Matthews Decommits

[Sphinx]

Maybe Dan Hurley 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 Dan Hurley
Not so obvious and not a given - advantage UConn
I'm not too sure Dan Hurley wanted to lose any of the 3 recruits
There's a lot of folks that think just because Dan Hurley 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 Dan Hurley 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 Dan Hurley 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.

 

[USNA90]

In the short term, UConn can fill his spot and be better off with an experienced grad transfer who can be an immediate contributor. Better to go that route than use the scholarship on a lower-ranked player (or worse yet, leave it open). Where this does hurt is three years down the road when there are few upper-classmen on the roster. UConn had issues with that in the past, and will again next year due to early departures and small recruiting classes.

 

[Kembacity]

View attachment 30199 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...

Please explain these vast differences you see between what Ollie 'ran' and what Hurley might run

 

[gtcam]

Nor can we reliy on a 3 star freshman.

You are very simplistic in brushing him off - have you seen any film on the kid? He can shoot lights out, has size and great hands and he loved UConn
I guess you think 3* players can never develop
Take a look at Dan Hurley's squad at URI - quite a few 3* and lower in that uniform
I think this kid is a potential big loss but if he doesn't want to come to Storrs.........................

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is a U Maryland site, but the list is pretty fresh. These are the available grad transfers.

There are some decent looking players out there. I wouldn't rule out UConn landing freshmen who decommit elsewhere as well. Then there are guys who may be able to reclassify, as RJ Barrett did and Bagley did last year. Anybody know who those guys are?

 

[Kenny11]

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.

I think he would have either played over Polley or at least forced Polley to step his game up. Matthews seems to be more athletic than Polley, and more importantly, has a much more confident demeanor. He sees himself as a star. Polley played scared most of the year and we can't afford to have that again.

 

[August_West]

Hurley wants open schollies.

You think he wants an open schollie more than he wouldve wanted James Akinjo?

The impression I get of Hurley is he is not stupid.

It's not Hurleys fault that Akinjo and now Matthews decommitted. Happens all the time in coaching changes. But let's not pretend Hurley wouldn't welcome these guys here if they still wanted to attend.

Im fine with it. It is what it is in coaching changes, but I would be utterly shocked (and very pleased) if Hurley is able to pull a better guard than Akinjo before the start of the season.

 

[gtcam]

Hurley will be fine. He’s done this before.

I hope and pray so BUT
He's never done "this" at this level

 

[kansashusky]

Always a bigger picture.

I know after the Ollie era we are conditioned to think there are no plan b's or c's or that those plans are a low level grad transfer or a JUCO kid, but I promise, Hurley is three or four steps a head right now.

 

[amsterdamjade]

we have enough of the string bean wing players already. think we should bulk up a bit. get a little tougher and maybe some outside shooting.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think he would have either played over Polley or at least forced Polley to step his game up. Matthews seems to be more athletic than Polley, and more importantly, has a much more confident demeanor. He sees himself as a star. Polley played scared most of the year and we can't afford to have that again.

The kid is in high school. They all see themselves that way. It's irrelevant. He, like most freshmen, would struggle to contribute. That's not a knock, it's simply the reality for all but a handful of them. He's not Khalid El Amin. Polley shot 42% from 3 despite a slow start. He was more highly ranked and recruited than Matthews.

 

[Captbluefin]

Honest question I am sure I will be slammed for...

How many top 100 recruits has Hurley successfully recruited?

Should we expect a bit of a learning curve or no?

Legit ?

 

[3'sGetDegrees]

Yeah this, it can't be that some would underrate a couple of the recruits.

This kid was a good fit say what you will.

(certainly not implying we should have kept KO just saying this one hurts despite what some think)

Please tell me you are being sarcastic? Have you watched his tape? Half of his highlights are him grabbing uncontested rebounds below the rim!

 

[Huskyforlife]

I see lots of people ignoring what others have said about decommits and potential players reclassifying. Worst case scenario he goes after good grad transfers.

 

[Mokum]

You are very simplistic in brushing him off - have you seen any film on the kid? He can shoot lights out, has size and great hands and he loved UConn
I guess you think 3* players can never develop
Take a look at Dan Hurley's squad at URI - quite a few 3* and lower in that uniform
I think this kid is a potential big loss but if he doesn't want to come to Storrs.....

No I don't care about stars. But this guy is not going to make or break the program. If he doesn't want to come, so be it. Let Hurley recruit. He will get good players. Vital was 3 star and he is a good player to have on any team.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I thought he just commented that he was uconn all the way regardless of who the coach was?

Right? Hmmm

 

[awfuldan]

Maybe Dan Hurley 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."

TIL Polley shot 42% from 3 last year. That's encouraging.

Best of luck to Matthews! Hope we can get a guard or two to commit soon.

Side note, can you even imagine a line-up with Polley, Matthews, and Wilson? So many long, skinny dudes on one team. And that's even with Larrier gone.

 

[BlueMAB]

Honest question I am sure I will be slammed for...

How many top 100 recruits has Hurley successfully recruited?

Should we expect a bit of a learning curve or no?

Legit ?

Does it matter that he's only coached at URI and Wagner?

 

[UConnStats]

Honest question I am sure I will be slammed for...

How many top 100 recruits has Hurley successfully recruited?

Should we expect a bit of a learning curve or no?

Legit ?

You can’t compare URI to UConn.

And losing the commit of a 3 star player from the former coach’s class isn’t a bearing on anything really.

HS and AAU coaches believe he’ll be a great recruiter, and their opinions mean more than just about anybody’s.

 

[Javjudah]

W

Hurley wants open schollies.

If that's the case he's getting his wishes. I guess he's incorporating his players sooner rather than later = sooner results and less excuses.

 

[mauconnfan]

No I don't care about stars. But this guy is not going to make or break the program. If he doesn't want to come, so be it. Let Hurley recruit. He will get good players. Vital was 3 star and he is a good player to have on any team.

No one is saying he will make or break the program hopefully there is no one that can do that right? Just saying to brush him off as if he wouldn't have had great potential help the program is not accurate. Pretty simple.