Opinion: Hurley Is Rebuilding For 27-28 | The Boneyard

Opinion: Hurley Is Rebuilding For 27-28

Sphinx

Sphinx

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It may be crazy to talk of a "rebuilding year" in the Age of the Portal.

But consider this: 6 of the 8 known names on next year's roster are freshmen and sophomores. If Giltay comes aboard, that makes 7 of 9. All but one of the seven (Mullins) are players unfamiliar with or lacking game experience in the Hurley system. All must therefore be considered development pieces needing time to reach their potential.

Consider also the red-shirting of Solo for the full year.

What can Dan Hurley realistically have in mind for the 26-27 season if not rebuilding for 27-28? Come 27-28, Solo gets plugged into the Mullins slot, County moves in for Demary. With Mullins and Demary moving on, a ton of NIL money frees up to retain all key pieces and bring on the necessary portal backup.

As Kenny Smith has many times pointed out, the Hurley system is a template. UConn doesn't win by bringing on one-and-dones to do their thing. It wins by plugging replacement parts into the template. It takes time for these new parts to acclimate. That, I submit, will be the primary goal of the 26-27 season.

Okay, you say, but can't you rebuild and chase a natty at the same time? Possibly, but our hitting the portal for three current freshmen and our unusual reliance on our two incoming freshmen suggest the rebuild is on
 
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Respectfully I couldn’t disagree more. In the portal era there is no need to take a year off and build for the future. Not to mention what we all know about Hurley, you think he takes a minute off never mind a year? You think Dan would half ass compete at anything? A lot of people on here are doubting some of the moves the staff is making. That’s fine but if you think any of them aren’t what they think they need to do to win and win now you have lost me.
 
Goose91 said:
The only thing that confuses me is why give Mullins such a big bag if we aren’t realistically trying to win a natty this year?
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Because we definitely ARE trying to win a natty this year because as OP acknowledged, the idea of a "rebuilding year" borders insanity in the portal era.

I don't doubt that, given the number of spots to fill and approach to HS recruiting, we prioritized players with multiple years of eligibility. That's how any good team sustains success... you need player retention.

Also, money is a factor and this portal the market took another jump up. We aren't as flush with cash as some other schools. We can't just toss money around and build a roster of studs. Maybe that fuels a perception that we aren't "all in" on this year. I think the staff just has to be methodical and deliberate, which they are.

I don't disagree that we are going to be young next year. The goal is absolutely to compete for a title this year, next year, and every year.
 
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Not much to debate about here, the staff has been awfully transparent about their preferences in roster construction and their goals season by season.

Hurley wants multi-year transfers.
He wants incoming freshmen in the 20-50 sweet spot of recruiting boards.
He wants young men who put family and faith first.
AND BY GOD HE WANTS TO WIN TROPHIES. Every. Single. Year.
 
Although I disagree and think this team has the ability to be nasty and win #7 lets not pile on @Sphinx

I haven't gotten much ra-ra confidence from yall the past few weeks. All it takes is for someone to call your wife ugly for you to start defending her honor
 
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Sounds crazy to me.

Hurley is building a team to win this coming season, that has the retention potential to sustain a high a high level of winning the following year as well.

It makes sense to retain as many talented players from the following year since, as you pointed out, their offensive and defensive systems are pretty complex. But that doesn't mean there's a rebuilding season in between each one.

Look at it this way, it makes more sense to try to bring in players from the portal that have at least 2 years of eligibility so that you maintain as much continuity as possible, though there will probably be a few experienced backups that will have just one year of eligibility that are willing to portal here at a reasonable price, where players that have more eligibility might be looking for more money and are expecting to return as starters the following year.
 
TrueBlue22 said:
Not much to debate about here, the staff has been awfully transparent about their preferences in roster construction and their goals season by season.

Hurley wants multi-year transfers.
He wants incoming freshmen in the 20-50 sweet spot of recruiting boards.
He wants young men who put family and faith first.
AND BY GOD HE WANTS TO WIN TROPHIES. Every. Single. Year.
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This. This is the formula.
 
