Lukas Kisunas Commits to UConn

[Edward Sargent]

Yeah, the Blaze strategy is blazing hot. Let’s celebrate the moment and enjoy. This is the night after the win - only thinking one thing - time to party!

I will say the time horizon is longer than most are comfortable with on this board for step 2 - but as Chief predicted step 1 in is the books and step 2 will come.

After the WSJ article about Blazer involvement in the FBI sting operation let's put Blaze talk to bed

 

[Mr. French]

I love this vague Blaze "strategy" it's one of the better Chief efforts.

 

[pj]

After the WSJ article about Blazer involvement in the FBI sting operation let's put Blaze talk to bed

It's not a violation to buy Chill an extra slice when a recruit commits.

 

[UConnStats]

I think the biggest thing is just filling out scholarships with talent capable of taking the next step.

Yes, it’s statistically unlikely that all of our 3* kids pan out, and the same even goes for 4* kids. However, when you have 13-14 players on a roster, it hurts a lot less when you find a lemon than it does with a 9 man roster.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I would have banked this scholarship. This kid sounds like a fine prospect, but the word that comes to mind for me in reading most of these responses is delusional. Let me elaborate:

- He is committed to play basketball here now, so there is no sense in bemoaning his presence as if this were in some way his fault. He is just a kid realizing his dreams, and even if he never contributes anything of tangible value to the program, I support his right to be the coolest person on campus because he's a basketball player and in signing the dotted line alone will have achieved far more than most of us. However, the holier than thou act from certain posters strikes me as slightly disingenuous given the fact that it is cloaked in anti Facey and Brimah sentiment. Those guys put in four years of service here, won a national championship, and will likely be remembered as better players than this kid will ever be.

- There is no bigger dork than me when it comes to things like screening, hedging, and feel for the game. But do you know who notices things like this? People who didn't sign Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith or some other player who would win a national championship. And do you know who talks themselves into the allure of the "four year guy" and "role player" and "guy that you need?" The people who can't recruit the caliber of talent necessary to compete for championships. If I have to hear one more word about how Emeka Okafor was the 96th ranked player in the country or you don't need to recruit marquee talent to compete, my head is going to explode. The idea of a player outperforming his ranking is perfectly legitimate. The idea of six players outperforming their ranking is the sort of preciousness that makes Vegas rich. I very much value the intelligence of the people on this board, so I am going to assume that I am not in on the new act and that you all simply pretend not to know how statistics work. Along those lines...

- The overall caliber of recruit that this program has landed has dipped drastically over the last two classes. The idea that UConn under Calhoun settled for scraps is purely fiction. Option B used to mean top 50 players and option C used to mean top 100 guys. Now, we scrap together our resources for top 50 players (and in fairness, a few of them have been top 10 guys that went elsewhere for one reason or another) like Carey and end up settling for a lesser talent. Back in the day, a local, top 150 kid like Carrigan would have been the backup option and we would have been pleasantly surprised to learn he can play. Now that the kid is off our radar completely, we're forced to stoop a tier further. Then we finally offer him after losing out on several other options and we celebrate. OK. If that's going to be your outlook, fine. Let's just make sure it carries over to on court play.

- This is fine in a vacuum. We do not live in a vacuum, though, and this roster is not primed with the sort of talent that can withstand another flier - Cobb, Carlton, and whoever else you want to throw into that mix already have that covered. I understand that coaches over-recruit all the time, but there are healthy logjams and then there are logjams that consist of a bunch of redundant players, none of which can separate themselves from the pack. Between de-commitments, transfers, and graduations, there are a lot of options that remain worth monitoring...unless the staff has already kicked the tires on those and received negative feedback...which again brings us back to the problem.

