Rahsool Diggins transferring (merged threads)

[djct1999]

What ballhandler who can play PG was recruited over him since we seem to be loaded in the frontcourt and have the CGs (Hawkins and Floyd)?

Do you really think that Hurley was caught off guard by this and they don't have some one lined up to replace him? This is college basketball 101. I guarantee you the staff has been in touch with multiple ball handlers who will contribute next year far more than Diggins would have. This was expressed to Diggins and the choice to transfer was mutual. This happens in every program in America. People slammed Hurley for not acknowleding his mistakes. Now they are slamming him for admitting them. Its insufferable.

 

[bigknight3]

Are we talking junior Gaff or freshmen Diggins? One continued to get minutes with starters and performed horribly. Same player had arguably the worst statistical year in UCONN history and had his minutes cut for a SF. The other player barely played at all from around Christmas to end of the season. Same player was put in with the B squad for a few minutes each game at the beginning of the year and is judged more harshly.

One player was capable (not great) of bringing the ball up the court against pressure and the other just wasn't capable.

 

[dennismenace]

It's a different era now folks. This is reality for a lot of teams now. Once the idiotic Covid super-seniors are gone it may calm down slightly. But the truth on the ground is:
1. There are now 5 years of eligibility worth of players across 3 classes. Fewer roster spots for freshmen and fewer minutes, especially at power programs.
2. Anybody can leave and go play elsewhere anytime they want
3. All those good players (like Cole) who develop at small schools are going to be scooped up and take the jobs of more highly recruited kids who don't show they have got it.

KU had a top 100 4* freshman PG who played 8 minutes. Longino for Villanova, SG #55 played 9 minutes.

Our team was not even close to performing like these two schools. For example, how many minutes would Polley have gotten on those teams? Did not those teams have at least one legitimate point guard? Did those teams frequently collapse under pressure defense like we did? So your comparing apples and pears.

 

[dennismenace]

well, in a way, Hurley git a recruit from Philly. So, I guess it isn’t completely off. But, neither the kid nor Wright really pursued it. He was not a priority. And for the kid, neither was Nova. Angelo Brizzi is a sturdier build..and he came in over 180 lbs and redshirted to work on his body and game.

Mikail Bridges did it and it really helped his development. so, getting a guy who buys in to the long game isn’t common. But, Bridges swears by it. So Nova has had some success getting kids to do that. Eric Dixon did it too.

Wright - says- “I’ll play when you are ready..Trust me, you don’t WANT to go out there before you are ready etc. ;and sometimes some guys on a team team are ready BUT I’m also not sitting a more efficient player just to make a kid happy”

Hurley and Wright = Apples and Pears

 

[Huskybass]

We all knew this was likely. If I were in his shoes I would have done the same thing. Players want to play and I'm willing to bet he winds up being pretty good. Best of luck Rashool.

 

[tykurez]

Every single day for multiple hours a day in practice. But yeah I'm sure Hurley loved having 1 PG as he cut Gaffney's minutes and had to keep finding new ways to keep Cole fresh. The idea that Hurley was actively not playing the best players because he likes seniors is by far one of the more idiotic narratives constantly thrown around here

The guy is not infallible. He’s not Jay Wright. You can’t watch the contributions Creighton and Marq freshman made and tell me Diggins, Johnson et al. couldn’t have contributed.

Hurley over-relied on his older guys and significantly shrunk the rotation as the year went on. Playing Diggins in garbage time with the end of the bench is not the same as giving him spot minutes with the starters to help ease him in.

Were he some high 3-star role player it would make more sense. This was a top-75 kid who got offers from Kansas and Nova. Was the Philly player of the year twice.

Unfortunately this is going to be life with the transfer portal now and it’s going to be a problem for Hurley if he can’t find minutes for his star recruits even in the buy game portion of the schedule.

 

[polycom]

I can’t remember many freshman playing less that went on to becoming contributors. Not everyone is happy with the Tooles/Springs role.

A man named JQ would like a word. Jahvon Quinerly College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

 

[Hurleyman216]

We all knew this was likely. If I were in his shoes I would have done the same thing. Players want to play and I'm willing to bet he winds up being pretty good. Best of luck Rashool.

I'm willing to bet he ends up at an A10 level school and might be decent by year 3 or 4 of his college career. We all know how critical the PG position is, but it's also the toughest spot to fill. We're in a strange time right now where for a lot of teams it actually makes more sense to bring in an experience PG who has played 2-3 years and over performed their ranking vs. bringing in a freshman stud who may not even have what it takes to play. It's a fine line because if you strike gold and get the top PG in the class and they go out and kill it then they're gone in 1-2 years anyway. It's extremely hard to build a culture where kids are willing to wait 2 years to MAYBE have a chance to play their position, but with all the COVID rules that's kind of the reality we're in right now. How is an 18 year old kid supposed to come in and compete with a 23 year old who has 4 years of D1 playing experience? It's just not realistic.

