Mary Kline Classic

[Rocklander]

I see that Jalen Adams was a no show. Any info on how the rest of Husky recruits did?

 

[hansonel-amin]

Was there. Disappointed that Jalen was a no show, but really excited about Mamadou Diarra. Mamadou attacks the rim like he wants to tear it from the backboard whether on put-backs or after finding that open space near the hoop (no such thing as a soft lay-up in his game). He also uses the pick and roll very well to free his guards, and put himself in good position for a throw-down. Also played some decent defense on a larger opponent, and swatted a few shots.

Steve Enoch has a nice game, but to me, seemed to play with varying levels of intensity, and less court awareness than I would have liked to see. That may be the nature of an all-star game, but there were others, like Chris Clarke, whose motor was always running at high rpm. In the 3-point shooting contest, Steve went 3 of 15.

Bruce Brown is a stud. Smooth and powerful. Nice outside shot, and gets to the rim with regularity. His team didn't seem to be looking for him, but when he got the ball, he almost always scored or had a nice assist.

The ones that got away - Prince Ali was virtually unstoppable: 3-point, mid-range, get to the rim. Also made some nice assists when he looked up. Derrick Jones is an incredible leaper with a very good 3-point shot. Derrick leapt over 4 6'8" or taller guys and threw down in the dunk contest (which he won). Prince and Derrick were the MVPs for their respective teams in the Senior Game.

 

[Ricker]

Excellent first post. I had watched 4 Bruce Brown games, 1 Prince Ali, and 2 Derrick Jones, and never saw 3 pointers, so your report makes a difference in my minds eye as to how I see these players with that capability added to their game. Brown and Ali I had only seen as slashing scorers that get fouled often but aren't automatic from the line when they get there. Derrick Jones as an offensive rebounding demon and spectacular open court finisher. Add a 3 point shot and it makes them all much better. I have seen Enoch 4 or 5 times in person and only in the Hoophall game did he play as the dominate player for his team on the court, so I think your intensity observation is correct He will be a 4 year stalwart as a quality compliment to stud guards and wings. I don't expect better than 1 for 3 from deep from him, and never likely to take more than 2 or 3 attempts in a game even when he plays 20 min at some point. Diarra apparently has a bit of relentlessness about him that you describe as well. I look forward to watching him play myself this season. Go to more games and keep posting your insightful observations. Thanks for the first post.

 

[husky99]

Prince is going to be a stud

 

[UConn990411]

The Prince de-commit still baffles me.

He woulda thrived in UConn's system. No idea why he chose UCLA instead.

 

[caw]

The Prince de-commit still baffles me.

He woulda thrived in UConn's system. No idea why he chose UCLA instead.

Even his answer from yesterday made little sense.

 

[HooperScooper]

Dom Amore of the Courant and David Borges of the Register were there, for those to didn't see these.

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/2015/05/hamidou-diallo-steve-enoch-mamadou.html

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-uconn-recruits-basketball-game-0531-20150530-story.html

 

[husky99]

The Prince de-commit still baffles me.

He woulda thrived in UConn's system. No idea why he chose UCLA instead.

This is the rumor I heard. TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT... he committed to uconn which was his first college trip( if I remember correctly) and for weeks afterward he heard almost nothing from the staff. Seriously nothing

 

[JSM1970]

He was probably smart and realized with Purvis at the 2 and Dham @ 3 where would he play.

The big miss is Stone, he would have started at the 5 and Brimah could come in for some high energy spots.

This is the rumor I heard. TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT... he committed to uconn which was his first college trip( if I remember correctly) and for weeks afterward he heard almost nothing from the staff. Seriously nothing

 

[tcf15]

He was probably smart and realized with Purvis at the 2 and Dham @ 3 where would he play.

The big miss is Stone, he would have started at the 5 and Brimah could come in for some high energy spots.

Stone would have been nice, but Brimah is much better than getting spot energy minutes.

 

[James]

in the words of rothstein, there was also 'palpable buzz' of adams to uconn when ali committed, and for some time adams as been considered the heir to the throne ( be it his roxbury roots or whatever). Look there is comp at every school he was looking at, and ucla is no different. ironically he will most likely be sitting behind a different hamilton brother out west...

my guess is he wanted a more hashed out recruitment, but he really only made one other visit after the decommit (ucla according to to his 247 timeline)... its also a bit baffeling that this was at a time when KO and uconns name was extremely hot post championship. its baffling and it stings he isn't coming here

 

[mauconnfan]

This is the rumor I heard. TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT... he committed to uconn which was his first college trip( if I remember correctly) and for weeks afterward he heard almost nothing from the staff. Seriously nothing

I just have a hard time believing this. These guys are good at what they do and part of a kids commitment is them paying attention. Unless it was in part "on purpose" I'm going along the lines with the "Jalen Adams buzz". Doesn't really matter anyway he's a Bruin and we're fine.

