Rahsool Diggins transferring (merged threads)

[JMick]

Excuse my apparent ignorance but how is our staff able to discuss things with players from other programs without seriously violating NCAA recruiting policies and the related penalties?

I would imagine the same way everyone else does?

 

[aburks41]

Now that we see Gaffney has entered the portal, any chance Diggins changes his mind? Would Hurley take him back? Maybe he comes back in with a fresh motivation given the clear path to minutes if he performs. Just a thought.

Diggins is leaving because he's not good enough to get meaningful minutes here no matter who is on the roster. We will get better talent

 

[Deadrody]

If it takes bringing in a guy like Taliek Brown who has a handle and can run an offense, I am all for it.

As you likely recall, Taliek Brown was a McDonald's All American

 

[Deadrody]

Forcing out pieces that don’t fit in ... is how modern, big time programs work.

Absolutely not true. This is how lousy coaches run programs. The fact that the transfer portal operates differently than the old redshirt transfer system does not make relying on other team's castoffs a better option.

The simple fact is that transfers rarely work out and despite their above average regular season results, we're seeing that play out right before our eyes. Nevermind that the inability to keep your recruits on your roster is, in and of itself, a sign of failure in running an athletic program.

 

[Ports21]

Excuse my apparent ignorance but how is our staff able to discuss things with players from other programs without seriously violating NCAA recruiting policies and the related penalties?

I believe once players enter the portal anyone can contact them.

Now do things happen before they even enter...probably.

 

[PNolanFan]

As you likely recall, Taliek Brown was a McDonald's All American

I was just trying to figure this out since I thought I remember him being the equivalent of a 5 star recruit

 

[t8per]

Now that we see Gaffney has entered the portal, any chance Diggins changes his mind? Would Hurley take him back? Maybe he comes back in with a fresh motivation given the clear path to minutes if he performs. Just a thought.

I assume Diggins knew that Gaffney transferring before transferring himself. It might be a bad look if he decides to change his mind and stay.

 

[aburks41]

Excuse my apparent ignorance but how is our staff able to discuss things with players from other programs without seriously violating NCAA recruiting policies and the related penalties?

They can discuss things with their AAU or high school coaches. The reality is that no one cares about tampering though

 

[Fatroony5]

They can discuss things with their AAU or high school coaches. The reality is that no one cares about tampering though

I said this before, but I was talking to a P5 assistant a couple months back about transfers/the portal for awhile. He said it’s such a s*** show. He landed a very talented player last year basically before he even hit the portal. He said it’s all relationship based but usually when the “big name” players hit the portal, people already know before it happens. If you contact the big names once they hit, you’re too late. The players usually talk to their AAU or high school coaches, who start informing coaches and leaking out the info. The wheels get set in motion… I can’t say for certain but when Borges published that article about Diggins, the decision was probably already made by then and other coaches knew.

 

[Scoe]

One thing Ollie could do was coach up pgs even when the downfall occurred. He found a way for Terrance Samuel to get some minutes in March and I'm pretty sure wasnt as high of a ranked recruit as Diggins.

This is an absolute failure on Hurleys part, has to do a better job of developing pgs, hire someone who can, improve the offensive efficiency.

 

[BGesus4]

One thing Ollie could do was coach up pgs even when the downfall occurred. He found a way for Terrance Samuel to get some minutes in March and I'm pretty sure wasnt as high of a ranked recruit as Diggins.

This is an absolute failure on Hurleys part, has to do a better job of developing pgs, hire someone who can, improve the offensive efficiency.

Jalen Adams and Alterique, the two borderline 5 star pgs he had would beg to differ.

But true, samuels did have 8 points once.

 

[Mister P]

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.

Out of 500+ comments I think @auror has the best take on the Diggins situation and him transferring.

The staff saw him everyday in practice and in game situations. They know how he played and what to expect if he was given 10-15 minutes a game like many here have suggested. He wasn’t given those minutes because of what the staff saw. Simple as that.
Some players have great high school careers and are highly touted but just can’t improve when they are matched against equal or better D1 talent. It happens.

That being said, I’m all for giving incoming freshman who come in with higher expectations ,or even sophomores, plenty minutes in order for them to gain the experience that can only help them as their college career moves forward. However, that’s only when a team is average at best and you’re not going anywhere with the current team that you have. Doing this could only help a team as those underclassman get older and as the coach keeps trying to recruit high talent for future classes……
This year we had a team with a good amount of talent, both underclassman and upperclassman not named Diggins, that proved they should be on the court every game and this was a team that had high expectations. A coach needs to play those players in order to try and achieve the teams goals. Hurley and staff did that but unfortunately the season ended not how they expected it.

Diggins did not show the staff that he earned game time minutes and his leaving was a mutual agreement by both parties.

Getting a couple of experienced guard transfers with the nucleus of Jackson,Hawkins and Sanogo, a highly regarded freshman class and hopefully the return of 2 tall 4’s COULD mean a better team next year.

 

[Scoe]

Jalen Adams and Alterique, the two borderline 5 star pgs he had would beg to differ.

But true, samuels did have 8 points once.

Not defending Ollies downfall but he was good with pgs, if Hurley can get better at that we will get to that next level. I guess people forget about Terrance Samuel giving us some minutes in March as a freshman, the fact that we couldn't get that our of Diggins is a failure. Bad pg development and/or he wasnt the player we thought .

 

[auror]

Out of 500+ comments I think @auror has the best take on the Diggins situation and him transferring.

