Piath Gabriel transferring

[Fossil]

She didn’t transfer. She declined the scholarship and didn’t enroll after realizing she could not live away from home due to the family situation with her older sister with cerebral palsy. Very unique circumstances.

Point not made

Thank you mudblood

 

[Urshurak]

I can't quote his statement exactly either, but I recall it as being closer to "No one who has left the UConn program has been an impact player on a Top 20 team."

That is not as insulting to the players that left as the version that you offered.

Of course, there is the case of Elena Della Donne, but that is a VERY special case. And even in her case, the University of Delaware would not qualify as a top-level team.

What about AEH? At least in her MSST days.

 

[Pilot B52]

Sorry Stamford Husky, it was a big development. Any time you do two things (rebounding and double-doubles) to the degree that the thousands and thousands of girls over many decades have not exceeded, it is a stellar accomplishment, on matter what conference she pays in. I have a problem with your diminishing the accomplishment. If Paith shines with a lesser ranked school in a lesser ranked conference, I will applaud her, not make a remark that diminishes her work.

 

[Skeets]

I'm speculating here. If Geno could find a 6'5" junior in the transfer portal with a similar skill set to Piath, and he could not find a better one, I think he would take her. Ironic.

 

[freshler40]

Good move for Piath I hope. It was fun during her UConn days, hoping she could improve. Loved the fact that she had New England roots. Best wishes to put many points on the board. Your hustle was inspiring.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Never played at UConn.

What happened with her, she obviously had the skills as shown by her WNBA performance. I believe she signed and then just left but since she was on campus such a brief time, what turned her off?

 

[CL82]

Would Shea be a possibility?

Pretty sure she’s used up all her eligibility. Plus she seems happy as the coach of Vanderbilt.

 

[CL82]

I'm speculating here. If Geno could find a 6'5" junior in the transfer portal with a similar skill set to Piath, and he could not find a better one, I think he would take her. Ironic.

I don’t think so. It’s one thing to take an incoming freshman with upside and hope that she will develop, it’s quite another to do the same thing with an upper classmen.

 

[oldude]

This is the time of the year when Geno sits down with each player, individually, and assesses where they are, and what their future at UConn is. One can only guess what Geno told Piath.

As others have suggested, I suspect Geno told Piath her PT at UConn was likely going to be limited. On the other hand, I absolutely expect that Geno challenged Amari to put in the work to finally fulfill her enormous potential.

 

[fan4eva]

Wish her the best, but this is probably a win-win situation.

Piath should find a mid-major that she will have great success at, and opens up another roster spot for UConn to potentially dive into the transfer portal for depth.

Maybe Princeton that would be awesome or even Quinnipiac

 

[meyers7]

Smh

Why?

 

[meyers7]

Best of luck to her. Hope she finds a good fit for her.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Sorry Stamford Husky, it was a big development. Any time you do two things (rebounding and double-doubles) to the degree that the thousands and thousands of girls over many decades have not exceeded, it is a stellar accomplishment, on matter what conference she pays in. I have a problem with your diminishing the accomplishment. If Paith shines with a lesser ranked school in a lesser ranked conference, I will applaud her, not make a remark that diminishes her work.

Considering the difference in opponents, she was barely better her senior year than she was her freshman year. Her mid-major GMU team faced the 183rd toughest schedule, playing in a conference that ranked 14th in D1. She seldom encountered good bigs. In contrast, her Georgetown team went up against the 69th ranked schedule in a P6 conference, and she faced a number of decent post players. If anything, her development over her five years in college was surprisingly little.

 

[Charliebball]

What about AEH? At least in her MSST days.

she did pretty much the same thing at MSST and Seton Hall that she would have done at UConn......high volume shooter with some defensive liabilities...........a pretty decent player but not really a game changer........

 

[Big Mick]

aaaagh, Jeez:

Here's the facts:
1) Coming out of high school, Piath was a "rain barrel" , i.e. big and round.
2) She had no basketball skills to speak of.
3) She couldn't believe (and said so at the time) that Geno wanted to bring her to Storrs.
4) Geno described her as a long term project: Emphasis on "long term" and "project".

Fast forward two years:
1) The "rain Barrel" has been pared down to a sleek looking 6' 5" athletic frame
2) she has footwork for that catch and shoot layup in the low post.
3) Totally naive with regard to post offensive and defense skills.
4) Progressing somewhere along that "long term project" path.
5) Not YET ready for prime time.

Here's hoping that she is making a good choice. Huge difference being involved in UCONN practices and Game days, than gaining minutes before sparse crowds of parents and friends.

 

[LarryLegend]

Don’t understand having scholarship players sitting on the bench who essentially never play. Especially 6-5 ones. If you need extra bodies for practice, walkons or practice players would satisfy that need. Unless you are prepared to accept that they will word that shall remain unsaid out at some point.