- Look, I love college basketball. I'll watch New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook any day and marvel at the players that, for 40 minutes in March, can rise to the level of their more highly regarded contemporaries and cement a place in college basketball lore. This kid is a lot better than the type of player that normally winds up there. This is the type of player that winds up at Butler or Creighton or Purdue, damn solid programs that are well-coached and talented enough to make a run when the stars align. We're not that program. If we are, fine. I'll continue to invest in the program. But for now we're still UConn and it starts with the recruits, who, because of our recent struggles, might not be fully appreciated as individual talents. Jalen Adams is rare. Alterique Gilbert is rare. Terry Larrier is rare. Vital is a damn solid player and I imagine Diarra and a couple of the others will hold up just fine themselves. The recruits we have hauled in recently are slightly less than that. They are damn talented, mind you, but they represent a very perceptible drop in our status as a college basketball program. I knew that was coming on the court because you don't simply replace an all-time great and roll on conducting business as usual. I didn't know that recruiting would dip. Pair the two together and the optics are somewhat foreboding, however, I do think short-term the picture could be better than most expect, which has a way of fixing things in the end. As somebody else said, 2019 will be telling.

I'm not the least bit surprised that recruiting would dip to something below what would align with the handle "champs99and04" and what was created and sustained through those years, and before and after.

I'm surprised that you might be surprised.

You've been here throughout, you've watched how the landscape has shifted in so many ways, and you've watched the play on the court.

It's not that you can't write, and it's not that you're not perceptive, but I question the timing and necessity of this post, within days of the first practice of a new season, when by all indications yesterday's news was far more good than not. I don't consider that to be a delusional statement, and imagine you don't either.

 

[Hoophound]

I really like that we’ve traded out last year’s front court. I just needed to adjust to losing a few players. None of them were going solve the rebounding problem. The group we have now and coming in next year should be much more aggressive. Diarra is going to bring tons of energy and easy dunks. Something we really need.

 

[3rdbass]

I would have banked this scholarship. This kid sounds like a fine prospect, but the word that comes to mind for me in reading most of these responses is delusional. Let me elaborate:

- He is committed to play basketball here now, so there is no sense in bemoaning his presence as if this were in some way his fault. He is just a kid realizing his dreams, and even if he never contributes anything of tangible value to the program, I support his right to be the coolest person on campus because he's a basketball player and in signing the dotted line alone will have achieved far more than most of us. However, the holier than thou act from certain posters strikes me as slightly disingenuous given the fact that it is cloaked in anti Facey and Brimah sentiment. Those guys put in four years of service here, won a national championship, and will likely be remembered as better players than this kid will ever be.

- There is no bigger dork than me when it comes to things like screening, hedging, and feel for the game. But do you know who notices things like this? People who didn't sign Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith or some other player who would win a national championship. And do you know who talks themselves into the allure of the "four year guy" and "role player" and "guy that you need?" The people who can't recruit the caliber of talent necessary to compete for championships. If I have to hear one more word about how Emeka Okafor was the 96th ranked player in the country or you don't need to recruit marquee talent to compete, my head is going to explode. The idea of a player outperforming his ranking is perfectly legitimate. The idea of six players outperforming their ranking is the sort of preciousness that makes Vegas rich. I very much value the intelligence of the people on this board, so I am going to assume that I am not in on the new act and that you all simply pretend not to know how statistics work. Along those lines...

- The overall caliber of recruit that this program has landed has dipped drastically over the last two classes. The idea that UConn under Calhoun settled for scraps is purely fiction. Option B used to mean top 50 players and option C used to mean top 100 guys. Now, we scrap together our resources for top 50 players (and in fairness, a few of them have been top 10 guys that went elsewhere for one reason or another) like Carey and end up settling for a lesser talent. Back in the day, a local, top 150 kid like Carrigan would have been the backup option and we would have been pleasantly surprised to learn he can play. Now that the kid is off our radar completely, we're forced to stoop a tier further. Then we finally offer him after losing out on several other options and we celebrate. OK. If that's going to be your outlook, fine. Let's just make sure it carries over to on court play.

- This is fine in a vacuum. We do not live in a vacuum, though, and this roster is not primed with the sort of talent that can withstand another flier - Cobb, Carlton, and whoever else you want to throw into that mix already have that covered. I understand that coaches over-recruit all the time, but there are healthy logjams and then there are logjams that consist of a bunch of redundant players, none of which can separate themselves from the pack. Between de-commitments, transfers, and graduations, there are a lot of options that remain worth monitoring...unless the staff has already kicked the tires on those and received negative feedback...which again brings us back to the problem.

