Junior County

[superjohn]

Nigel James around the same. Small PGs seem to drop on size at times. Wagler was like 250. Happens. It might apply to County.

Shabazz reclassified from 2011 to 2010 so his ranking dropped, that's almost always what happens. Najai Hines was ranked #36 in his class before reclassifying and enrolling at SHU.

 

[RuffRuff]

Shabazz reclassified from 2011 to 2010 so his ranking dropped, that's almost always what happens. Najai Hines was ranked #36 in his class before reclassifying and enrolling at SHU.

Interesting. How did SHU land the kid - his HS tape was impressive. I think he's an even better athlete for his size than Tarris.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

Bring in a Malachi/Hassan equivalent player, and let County beat him out if he’s good enough. But he shouldn’t walk in the door as the presumptive backup until he’s earned it.

We are spending ~$14M on a championship level roster. why would we take a risk at backup pg, that could torpedo the entire season and render all of that spending worthless, to prevent hurting someone’s feelings.

It is basic risk management.

 

[superjohn]

Interesting. How did SHU land the kid - his HS tape was impressive. I think he's an even better athlete for his size than Tarris.

He's from right next to Seton Hall and then went down to North Carolina in high school and moved back home to NJ his last year of high school. I heard Seton Hall paid him $1 million but we never know the real #'s. I think he must have a really interesting story, he has 13 brothers and sisters.

 

[huskyfever34]

Interesting. How did SHU land the kid - his HS tape was impressive. I think he's an even better athlete for his size than Tarris.

South orange NJ (Seton Hall) is pretty close to Plainfield (where Hines is from) so I'm guessing Holloway was in on him early. Plus he may have liked being close to home.

 

[KillaCam]

Ok... and what exactly are you trying to say? That if you had been the head coach you would have played Nowell more, and he would have magically morphed into the back up point guard that we so desperately needed but never had on that team?

Most people on here do not "blame" Nowell more than Mahaney. They blame them equally. And obviously Nowell did not play more because when he did play he clearly displayed a lack of ability to handle the position at the level Hurley requires. You try to make it into an either/or situation when clearly both things can and were true at the same time. Mahaney received blame because he wasn't good enough to play the back up point guard role in 2024/2025. Nowell also received blame because he wasn't good enough to play the back up point guard role in 2024/2025.

Why do you feel the need to make it an either/or? Anyone who reads the previous threads on that subject of back up PG on the 2024/2025 team on here without any bias can clearly see that the consensus belief was that both of them failed at the postion. There is plenty of proof of practically everyone who commented on it back then and since then that they blamed Mahaney just as much as Nowell.

Folks, careful with blaming 18-20 yo kids and taking about their “failures” unless you have evidence that they did not give their all and slacked negligently. They were evaluated, trained and prepared by adults with more experience than those kids were alive. I have a 21 yo and if he did not do well in his journey yet he gave it all and there were just better than him, how fair is it to place such burden on a kid?!? And no, not taking away from the staff that gave us 2 championships and 3 final four trips and only lost to the eventual champions in 4 years. But, it is not that they do not make mistakes evaluating the talent. I do not know either nowell nor mahanney, but I watched plenty of tape and games to see their commitment. Yes, they did not reach UConn’s fan base expectations, but let’s be fair with the blame game.

 

[upstater]

Bring in a Malachi/Hassan equivalent player, and let County beat him out if he’s good enough. But he shouldn’t walk in the door as the presumptive backup until he’s earned it.

We are spending ~$14M on a championship level roster. why would we take a risk at backup pg, that could torpedo the entire season and render all of that spending worthless, to prevent hurting someone’s feelings.

It is basic risk management.

The reason is basic. Because you're always going to be spending $14m from here on in. So this season is no different.

And, you don't want to rely on bringing in your starting PG through the portal year after year.

 

[HW611]

I would agree with you if County was a point guard. He is a shooting guard not because some websites list him as such but because how he plays the game. So we would be dealing with changing his natural predispositions. If we add that to him being a freshman and time it takes more experienced players to adjust to UConn system, I think many of us here would think that experienced point guard provides less risk and more upside. I would look at it differently if County was a natural point guard.

Have you actually watched his tape?

 

[KillaCam]

Have you actually watched his tape?

Is this a rhetorical question? Have you played organized basketball beyond elementary school?