Makurat to transfer

[Rb335]

It means that the mpg situation remains tight. I would guess:

Paige 30
Azzi 20
Evina 20
ONO 20
Edwards 25
DeBerry 15
Cristyn 25
Muhl 20
Poffernbarger 8
Ducharme 8


Total minutes for the top 10: 191
MPG remaining: 9
Total MPG Available: 200

It means that even if Saylor and Ducharme get just 8 mpg each, McLean, Griffin, and Gabriel would only be able to split a total of 9 mpg between them. Or else, one of the freshmen would have to give up minutes.

Still a difficult situation for the coaching staff to manage with 13 scholarship athletes.

Hmmm... I don't understand how a player who got 25 critical minutes in an Elite Eight game win winds up at the end of the garbage time (9 min to be split between 3) while 3 of the newbies (not counting Azzi) will get 15, 8, 8 min in your universe.

Completely agreed. Not saying Saylor should have been an impact player from day one, but her performances compared to other early enrollments were incredibly underwhelming. I didn't think she showed us a whole lot, so she will have to improve by leaps and bounds to jump ahead of certain players in the rotation.

Anna leaving opens up extra minutes at the 4, where she played this season. I'd expect most of those 80 minutes at the 4/5 position to go to ONO & Aaliyah with about 15 or so for both Aubrey & Amari.

The biggest competition will be the backcourt. If Fudd is as good as advertised, it will be hard to keep her off of the court. I think that means a few less minutes for Paige, CW, and Nika to make room. But mostly from Nika, as the other two are our clear top players.

The wing can be shared by Evina, Ducharme, and Poffenbarger.

I expect McLean and Gabriel to struggle to get time.

 

[GG]

I am not very surprised. Good luck to her, it was great having her on the team.

 

[NHRich]

Boulder wouldn’t be a bad place for her to finish.
Maybe 2 or 3 years.

 

[Stinger92860]

Yes, Ola is also transferring

Utah women’s basketball has three players hit NCAA Transfer Portal, adds Tennessee-Martin transfer Dasia Young

The University of Utah women's basketball team had three players opt for the NCAA Transfer Portal recently

www.sltrib.com

maybe they want to play together. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[MSGRET]

Anna as they used to say in the national commercials, "Come to Vegas Baby", and I'll get front row season tickets just to watch you play

 

[Ozimoto]

I wish only the best for Anna in her future endeavors. I for one truly appreciated what she brought to the team over the past two seasons. Someone is going to get a good player and team mate for sure.

 

[Argonaut]

Completely agreed. Not saying Saylor should have been an impact player from day one, but her performances compared to other early enrollments were incredibly underwhelming. I didn't think she showed us a whole lot, so she will have to improve by leaps and bounds to jump ahead of certain players in the rotation.

Anna leaving opens up extra minutes at the 4, where she played this season. I'd expect most of those 80 minutes at the 4/5 position to go to ONO & Aaliyah with about 15 or so for both Aubrey & Amari.

The biggest competition will be the backcourt. If Fudd is as good as advertised, it will be hard to keep her off of the court. I think that means a few less minutes for Paige, CW, and Nika to make room. But mostly from Nika, as the other two are our clear top players.

The wing can be shared by Evina, Ducharme, and Poffenbarger.

I expect McLean and Gabriel to struggle to get time.

Saylor was also playing her first bit of organized basketball since coming off of surgery last spring, in a system that is already notoriously difficult for freshmen to learn. I'm optimistic for her development after she can start at the beginning with her class in summer and pre-season workouts.

 

[oldude]

Some thoughts on Anna’s PT dilemma and her decision to transfer. First of all, I absolutely expect that Anna sat down and discussed her decision to transfer with Geno, and that he gave her honest feedback and advice.

While the conventional 1-5 positions in basketball are becoming less relevant, particularly on offense, the 1-5 designations may be helpful to explain where Anna fit in the scheme of things at UConn. As some have pointed out, Anna was a starter at the beginning of the season along with Liv, Evina, Christyn & Paige. As a starter, Anna predominantly guarded the opposing forward (4).

After Anna’s injury, Geno played around with several lineups before settling on Nika at PG, which generally shifted everyone up Paige (2), Christyn (3) and Evina (4), although assignments varied from game to game, it should be noted that the lineup with Nika at pg was precisely when UConn started playing their very best basketball.

When Nika was hurt, Aaliyah entered the starting lineup as the (4), shifting everyone back down again. UConn continued to play well right on up to the AZ loss.

IMO, Anna is not quick enough to play guard, and she’s obviously not big enough to play center, so that leaves either forward (4) or wing (3). Here’s where the PT dilemma kicks in. With the various lineup options available to Geno, next year’s team will have no less than 9 players who can play either the 3 and/or 4: Evina, Christyn, Aubrey, Aaliyah, Mir, Saylor, Amari, Azzi and Caroline.

You could make the case that anywhere from 5 to 7 of those players will be better options than Anna. I think Anna made the correct decision. I sincerely hope she finds the right landing spot, where she will have an ample opportunity to display her considerable talents.