 

[UConn990411]

Adams and Ali play different positions.

 

[James]

I just have a hard time believing this. These guys are good at what they do and part of a kids commitment is them paying attention. Unless it was in part "on purpose" I'm going along the lines with the "Jalen Adams buzz". Doesn't really matter anyway he's a Bruin and we're fine.

Yup. KO was scrambling for another guard in 2015, but he ended up with a stud in Gibbs ...albiet for one season. this puts the onus on him getting Alterique Gilbert or some other point/combo for 2016. Maybe a diallo reclassification out of 2017, who seems like a very similar player to prince ali.

 

[James]

Stone would have been nice, but Brimah is much better than getting spot energy minutes.

you sure? from reading the boneyard I would swear brimah is basically mandeldove... not the guy who was the second leading scorer for majority of last season before his late season slump.

 

[Walker11]

Ali's decommit coincided with him joining a new AAU program and with his stock seeming to soar (even though he didn't move up in the rankings accidentally). He probably had different people in his ear and thought he was going to get offers from Duke, UK, KU, etc. Plus, KO was handing out offers to guards left and right (Newman, Briscoe, Trier, Jalen, and several more) which perhaps didn't sit right with Prince.

 

[Go_Huskies]

Ali's decommit coincided with him joining a new AAU program and with his stock seeming to soar (even though he didn't move up in the rankings accidentally). He probably had different people in his ear and thought he was going to get offers from Duke, UK, KU, etc. Plus, KO was handing out offers to guards left and right (Newman, Briscoe, Trier, Jalen, and several more) which perhaps didn't sit right with Prince.

I think the circumstantial evidence points to this as the most likely explanation.

 

[Scoe]

The reason Prince Ali chose UCLA is because its closer to home .

 

[JSM1970]

He wasn't last year. Maybe with a full summer of development he will be. He ended the year playing his worst basketball at UConn.

Stone would have been nice, but Brimah is much better than getting spot energy minutes.

 

[James]

He wasn't last year. Maybe with a full summer of development he will be. He ended the year playing his worst basketball at UConn.

dude youre just wrong

he played 27 mpg in conference last season, averaged 9 pts 5 rbs and 4 blocks per game. You can't pick out a slump then deem the rest of his season irrelevant, thats not how it works. a 27 mpg role is not 'spot energy minutes' guy. Uconn was the 25th best 2pt field goal defense in the country and number 1 in conference, most of that credit goes to the best defensive player on the team who blocks a ridiculous amount of shots at the rim.

 

[DogMania]

Ali's decommit coincided with him joining a new AAU program and with his stock seeming to soar (even though he didn't move up in the rankings accidentally). He probably had different people in his ear and thought he was going to get offers from Duke, UK, KU, etc. Plus, KO was handing out offers to guards left and right (Newman, Briscoe, Trier, Jalen, and several more) which perhaps didn't sit right with Prince.

UCONN did continue to recruit over him and I wondered if KO had buyer's remorse since reports on Ali's game was still more slasher, and his jumpshooting was not improving.

It looked like that they thought they'd land a more talented and better fit, but it didn't work out that way until they landed Gibbs.

Now maybe Ali's answer was exactly how it went down. We are far beyond the point simply moving on.

 

[huskiesnyc]

I'm not worried about Ali decommiting one bit, especially if it had anything to do with our recruitment of Adams. Jalen will be an all time UConn great and it's not like our backcourt needs any more depth with studs Purvo, Adams and Gibbs. Not to mention we have other 4/5 star guys that can play the 2 guard position in Dham, Omar and SC2.

 

[UConnSwag11]

The reason Prince Ali chose UCLA is because its closer to home .

I think the circumstantial evidence points to this as the most likely explanation.

I just have a hard time believing this. These guys are good at what they do and part of a kids commitment is them paying attention. Unless it was in part "on purpose" I'm going along the lines with the "Jalen Adams buzz". Doesn't really matter anyway he's a Bruin and we're fine.

This is the rumor I heard. TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT... he committed to uconn which was his first college trip( if I remember correctly) and for weeks afterward he heard almost nothing from the staff. Seriously nothing

*** I realize this is ancient history by now, but not sure if I had ever heard Prince Ali's reasoning for de-committing from UConn last year. So, asked him why.

"I committed a little early," he said. "I decided to open things up, I was having a good summer. It was nothing with the coaching staff, nothing going on. I just decided to open up, check out other schools. If I had waiting a little longer (to commit), I doubt it would have ever happened."

No hard feelings, he stressed.

"Kevin Ollie's a great guy, all the coaches are great people, I'm cool with their players. They're great people."

Ali will take his talents to UCLA instead.

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/