Nowell in the transfer portal

[tzznandrew]

Diggins' stats are available for all to see. 17 and 3 on a 12-20 A10 team suggests it's more about Hurley no appropriately evaluating the kid (and it was COVID) than it was about something mysteriously "not working."

I wish Nowell luck.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Total curious speculation here so all the grains of salt...but I wonder with Hurley saying half the team was talking about portaling if that affected playtime opportunities. Not sure if or when he actually knew who was looking...

 

[Fishy]

There is a huge opening for a grown man point guard at UConn. Quite frankly we need 2. No 6 foot PGs are going to get us where we want to go. Kahlid is not walking through that door.

…..as we watch Zakai Ziegler destroy Kentucky and your narrative.

 

[Dove]

Good luck to him. I just didn't see any glimpses of future p/t especially when the next class comes in and the coaches needing to recruit over him via the portal.

 

[Leebo]

Total curious speculation here so all the grains of salt...but I wonder with Hurley saying half the team was talking about portaling if that affected playtime opportunities. Not sure if or when he actually knew who was looking...

You mean that he stopped playing anyone he suspected of portaling?

 

[Fatroony5]

There is a huge opening for a grown man point guard at UConn. Quite frankly we need 2. No 6 foot PGs are going to get us where we want to go. Kahlid is not walking through that door.

Zeigler, Sears, Brayden Smith, LJ cryer, Pettiford, Pedulla, Jamal Shead last year etc etc. There are tons of good small guards, I’d take any of them in a second. Everyone obsesses now about having “big guards.” I’ll just take a complete guard who can penetrate, create, facilitate, & defend. If they’re bigger, great, but I wouldn’t rule ones out that can play like those guys.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

You mean that he stopped playing anyone he suspected of portaling?

Yup. Again, mere curiosity, no info

 

[Hunt for 7]

I thought this would happen. Not sure if it was the shoulder or the complicated system and the other things related to the slow start.

But he got a chance, he was not quick enough for his size in my opinion. I think he will have a very good career but does anyone see him with the potential,of being even a 2nd round nba draft pick. Because I did not see that granted it was a small sample size.

But we have to trust the coaches. Toward the end of the year when he could have gotten more playing time the word may have been out to the coaching staff that he was already gone.

There won’t be many players that will play 3 or even four years unless they are major contributors by the end of their sophomore season. We should expect some surprises. I know we can’t name them but I think if we could we would be able to put an accurate list together of who else will be joining Abraham and Nowell.

 

[Hoophound]

I don't see how we're in a materially worse position as a result of this or how keeping either one of those guys would be "ideal."

Abraham was a back half of the top 100 kid. It's not 15 years ago where Hilton Armstrong will bide his time for 3 years and then get picked in the lottery. If he doesn't want to stick around for a few years with a shot at being a role player that's the nature of college basketball right now. There's going to be competition at his spot every year. Nowell and Abraham might very well end up being good college basketball players but in an era where a lot of teams are going to trot out new starting 5s every year I don't see how this is much of an event.

I assume we're going to focus on 5 star or 5 star adjacent high school kids that look like they can contribute from day 1 going forward and then supplement the rest with the portal, until the rules inevitably change again.

I see it the opposite. Focus on the portal and supplement with very high end high school talent. You can’t trot out 18 year old 5 stars all the time, it doesn’t work against 22 year old portal players.

 

[bfs3]

Maybe I’m just a crabby jerk but when a guy says he doesn’t want to be part of the family anymore, for whatever reason, the last thing on my head is “hey pal! Best of luck!”

You’re not with us anymore. You’re against us. You didn’t buy into our process and work hard enough to earn your time and you quit. Good riddance.

Same. I’m an avid and proud life long hater though. If something can be even remotely turned into a competition, I want my team to crush it and the other team to fall into a pit of despair. Makes for some interesting work situations.

 

[uconnyankee]

Welp.

Turning last year’s recruiting class into zero sophomores isn’t ideal

Is it officially zero?

