Morgan Tuck..2016 Choice??

[Bill In Georgia]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

 

[oldude]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

I certainly respect your opinion, but I took the opposite position at the time for 2 reasons. While it would have been great to have a "healthy" Morgan Tuck on the team this past season, and her presence might have been just enough to secure a 12th banner, her chronic knee problems were a major concern.

The second issue that I raised at the time was the development of the younger players. Consider that Pheesa would never have had the breakout season she had if Tuck was back, and to a lesser extent the same could be said of Gabby.

So the Huskies didn't win it all this season, but they are incredibly well positioned to win it all next season.

 

[eebmg]

Negatives:

Her knee issues could have cropped up and potentially eliminated her chance to play in the WNBA and reducing international opportunities. A life of regret.

Unintended Consequence: Slowed down Naphessa's development.

 

[bizarro aj]

If tuck couldn't make it through a full season in the wnba what makes you think she would've made it through the season at uconn, which is more grueling then the pro's?

 

[CocoHusky]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

She already was "the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve" regardless of what she decided to do with that last year of eligibility.

 

[Sonny44]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

 

[UcMiami]

WNBA has a rookie salary so she would have gotten exactly the same money this year as she did last.

On the injury front - who knows, it is very different going from college season immediately into training camp and WNBA season vs. having a summer of less stressful work maintaining conditioning and strengthening. (Kia's situation with the Canadian NT and college is not too dissimilar and it will continue this summer with Canada having to qualify for the WC in 2018 during this summer. Unlike the USA team, the Canadian team trains and plays games all summer. Her stress reaction while brought on by a specific event this year was likely not helped by playing competitively for the last 4 years with no real breaks except the 5 weeks or so to recover from her operation last spring.)

This team would certainly have been different had Tuck returned for a fifth year and it might have had an effect of Napheesa's development or Gabby's but I don't think the court development would have been much different for them - they would still have played 20+ minutes per game and been major contributors. The biggest difference would have been on the development of leadership skills from Gabby and Kia as they would have leaned much more heavily on Morgan. The maturation process for all the team members would likely have been a little stunted by her presence.

I though getting a head start on a masters would have been a good option for Morgan - the compensation after taxes and living expenses would work out at least equal, and as it turned out she did not get her big European payday that would have tipped the scale to going pro. And I also understood the appeal of going out with the class you came in with. She was already 'mature' for her age so sticking around for another year to be better prepared wasn't necessary either. But with her injury history having a masters on her resume later in life would certainly help and getting it partly completed during a fifth year for free seemed like a good option.

On Edit - don't really think WNBA player marketing would be affected at all by another year even with 5 NCs.

 

[bballnut90]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

She would not be the #1 overall pick with her knees, and this class is likely much stronger than 2016 with the exception of the top 2 picks from last year.

It's also a long shot that she would be making anywhere close to $1,000,000/year overseas.

She likely has a limited pro career due to her knees, so she was able to capitalize on it a year early and also jump start her broadcasting career.

On the same note, it'd be ambitious of her to assume that Connecticut would be as good this year as they ended up being, with or without her. I think they likely win it all with Tuck this year, but I don't think she would've been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements.

 

[JordyG]

We wondered a year ago if Ms Tuck would return for her final edible year with UConn.

My choice at that time
.. return, win her 5th national...get her Masters (free)

What that leaves..
-Only person EVER to win 5 Nationals.
-Enter one of the weakest drafts in years, would probably go #1 and if handled right could of signed for 7 figures home and abroad.
Again if handled correctly, would of been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements, worth another....??
Plus she would become the perfectly rounded example of "Today's Young Women", and what one could achieve.

She would not be the #1 overall pick with her knees, and this class is likely much stronger than 2016 with the exception of the top 2 picks from last year.

It's also a long shot that she would be making anywhere close to $1,000,000/year overseas.

She likely has a limited pro career due to her knees, so she was able to capitalize on it a year early and also jump start her broadcasting career.

On the same note, it'd be ambitious of her to assume that Connecticut would be as good this year as they ended up being, with or without her. I think they likely win it all with Tuck this year, but I don't think she would've been a gold mine for appearances and endorsements.

Of course I and others raised the issue of getting a masters in one year. It seemed highly unlikely since most times it takes 2 and up to 3 years. Granted she would have had a year leg up, so to speak, but that still would have left much to do in that aspect. Also the fragility of her knees made it a ticking bomb, and blowing out her knee as an amateur instead of as a first year pro would have eliminated any big money pay out. Certainly then as now playing overseas is a crapshoot for her.

 

[Geno-ista]

I was one of few taking a lot of heat on the BY for my opinion-convinced she would leave. After meeting her many times on first night, etc... she was so mature, I knew she would be past staying in college, after her normal classste left. Totally opposite the Doty personality. That would have stayed forever. That was just a personality analogy. Morgan was born an old soul. What a class act! And Doty- what's not to love. Those knee injuries are such nightmares.

 

[uconn_nyc]

I confess during the Final Four game I said to myself, "Morgan Tuck would have scored in the paint easily and grabbed lots of rebounds" -thus allowing our finesse forwards to score more. But, as somebody pointed out in this thread, Tuck's presence would have impacted Collins development and minutes. It is what it is. I'm glad the the winning streak is over. Good for fan's bragging rights; added pressure on the players. So proud of our team and so looking forward to next season!