Next years team and Transfer Portal?

[01Neaggrad02]

If I am not mistaken we will have 11 players on next years team.
We will have 1 senior, 1 player who could be a senior or Redshirt Junior. 4 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, and 2 Freshman

If UCONN were to go for transfer students, how many do you think they would go for and what positions. Have heard people talk about guards and bigs. If there are two really good bigs do we try for two of them... if we have two or three guards we would go for that? Would it depend on how many years they have left to play?

Just curious what everyone thinks.

 

[CocoHusky]

The portal became a necessity for UCONN the minute Saylor and Mir departed and Kiki Rice matriculated on the West Coast. That necessity was reinforced by the multiple injuries that UCONN sustained this season up to and including Dorka. There is no way in hell Geno goes into the 22-23 season with 11 players. At a minimum two player will be added to the roster IMO. Evina and CW departure is leaving quite a few minutes so ideally a Combo Guard/Wing that is good perimeter defender is almost a necessity. Abby Meyers fits this description perfectly. As far as a post player with a bigger body that can crack the rotation would also be nice. There is no perfect fit in the portal as of yet but there are quite a few contenders. As far as how many years of eligibility remaining that ship has sailed. Wether is is 1,2 or 3 players that UCONN picks up from the portal those players MUST be ready and qualified to be part of the regular rotation starting on day 1.

 

[veryolddog]

As much as Geno loves Nika on the floor with all of her enthusiasm, he has often said that she is a foul waiting to happen. Would be nice to a couple of good shooting guards and another banger for rebounds.

 

[hoopsfan22]

As much as Geno loves Nika on the floor with all of her enthusiasm, he has often said that she is a foul waiting to happen. Would be nice to a couple of good shooting guards and another banger for rebounds.

She's done better with fouls lately. I wouldn't mind seeing a starting lineup of Nika, Paige, Azzi, Caroline, and Edwards next season.

 

[Hayven]

Depending on how well Dorka’s rehab goes, I expect her to start next year. Azzi, Paige and Aaliyah will be starting as well. Caroline can potentially be that fifth starter.

I don’t know how well Aubrey will rehab and when she can even start playing. So that’s up in the air.

I think Ice will get some playing time next year. She seems automatic with that elbow jumper around the free throw line. That will help the guards create some space. Geno is going all in with Amari this summer which is great. Hopefully she can be a solid backup.

If Geno can get a back up guard and big from the portal, that would be great. I hope he can get Owusu and/or Reese from Maryland. The offense would be electric

 

[nomdoux]

Nice anticipated Transfer Portal approach from Daniel Connelly @ UConn Blog:

UConn WBB Weekly: How should the Huskies approach the transfer market?

UConn’s roster has some holes, but should it use the transfer portal or player development to fill them?

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[nomdoux]

Piath’s departure increases likelihood that Geno adds a post in addition to a guard/wing from Portal.

 

[Skeets]

As much as Geno loves Nika on the floor with all of her enthusiasm, he has often said that she is a foul waiting to happen. Would be nice to a couple of good shooting guards and another banger for rebounds.

You know, with the (bad for us, maybe good for her) news about Piath, it does answer the question, do we need another guard or a big? The answer is yes. Go get both. I've been harping about another big for a while. That's still priority 1. With another roster spot open (there's actually more than 1) get the best guard available. Debate solved.

 

[Scud49]

She's done better with fouls lately. I wouldn't mind seeing a starting lineup of Nika, Paige, Azzi, Caroline, and Edwards next season.

Not Dorka....??

 

[Centerstream]

With a little more than 3 weeks left for players to enter the portal, this thread could (and probably will) be repeated on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Not Dorka....??

First things first she has to recover from her injury. That will take four months. Then she'll have her physical therapy and getting back into basketball shape. We're probably looking at half a year before she's back to where she was pre-injury. We have Nika and Aaliyah for least 2 more seasons which is why I prioritize them, but if Dorka gets back to where she was she'll get plenty of minutes with ONO's big shoes to fill. You could swap Caroline or Nika for Dorka, but for the sake of the future of the team I'd say let's get on with it this season and start building that chemistry that they'll have to have next year when Dorka's gone anyway.

 

[asuwish]

If I am not mistaken we will have 11 players on next years team.
We will have 1 senior, 1 player who could be a senior or Redshirt Junior. 4 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, and 2 Freshman

If UCONN were to go for transfer students, how many do you think they would go for and what positions. Have heard people talk about guards and bigs. If there are two really good bigs do we try for two of them... if we have two or three guards we would go for that? Would it depend on how many years they have left to play?

Just curious what everyone thinks.

SC has 6 tallented players 6'2 or taller, Sexton being the shortest. They have 4 guards over 6ft, and 15 scholarship players, I think at least 10 were HS AA. We have 10 which includes Deberry which what if she doesn't develope? Griffin, what if she doesn't come back the same, and 2 freshman which we assume are going to play but you NEVER know. You need depth to play against teams like SC and Stanford, talk about size and length. SC was physical and wore is down. 1 or 2 bugs and at least 1 more guard. Wish list would be Meyers, Reese, and some wide body 6'6 post to bang around because we need more than Dorka and Edwards against say Boston and Cordova, esp if the later gets in shape. If everyone is healthy and the 2 freshmen live up to the hype Geno can figure it out but of the 3 most talented teams we have much less depth and room for injury to overcome.