- Look, I love college basketball. I'll watch New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook any day and marvel at the players that, for 40 minutes in March, can rise to the level of their more highly regarded contemporaries and cement a place in college basketball lore. This kid is a lot better than the type of player that normally winds up there. This is the type of player that winds up at Butler or Creighton or Purdue, damn solid programs that are well-coached and talented enough to make a run when the stars align. We're not that program. If we are, fine. I'll continue to invest in the program. But for now we're still UConn and it starts with the recruits, who, because of our recent struggles, might not be fully appreciated as individual talents. Jalen Adams is rare. Alterique Gilbert is rare. Terry Larrier is rare. Vital is a damn solid player and I imagine Diarra and a couple of the others will hold up just fine themselves. The recruits we have hauled in recently are slightly less than that. They are damn talented, mind you, but they represent a very perceptible drop in our status as a college basketball program. I knew that was coming on the court because you don't simply replace an all-time great and roll on conducting business as usual. I didn't know that recruiting would dip. Pair the two together and the optics are somewhat foreboding, however, I do think short-term the picture could be better than most expect, which has a way of fixing things in the end. As somebody else said, 2019 will be telling.

Good write up. I think 2018 is a bigger year. We can't afford another year like last one if we want to compete at the highest levels of college basketball. Recruiting is getting affected by our conference but also the perception that UCONN isn't a winning program anymore.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Carlton seems more like a forward to me, Kisunas is clearly a center. Carlton may fill in for us at center because minutes are more available there, but if he develops as we hope his best spot may be power forward.

True, but even in the NBA, a lot of the guys playing center are power forwards. Horford for example. Back to the basket post moves are a lost art. It's almost ironic that one of the best at that, all time, Kevin McHale, was a power forward.

I do like the idea of guys who bring different skill sets up front.

 

[UCDaveD]

I also think it's more than a little silly that you're going after him when his post is simply a logical continuation of the chicken with its head cut off posts you, UCDaveD and others were making non-stop this past spring and summer.

@ me, bro.

 

[jibsey]

What have we gotten used to seeing from our big men in the last several years? They catch the ball in the post, hold it, stop to think about things followed by something bad happening like getting thrown to the floor or getting stuffed. This kid is big, strong, with good and quick hands. looks like he has Basketball IQ which we have been lacking around the rim. I'm jacked about this signing and don't care what his number is. This is the kind of under the radar player shows up on opposing teams who torches us and then we ask why we couldn't recruit someone like that. If my thinking is flawed i would like to know why?

 

[Candyman]

 

[Candyman]

First time posting a video so hope it worked. Not a highlight video but clips of him both good and bad. Def raw but has good hands and is a great passer for a big.

Video credit to Brass City Films.

 

[gtcam]

I would have banked this scholarship. This kid sounds like a fine prospect, but the word that comes to mind for me in reading most of these responses is delusional. Let me elaborate:

- He is committed to play basketball here now, so there is no sense in bemoaning his presence as if this were in some way his fault. He is just a kid realizing his dreams, and even if he never contributes anything of tangible value to the program, I support his right to be the coolest person on campus because he's a basketball player and in signing the dotted line alone will have achieved far more than most of us. However, the holier than thou act from certain posters strikes me as slightly disingenuous given the fact that it is cloaked in anti Facey and Brimah sentiment. Those guys put in four years of service here, won a national championship, and will likely be remembered as better players than this kid will ever be.

- There is no bigger dork than me when it comes to things like screening, hedging, and feel for the game. But do you know who notices things like this? People who didn't sign Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith or some other player who would win a national championship. And do you know who talks themselves into the allure of the "four year guy" and "role player" and "guy that you need?" The people who can't recruit the caliber of talent necessary to compete for championships. If I have to hear one more word about how Emeka Okafor was the 96th ranked player in the country or you don't need to recruit marquee talent to compete, my head is going to explode. The idea of a player outperforming his ranking is perfectly legitimate. The idea of six players outperforming their ranking is the sort of preciousness that makes Vegas rich. I very much value the intelligence of the people on this board, so I am going to assume that I am not in on the new act and that you all simply pretend not to know how statistics work. Along those lines...

