Matthews Decommits

[CL82]

Any idea how a program even begins to recover from the decommit of a 3 star recruit?

Meh, don't kid yourself, he would have helped us. Let's see what Hurley does with the slot.

 

[Excalibur]

I like the kid and think he can play, but this is the necessary and predictable fallout from a coaching change. I hope we can find replacements, but I'd rather wait a year if all we're going to get is scraps at this point.

 

[mauconnfan]

They all look good in mixtapes. It's the whole point

I agree as I love to see all those KO haters reacting to Amida looking so good on thatG League highlight video it's laughable.

But let's be honest Emmett has some gifts, one that he can handle it, is long and can shoot. If Hurley is as good as we hear this is a kid which would fit the profile of "I can make him a real good player" that's for sure.

 

[selles]

Then please enlighten me oh wise one !!!

Do tell everyone what your insight is..

His insight is that you're being a tad melodramatic.

 

[B1GEast]

When he got hurt, I wasn't happy, now we don't have to worry.

I wish him well

 

[Horatio]

Hurley need to stop waiting on Cox.!! He needs to not be a nice guy to URI and go take his players. It’s way to late in recruiting to be nice and all there are is decommits and scraps!!!

There's a bunch of other decommits , unsigned players and grad transfers out there. We're not the only school that changed coaching staffs.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He's a shooter and hasn't ruled out coming to UConn. So either Hurley will see him as a valuable future piece and push for him, or he won't. I'm not going to pretend that I can read his mind.

As for immediate impact. The odds that Matthews would play over Vital or Polley next year are next to zero. Complain about Polley if you want, but he saw the light go on late last year and became a reliable shooter. He also has more size, and if we can get him to play tenacious D, is ideal to be disruptive in any kind of a pressure defense.

I'm not going to worry about any of this. I trust Hurley to build a roster that fits what he's trying to do. More kids will decommit from other schools. Some are still technically available. If we start the season with 3-4 open scholarships I'll start to worry.

 

[Captbluefin]

There's a bunch of other decommits , unsigned players and grad transfers out there. We're not the only school that changed coaching staffs.

Ok. I understand the point.

 

[TopDogs]

Emmitt Matthews Jr. Becomes Second Recruit To Decommit From UConn

 

[80shusky]

He recruited very well at URI but he felt he had maxed out there. The reason he chose UConn is that he sees it as a job where he can recruit at the highest levels and contend for final 4's and championships.

Do we really have to go through the whole routine again how higher ranked players tend to be better players than lower ranked players?

No, my point was only that a 3* 135 ranked player isn't a terrible guy to have on your roster and could turn out to be a really good college player. He can actually shoot a little bit too. And is fairly typical and even higher ranked than most of the players Hurley has historically recruited. But, he wasn't recruiting here either so there's that. It's not worth losing your mind over but minimizing it as no big deal isn't really accurate either.

 

[buddy]

This kid was a shooter. And how many shooters do we have???? Uh yea...

I think the key word here is that he "was" a shooter. I think given that he broke his wrist, I wonder how good a shooter he is now? Last thing UConn needs is more injury prone players. Plus, probably best if the new coach gets his own guys. Not worried.

 

[August_West]

No decommits will be surprising. This board seemed to overrate this incoming class. Kids will most likely look around and Hurley will be looking at kids he wants.

Not for this upcoming fall though. Very few recruits at the rankings of Akinjo especially and even Matthews ranges at this late date who arent already having hooks in elsewhere. I have no doubt Hurley will be able to recruit here over the long haul. Looking forward to it. But whether you think they are overrated or not the odds are we dont get as good at this late date. Wouldve been nice pieces to have especially if Jalen was back and Gilbert was healthy to get some continuity going into the year after next. Last minute scrambling brings you the likes of DO and AA. Hurley will get time to right this. But those players wouldve been a plus, not a minus for next season.

 

[UConNation]

Reading between the lines a little, but does this mean Chillious isn't being retained? Both guys we lost were west coast guys, who Chill was heavily involved in.

