Players like Lou and Dorka, ones that can pick up UConn’s offense and defense really quickly, are rare. Even Dorka needed a second season to be outstanding.
Lou was an absolute hidden gem and they are not easily found. That she was able to excel at an elite level after playing at Fairfield is stunning. Dorka came from a high Div I school so she might have had an easier transition. Bringing in a kid from, say, George Washington, may not be prepared for the speed and physicality of elite Div I teams.
And how many elite post players are in the portal? they may want to go somewhere there isn’t already 5 posts on the roster
I agree with quite a bit of what Ozimoto and Husky Nan have said, and agree that there is a danger in bringing someone in over an existing player, and that elite ready to play posts are rare and there may not be one available this year.
Having agreed with all that, I still think the portal could be a possible option, and done with some consideration for your concerns. First I wouldn't pursue a 4 at all, just a 5 so Aaliyah and Ayanna would not really be affected. One of the three current C candidates, namely Amari, has not shown enough to be concerned with recruiting over her.
With the other two Nan is right that they have not yet had a chance to show what they can do, and they might resent that, particularly if that transfer had more than one remaining year. One way to lessen that concern is try to find a one-year rental, a covid year, or grad transfer. Even for very talented prospects ,it is difficult to step right into the starting lineup of a championship contender, where you need to be quite good from the very beginning.
If you have a proven experienced one-year solution, it can be a valuable learning year for the youngsters, even aided by having a mentor, and a player to practice against that first year. I think if I were Ice or Jana, I might understand that, but be really upset if someone was cutting into my playing time for more than that one year.
Part of me would love to see Ice and Jana split all the C minutes this year. I also believe they will be terrific over the course of their careers. Another part sees a potential super team loaded at every position with starters and backups, but with a question mark at C, not necessarily a weakness, rather a position that would still be pretty good with the newcomers, but with perhaps a longshot chance of making that position next year about as strong as the others.
The concerns regarding recruiting over existing players are a real tradeoff that needs to be taken under consideration, but I think concentrating on just a C and hopefully a one year fix helps alleviate that at least somewhat. And Husky Nan and others are right that the kind of elite player that could make a difference might not even exist in the portal this year. The numbers and quality in the portal so far is way down from the last couple of years, so it could be a moot point, time will tell.
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