Lukas Kisunas Commits to UConn

[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 (Kelis Fisher 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.

 

[superjohn]

You know, I've read a few personal attacks on champs lately and I don't much care for it.

Champs deserves a lot more respect around here than this. I don't always agree with him, and I don't agree with that post, but he always makes an effort to be rational and articulate and he always focuses on basketball instead of trying for gratuitous cheap shots. I appreciate that and enjoy reading his thoughts, even when I disagree.

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.

Monica, thanks for the lecture. Now go back to the women's board.

 

[auror]

Thank you very much for posting this.

My take:
Loved his passing. I don't watch a ton of HS basketball, but he really moved the ball and they seemed to run their offense through him at times. Very unselfish. He found the open man on the weak side perimeter consistently. His footwork was pretty good as well.

He's going to struggle on offense and defense against length. He played very sound defense with his hands up and not fouling, but guys that can elevate and finish will do so over him. His compete level was good on rebounds, but definitely needs to work on consistently boxing out (but I get the feeling that's every HS player). You worry that he's so unselfish because he knows he's not that capable a finisher.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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.

Matthews is at 173 at a position where we have 3 or 4 other players, not counting Larrier or Vital. I came around a bit, because I think we will try to make him a long shooting guard, but wing was not a position of great need in this class. I think he's a hedge on Carey.

Kisunas isn't a reach, he's just not the kind of guy that the morons who give ratings like. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he knows how to play. Every year we watch an Ivy team made up of guys almost entirely like this give some #1 or #2 seed absolute fits. Surround those kids with better athletes, like we have, and their basketball skill set and knack for doing the little things is magnified.

My main complaint with how Ollie was recruiting previously is that he seemed to focus on guys with a very high ceiling in terms of athletic potential, and a very marginal basketball skill-set. I think Williams still is one of those guys. I don't mind taking a gamble on a few, but you also need guys who just know how to play and are fundamentally sound.

 

[3rdbass]

Matthews is at 173 at a position where we have 3 or 4 other players, not counting Larrier or Vital. I came around a bit, because I think we will try to make him a long shooting guard, but wing was not a position of great need in this class. I think he's a hedge on Carey.

Kisunas isn't a reach, he's just not the kind of guy that the morons who give ratings like. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he knows how to play. Every year we watch an Ivy team made up of guys almost entirely like this give some #1 or #2 seed absolute fits. Surround those kids with better athletes, like we have, and their basketball skill set and knack for doing the little things is magnified.

My main complaint with how Ollie was recruiting previously is that he seemed to focus on guys with a very high ceiling in terms of athletic potential, and a very marginal basketball skill-set. I think Williams still is one of those guys. I don't mind taking a gamble on a few, but you also need guys who just know how to play and are fundamentally sound.

I actually disagree on Matthews being used mostly as a SG. I think we will put him at SF with Wilson or Williams at PF. I still think going with that lineup in college is normal in the changing landscape of basketball. I think this guy can slide into a backup center for Carlton who I'm higher on based on what I have seen skill wise. Yes all teams need these type of players to do the dirty work but nothing in his game jumps out at you to make you think this isn't a little bit of a reach. Like I said earlier that this might be were we are in recruiting big man at this stage. Looks like a solid college player who can play some tough minutes off the bench when we need a bruiser inside.

 

[boog204]

Kisunas isn't a reach, he's just not the kind of guy that the morons who give ratings like. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he knows how to play. Every year we watch an Ivy team made up of guys almost entirely like this give some #1 or #2 seed absolute fits. Surround those kids with better athletes, like we have, and their basketball skill set and knack for doing the little things is magnified.

My main complaint with how Ollie was recruiting previously is that he seemed to focus on guys with a very high ceiling in terms of athletic potential, and a very marginal basketball skill-set. I think Williams still is one of those guys. I don't mind taking a gamble on a few, but you also need guys who just know how to play and are fundamentally sound.

I agree with everything here. Kisunas is someone who actually seems fundamentally sound. The footwork, reading a screen/roll scenario and slipping, etc are "skills" that we haven't had in a big man in a long, long time; probably Charlie V (not comparing, obviously). The concern is that that same lack of athleticism that would keep a guy like this from being top 75 can also mitigate those fundamental skills. It's very difficult to read it in highlight films against high schoolers. But can he carve enough space inside against more athletic bigs? Will his "reading" of the defense be irrelevant because of a lack of foot speed, etc.

I see Ed Nelson-ish. And that's not a bad thing in any way. This is a guy who will be here for four years and should be able to contribute as a solid backup if not something better. You need guys like this. That being said, I would prefer someone with a bit more length/athleticism.

On your second point, we have adjusted our recruiting immensely. I LOVE that we are battling against teams like Virginia, West Virginia, Iowa St, Creighton, Wich St for players. Those are teams who typically find under the radar guys who can play, are tough as hell, and while not being necessarily 1st round prospects, are damn good college players. We've stopped chasing the top 20 guys who are just looking for that Duke or Kentucky offer and are going after the guys that want to be here and might be lacking in athleticism or some other "potential" making tool, but instead possess legit skills. I certainly understand the importance of having NBA guys to keep our brand, but I'd much rather have 3-4 years of Matthews then 1 year of a top 20 wing.