 

[Tonyc]

Good Luck Piath. The writing is on the wall. We have the number 3 and 4 players coming in next season and DeBerry will see significant playtime. Dorka and Edwards will most likely start and Ducharme will see alot of time. Her playtime would've been limited if she stayed. Take a look at UConns roster and almost everyone is a top 10 player. Tuff lineup to break into. We may need a guard to join Paige Azzi and Nika however Caroline should fill the wing/guard spot. We will be once again very talented next season. Lets just hope we all get heal and get better. We did an amazing job considering what we went through this past season. We will only get better if we're healthy

 

[CocoHusky]

There have been some very good UCONN transfers. While none of them world beaters, I'm not sure why people would think that all these good players leave UCONN and suddenly become stiffs.

EDD at Delaware finished the 2012-13 season ranked 15th.
Samarie Walker at Kentucky finished the 2012-13 season ranked 7th
Andra Espinosa Hunter at Miss. State finished the 2019-20 season ranked 10th
Mikayla Coombs at GA was on a top 20 team throughout much of 2020-21

Additionally Courtney Ekmark got Arizona State to peak at #23 at the end of the 2018-19 season. One often overlooked UCONN transfer who was probably the most productive UCONN transfer ever is Michala Johnson who had 3 very productive season at Wisconsin. Of course Natalie Butler led the nation in rebounding after leaving UCONN. Sadie Edwards finished up her career at USC as a double figure scorer.

 

[DefenseBB]

Actually my interpretation of most of these posts whenever a UConn player transfers is our passionate fan base overestimates the players skills and ability to contribute to ALL major P5 schools, which is simply the bizarre part. My gosh where are all those prognosticators from Autumns portal entry that yelled Ivy or Vandy? Similar to the ones yelling Vandy again, which sorry to say is just absurd!
Maybe Piath could contribute on a very low P5 school, doubtful but maybe. Let’s be honest, Mir is significantly better than Piath and she’s at one of the worst P5s.
Let’s take the rose colored glasses off and get real on her. She’s got 3 years of eligibility left so here’s to her finding a school she can do well at both athletically and academically. She seems like a great young lady. My first vision of Piath with be the 6’5” person zipping around on a scooter on the UConn campus! Good luck Piath!

 

[Shmermerer]

So by mid-major, you mean any Big East school but UConn or DePaul as the rest desperately need height and athleticism.

Interesting fact. Piath’s older sister played one year at DePaul, then transferred to BC I believe.

 

[CocoHusky]

Interesting fact. Piath’s older sister played one year at DePaul, then transferred to BC I believe.

Karima actually ended up at three schools. DePaul, BC and Cal State Fulterton
Her last stop:

Karima Gabriel

Karima Gabriel

www.fullertontitans.com

 

[donalddoowop]

What happened with her, she obviously had the skills as shown by her WNBA performance. I believe she signed and then just left but since she was on campus such a brief time, what turned her off?

She said she was burned out with basketball plus she had a sister she wanted to be at home for to help care for. She was very close to her sister. She did not play basketball again until her sophomore season. She was so good in high school that a national news station talked about her.

 

[Huskie02]

I wish her nothing but a great future and thank her for testing the waters here. She will be a great teammate wherever she lands just as she was here I am sure.
Having said that I hope it is not somewhere that she transforms and blossoms over night and comes back to haunt us.

Agree sad to see her go! In the few games she was in I thought she played well. She scored, had a couple of put backs, and rebounded. It looked like she made significant progress between the start of her freshman year and the end of her sophomore year. In fact I thought she played equally as well as Amari when they were both in the game at the same time. I thought she could make a significant contribution next season. Just one man’s opinion. Best of luck to her!

 

[CajunHusky]

I can't quote his statement exactly either, but I recall it as being closer to "No one who has left the UConn program has been an impact player on a Top 20 team."

That is not as insulting to the players that left as the version that you offered.

Of course, there is the case of Elena Della Donne, but that is a VERY special case. And even in her case, the University of Delaware would not qualify as a top-level team.

Samarie Walker made a mark for a Kentucky team that lost to a UConn team in a Bridgeport Sweet Sixteen.

 

[Rb335]

These transfers don’t surprise me, nor do they bother me. We run a pretty tight ship, and to get playing time, you have to be one of the best. With Mir, it was pretty obvious because she had the high school credentials to impact a lot of programs. I thought Piath might be the type of player ok with the lack of playing time based on her choice to commit given her high school credentials. It was always going to ab an uphill battle for playing time. But I don’t blame her for wanting to seek other opportunities to play. Wish her the best of luck, and wouldn’t mind seeing her stay in the big east.