 

[eebmg]

Article in the Athletic ranking the top transfers . I have removed the descriptions and other stuff except for Anna at #7

A new name enters the list at No. 1: Ranking the best players in the women’s college basketball transfer portal

The number in the Division I women's transfer portal already surpasses that of the past two seasons, and includes some elite talent.

theathletic.com

1. Diamond Johnson, 5-5 guard, sophomore, Rutgers
2. Dorka Juhász, 6-4 forward, junior, Ohio State
3. Jordan Lewis, 5-7 guard, senior, Alabama
4. Jaelynn Penn, 5-10 guard, super senior, Indiana
5. Gina Conti, 5-10 guard, super senior, Wake Forest
6. Celeste Taylor, 5-11 guard, junior, Texas
7. Anna Makurat, 6-2 guard, junior, UConn

Makurat had 20 career starts at UConn over two seasons despite injuries, but saw her minutes diminish as the UConn season went on and likely didn’t see much changing considering the Huskies will graduate no players (while also bringing in four top-30 recruits in the 2021 class). Makurat is a very skilled 3-point shooter. She connected on 41 percent of her attempts a season ago, and 32 percent of her attempts this season. For any team that’s looking to space the floor with a big guard who can see the floor well, she is an obvious pick and will have three years to develop in another team’s program. A lot of times we say that there are players sitting on the bench for the best teams in the country that could start elsewhere. We don’t often get to test that theory when it comes to UConn players, since they don’t often transfer. But, with Makurat, we’ll see if that’s true.

8. Anastasia Hayes, 5-7 guard, redshirt senior, Middle Tennessee State
9. Ariyah Copeland, 6-3 forward, super senior, Alabama
10. Kiara Lewis, 5-8 guard, super senior, Syracuse
11. Madison Hayes, 6-foot guard, sophomore, Mississippi State
12. Kayana Traylor, 5-9 guard, senior, Purdue
13. Kylie Feuerbach, 6-foot guard, sophomore, Iowa State
14. Alasia Hayes, 5-7 guard, sophomore, Notre Dame
15. Digna Strautmane, 6-2 forward, super senior, Syracuse
16. Keke McKinney, 6-1 forward, super senior, Kentucky
17. Elyssa Coleman, 6-3 forward, sophomore, Texas

 

[ochoopsfan]

I wonder if Anna felt that she wanted to play in a "Tougher" conference than the Big East?

 

[Stymie]

I wonder if Anna felt that she wanted to play in a "Tougher" conference than the Big East?

I think she just wants to PLAY.

 

[pvdoggy]

I wonder if Anna felt that she wanted to play in a "Tougher" conference than the Big East?

and my response to that is be careful what you wish for

 

[Centerstream]

I wonder if Anna felt that she wanted to play in a "Tougher" conference than the Big East?

IMO, and from what I have heard, nothing is "Tougher" than a UConn practice...

 

[oldude]

Just a side note. There are currently 800 D1 transfers listed for WBB. There are 350 D1 WBB programs in the country. That means we’re looking at approximately 2.3 transfers per team, although not all will find homes with D1 programs.

 

[Longtime fan]

I wonder if Anna felt that she wanted to play in a "Tougher" conference than the Big East?

When will she announce where she is transferring?

 

[jimazee]

Maybe heading to South Florida?

It wouldn't be a surprise to see her and her sister want to see more of the USA.

 

[oldude]

Okay. How is that different from speculating on anything else? Like, can Olivia become a better offensive player? Like, is Nika going to be an all american?

This has been covered by the moderators ad nauseum. It is against the rules on the BY for many reasons. Players families and friends sometimes read this stuff, and speculation about UConn players transferring is harmful to the team and potentially hurtful to the players themselves. We can speculate on just about anything else, but speculation about UConn players transferring is off limits, as it should be.

 

[MSGRET]

Okay. How is that different from speculating on anything else? Like, can Olivia become a better offensive player? Like, is Nika going to be an all american?

Go read the Barnyard rules speculating on transfers is not allowed, period. Also read HuskyNan's comments in this thread, bannable offense.

 

[rvwsleep]

Okay. How is that different from speculating on anything else? Like, can Olivia become a better offensive player? Like, is Nika going to be an all american?

If you post speculation about a UConn player possibly transferring, you'll find out how it's different from speculating on anything else.

 

[connboy77]

Every recruit that comes to UCONN wants to play when the game is on the line so I can't really blame her for leaving. I don't believe Anna played in the Baylor game and I'm not sure about Arizona since I didn't watch to much of the game because of the late starting time. I wish her the best of luck in the future.

 

[Kaizen]

This has been covered by the moderators ad nauseum. It is against the rules on the BY for many reasons. Players families and friends sometimes read this stuff, and speculation about UConn players transferring is harmful to the team and potentially hurtful to the players themselves. We can speculate on just about anything else, but speculation about UConn players transferring is off limits, as it should be.

People still don't learn ... shame

 

[MSGRET]

This is how I fell about Anna leaving, just insert us where the word is me.

 

[Dawson]

It honestly feels like some of you are hoping more of the players transfer out.

I understand we have nothing much to talk about now that the season is over, but I for one don't want to lose any of them including Anna. Playing time will always work itself out, but speculating on a current player transferring just does not help at all.

 

[MooseJaw]

I’m pretty sure she’s thinking about going “downtown.”

She knows a place, from what I've heard.

 

[donalddoowop]

Yes, all of those teams are a notch or two below. If UConn did not get some of the incoming guards, Anna might well have thrived here. But no way that team is sniffing the Final Four because UConn itself would be a notch below. She's a good heady player but she does not have the athleticism a top program requires.

Do you think all of Stanford's, Arizona's, Indiana's and Maryland's players have top flight athleticism. No, they don't, and it is not necessary to be a starter on a top program.