 

[superjohn]

No, my point was only that a 3* 135 ranked player isn't a terrible guy to have on your roster and could turn out to be a really good college player. He can actually shoot a little bit too. And is fairly typical and even higher ranked than most of the players Hurley has historically recruited. But, he wasn't recruiting here either so there's that. It's not worth losing your mind over but minimizing it as no big deal isn't really accurate either.

It's no big deal. Hurley will recruit him if he wants him or he will target someone as good or better.

 

[Sphinx]

Maybe DH took a look at Polley and thought, "Hmm, a 6-8 small forward who shot 42% from 3-pt range last year. And then there's Sid. And I need guards. Better give Matthews fair warning."

 

[superjohn]

Reading between the lines a little, but does this mean Chillious isn't being retained? Both guys we lost were west coast guys, who Chill was heavily involved in.

Doubtful.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Reading between the lines a little, but does this mean Chillious isn't being retained? Both guys we lost were west coast guys, who Chill was heavily involved in.

He is pretty clearly not coming back.

 

[superjohn]

Not for this upcoming fall though. Very few recruits at the rankings of Akinjo especially and even Matthews ranges at this late date who arent already having hooks in elsewhere. I have no doubt Hurley will be able to recruit here over the long haul. Looking forward to it. But whether you think they are overrated or not the odds are we dont get as good at this late date. Wouldve been nice pieces to have especially if Jalen was back and Gilbert was healthy to get some continuity going into the year after next. Last minute scrambling brings you the likes of DO and AA. Hurley will get time to right this. But those players wouldve been a plus, not a minus for next season.

Hurley wants open schollies.

 

[ARIDE]

Hurley needs room for his guys especially if Cox doesn’t get URI.

Highly unlikely any of these guys will be replaced with equal talent for next tears team.

 

[gtcam]

At this point, any available spot from this roster gives Hurley a chance to fill it with his guys. Advantage UConn.

I'll give you the obvious - it opens up a spot for DH
Not so obvious and not a given - advantage UConn
I'm not too sure DH wanted to lose any of the 3 recruits
There's a lot of folks that think just because DH chose UConn that recruits were going to immediately come knocking at the door.
I hope/pray he does bring in the guys UConn needs to get back to the level it needs to be but that also means a few steps up from A10/URI level
I understand that in a coaching change there is fall-out but the optics are bad whenever kids choose to back out. Plus this is April and September is closing in quickly
When Matthews first signed there were very few who were negative, now it's "he's only a 3* - no loss"
To me it's unfortunate but I wonder if DH has reached out to him...............................

 

[Austin316]

Hurley wants to run a certain offense and defense. If Matthews doesn’t think he will fit into it then off he can go. Wish him the best.

Hurley can add another fishing line...

 

[James]

It's no big deal. Hurley will recruit him if he wants him or he will target someone as good or better.

You seem super confident. Who knows at this point Hurley is unproven on the trail as far as I’m concerned. The guy we fired had a noted rep and was solid at getting prospects, he just couldn’t coach or develop talent at all.

 

[UconnU]

Maybe DH took a look at Polley and thought, "Hmm, a 6-8 small forward who shot 42% from 3-pt range last year. And then there's Sid. And I need guards. Better give Matthews fair warning."

The problem is when you look at our roster it doesn't look like we need guards. But we do, desperately. One can't stay healthy, another one played more minutes than he should have, another may not come back, another shouldn't be on a high major roster, and none can shoot the ball well. But on paper it looks like we have 3 sophomore guards who all played a lot of minutes last year.

 

[TopDogs]

It's not quite last minute. I know it seems like it because we haven't played in a basketball game in 20 days (that's all) but there are still basketball games being played which means there are still coaching changes that may come, kids that will transfer and others who will decommit. At least 50 kids decommitted in 2017. I'd expect that same thing this year. NLOI day is April 11 and kids can submit their letters until May 16. That's a lot of time (ok, maybe not until April 11). Let's just give Hurley & Co. a chance to see what shakes loose. This is not the end of the world.