 

[polycom]

So funny that everyone is blaming Hurley for "not playing him". Multiple sources (inside and outside the program) had said Diggins wasn't ready. Hurley and Staff came to the conclusion that he's not not a fit for the program or Big East basketball. There's a reason why Jay Wright passed on him....

You don't need sources to see he wasn't ready... literally just watch the game. CCSU shouldn't see a UConn impact guard and think "it's time to eat" Grambling State wasn't concerned about diggins.

 

[3rdbass]

He was more than serviceable on Teddy. I think Teddy had like 2 points in the first half when Dre picked up his 2nd foul. Dre went to bench and Teddy torched Tyrese but Dre did an admirable job I'd say.

I guess you missed his second half defense on Teddy. It was less than desirable. Maybe he was tired but kept getting beat off the dribble and trying block or steal from behind.

 

[polycom]

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.

You can't believe anything that is typed here if you actually watched the game. Have you ever been to practice at UConn under any coach not just Hurley? Do you even know what time they practice? If both of those answer are no, then who to say "hurley made an error" playing someone who was CLEARLY better than someone else when they were given a chance. Now just imagine what practice looks like for Diggins. There is no way that Diggins is frying in practice and then not getting play time. Have you ever played a sport any level, there would be mutiny in the locker room if this was case..

You don't have to responsible, you can think whatever you want but just know that this post is awful.

 

[M.S.G.]

This is not surprising, disappointing.

I trust the leader of this program. If he wasn't playing there was a reason.

We will be just fine. Plenty of available reclass candidates along with the portal.

Trust the process.

 

[tentoes4rings]

For those of you who like rummaging through clearance bins, deep discount aisles, and flea markets, here's a pile of various bad takes, hot-takes, Hurley-hater posts, etc from the thread so far.

Have fun, you're welcome. I have Venmo & Paypal.

What value if any do you bring? Can’t compose thoughts of your own so you just cut and paste others you don’t like?

 

[8893]

We all know how critical the PG position is, but it's also the toughest spot to fill.

This is why I chuckle when everyone keeps saying that's all we need to get through the portal.

It reminds me of Steve Martin's old "You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes" skit.

"Step 1: Get a million dollars."

 

[JB75]

Read the provided post that highlights that there was limited scrub time.

I meant playing during scrub games. Like last 5-6 mins of cupcake games.

 

[polycom]

You are full of it - you never saw him in practice - if you did you wouldn't make that statement and if you did and stand by it you have no idea what you are looking at. I was at a pre NBE tournament practice and heard Kimani praising Sool and talking about a bright future with a reporter and Phil Chardis was listening in and agreeing.

You really just gotta give it up this act. A coach is not going to openly talk bad about their players for this exact reason. Some message board rando is going to post it on a message board and it'll become a story. It's much better for him to say positive things than negative things. Imagine if you had heard the opposite you would be the first person to make a thread OMG GUESS WHAT I HEARD.

 

[polycom]

It's insane that the anti-Hurley crowd wants his head AGAIN, this time for one singular playing not working out. Oh the horror.

Is Brad Underwood on the hot seat because Curbelo is leaving? Or the Texas Tech coach b/c Terrance Shannon is leaving? Bob Huggins has a player transferring, time to fire him too. Matt Painter has a PG in the transfer portal, he is unfit to lead a program.

You all are crazy people. It didn't work out. It happens. But to moan and complain, which a lot of you do best, is just ridiculous. The need to put blame on him solves nothing and just makes you look like a pathetic baby.

The only people who want hurley's head are people who hate basketball and dont understand that JC isn't coaching anymore. While hurley has his faults there isn't someone betting that we could afford that exists right now. Hurley shouldn't even be on the hot seat yet. The rest of it is just noise from board message board posters.

 

[polycom]

He was put on the floor with the B team in garbage time. That's not being put in a position to succeed.

Gaffney played just as poorly, if not worse, and continued to see the floor. No reason Sool could not have earned minutes over Gaff... but he was never put in a position early on to be able to get comfortable.

So of course he didn't look good when Hurley threw him to the wolves in garbage time with the B team later in the year.

Mismanaged by Hurley because of his blind loyalty to Gaffney. Plain and simple.

Are you blind? You have to be blind. When you are a future starting guard which is what all top 100 recruits at the guard position should be you should dominate backup guards from gambling state and CCSU. You should also be able to play well at practice. We know Diggins didn't do the first thing and if we being that Hurley isn't blind he absolutely didn't do the second thing. So what are you even talking about, "mismanaged"

 

[TRUCONN76]

Counterpoint:

If the head coach recruited two top 60 recruits who were completely unprepared to play in the Big East, he is failing at his job.

Other coaches recruited freshmen who could play in the Big East…and then played them in the Big East.