 

[Storrsbred]

What doesn’t everyone get? Kisunas didn’t play AAU. Rankings are based, for the most part, on AAU play at camps. Rankings don’t mean much anyway, except for the gifted few.

This kid is going to be perfect in a couple of seasons.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I actually disagree on Matthews being used mostly as a SG. I think we will put him at SF with Wilson or Williams at PF. I still think going with that lineup in college is normal in the changing landscape of basketball. I think this guy can slide into a backup center for Carlton who I'm higher on based on what I have seen skill wise. Yes all teams need these type of players to do the dirty work but nothing in his game jumps out at you to make you think this isn't a little bit of a reach. Like I said earlier that this might be were we are in recruiting big man at this stage. Looks like a solid college player who can play some tough minutes off the bench when we need a bruiser inside.

Make no mistake, the people who are seeing some second coming of Kevin Love are way off. I don't think he'll be as nearly good as Jake was (I think people forget how good he was). That said, I think he'll be better than Brimah or Facey at filling the role we actually need filled. A 6'8" guy from Northeastern got 15 boards against us last year. That can't happen. We haven't had a guy who even knew how to block out in several years. Nor a center who could catch a pass and make a layup.

I'm with you that Carlton is the better prospect. But I am convinced that Kisunas is the kind of guy who will be hard to keep off the floor by the time he's a junior or senior.

 

[Doheny]

What doesn’t everyone get? Kisunas didn’t play AAU. Rankings are based, for the most part, on AAU play at camps. Rankings don’t mean much anyway, except for the gifted few.

But those gifted few at the top of the ratings are the best that money can buy. Why aren't we landing them?

 

[Sky ball]

But those gifted few at the top of the ratings are the best that money can buy. Why aren't we landing them?

Ugly Hookers

 

[3rdbass]

Make no mistake, the people who are seeing some second coming of Kevin Love are way off. I don't think he'll be as nearly good as Jake was (I think people forget how good he was). That said, I think he'll be better than Brimah or Facey at filling the role we actually need filled. A 6'8" guy from Northeastern got 15 boards against us last year. That can't happen. We haven't had a guy who even knew how to block out in several years. Nor a center who could catch a pass and make a layup.

I'm with you that Carlton is the better prospect. But I am convinced that Kisunas is the kind of guy who will be hard to keep off the floor by the time he's a junior or senior.

I can definitely see that by his Junior or Senior year. I still think KO will go with the 2 SF look alot since that is were we seem to recruit the best and will create matchup issues for some teams though most of college basketball is either going with a smaller lineup, 3 guards, or 2 SF look at both forward positions.

I like that he is tough and has good skill around the basket but just a little concerned we couldn't get on any other big men in the early recruiting season. if we picked him up in the spring recruiting I probably would of understood even though still question the need with guys like Cobb and Carlton already on board.

 

[Coach J]

I've seen that vid. Compared to LK's, Carlton is facing the basket much more. In LK's video he posts up into a dream shake or drop step in a significant part of the vid.

He has a serious basketball IQ too, spin moves to both sides of the hoop, baby hook shot proficient, knows how to hold a post-up, definitely a DeMatha schooled player - I'd say he has a huge upside. Would like to see him try to use his left hand more when blocking shots, as most shooters are righty it's easier and will translate into more blocks and make him less likely to get into foul trouble.

 

[intlzncster]

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're not wrong with some of this, but I'd say that I think rankings can be tougher to gauge for big guys. I mean, for guys at the very top...no problem. But bigs take longer to develop, both from a coaching and coordination standpoint. Lot of these guys are still coming into their bodies. I feel like it's tougher to predict their ceilings. And because they are slower to develop, their rankings probably suffer compared to a 6ft guard who's been at fighting weight for 4 years or so. From what I've read/watched, this guy's far from a project.

 

[3rdbass]

He has a serious basketball IQ too, spin moves to both sides of the hoop, baby hook shot proficient, knows how to hold a post-up, definitely a DeMatha schooled player - I'd say he has a huge upside. Would like to see him try to use his left hand more when blocking shots, as most shooters are righty it's easier and will translate into more blocks and make him less likely to get into foul trouble.

The problem with his moves is that it seems to take forever and he is going in slow motion. I wonder if he will just get his shot rejected a lot or lose the ball from small guards reaching in. I did see this a few times in the raw video that was posted.

 

[Huskybass]

Anyone who isn't thrilled with getting Kisunas is crazy. The kid is a player for sure. Recruiting has been very good recently.

 

[intlzncster]

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

Not for nothing, but did this kid even play much if any AAU last year? I didn't see anything, but I didn't read the whole thread here. If he hasn't played AAU, the ranking probably isn't a great indication of the player.