Kisunas released from LOI

[August_West]

I had a good feeling about him but we’ll be okay. Need 1 more guard and we’ll be a potential top 25 team. Right now we have:
PG: Adams, Gilbert
SG: Vital
SF: Wilson, Polley
PF: Williams, Whaley, Diarra
C: Carlton, Cobb

Throw a decent combo guard into that roster and there’s a lot to like.

So for all his other shortfalls I guess Ollie COULD recruit.

 

[len0322]

So for all his other shortfalls I guess Ollie COULD recruit.

Hello gasoline, meet fire

 

[KingAG]

 

[Husky pride]

Trust the process

Agree. We wish these players well who have decommitted and we’ll go with a clean slate!!! All the best in recruiting, Coach Hurley!! Bring back the type of players who have made UConn great and appreciate the blue and white!!

 

[the Q]

We need a guard who can stroke it and handle PG duties, a wing who can stretch the floor and another serviceable big. Then, maybe, we're a top 40 team. Lots of pieces to the puzzle to be fit in as of now. Our core of Adams, CV, Gilbert, Wilson, Diarra, Carlton must be kept in tact.

you know, i get that Whaley isn't going to be our best player, but he was our best big last year. Without having a college ready body. I'm excited to see what an upperclassmen version of him looks like.

 

[gtcam]

So for all his other shortfalls I guess Ollie COULD recruit.

Shhhhhhhhhh
You are ruining the MoJo here
We need more of this:
Ollie man, wow. You know you have no clue what you are doing when a guy from from the A10 takes over at a blue blood and has no interest in retaining 66% of the recruiting class. That is wild.

 

[KingAG]

 

[alexd]

*&^$#@!$'

So much for my tie dye Lithuanian hoops shirt.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

So what's everyone thinking...how do we fill these three scholarships? Is it reasonable to think we can land three freshman who are also skilled? Or should we try to land one freshman and two grad transfers to plug the hole for now?

Give me 3 grad transfers, barring a big time kid shaking loose or reclassification.

I haven't done a ton of research, but give me two guards that can knock down threes and competently handle the ball and a wing that will take some pressure off of Sid to be a day 1 stud and I'll be thrilled.

While the 2016 class obviously didn't work out, I think the plan that we had in 2016 looking ahead to 2017 should be what we emulate here. Fill in blanks with grad transfers to maximize our (hopefully) last year with Jalen and then let Dan Hurley start putting his stamp on the team with the '19 and '20 classes.

 

[intlzncster]

Trust the process

Trust the process.

The process is going to be wonderful.

You guys all sound like you know something. We getting Embiid?

 

[JMick]

Lol @ all the salty URI fans

 

[UConnStats]

Word is that this was the case with Matthews as well.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

It's better than signing guys you didn't recruit and don't fit into your system. You really shouldn't be surprised by this. If anything, it is a more a statement on how far back UConn fell in recruiting under Ollie. The blaze strategy = a quick way to have your program go up in flames.

No it isn't. At this point of the cycle you keep what you have and see if there is any talent. If not, you take the school after the season. This only works if you have replacement lined up and you know the current roster is returning.

I don't much about blaze or the delusional rantings of a pretender.

Again, it may all work out and I hope it does. The sky isn't falling, but this isn't the start I hoped for. It won't matter much a year from now if all goes well

 

[Coach J]

Isn't there a dead period coming up in April? Hope the board doesn't get to antsy waiting for news during that time as we probably won't hear much.

Lol, "hope the board doesn't get to antsy" - now that's funny!

 

[KingAG]

No it isn't. At this point of the cycle you keep what you have and see if there is any talent. If not, you take the school after the season. This only works if you have replacement lined up and you know the current roster is returning.

I don't much about blaze or the delusional rantings of a pretender.

Again, it may all work out and I hope it does. The sky isn't falling, but this isn't the start I hoped for. It won't matter much a year from now if all goes well

If this wasn’t the start you expected then you just don’t have a good understanding of how coaching changes work

 

[intlzncster]

I don't know if anyone watched the raw video of him when he committed. It was worlds different than any highlight film. It wasn't pretty. Lots of people here talking about a guy who does the little things, but we need a guy who patrols the paint and plays D or is a back to the basket specialist. Its not hard to teach a guy to screen.

I saw the guy we already had (Carlton) as a better version of Kisunas coming in. So we'd have a back up for 3 yrs. Not worth it with our dearth of scholarships.

