Mikayla Coombs to Transfer

[BRS24]

From what I've read, putting your name in the transfer portal does not mean that you will transfer. I believe that there has been at least one MCBB player that put his name in and then decided to stay at the school. Until there's an announcement of a new school, I'm not assuming anything.

 

[WNBA 09]

From what I've read, putting your name in the transfer portal does not mean that you will transfer. I believe that there has been at least one MCBB player that put his name in and then decided to stay at the school. Until there's an announcement of a new school, I'm not assuming anything.

Herbert Herrigan stayed

 

[Plebe]

I know this was hashed and rehashed aplenty during the season, but Mikayla was among the more confounding players we've seen. It was difficult to behold how such a highly rated recruit -- who put up plenty of points in high school -- could appear so incapable as a scorer in college. She averaged 17 ppg in her senior year of HS; surely those weren't all from layups?

I can only surmise that some technical flaws and a lack of confidence began at some point to feed off each other in a negative cycle. I'm sure it was at least as frustrating for her as it was for all of us.

She seems like a hard worker and a great person. A reset with another program might be the best way forward for her. Wishing her all the best.

 

[mbr33ct]

Using men does you no good unless you're in Gampel or the Werth Center since they aren't allowed off-campus as part of the team.

If we throw in Shea and Jasmine...do we have 10 again?

 

[mbr33ct]

And on top of this, UConn loses 2020 recruit Natalja Marshall, a 6'4" post player, to Oregon, right from under our noses- Christ the King in New York.

Ouch!

Didn't know it was UConn's to lose...sort of losing Boston from our back yard?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

*to Notre Dame

Even worse.

Yep, even worse, and my error. Thanks, though I don't feel any better.

 

[oldude]

One other point on Mikayla. At the end of every season Geno meets individually with each returning player to review the season just pass and to outline his expectations for next season. I would expect that Geno was very honest with Mikayla, likely indicating that she would never be more than a role player at UConn unless she could substantially improve her offensive ability.

Mikayla is a wonderful athlete with a fundamentally flawed shooting stroke that is nearly impossible to fix as a junior in college.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I’ve watched Marshall play twice in person at the Federation Cup. She has some skills, but prefers to hang around outside and doesn’t hustle. She’s got a long way to go to be a D1 basketball player.

She is highly rated, and let's recall that Stephanie Dolson was no superstar when she was in high school. Slow, not good hands, and out of shape. But a couple of years later, she became strong underneath, dynamic, a great passer, and one of the best posts in the nation.

It appears that there are 5 players among the top 25 who are 6'4" or taller. Three have already been taken- and by Oregon, Notre Dame, and Stanford. We're desperate for size, yet our most bitter rivals have stolen three of the five. And one whom we're supposedly targeting, Gusters, is from Texas, which is susceptible to schools in that region.

This is a tough off-season. Fingers crossed....

 

[Fairfield Fan]

One other point on Mikayla. At the end of every season Geno meets individually with each returning player to review the season just pass and to outline his expectations for next season. I would expect that Geno was very honest with Mikayla, likely indicating that she would never be more than a role player at UConn unless she could substantially improve her offensive ability.

Mikayla is a wonderful athlete with a fundamentally flawed shooting stroke that is nearly impossible to fix as a junior in college.

Can't believe that she will change her mind, and take her name out of the transfer portal. Can one imagine her facing Coach Geno after doing that?

Can't see that happening.

 

[pvdoggy]

This is a tough off-season. Fingers crossed....

Talk about being spoiled. Every school should have that problem (signed a top recruit of 2020, and one of the top international recruits, with likely more to come).

 

[Jaybird65]

Can't believe that she will change her mind, and take her name out of the transfer portal. Can one imagine her facing Coach Geno after doing that?

Can't see that happening.

Why would that be an issue particularly if Geno had his post season meeting with her & she understands what her role would be & is accepting of that & buys in? Maybe she just wants the opportunity to explore other possibilities to see what's out there like coaches can. Coaches certainly have no issue facing their players when they have flirted with other jobs.

 

[BobbyJ]

Dont hold your breath shes most likely headed back home after the visit .

Where else would she go?

 

[DEpup]

Makes sense. She clearly won't be the next PG and her offense has just been nonexistent with no improvement in her shooting mechanics.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Not entirely surprising. If you watch the games last year, Combs usually does not seem that enthusiastic from the bench, maybe that's how she is as a person, but I always felt like she was not particularly happy. Coombs always seems to play hard when she is on the court.

So I kept hearing from many Uconn fans on here asking why would recruits not want to come and play for the best program in wbb, for the best coaching staff, etc... How do you explain the high rate of transfer in the past few years of players who have actually gone through the experience?

If you really love the game, you want to play. Being on a championship team that you seldom get to play in the game you love has to be tough. I can see how a player would want to leave a great team for a good team where she could significantly participate in the games. Got to be a real challenge for the coach of the great team to keep the bench players motivated, just playing in those games where the outcome has been determined before you get to play can’t be too satisfying. My take, developing and motivating the bench is critical and will become even more difficult with the transfer trend we see today.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Talk about being spoiled. Every school should have that problem (signed a top recruit of 2020, and one of the top international recruits, with likely more to come).

I don't think 2020 recruits can sign until November, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[soxfan23]

And on top of this, UConn loses 2020 recruit Natalja Marshall, a 6'4" post player, to Oregon, right from under our noses- Christ the King in New York.

Ouch!

Marshall was always going to either Stanford or Notre Dame, she was never seriously linked to UConn.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Mikayla has had the benefit of 2 years of the UConn way. She's a Husky forever. I hope she gains traction in her next port of call.