- The overall caliber of recruit that this program has landed has dipped drastically over the last two classes. The idea that UConn under Calhoun settled for scraps is purely fiction. Option B used to mean top 50 players and option C used to mean top 100 guys. Now, we scrap together our resources for top 50 players (and in fairness, a few of them have been top 10 guys that went elsewhere for one reason or another) like Carey and end up settling for a lesser talent. Back in the day, a local, top 150 kid like Carrigan would have been the backup option and we would have been pleasantly surprised to learn he can play. Now that the kid is off our radar completely, we're forced to stoop a tier further. Then we finally offer him after losing out on several other options and we celebrate. OK. If that's going to be your outlook, fine. Let's just make sure it carries over to on court play.

- This is fine in a vacuum. We do not live in a vacuum, though, and this roster is not primed with the sort of talent that can withstand another flier - Cobb, Carlton, and whoever else you want to throw into that mix already have that covered. I understand that coaches over-recruit all the time, but there are healthy logjams and then there are logjams that consist of a bunch of redundant players, none of which can separate themselves from the pack. Between de-commitments, transfers, and graduations, there are a lot of options that remain worth monitoring...unless the staff has already kicked the tires on those and received negative feedback...which again brings us back to the problem.

- Look, I love college basketball. I'll watch New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook any day and marvel at the players that, for 40 minutes in March, can rise to the level of their more highly regarded contemporaries and cement a place in college basketball lore. This kid is a lot better than the type of player that normally winds up there. This is the type of player that winds up at Butler or Creighton or Purdue, damn solid programs that are well-coached and talented enough to make a run when the stars align. We're not that program. If we are, fine. I'll continue to invest in the program. But for now we're still UConn and it starts with the recruits, who, because of our recent struggles, might not be fully appreciated as individual talents. Jalen Adams is rare. Alterique Gilbert is rare. Terry Larrier is rare. Vital is a damn solid player and I imagine Diarra and a couple of the others will hold up just fine themselves. The recruits we have hauled in recently are slightly less than that. They are damn talented, mind you, but they represent a very perceptible drop in our status as a college basketball program. I knew that was coming on the court because you don't simply replace an all-time great and roll on conducting business as usual. I didn't know that recruiting would dip. Pair the two together and the optics are somewhat foreboding, however, I do think short-term the picture could be better than most expect, which has a way of fixing things in the end. As somebody else said, 2019 will be telling.

You are certainly entitled to your opinions and Selles did a great job having your back

I have read your entry a dozen times and still am scratching my head but that's OK

Your Brimah, Facey comparative in talent and memory banks to this new kid is perplexing and being a member of a team winning a NC does not make ones talent level improve (KF did improve his senior year, AB digressed)
The Creighton/Butler/Purdue statement is questionable at best - Butler has been to 2 championship games - besides Duke, UConn, UK, Kansas,UNC - name me a few others that didn't need "the stars aligned" to get there. Creighton has had some very very good years recently. Purdue plays in what I consider to be the strongest and most physical league in the country and has been very representative. There are many players on these teams that UConn followers would have loved to have in Storrs.

Your head may explode but what folks say about EO is true and there are quite a few others that JC and KO have recruited below the "top 50" that have flourished. JC was not known to recruit elite classes with 3 top 50 and the rest top 100 players. In today's market a handful of teams at most can claim two or more top 50 players a year, and to be honest, UConn was never one of those "one and done" factories.

Again, a lot of effort went into your post and I can see where you are going in 50% of it but I in the end I don't agree but that's OK
Let's hope for better things to come

 

[3rdbass]

After watching that video I do see a couple of plusses. He holds his position for defensive rebounds and looks like he can pass the ball. On the bad side he is slow, not much lift, no offensive game and can get beat off the dribble. I can definitely see him being a good backup player here at UCONN but not sure I'm excited if he is going to be the starting center for us. I'm still a lot more excited with Josh Carlton than this guy. I hope we are still trying to recruit a better big guy than this for either '18 or 19. Good solid kid with strength and size but I think he can get lost against more athletic players.