 

[intlzncster]

It's amazing, the revisionist history never fails. Where were people saying this about Kisunas when he was committed to UConn?

Damn near all the guys who had seen him live in person were not that high on him coming in. The guys who watched highlights or read about him were psyched.

 

[superjohn]

No it isn't. At this point of the cycle you keep what you have and see if there is any talent. If not, you take the school after the season. This only works if you have replacement lined up and you know the current roster is returning.

I don't much about blaze or the delusional rantings of a pretender.

Again, it may all work out and I hope it does. The sky isn't falling, but this isn't the start I hoped for. It won't matter much a year from now if all goes well

You are so wrong on this.

 

[Coach J]

Now that the slate is clear, when do we start paying recruit's fathers?

 

[intlzncster]

I had a good feeling about him but we’ll be okay. Need 1 more guard and we’ll be a potential top 25 team. Right now we have:
PG: Adams, Gilbert
SG: Vital
SF: Wilson, Polley
PF: Williams, Whaley, Diarra
C: Carlton, Cobb

Throw a decent combo guard into that roster and there’s a lot to like.

Maybe we end up that way. A long shot, but maybe.

But this was a sub 500 team. It's hard to jump from that, to a top 25 team, simply through coaching alone. Takes time.

 

[Blaneylover]

I tend to agree with those that believe that this one was mutual. I think that Hurley went up there to speak to him and to keep that pipeline open. I wish the kid well. I would have liked all of the recruiting class to stay. In any event, there are now three scholarships open and we will move on. This may get worse before it gets better, but it will absolutely get better. The only way you were going to keep those kids in the fold was to keep Ollie in the fold. As a side note, I hope that this "mutual" decision means that Coach Hurley is relatively certain that our present big men are staying.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

My expectations of a productive Big guy these days are incredibly low. From Brimah to Nolan to Facey and now the hodgepodge we've collected the last couple of years, can it really be that hard to grab another 3 point 2 board guy?

 

[intlzncster]

The dead period ends at noon on April 5. Then there's a recruiting period from noon on April 5 through April 18 (with another dead period thrown in there from April 9th to the 12th). Then there are two live periods from 4/20 - 4/22 and 4/27 - 4/29. Should be a busy April for Hurley, Moore and the rest of the staff.

What is the point of these dead periods? Sounds like an unnecessary bureaucratic wast.

 

[champs99and04]

LOL, this board. How the tide has changed. Seemed like yesterday I was reading about how Ollie was bringing in kids like this to correct his recruiting approach and move past the Brimah years. Life is short kids.

 

[UConnStats]

No it isn't. At this point of the cycle you keep what you have and see if there is any talent. If not, you take the school after the season. This only works if you have replacement lined up and you know the current roster is returning.

I don't much about blaze or the delusional rantings of a pretender.

Again, it may all work out and I hope it does. The sky isn't falling, but this isn't the start I hoped for. It won't matter much a year from now if all goes well

 

[intlzncster]

LOL, this board. How the tide has changed. Seemed like yesterday I was reading about how Ollie was bringing in kids like this to correct his recruiting approach and move past the Brimah years. Life is short kids.

It's called grasping for hope anywhere you can find it. What else did we have to look forward to?

 

[Madmannsucks]

So this guy had 17 offers according to Rivals, including some major players. Not OK. Can't change it, let's all use the Ollie was clueless excuse.
Apparently Providence, Virginia, Illinois, Davidson, Purdue, Creighton, among many others thought he was worthy of a scholarship. This was a good class. The change appeared inevitable. But let's not pretend it is insignificant.

 

[CL82]

Ollie probably promised the world trying to save his tail.

LK: So all plays run through me, yes?
Dan Hurley: No.
LK: Right, but I number 1 scoring option, yes?
Dan Hurley: No.
LK: OK but my role 3 point specialist?
Dan Hurley: No.
LK: Then we go our separate ways, no?
Dan Hurley: Yes.

 

[TheChamps990411]

We have to remember, these were OLLIEs recruits. These guys (Mathews, Kisunas) may not fit what Dan Hurley wants to do or theyre simply not on the same page in philosophy. Akinjo could also fall into this category but of course this is all my speculation. I still believe some guys are going to follow Dan Hurley from URI regardless of who gets hired there. Im ready to wash my hands of the Ollie era and embrace DHs plan.

 

[UConnStats]

This could mean nothing, but let’s throw this cryptic tweet into the mix:
Reminds me of the Montez Mathis fiasco