Rahsool Diggins transferring (merged threads)

[MJKI]

People need to realize we are in a new age. 1700 kids entered the portal last year (I think that's the stat). Instant transferring has changed everything. If Diggins thinks he can get more PT elsewhere, he owes it to himself to look. Hurley has done nothing to show he won't play deserving freshman, back to his URI days even. The reality is Diggins didn't earn minutes last year. Maybe Hurley made it clear that without a huge leap in confidence/ability, he wasn't going to be able to earn minutes this year either. Regardless, this isn't on Hurley. Just like we will reap the benefits of the transfers, we and every other team will be hit by them.
Also, do we really live in this fantasy land where people thought we were going to go after a high end PG transfer AND keep Sool and Floyd? You can't have both of those because there simply isn't enough minutes to go around. So either we were going into next year with Sool and Floyd and banking on significant improvements or we were losing one and gaining a transfer. 99% of you sign up for that transfer every day of the week

 

[Yankees32123]

I’m sure Hurley was transparent with Diggins that UConn is going hunting for a PG in the portal and that a senior Gaffney would also be in front of him on the depth chart.

It’s a real bummer, but not surprising. I wish Diggins got more PT during the out of conference slate.

 

[Exit 4]

Not shocked about this.

I'm interested your take on this...if you care to offer one.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Bad recruiting miss at an important position, but it happens. Hope the staff learns from it and figures out what they misidentified when they went after him.*


*No, I don't think Diggins was secretly an uber-talented kid who Hurley was unfairly denying playing time. The most likely scenario is he just stunk. Occam's Razor, people.

 

[uconnsouth]

If you guys want to be a final four contender, Diggins isn’t gonna cut it guys.

He looked completely lost on the court when he did play

 

[AntG168]

Hurley hasn’t hit on a pg hs prospect since Fatts Russell. He needs to recalibrate.

 

[UChusky916]

Gaffney was down to 4-8 minutes a game by the end of the year. If Diggins could do anything he would have been playing. There's no doubt of that.

Hurley reducing Gaffney's minutes and not having Sool ready to play is essentially proving my point.

Hurley made the error of sticking with Gaffney early in the year. We know what kind of player Gaffney is, and it was evident early in the year... his ceiling is maxed.

What kind of player will Diggins be or what kind of player could he have been by the end of the year? We'll never know, because Hurley never allowed the opportunity for him to develop early on. He didn't get any run in semi-meaningful minutes.

Hurley reducing Gaffney's minutes and not playing Diggins is proof that he effed up the whole situation.

 

[Connecticut13]

This is happening and has been happening all over CBB. We’ve just been exempt until now. Nothing to see here. We can find better talent imo

Wrong. Players transferring isn't new - in that respect, you're right. But having your only point guard for next season transfer is a more significant issue.

 

[AntG168]

I'm not going to kill Hurley too much, but it's concerning to me that he's recruited two PGs in his time here and whiffed on both. Really hope he hits a home run in the portal because he's going to need to.

Hasn’t hit on a pg prospect since Fatts

 

[superjohn]

Hurley better bring in some star guards this offseason.

 

[aburks41]

I'm not going to kill Hurley too much, but it's concerning to me that he's recruited two PGs in his time here and whiffed on both. Really hope he hits a home run in the portal because he's going to need to.

Hopefully Castle breaks that curse in 2023

I’m sure Hurley was transparent with Diggins that UConn is going hunting for a PG in the portal and that a senior Gaffney would also be in front of him on the depth chart.

If Gaffney is ahead of anyone on the depth chart then maybe Hurley's eye for PG talent isn't as good as we think lol

 

[Lefty2one]

We simply can't judge this situation yet. There's a chance Hurley was right all along and Diggins just can't play at this level. We'll find out over the next few years.

Bottom line is that we are not in a good spot right now. We have zero point guards on the roster. Floyd is clearly a SG from the tape I've seen. Gaffney can not be a rotational piece next year. Another concern is that Hurley has been here for four years and has yet to find a good PG coming out of HS.