 

[DonaldDraper]

I would have banked this scholarship. This kid sounds like a fine prospect, but the word that comes to mind for me in reading most of these responses is delusional. Let me elaborate:

- He is committed to play basketball here now, so there is no sense in bemoaning his presence as if this were in some way his fault. He is just a kid realizing his dreams, and even if he never contributes anything of tangible value to the program, I support his right to be the coolest person on campus because he's a basketball player and in signing the dotted line alone will have achieved far more than most of us. However, the holier than thou act from certain posters strikes me as slightly disingenuous given the fact that it is cloaked in anti Facey and Brimah sentiment. Those guys put in four years of service here, won a national championship, and will likely be remembered as better players than this kid will ever be.

- There is no bigger dork than me when it comes to things like screening, hedging, and feel for the game. But do you know who notices things like this? People who didn't sign Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith or some other player who would win a national championship. And do you know who talks themselves into the allure of the "four year guy" and "role player" and "guy that you need?" The people who can't recruit the caliber of talent necessary to compete for championships. If I have to hear one more word about how Emeka Okafor was the 96th ranked player in the country or you don't need to recruit marquee talent to compete, my head is going to explode. The idea of a player outperforming his ranking is perfectly legitimate. The idea of six players outperforming their ranking is the sort of preciousness that makes Vegas rich. I very much value the intelligence of the people on this board, so I am going to assume that I am not in on the new act and that you all simply pretend not to know how statistics work. Along those lines...

- The overall caliber of recruit that this program has landed has dipped drastically over the last two classes. The idea that UConn under Calhoun settled for scraps is purely fiction. Option B used to mean top 50 players and option C used to mean top 100 guys. Now, we scrap together our resources for top 50 players (and in fairness, a few of them have been top 10 guys that went elsewhere for one reason or another) like Carey and end up settling for a lesser talent. Back in the day, a local, top 150 kid like Carrigan would have been the backup option and we would have been pleasantly surprised to learn he can play. Now that the kid is off our radar completely, we're forced to stoop a tier further. Then we finally offer him after losing out on several other options and we celebrate. OK. If that's going to be your outlook, fine. Let's just make sure it carries over to on court play.

- This is fine in a vacuum. We do not live in a vacuum, though, and this roster is not primed with the sort of talent that can withstand another flier - Cobb, Carlton, and whoever else you want to throw into that mix already have that covered. I understand that coaches over-recruit all the time, but there are healthy logjams and then there are logjams that consist of a bunch of redundant players, none of which can separate themselves from the pack. Between de-commitments, transfers, and graduations, there are a lot of options that remain worth monitoring...unless the staff has already kicked the tires on those and received negative feedback...which again brings us back to the problem.

- Look, I love college basketball. I'll watch New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook any day and marvel at the players that, for 40 minutes in March, can rise to the level of their more highly regarded contemporaries and cement a place in college basketball lore. This kid is a lot better than the type of player that normally winds up there. This is the type of player that winds up at Butler or Creighton or Purdue, damn solid programs that are well-coached and talented enough to make a run when the stars align. We're not that program. If we are, fine. I'll continue to invest in the program. But for now we're still UConn and it starts with the recruits, who, because of our recent struggles, might not be fully appreciated as individual talents. Jalen Adams is rare. Alterique Gilbert is rare. Terry Larrier is rare. Vital is a damn solid player and I imagine Diarra and a couple of the others will hold up just fine themselves. The recruits we have hauled in recently are slightly less than that. They are damn talented, mind you, but they represent a very perceptible drop in our status as a college basketball program. I knew that was coming on the court because you don't simply replace an all-time great and roll on conducting business as usual. I didn't know that recruiting would dip. Pair the two together and the optics are somewhat foreboding, however, I do think short-term the picture could be better than most expect, which has a way of fixing things in the end. As somebody else said, 2019 will be telling.

tl;dr The 2017 version of "We picked the wrong Lamb"

 

[3rdbass]

tl;dr The 2017 version of "We picked the wrong Lamb"

At least Jeremy Lamb was a top 75 player.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is a perfect four-year player.