 

[pvdoggy]

I don't think 2020 recruits can sign until November, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I meant getting the commitment from those recruits. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Bama fan]

How is this "not a good look", have you looked at the transfer rates in college basketball lately?

I would be willing to bet that transfer rates do not average 75%, so the OP was not unreasonable.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I know this was hashed and rehashed aplenty during the season, but Mikayla was among the more confounding players we've seen. It was difficult to behold how such a highly rated recruit -- who put up plenty of points in high school -- could appear so incapable as a scorer in college. She averaged 17 ppg in her senior year of HS; surely those weren't all from layups?

I can only surmise that some technical flaws and a lack of confidence began at some point to feed off each other in a negative cycle. I'm sure it was at least as frustrating for her as it was for all of us.

She seems like a hard worker and a great person. A reset with another program might be the best way forward for her. Wishing her all the best.

Same for Irwin. I believe she averaged over 25ppg in 4 years in HS. Now she averages 2ppg.
How did she and Coombs become offensive liabilties?
I have my opinions, but I will leave at that.

If anyone thinks a player has to be an offensive asset to get PT, look at one of the former Irish players that I always liked when I saw her play HS or club ball, Hannah Huffman. She only averaged about 2 to 3 ppg but played about 500 minutes her junior and senior years at ND, and contributed.

 

[Charliebball]

I was afraid of this. I was rooting for her and hoping Geno would play her more late in the year.

I hope she lands on her feet in some fertile soil.

I thought she was gone after her freshman season but she stuck it out.......................not getting minutes in the big tournament must have felt like a slap in the face to her...................I was hoping she'd get more consistent minutes next season and show that she does have a mid range game................I wish her all the best and will be watching her progress with interest.....................

 

[oldude]

She is highly rated, and let's recall that Stephanie Dolson was no superstar when she was in high school. Slow, not good hands, and out of shape. But a couple of years later, she became strong underneath, dynamic, a great passer, and one of the best posts in the nation.

It appears that there are 5 players among the top 25 who are 6'4" or taller. Three have already been taken- and by Oregon, Notre Dame, and Stanford. We're desperate for size, yet our most bitter rivals have stolen three of the five. And one whom we're supposedly targeting, Gusters, is from Texas, which is susceptible to schools in that region.

This is a tough off-season. Fingers crossed....

Geno recruited Steph because she ran the court hard every time. Marshall does not.

 

[CajunHusky]

I would be willing to bet that transfer rates do not average 75%, so the OP was not unreasonable.

I don't think UConn's transfer rate averages 75%. I would expect that if someone did the statistics one might find that UConn is somewhere in the lower half of the bell curve.

 

[BobbyJ]

One other point on Mikayla. At the end of every season Geno meets individually with each returning player to review the season just pass and to outline his expectations for next season. I would expect that Geno was very honest with Mikayla, likely indicating that she would never be more than a role player at UConn unless she could substantially improve her offensive ability.

Mikayla is a wonderful athlete with a fundamentally flawed shooting stroke that is nearly impossible to fix as a junior in college.

That’s exactly what all programs do, and how they clean out space for future recruits. IMO, the numbers problem was caused by using up three schollies on kids who basically played the same position, none of whom was a blue chip sure bet. Similar to the Ekmark, Edwards snafu. I’m surprised by the botched ability evaluations coming out of HS. Late in the regular season, Auriemma, when asked a question by the media about Coombs, said something like “ I’m only gonna talk about kids that are going to play”. So she knew she was dead in the water. I hope she goes somewhere and enjoys playing.

 

[Charliebball]

Yup, we sure are

Class of 2014-2 transfers(Edwards/Ekmark)
Class of 2015-1 transfer(Boykin)
Class of 2016-0 transfers(1 player class)
Class of 2017-3 transfers(AEH/Gordon/Coombs)

I mean, it's the same problem everywhere, but our problem is that 2, 1 player classes in 4 years, has hurt roster numbers bad.

you got that right.............................this 2017 class has proven to be problematic and it has put the team in a tough position...............Geno & Co's assessment of these three recruits proved to be off the mark..............just proof that even the great coaches don't always get them right

 

[Charliebball]

One other point on Mikayla. At the end of every season Geno meets individually with each returning player to review the season just pass and to outline his expectations for next season. I would expect that Geno was very honest with Mikayla, likely indicating that she would never be more than a role player at UConn unless she could substantially improve her offensive ability.

Mikayla is a wonderful athlete with a fundamentally flawed shooting stroke that is nearly impossible to fix as a junior in college.

she does have a decent mid range game as evidenced by her high school videos...................she just didn't have the confidence to show that part of her game or was told not to shoot unless necessary................................

 

[Bama fan]

I don't think UConn's transfer rate averages 75%. I would expect that if someone did the statistics one might find that UConn is somewhere in the lower half of the bell curve.

The OP was commenting on the one class wherein three out of four left. Hence 75% and to bemoan that is not unreasonable. That is all I meant.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Geno recruited Steph because she ran the court hard every time. Marshall does not.

Fun (or not so fun) fact: Stef's class also had three recruits, or 60%, transfer. Does anyone remember who they were?

 

[CajunHusky]

The OP was commenting on the one class wherein three out of four left. Hence 75% and to bemoan that is not unreasonable. That is all I meant.

but the OP used the word "averages" ..... thus my comment is reasonable. That is all I meant.

 

[Argonaut]

Fun (or not so fun) fact: Stef's class also had three recruits, or 60%, transfer. Does anyone remember who they were?

Oh! Pick me, pick me!

Michaela(?) Michala (?) Johnson, Lauren Engeln, and Samarie Walker!