 

[TeamFirst!]

A guard and a big and I've come around to supporting the Myers option if available.

 

[Charliebball]

SC has 6 tallented players 6'2 or taller, Sexton being the shortest. They have 4 guards over 6ft, and 15 scholarship players, I think at least 10 were HS AA. We have 10 which includes Deberry which what if she doesn't develope? Griffin, what if she doesn't come back the same, and 2 freshman which we assume are going to play but you NEVER know. You need depth to play against teams like SC and Stanford, talk about size and length. SC was physical and wore is down. 1 or 2 bugs and at least 1 more guard. Wish list would be Meyers, Reese, and some wide body 6'6 post to bang around because we need more than Dorka and Edwards against say Boston and Cordova, esp if the later gets in shape. If everyone is healthy and the 2 freshmen live up to the hype Geno can figure it out but of the 3 most talented teams we have much less depth and room for injury to overcome.

Oh my.......... it's a good thing they can only have five players on the court at a time..........

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Man I posted this before news of Piath.... I hope we can get two bigs and one guard... What is the deal with Nika's sister? Could that be something?

 

[TeamFirst!]

It would seem that there are a lot of top guards available. I'm not seeing a lot of post options. I think we end up with a guard and that's it. We have 2 bigs coming in and I do think Ice can contribute right away with Ayanna probably working into the rotation quickly. Ice can shoot and her rebounding numbers are surprisingly good considering her speed of play. Ayanna can clearly go get it and probably can rebound with just about any incoming forward. Amari will be needed as well. All of them seem very nice so they will have to toughen up some to succeed at the next level. It isn't peaches and cream any more. I noticed on one of Ice's videos that she gets into it with other players some. She competes.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Dre’una Edwards is pretty compelling to me. It wouldn't help us as much if she had to set out a year though. She can play. Morgan Jones and Taylor Jones are compelling. Morgan Jones is a guard who would only be available for one year but in some ways that's good. We have 2 guards coming in after next year. I love Taylor Jones field goal percentage at 65% and she's 6'4".

Taylor Jones - Texas Longhorns Forward - ESPN

View the profile of Texas Longhorns Forward Taylor Jones on ESPN. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights.

www.espn.com

 

[huskyd]

The portal became a necessity for UCONN the minute Saylor and Mir departed and Kiki Rice matriculated on the West Coast. That necessity was reinforced by the multiple injuries that UCONN sustained this season up to and including Dorka. There is no way in hell Geno goes into the 22-23 season with 11 players. At a minimum two player will be added to the roster IMO. Evina and CW departure is leaving quite a few minutes so ideally a Combo Guard/Wing that is good perimeter defender is almost a necessity. Abby Meyers fits this description perfectly. As far as a post player with a bigger body that can crack the rotation would also be nice. There is no perfect fit in the portal as of yet but there are quite a few contenders. As far as how many years of eligibility remaining that ship has sailed. Wether is is 1,2 or 3 players that UCONN picks up from the portal those players MUST be ready and qualified to be part of the regular rotation starting on day 1.

Coco, four of the starters on the Maryland team are in the portal including their big Angel Reese. Any thoughts on her? Of the 900 or so entries, surely we can find "a post player with a bigger body that can crack the rotation"? Can't we?

 

[jdote33]

I really liked Aleah Goodman game, so I watched a lot of Oregon State a couple years ago, and watched the team some this year because of TVO. Taylor Jones always impressed me. She's great defensively, finishes well inside. She doesn't have 3 point range but is ok from 10-15, and really plays within the flow of the offense. My thing is that I wouldn't want to have another season of Dorka playing limited minutes.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether it would be good to go after the big names in the portal. I know adding talent is the name of the game, but I think our biggest growth really should come from our current players. I don't want certain players to have to split their playing time. I get the need for bodies though, especially after this season.

 

[TeamFirst!]

No big on the portal is better than Dorka. I'm talking supplementing Dorka and AE.

 

[PJCLaw]

First things first she has to recover from her injury. That will take four months. Then she'll have her physical therapy and getting back into basketball shape. We're probably looking at half a year before she's back to where she was pre-injury. We have Nika and Aaliyah for least 2 more seasons which is why I prioritize them, but if Dorka gets back to where she was she'll get plenty of minutes with ONO's big shoes to fill. You could swap Caroline or Nika for Dorka, but for the sake of the future of the team I'd say let's get on with it this season and start building that chemistry that they'll have to have next year when Dorka's gone anyway.

I believe the 4-month recovery period encompasses the PT/rehab. I know people who had wrist surgery and started rehab well before 4 months. Besides, it's her non-shooting hand, so it doesn't have to be 100% when the season starts, probably just 80-90% for her to be effective.