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Many early ranking has uconn top 10 and some have us top 5... yes rebuilding period
 
Goose91 said:
The only thing that confuses me is why give Mullins such a big bag if we aren’t realistically trying to win a natty this year?
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We are definitely trying to win a national championship in '27. We are not rebuilding. This opinion is incorrect.
 
I applaud your courage Sphinx (especially given that you are all-seeing and knew the backlash was coming).

It is worth mentioning that the 27/28 frontcourt is shaping up to be quite exciting, but I didn't want to be (justly) accused of getting too far ahead. But this is a ton to be excited about with next years roster too (with many of the same players making sophomore leaps in better programs for their talents and the college world getting to know Colben Landrew, a near one-and-done type himself).

The prospects of one final season with Demary, Mullins, and Ross seems worth cherishing on its own. If the staff can nail the backup center and find the right combo guard this team will be well on their way to another title.

Then we can worry about "maybe being even better while hoping to repeat -- again."
 
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Sphinx said:
It may be crazy to talk of a "rebuilding year" in the Age of the Portal.

But consider this: 6 of the 8 known names on next year's roster are freshmen and sophomores. If Giltay comes aboard, that makes 7 of 9. All but one of the seven (Mullins) are players unfamiliar with or lacking game experience in the Hurley system. All must therefore be considered development pieces needing time to reach their potential.

Consider also the red-shirting of Solo for the full year.

What can Dan Hurley realistically have in mind for the 26-27 season if not rebuilding for 27-28? Come 27-28, Solo gets plugged into the Mullins slot, County moves in for Demary. With Mullins and Demary moving on, a ton of NIL money frees up to retain all key pieces and bring on the necessary portal backup.

As Kenny Smith has many times pointed out, the Hurley system is a template. UConn doesn't win by bringing on one-and-dones to do their thing. It wins by plugging replacement parts into the template. It takes time for these new parts to acclimate. That, I submit, will be the primary goal of the 26-27 season.

Okay, you say, but can't you rebuild and chase a natty at the same time? Possibly, but our hitting the portal for three current freshmen and our unusual reliance on our two incoming freshmen suggest the rebuild is on
Expand ...
I guess you and Kenny don't realize there are no one and dones on our roster next season.

2023-2024 UConn was the best team in the 64 team tournament era of college basketball and they started a second year in the system senior point guard, first year in the system senior shooting guard, a one and done freshman at small forward, a sophomore at power forward, and a sophomore at center.

The starting 5 for next year looks to be a second year in the system senior point guard, a sophomore shooting guard, a senior small forward, a first year in the system sophomore power forward, and a first year in the system sophomore center.
 
BFieldHusky said:
This. This is the formula.
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Did Hurley actually state the 20-50?

This is the formula - frosh/soph transfers are huge.

I do wonder if anyone other than Mullins goes into the draft next year, as weak as it is. The following should be equally weak.

There is no rebuilding going on. It’s a win every year kinda landscape with the portal.
 
Putting aside the absurdity of a projected top 5 team being a rebuild, I think it is pretty funny we simultaneously have posters calling next year's team young and a rebuild, and other posters talking about how we'll have no continuity after next season when we lose our senior class
 
navery12 said:
Putting aside the absurdity of a projected top 5 team being a rebuild, I think it is pretty funny we simultaneously have posters calling next year's team young and a rebuild, and other posters talking about how we'll have no continuity after next season when we lose our senior class
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Boneyarding at its finest
 
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Every year is the only year. The portal has made planning two years down the road a fool's errand. In the words of George Allen, the future is now." That's all. The end.
 
Palatine said:
Every year is the only year. The portal has made planning two years down the road a fool's errand. In the words of George Allen, the future is now." That's all. The end.
Expand ...

I do think the way you build today is in two year intervals. Expect any player good enough for your program to either be good enough to be great and drafted in two years, or graduate (barring this new 5 year deal).
 
CL82 said:
Oh, Hurley is definitely building for 27–28. He just plans on winning a championship next year on the way there.
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In all seriousness it’s both. Has to balance “win now” vs minutes for our frosh to develope them and keep them happy or risk them portaling.
 
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