Perfect.

No grade issues. Solid fundamentals, very tough. He's somewhere around 6'9", 250 and there's this...

From Rivals -Kisunas is exactly what head coach Kevin Ollie was looking for in rounding out his 2018 class - a take-no-prisoners type of big man that can rebound his area, protect his basket and score with his back to the rim.

I don't really care about his ratings - he just visited Illinois, he's been to UVa, Pitt, etc. He wasn't on the AAU scene this year which I'm sure affected his ratings, but the offers tell the tale.

Dimon Carrigan is a good prospect, but there are some grade issues and do we really need to see another 6'9", 210 pound center here?

Exactly. I am so tired of watching bigs at schools like Northeastern dominate our front line. Guys who rebound like machines, catch and pass the ball and don't miss layups. Guys like this, by the time they are juniors will often go to town on younger more athletic/skinny guys who don't know how to play in the post.

I had a lot more doubts about burning a scholarship on Matthews than on Kisunas.

 

[InKembaITrust]

At least Jeremy Lamb was a top 75 player.

Lamb looked really good in the preseason game against the Celts last night. Can definitely see him improving drastically this NBA season as a 6th man

 

[3rdbass]

Exactly. I am so tired of watching bigs at schools like Northeastern dominate our front line. Guys who rebound like machines, catch and pass the ball and don't miss layups. Guys like this, by the time they are juniors will often go to town on younger more athletic/skinny guys who don't know how to play in the post.

I had a lot more doubts about burning a scholarship on Matthews than on Kisunas.

LOL! I'm just the opposite and love from what I have seen from Matthew on video with his length and shooting. He is also at 173 and not in the 300's. I just feel this pick was a reach but maybe we just can't recruit any real big men to come to UCONN presently. It would be nice to have a true big man's coach on the staff.

 

[pj]

Nice! Ollie's gonna love him.

 

[Pudge]

I would have banked this scholarship. This kid sounds like a fine prospect, but the word that comes to mind for me in reading most of these responses is delusional. Let me elaborate:

- He is committed to play basketball here now, so there is no sense in bemoaning his presence as if this were in some way his fault. He is just a kid realizing his dreams, and even if he never contributes anything of tangible value to the program, I support his right to be the coolest person on campus because he's a basketball player and in signing the dotted line alone will have achieved far more than most of us. However, the holier than thou act from certain posters strikes me as slightly disingenuous given the fact that it is cloaked in anti Facey and Brimah sentiment. Those guys put in four years of service here, won a national championship, and will likely be remembered as better players than this kid will ever be.

- There is no bigger dork than me when it comes to things like screening, hedging, and feel for the game. But do you know who notices things like this? People who didn't sign Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith or some other player who would win a national championship. And do you know who talks themselves into the allure of the "four year guy" and "role player" and "guy that you need?" The people who can't recruit the caliber of talent necessary to compete for championships. If I have to hear one more word about how Emeka Okafor was the 96th ranked player in the country or you don't need to recruit marquee talent to compete, my head is going to explode. The idea of a player outperforming his ranking is perfectly legitimate. The idea of six players outperforming their ranking is the sort of preciousness that makes Vegas rich. I very much value the intelligence of the people on this board, so I am going to assume that I am not in on the new act and that you all simply pretend not to know how statistics work. Along those lines...

- The overall caliber of recruit that this program has landed has dipped drastically over the last two classes. The idea that UConn under Calhoun settled for scraps is purely fiction. Option B used to mean top 50 players and option C used to mean top 100 guys. Now, we scrap together our resources for top 50 players (and in fairness, a few of them have been top 10 guys that went elsewhere for one reason or another) like Carey and end up settling for a lesser talent. Back in the day, a local, top 150 kid like Carrigan would have been the backup option and we would have been pleasantly surprised to learn he can play. Now that the kid is off our radar completely, we're forced to stoop a tier further. Then we finally offer him after losing out on several other options and we celebrate. OK. If that's going to be your outlook, fine. Let's just make sure it carries over to on court play.