What’s wrong with our guy? Either he failed to develop these kids, failed to give them an opportunity or he failed in recruiting them.

Pick one.

Villanova recruited him as well and they have other recruits riding the bench. His high school coach told him he wouldn't be playing at Villanova either. The 2021- 2022 season was the closest to how freshman were used before the one and done trend of the last 15 years. That is because of super seniors. It was clear to me that Diggins physically wasn't ready to play and was a liability when he was on the court. The future for him will require maturing physically and putting in the work. He sees the writing on the wall. He may be ready next year but he may not be either and the following year there is a player coming in that he knows he will not beat out as starter. Probably a good move for him. He is not the answer for next year and most likely would not want to be a backup his junior and senior years, although that may be his role no matter where he ends up. Sampson Johnson will be an impact player before his career is over but needs to develop as well. He may be ready to contribute next year if he can get stronger over the summer.

Your pick one request is wrong as your choices are wrong. Developing a player doesn't mean throwing them in a game when they are not ready. It means telling them what they need to improve on to get to play and helping them to do it. If a player thinks he is ready and he is not, then the worst thing a coach could do is reinforce his delusion by playing him anyway. An opportunity goes both ways. When Calhoun was coach there were many players who left the program who thought they were better than the coach's assessment of their abilities. Where they all his failures or was it the player's unwillingness to accept their role? I don't know because I was not at practice and don't know the individuals and who was advising them. Neither do you in the present situation.

You start off your choices with "what wrong with our guy" That presupposes that the only explanation for a player not being ready to play in the Big East their freshman year is the coach's fault. Maybe he overestimated the kid's ability but maybe there are other reasons as well. I don't expect recruiting to be perfect it is a two way street. I wish the best for Diggins in his career and hopefully his departure will allow another player to come in who is a better fit.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I meant playing during scrub games. Like last 5-6 mins of cupcake games.

Do people think that would have made a difference? Maybe if he was lights out and simply had to be played. Instead in over 40 minutes he was worse than the walk-on. He couldn’t cut it. Moving on.

 

[polycom]

Yes, by making it worse.

Fast forward a few months when some transfer portal super senior is getting 36 minutes a night while Hurley forgets who Floyd is.

The systemic issue right now is roster management.

what does this even mean? You think we should keep around A10 level players...that will get us to the promise land?

 

[karstenkibbe]

You ever hear of Occam's Razor?

 

[DrZzzz]

Emeka Okafor was ranked 99. Being ranked a top 10 recruit in HS is not a can't miss ticket to the NBA. Being a top 100, or even 20th to 50th is not a can't miss ticket to college stardom. Too many variables. I believe Purvis was a top 10 HS recruit.

 

[UconnU]

Man, this is going to bite us later on. That’s 3 players not coming back who had eligibility. An unhealthy amount of turnover from last years roster. Hope everything is OK and this isn’t something deeper.

 

[DrZzzz]

Man, this is going to bite us later on. That’s 3 players not coming back who had eligibility. An unhealthy amount of turnover from last years roster. Hope everything is OK and this isn’t something deeper.

Two of them tired of the college lifestyle. The other will get more PT at another program. Nothing more.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Man, this is going to bite us later on. That’s 3 players not coming back who had eligibility. An unhealthy amount of turnover from last years roster. Hope everything is OK and this isn’t something deeper.

You think there might be something deeper behind a 23 year old and a 22 year old who's been in college for 5 years deciding to move on? They're not transferring.

 

[Husky Alien]

If you are good enough, you play. If you are not, you sit. Players know this.

I tend to agree with you there. I just would have liked to see Sool play some when we played the cupcakes in the beginning of the year to gage where he was at, that never materialized.

 

[bendm]

Man, this is going to bite us later on. That’s 3 players not coming back who had eligibility. An unhealthy amount of turnover from last years roster. Hope everything is OK and this isn’t something deeper.

two of them graduated, one of whom graduated for a second time.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Are people under the impression that there aren't 1,000 kids who transfer every year? Or realize that we were one of just three major conference teams that didn't take a transfer last year?

Most teams have 12-13 scholarship players and an 8 (or less) man rotation. There are 4-5 guys sitting at the end of every bench in America, and a lot of those kids are going to transfer more often than not these days.

You can think this is a major issue specific to our program, or realize that this is the new normal in college basketball.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Man, this is going to bite us later on. That’s 3 players not coming back who had eligibility. An unhealthy amount of turnover from last years roster. Hope everything is OK and this isn’t something deeper.

Bordering on pushing a false narrative. There’s absolutely nothing going on with Cole and Tyrese opting to leave. Martin is 23. He wants to make money playing basketball and probably has no interest in working a warehouse gig in Allentown again to pay his mom’s bills. I would make the same decision if I was blessed with his talent. RJ probably doesn’t want to be in college for 6 years. Some people are eager to move into the next phase of life and new challenges and experiences.