 

[Hoops91]

Undersized - would have been a spark off the bench replacing Hassan - nothing more - I think Hurley was expecting Mahaney to replace Newton

 

[mauconnfan]

Another tough one seems like such a wonderful kid. I do believe he is much better than we saw and will be for someone else.

Hope he does great things!

 

[Stew Crew]

Maybe I’m just a crabby jerk but when a guy says he doesn’t want to be part of the family anymore, for whatever reason, the last thing on my head is “hey pal! Best of luck!”

You’re not with us anymore. You’re against us. You didn’t buy into our process and work hard enough to earn your time and you quit. Good riddance.

I hope you are joking. Otherwise, that is a sad, petty view. These are 18 year old young men. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out, for any number of reasons. It's not like he went all Dionte Johnson on us and refused to play. If he wasn't working hard, he wouldn't have seen a minute of playing time. Good luck, Ahmad.

 

[Spaceman213J]

The kid is tough. He'll land on his feet somewhere else.

I just wonder if Hurley is looking to build a team especially an offense like he had in 23 and 24 with a quality big and shooters surrounding the perimeter. With a big man threat, you need the ability to pass the ball into the post which this team struggled with at times this last year.

 

[DCHuskyFan]

Another tough one seems like such a wonderful kid. I do believe he is much better than we saw and will be for someone else.

Hope he does great things!

He seemed like a good kid, but every time he touched the ball I was nervous he would turn it over or make some bonehead play. I recognize he was a freshman, but I never felt that way watching some other past UConn freshman point guards, even when they played like freshman. Good luck to him, especially if his interests never conflict with ours.

 

[djct1999]

From all that I heard, Ahmed was a really good kid. He deserves a shot and I hope he does well. That said, if there was a year to get playing time at UConn it was this year.

 

[uconnfan68]

Not our fault.

 

[uconnfan68]

Welp.

Turning last year’s recruiting class into zero sophomores isn’t ideal

It’s like if you can’t get an elite 5*, don’t bother. Just portal.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I see it the opposite. Focus on the portal and supplement with very high end high school talent. You can’t trot out 18 year old 5 stars all the time, it doesn’t work against 22 year old portal players.

I mean the fact that Duke is at worst the second best team in the country would suggest otherwise but I think we’re basically saying the same thing. The notion of recruiting high school kids that aren’t going to be major pieces year one seems to be out the window. Traditional bigs might be an exception.

 

[HooperScooper]

I think Hurley was expecting Mahaney to replace Newton

You don't have to think, Hurley told us that.

 

[Drame]

The best response to grabby small defenders is to be big enough to just play through them like Cam, Castle and Newton did. Dribbling 16 seconds off the shot clock going around them isn’t an answer. Bigger guards are better getting to the rim too. I think Adams is going to be great at that.

Who said anything about dribbling for 16 seconds. When youre playing in the big east and you cant run your sets because the refs arent letting your players move or cut and the shot clock is running down, you need a strong ball handler, driver to make a play at the hoop. We had no one on this years team to do that. Adams is tall and slender for a lead guard but at 165 lbs I wouldnt call him big.

 

[uconn_jack]

Zeigler, Sears, Brayden Smith, LJ cryer, Pettiford, Pedulla, Jamal Shead last year etc etc. There are tons of good small guards, I’d take any of them in a second. Everyone obsesses now about having “big guards.” I’ll just take a complete guard who can penetrate, create, facilitate, & defend. If they’re bigger, great, but I wouldn’t rule ones out that can play like those guys.

I would take another healthy Diarra in a heartbeat.

 

[uconn_jack]

Same. I’m an avid and proud life long hater though. If something can be even remotely turned into a competition, I want my team to crush it and the other team to fall into a pit of despair. Makes for some interesting work situations.

Are you my wife?

 

[TheChamps990411]

It seems to me that Dan Hurley has this program at a point where he may need recruiting classes filled with 5* players that can immediately contribute or they simply arent going to play much. Wish him the best wherever he goes. 20 years ago he wouldve been the protypicall big east pg but now the game has changed so much a guy like him may not be a fit in certain systems in spite of his talent.