney and to a lesser extent Diggins transferred on the basis of perceived available playing time. Hurley likely has targets that he must feel he has a reasonable chance of landing.

 

[Chief00]

I don't follow this. "not leave on a high note" - do you mean losing their first tourney game? Or being disaffected in some way?

"they could have been good complementary players but that’s hard to do after being the top dogs" -- are you saying they should have come back for 6th and 5th years of college? I doubt that's in their best interest.

Quite frankly, Chief does think when a team has so much trouble scoring points, it does take the fun out of the game for the players. Something to consider moving forward. Then add not winning something significant.

I know we live in a participation trophy World in many parts of our state, but to Chief getting eliminated in game #1 two years in a row in the NCAA’s and getting eliminated early in the Big East Tournament is NOT finishing on a high note. It doesn’t change how I feel about them as people at all but at some point it’s good to accomplish something to built a career foundation.

 

[dennismenace]

There's actually quite a long list of PGs already who project to be better than Gaffney. And a lot of them are really good players

View attachment 75110

Thanks. Does this list come from 247? Is the "rank" column their current ranking by the compiler of the list or when they entered the portal in order of the ranking? In other words is Jalen Gaffney the latest entering the portal list or the worst of the 4 star recruits? Does the ranking # have anything to do with the 247 original listing coming out of HS?