Meet the Newcomers: Isaiah Whaley

[andy34]

Meet The UConn Men Newcomers: Hard Work, And Growth, Make Isaiah Whaley Special

"I always thought about the tradition of UConn," he said. "They've always been great and they've always sent a lot of people to the league."

Really great to know recruits think this way about UConn (and they should!)

 

[mauconnfan]

Dark horse in the 4/5 derby? Seems like a great kid, like all the newcomers with a hard work ethic and some nice length. I still remember on one of his video's a tap in he made after 3 quick jumps back tot he rim. May have something to say even this year about who's on the court. Very exciting, just how we can beat Northeastern

 

[awfuldan]

Yeah, I understand this kid was somewhat of a reach but you gotta love the attitude he has. Would love to see him put in the effort necessary to crack the rotation this year or next. Seems like he has some talent and versatility.

 

[pj]

He's produced at every school he's attended. Yes, the level is stepping up now, but that's a better record of production than many higher rated recruits.

 

[husky429]

he scored 38 against against PSA. Gotta love that--thats a high level team.

I loke that our lower rated recruits still went to powerhouse programs, mount zion for whaley, dematha for carlton. Hopefully that means good fundamentals.

And what can you not like about his attitude? Kid seems addicted to the grind.

I hope ollie has learned you cant always teach 10 toes in. He seems to be recruiting tougher characters

 

[mauconnfan]

he scored 38 against against PSA. Gotta love that--thats a high level team.

I loke that our lower rated recruits still went to powerhouse programs, mount zion for whaley, dematha for carlton. Hopefully that means good fundamentals.

And what can you not like about his attitude? Kid seems addicted to the grind.

I hope ollie has learned you cant always teach 10 toes in. He seems to be recruiting tougher characters

Agree on teaching the 10 toes in, funny how it seemed the likes of Durham and Enoch had them all in yet deep down inside it was about them, not the team. These guys say all the right things who's to know. But it does seem to spin the right way with everyone on the same page, and the talk of toughness as well as them owning they are playing for a program who fell way below their expectations last year. This tells me they know they are part of the core that will bring the Huskies back to prominence, they all seem to have skin in the game and know what it takes to wear the uni that's exciting in itself. Hopefully this will lead to an expedited team chemistry.

 

[ctchamps]

Meet The UConn Men Newcomers: Hard Work, And Growth, Make Isaiah Whaley Special

"I always thought about the tradition of UConn," he said. "They've always been great and they've always sent a lot of people to the league."

Really great to know recruits think this way about UConn (and they should!)

Not just him.

The conference affiliation didn't factor in, Anderson said. It's UConn, not the conference, that mattered most.

"Tradition," Anderson said.

 

[pj]

Not just him.

The conference affiliation didn't factor in, Anderson said. It's UConn, not the conference, that mattered most.

"Tradition," Anderson said.

 

[Huskybass]

I think this kid has real potential. I will be rooting for him to become a rich man's Kentan Facey.

 

[Huskyforlife]

There's so much opportunity for the bigs this year. Nobody knows who the best option will be, no one has a track record. Someone like Whaley who we don't think will do much this year could come out and start first game... hopefully the players see that and work hard for the opportunity.

 

[tykurez]

Not just him.

The conference affiliation didn't factor in, Anderson said. It's UConn, not the conference, that mattered most.

"Tradition," Anderson said.

A nice sentiment sure, but let's not pretend that would be the case for a majority of other kids. + much of that "tradition" is directly correlated with prior conference affiliation.

We're in the ACC or B1G and maybe we're not the bridesmaid on some of these recent near misses.

 

[mauconnfan]

There's so much opportunity for the bigs this year. Nobody knows who the best option will be, no one has a track record. Someone like Whaley who we don't think will do much this year could come out and start first game... hopefully the players see that and work hard for the opportunity.

I really believe they will honestly root for each other, they are working hard against and with each other for the same goal, to play but also to get UConn back to where they expect to be. It's a consistent message they all seem to be conveying and it's nice to hear after seeing some selfish people leave after giving the program very little.

 

[Kembacity]

There's so much opportunity for the bigs this year. Nobody knows who the best option will be, no one has a track record. Someone like Whaley who we don't think will do much this year could come out and start first game... hopefully the players see that and work hard for the opportunity.

I'm excited for the adaptability it will give the coaches. Sure, I wish we had a 6'11" shot blocker beast in our platoon of bigs, but I like that we have a lot of different faces and styles, it will definitely be an interesting season

 

[mauconnfan]

A nice sentiment sure, but let's not pretend that would be the case for a majority of other kids. + much of that "tradition" is directly correlated with prior conference affiliation.

We're in the ACC or B1G and maybe we're not the bridesmaid on some of these recent near misses.

What I like about a lot of these kids is they get who UConn was, should be - "the banners", "the tradition", "they didn't have the kind of year they expect to have last year". Looks like we didn't have that last year there as a lot more me in their thought process and dads not happy with how they're using me. No "I" in team or UConn.

 

[ctchamps]

A nice sentiment sure, but let's not pretend that would be the case for a majority of other kids. + much of that "tradition" is directly correlated with prior conference affiliation.

We're in the ACC or B1G and maybe we're not the bridesmaid on some of these recent near misses.

Conference is a factor but I believe those misses were less the result of conference and more the result of an abysmal season. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that if UConn had made it to the Sweet Sixteen Diallo would have come to UConn, the players would have been less upset with KO going all JC on them, there would not have been dissension in the coaching ranks, Glen would still be at UConn resulting in MAL being a Husky instead of a Friar.

The one loss would have been Zach. But those arguing KO should have not taken Zach because of the warning signs need to be more freescooter like who postulated JC should never have accepted the type of recruits he accepted (he was obnoxious before the Nate Miles fiasco). Free cherry picks when he comes to this forum. You never see him here when things are going well. But he was consistent about the type of recruits that should be recruited. The KO detractors with regards to Zach are cherry picking failures.

It was a vicious cycle of problems, some of which is on KO, some on the other coaches, some on the players and some on a rash of extreme bad luck. I'm sure there weren't many programs that suffered the injury bug UConn suffered. Those two early losses were hard for all of us to accept. But we've seen UConn teams go through difficult slumps, posters begin to write the team off, and then the team begins to gel. Last years team never got the chance because of those injuries.

 

[TheDoggPound]

He looks like Tupac

 

[Hoophound]

The conference won't matter if we play like a blue blood. If we play like crap and aren't ranked, it will be more of an issue. We are bringing in talent again, so we should be able to get it back together if KO can coach like he did in the first couple of years.