I get the point he's making. Donovan's role is going to be dramatically expanded this year. But, yeah, it's not like last year when it was unclear what he would contribute at the college level.
"Will we repeat as national champions?"
Isn't running naked practice is more of a Kevin Bannon thing?
I compared him to Hawkins. I think that's fair. It was clear to us by the end of his freshman year that Hawkins would likely be a hell of a player as a sophomore, and he was. I feel the same way about Donovan. But it's never a given until it happens.
Its the old "not a matter of if, but when" or in DC's case, "not a matter of good, but how good??"
Everyone's role will be expanded from last year. We lost our three most productive players from last season plus productive bench players.
It's never a given that any player improves. Clingan, Newton, and Karaban will all be asked to do more now. It doesn't mean they aren't already known quantities.
Come on. Newton started all year, so did Karaban. Newton is in his 5th season, it doesn't get more known than that. His "more" is not at all comparable to two guys who played 29 minutes a game on a championship team. It is similar to Hawkins a year ago, and I have no doubt he's worked very hard to have a similar jump. You can argue Hawk was a "known quantity" too I suppose, I just disagree.
Come on. Clingan didn't play as much because he was backing up arguably the best big in the country. Newton started and played huge minutes because there was no point guard competition and Karaban started and played huge minutes because Samson was out and there was nobody else for him to share minutes with. Clingan was far more productive/impactful in his minutes than both of them which is why he's the first name people bring up when they talk about UConn this coming season. He was one of the few most impactful players in all of college basketball per minute last season. He's a known quantity to everyone except for you.