- This is fine in a vacuum. We do not live in a vacuum, though, and this roster is not primed with the sort of talent that can withstand another flier - Cobb, Carlton, and whoever else you want to throw into that mix already have that covered. I understand that coaches over-recruit all the time, but there are healthy logjams and then there are logjams that consist of a bunch of redundant players, none of which can separate themselves from the pack. Between de-commitments, transfers, and graduations, there are a lot of options that remain worth monitoring...unless the staff has already kicked the tires on those and received negative feedback...which again brings us back to the problem.

- Look, I love college basketball. I'll watch New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook any day and marvel at the players that, for 40 minutes in March, can rise to the level of their more highly regarded contemporaries and cement a place in college basketball lore. This kid is a lot better than the type of player that normally winds up there. This is the type of player that winds up at Butler or Creighton or Purdue, damn solid programs that are well-coached and talented enough to make a run when the stars align. We're not that program. If we are, fine. I'll continue to invest in the program. But for now we're still UConn and it starts with the recruits, who, because of our recent struggles, might not be fully appreciated as individual talents. Jalen Adams is rare. Alterique Gilbert is rare. Terry Larrier is rare. Vital is a damn solid player and I imagine Diarra and a couple of the others will hold up just fine themselves. The recruits we have hauled in recently are slightly less than that. They are damn talented, mind you, but they represent a very perceptible drop in our status as a college basketball program. I knew that was coming on the court because you don't simply replace an all-time great and roll on conducting business as usual. I didn't know that recruiting would dip. Pair the two together and the optics are somewhat foreboding, however, I do think short-term the picture could be better than most expect, which has a way of fixing things in the end. As somebody else said, 2019 will be telling.

EXPOSED

As you can write in detailed understanding of this college basketball game, you seemingly cannot watch a simple video and grasp why a rising kid we've granted a scholarship has serious skills in this game. Pulling a Brimah anecdotal - while likable, AB never improved much. This is one kid, combined with the last 3, that will raise our play competitively. Neither Oriakhi nor Roscoe came in with the semblance of readyness that I see in Kisunas.

 

[UCweCONN]

This kid just won the recruiting lottery. Does anyone know what the lowest ranked recruit we've brought in in the past 10 years?

 

[boog204]

EXPOSED

As you can write in detailed understanding of this college basketball game, you seemingly cannot watch a simple video and grasp why a rising kid we've granted a scholarship has serious skills in this game. Pulling a Brimah anecdotal - while likable, AB never improved much. This is one kid, combined with the last 3, that will raise our play competitively. Neither Oriakhi nor Roscoe came in with the semblance of readyness that I see in Kisunas.

That's a big of a stretch, no? While neither AO or Roscoe turned out as we liked, but were starters on a national championship team and in a lot of ways sacrificed their games for the team.

I like Kisunas, he (on tape/paper) provides a lot of the Jake type qualities that we have moved away from over the years. We have not had a good screener in ages and for quite a long time valued length/shot blocking over physical/positional defense. I like that we've gone back to the Jake blueprint of sorts. That being said, though, for all of his warts, AO was 9-9-1.5 as a center in the Big East. I'm doubtful that Kisunas will ever approach that type of production.

 

[imno1]

Im watching the raw footage video and was confused. Big men are allowed to pass the ball?

 

[Ricker]

First time posting a video so hope it worked. Not a highlight video but clips of him both good and bad. Def raw but has good hands and is a great passer for a big.

Video credit to Brass City Films.

For those without a program. On Brewster, Kisunas was playing with Sid Wilson is #15, Makai Ashton-Langford #11, Aaron Wheeler #1 (Purdue), Thomas Allen #12 (NC State), Curtis Heywood #13 (Georgia Tech), Michael Okauru #3 (Florida), Avi Schafer #32 (Georgia Tech). I only watched the posted video once so they may not have all played in these clips, but it can give you a sense of what other teams have coming in as well.