Rahsool Diggins transferring (merged threads) | Page 15 | The Boneyard

Rahsool Diggins transferring (merged threads)

UcannUconn said:
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.
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Nothing to deep about a couple of guys looking to make some money after 5 years in school.
 
JB75 said:
Saw him play where? I saw him with my own eyes in live action about 10 mins total this season. Is it really out of the realm to possibly believe that Hurley had blind loyalty to gaffney and for whatever reason thought diggins was going ride the pine as a freshman and “pay his dues” and not be miffed about it? It got so ridiculous during some of the scrub December games we actually thought diggins was hurt or had a falling out with the coach. —-again it’s simple —the way Gaffney played in mid December how could you not at least give the kid a shot? Was Hurley afraid they were gonna lose to MD - eastern shore because diggins played over gaffney? Lolol- Plus , not a good look at all. Might Hurt that Philly connection The negatives for not playing him early on faaaarrr outweigh the positives. I refuse to believe diggins would of hurt us on the court that much more than gaff did —-No excuse for not giving him early run — None.
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Just because you refuse to believe something doesn’t change reality. Diggins couldn’t get minutes based on how his coach evaluates. If your argument is he should play guys even if they don’t earn them I’m sure you’d be complaining about that too.
 
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TRUCONN76 said:
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.
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But Villanova was a top ten team that’s in the Final Four. You can understand why some freshmen don’t get playing time - they are on a very good team with veteran players. UConn was no Villanova this year - I wish we were. We were merely a decent team with some significant flaws, and Diggins couldn’t even see a few minutes a game as a backup to Cole.
 
Guess it's pretty simple. Either he wasn't developed well enough or he wasn't good enough to have an impact at this level. We all know Hurley has work to do. Now let's sit back and see if he gets it done.
 
Fishy said:
“We have a staff who can recruit with the best of them.”

”We were without an option at PG with Diggins on the roster.”

These two sentences cannot exist in the same paragraph.
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Sure they can. We have recruited very well. We blew it at one position. Doesn't mean our recruiting is a total failure. If, come November, we are still without a PG then we have a problem with recruiting.

Transfers ARE recruiting. It just happens much later than HS.
 
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Hurleyman216 said:
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.
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PG is the easiest position to fill in the portal. By far.
 
4xChamps said:
him going to Xavier and being a star would be worst case scenario
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Pitt is a great fit. Close to home as he said he wants and they need players. He will get a chance.
 
4xChamps said:
him going to Xavier and being a star would be worst case scenario
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Much more likely he goes to Xavier and warms the bench (or gets rotation minutes at a bad program like PSU or Pitt).
 
I mean I understand he wasn’t as good as advertised, but you need to play him thru the growing pains. That’s on Hurley. It also didn’t help us late in the year when RJ Cole was absolutely gassed without a viable backup.

And the “this is an old league, freshman don’t play” is a BS take. Tell that to Trey Alexander, Nembhard, and even Posh last year.
 
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How do you let a Top 50 player barely play and then not convince him to stay when your starting point guard leaves, you have no better option on team, and no point guards coming in? Unless Hurley plans on Jackson becoming a point guard (which I disagree with), this is a real headscratcher.

More generally, I don't understand how coaches recruit kids for years and then are surprised by their play as freshmen/can't find them minutes. Calhoun had issues with this as well.

I'll be the first one to admit that his handle and casualness with the ball was rough to watch and I pointed it out a couple times here. But I wanted to see the kid succeed here in coming years.
 
UConn not having a starting quality PG on roster is a problem. This is not were you want to be in the rebuild. PG U does not have a PG. Hasn't been recruiting one until recently. Should have had one when you thought Diggins wasn't good enough.
 
TyroneShoo said:
Quinnerly didnt want to wait. He couldn't grasp defense at all. He was benched often at Alabama early on. But, He grew up, filled out and became a good ball player and a leader at AL. He was a liability as a Freshman. But as a Junior, he was pretty good. He will be 24 this year.
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Ok so you further proved my point?
 
I would think Archie Miller and Frank Martin will be hitting the portal hard. URI and UMass would be good landing spots for Sool.
 
uchusky32 said:
UConn not having a starting quality PG on roster is a problem. This is not were you want to be in the rebuild. PG U does not have a PG. Hasn't been recruiting one until recently. Should have had one when you thought Diggins wasn't good enough.
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I don’t believe Diggins was good enough this year. In limited minutes he struggled against even light pressure. I think he’ll be a great upperclassman.

Does anyone know if Castle is a reclass possibility? We could use a big PG right now.
 
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ThabeetDown said:
First off, I wish him nothing but the best. Seemed to be an A+ teammate and while he didn't look great on the court I was excited to see him grow and carve out a role next year.

Very curious where he ends up. If it's a P5-level program, I'll be very curious how he ends up playing. If it's an A-10 type program that would make a lot more sense.
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It's not so much where he goes but how he plays when he gets there. Say he goes back to Philly, to a St. Joe's, Lasalle or Temple. Having spent 7 years in Philly myself the Big 5 is a real thing. So it's not UNC or Texas. If he starts at the point for that kind of D1 school, runs the team well and racks up assists and say 10-12 points a game how are we going to feel about his use here?
 
UConn's got a great brand and we focus on a culture to take quality players and get them to the league by focusing on player development. We recruit from high school by building relationships and they buy in to the process of earning their minutes and waiting their turn to shine. We're not going to be a portal school.

Nevermind
 
4xChamps said:
him going to Xavier and being a star would be worst case scenario
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this seems about right. each school is a step down, some bigger than others. none were tourney teams last year. it's not like he's being courted by nova or bama or even syracuse.

if i had to bet i'd say he winds up at PSU among those listed. I already feel better.
 
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Ricker said:
UConn's got a great brand and we focus on a culture to take quality players and get them to the league by focusing on player development.
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We do ? That brand is past tense right now. Not even Booknight is playing to that brand right now.
 
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