The staff saw him everyday in practice and in game situations. They know how he played and what to expect if he was given 10-15 minutes a game like many here have suggested. He wasn’t given those minutes because of what the staff saw. Simple as that.
Some players have great high school careers and are highly touted but just can’t improve when they are matched against equal or better D1 talent. It happens.

That being said, I’m all for giving incoming freshman who come in with higher expectations ,or even sophomores, plenty minutes in order for them to gain the experience that can only help them as their college career moves forward. However, that’s only when a team is average at best and you’re not going anywhere with the current team that you have. Doing this could only help a team as those underclassman get older and as the coach keeps trying to recruit high talent for future classes……
This year we had a team with a good amount of talent, both underclassman and upperclassman not named Diggins, that proved they should be on the court every game and this was a team that had high expectations. A coach needs to play those players in order to try and achieve the teams goals. Hurley and staff did that but unfortunately the season ended not how they expected it.

Diggins did not show the staff that he earned game time minutes and his leaving was a mutual agreement by both parties.

Getting a couple of experienced guard transfers with the nucleus of Jackson,Hawkins and Sanogo, a highly regarded freshman class and hopefully the return of 2 tall 4’s COULD mean a better team next year.

Thanks. And I agree with most of what you wrote as well.

I would go even further that I don't even necessarily think it was mutual. I think Hurley would have wanted Diggins to stay and continue developing, despite not playing him "enough" this season to satisfy him. At the same time, the staff also knew they were not playing him "enough". There was that article that came out a couple months back

According to Mosco, Diggins has at times been frustrated.

“In the beginning of the year he was,” the coach said. “He and Danny (Hurley) talked. Danny’s got to get the confidence in him, he’s got to get confidence in Danny. It’s a long process.”

The staff absolutely knew they were risking him leaving by playing Gaffney over him and then further choosing to just increase Cole's minutes instead of adding to Diggins' when they reduced Gaffney's. But they also knew that was the best way to win this year and that the downstream risk, Diggins leaving, likely wasn't that major a concern. Upon practice evaluation, he turned out to be extremely replaceable, despite his HS rank. So now we're going about replacing him.

So really, it's a two-part risk: the risk that he left in the first place, and the risk that we don't recruit a better transfer for next year (at least Castle coming in 2 years decreases the future risk). We have to fail both to truly fail. The calculation the staff arrived at is that it will not be difficult to get a better replacement for this year because Diggins was that far away and that the future is already solidified. If we get a 2-year Big East starting caliber PG in the portal, we will have improved our roster going forward while at the same time having optimized our chances of winning this past year. In other words, even losing one of the bets, a win-win is certainly possible and in my opinion, the most likely outcome.

 

[Guapo]

Absolutely not true. This is how lousy coaches run programs. The fact that the transfer portal operates differently than the old redshirt transfer system does not make relying on other team's castoffs a better option.

The simple fact is that transfers rarely work out and despite their above average regular season results, we're seeing that play out right before our eyes. Nevermind that the inability to keep your recruits on your roster is, in and of itself, a sign of failure in running an athletic program.

Tell me you don’t pay attention to basketball nationally without telling me

 

[HuskyBballFan]

When you’re watching guys like Caleb Daniels, Brady Manek, Remy Martin, etc. this weekend, just keep in mind that those guys are the result of poor roster management by coaches who clearly don’t know what they are doing.

 

[auror]

When you’re watching guys like Caleb Daniels, Brady Manek, Remy Martin, etc. this weekend, just keep in mind that those guys are the result of poor roster management by coaches who clearly don’t know what they are doing.

Manek and Remy both have the chance to be players of the tournament if their teams win it all. Manek is averaging 19 a game on 47% 3-point shooting on over 8 attempts a game. Remy was already his regionals outstanding player.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Manek and Remy both have the chance to be players of the tournament if their teams win it all. Manek is averaging 19 a game on 47% 3-point shooting on over 8 attempts a game. Remy was already his regionals outstanding player.

No, no. I was told that there’s nothing but garbage on the portal.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Diggins is leaving because he's not good enough to get meaningful minutes here no matter who is on the roster. We will get better talent

He and Gaffney are either not good enough or the staff did not develop them. We will find out soon enough.

 

[aburks41]

He and Gaffney are either not good enough or the staff did not develop them. We will find out soon enough.

I would bet my entire life savings it’s the first option…they will probably be successful in a lower level like the A10. Player development is one of this staff’s best qualities

 

[Madmannsucks]

I would bet my entire life savings it’s the first option…they will probably be successful in a lower level like the A10. Player development is one of this staff’s best qualities

I would not bet anything. With the guards on this team, A10 guards could help this team. RJ was good but played too many minutes. There is not that much quality left. DH has a class of highly rated recruits, and not much to show for it. Are they not analyzing talent as well as they think, not getting the good ones, or not developing guards? The question is fair.

 

[Ratso]

i don't blame the kid, he wasn't sure how many mins he's getting soph yr. already wasted a non-redshirt year as a ranked prospect

 

[Hoophound]

Gaffney could be an explosive talent at a lower level. He has the tools to be a good SG. With two years of eligibility, he may become something yet. Maybe playing at a slightly lower level will help him get his confidence back.

I thought Diggins was going to be a solid PG. I didn’t expect him to be a star as much as I expected him to get the job done for a great team. More of a KO with a better jumpshot. I won’t be surprised if he becomes a successful high major pg. At the same time, as much as I called for him to get minutes this year, he looked lost in the few minutes he got. Could go either way.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Well that sucks...

No, he did and thats why hes out. Some guys just arent cut out to play here. I wish him the best.

 

[Jimdish255]

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.

This. All the rest is just excuses. He wore AJ down to nothing by the end of the season and we'll never know what Diggins could have contributed.