 

[AntG168]

Hopefully Castle breaks that curse in 2023


If Gaffney is ahead of anyone on the depth chart then maybe Hurley's eye for PG talent isn't as good as we think lol

Gaffney needs to be a cheerleader

 

[Fatroony5]

Damn, I was really excited to see him play when he first committed. Hope he kills it at another program. Likely looking at 2-3 players via the portal now, this isn’t going to be easy to identify that much talent and plug them into the system seamlessly.

 

[MJKI]

Hurley hasn’t hit on a pg hs prospect since Fatts Russell. He needs to recalibrate.

Hurley hit big on Cole, and while thats not a HS PG prospect, it really doesn't matter the distinction in the end. Hurley has, and will continue to have, a high level PG at UConn. It doesn't matter what ranks they come from.

 

[Kenny11]

We have to expect this. Freshmen, especially highly rated ones want to play and more importantly, their family and advisors expect them to play and will encourage a move.

It is interesting that Hurley never gave him any type of praise.

 

[AntG168]

Damn, I was really excited to see him play when he first committed. Hope he kills it at another program. Likely looking at 2-3 players via the portal now, this isn’t going to be easy to identify that much talent and plug them into the system seamlessly.

We’ve seen it done all over CBB. No excuses. We are UConn, recruiting transfers shouldn’t be that hard

 

[AntG168]

Hurley hit big on Cole, and while thats not a HS PG prospect, it really doesn't matter the distinction in the end. Hurley has, and will continue to have, a high level PG at UConn. It doesn't matter what ranks they come from.

There’s a major difference. Hurley saw Cole against D1 competition. He was the best player in his league. It’s much easier to gauge. Why didn’t he recruit Cole out of HS?

 

[Justin M]

All this says to me is that Floyd is much further along than expected, there is a portal guy expected to enroll, or both.

Programs have turnover, can’t expect every kid these days to play the long game - unrealistic to have expectations that every recruit will come year one and be game ready or a 4 year guy.

Calhoun had top 50 recruits leave as well, the difference is that we had a backlog of McDonald’s All Americans behind him. Hurley has proven to have a strong track record recruiting, let’s see how he fills the gap before we pass judgement.

 

[Slick]

Well that sucks...

??

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Hasn’t hit on a pg prospect since Fatts

Except the one that was Big East first team all conference? Or was the fact that Cole was a star in the MEAC all you needed to know hed succeed here.

 

[Dooooooomed]

 

[MJKI]

There’s a major difference. Hurley saw Cole against D1 competition. He was the best player in his league. It’s much easier to gauge. Why didn’t he recruit Cole out of HS?

Because nobody recruited Cole out of high school. You don't need to successfully recruit every single player out of high school to have a good team. Look at Creighton. Look at Arkansas. Look at Kansas. The only team that doesn't hit the portal hard is Nova. It doesn't matter where he gets them, as long as he gets them.

 

[navery12]

You're not looking at this the right way.

Hurley started reducing Gaff's minutes because he wasn't playing well and STILL didn't increase Diggins' minutes. Diggins' minutes were what they were because of how he was practicing and performing, clearly. Because there was no relationship between Gaff's minutes and Diggins'. And now that Cole is gone and there are a ton of minutes available, Diggins isn't sticking around. Maybe the relationship is fractured, but Hurley isn't a fool. Hurley is a PG himself. He's not fracturing a relationship with his PG of the future to play a guy that he himself was benching quickly.

Barely. Gaffney was down to 4-8 minutes a game by the end of the year. If Diggins could do anything he would have been playing. There's no doubt of that.

And for people who are visual learners, just look at their minutes throughout the year. Even as Gaffney's were cut, Diggins' did not change

 

[Tenspro2002]

There’s a major difference. Hurley saw Cole against D1 competition. He was the best player in his league. It’s much easier to gauge. Why didn’t he recruit Cole out of HS?

Cole went to Howard. Nobody recruited Cole out of HS.