Richie Springs Academic Redshirt

[UConnRock]

The Whaley we saw last night softens this a bit. The loss of another scholarship player this year make the avoidance of injury a necessity.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Haven't read much of this thread and jumping in late, but this isn't all that big of a deal honestly. Springs was a good get for the program but in all likelihood would not have contributed much this year. We'll be thankful to have him during his redshirt senior year.

Yeah, I don’t get the whining. To me he was a kid who reclassified, and who is still growing and would possibly have become a much more sought after guy at maybe 6’10” next year. So we locked him up and can work on his mind and body for a year. It’s a scholarship that was not vacant until late in the process. Count him towards the 2020 class and imagine Diarra is still on the bench and can’t play.

 

[David 76]

I think everyone has gone mad. I remember the urgent need to find another big. Back when everyone was dreading the.idea that Whaley was our back up center. Now everyone is talking like Springs was only an investment for our future. We may get lucky with Whaley, but this still shows the coaches were caught with their pants down.
They have been pretty great so far, minus landing a good center, so we can chalk it up to a learning experience.
But so many people revising history here.Surprised Herbst hasn't been blamed yet

 

[AntG168]

I think everyone has gone mad. I remember the urgent need to find another big. Back when everyone was dreading the.idea that Whaley was our back up center. Now everyone is talking like Springs was only an investment for our future. We may get lucky with Whaley, but this still shows the coaches were caught with their pants down.
They have been pretty great so far, minus landing a good center, so we can chalk it up to a learning experience.
But so many people revising history here.Surprised Herbst hasn't been blamed yet

All those comments were made before we knew that Whaley may have made a monumental jump

 

[goodgameed]

All those comments were made before we knew that Whaley may have made a monumental jump

 

[Fishy]

My level of concern over this is somewhere around zero on a scale of 1-10. You have to dug a hole under one to find my concern.

Springs just turned 18 in September; I don’t think he was going to make a huge impact this year and it’s not like this is a top 20 team right now anyway.

We have one more year of growing pains to graduate completely from Ollie to Hurley and I don’t mind that Springs get a free year to grow and then come into the lineup next year with four years to play.

 

[mauconnfan]

In the post game interview with Dan I sensed a bit of confidence in his tone when he stated “Richie’s going to be a real good basketball player for us....”

As long as he can swing the academics this could be the best route for both Richie and the program. A year battling with the team in practice while getting his body ready under Sal could be just what the Dr ordered for the beginning of the return to the Big East.

Think about this, there are many who might say "save that scholly if he's not academically eligible" right? But let me ask you this, would you prefer a 2020 kid ranked around 125 or thereabouts, or a kid ranked there from this year who can work out with the team all year as well as Alosi? Can't be upset about this at all it's best for the 18 year old to grow up and grow up mentally and physically. Gut feeling this kid will be a good one, he moves on the floor like a 6-4 kid and is already 6'8 or 9 and still growing.

 

[Rico444]

In the post game interview with Dan I sensed a bit of confidence in his tone when he stated “Richie’s going to be a real good basketball player for us....”

As long as he can swing the academics this could be the best route for both Richie and the program. A year battling with the team in practice while getting his body ready under Sal could be just what the Dr ordered for the beginning of the return to the Big East.

Think about this, there are many who might say "save that scholly if he's not academically eligible" right? But let me ask you this, would you prefer a 2020 kid ranked around 125 or thereabouts, or a kid ranked there from this year who can work out with the team all year as well as Alosi? Can't be upset about this at all it's best for the 18 year old to grow up and grow up mentally and physically. Gut feeling this kid will be a good one, he moves on the floor like a 6-4 kid and is already 6'8 or 9 and still growing.

Yeah, the fact is that UConn had three choices once it was clear Manuel wasn't happening:

1) Bank the scholarship for a year, which does nothing for us.
2) Find an obscure c/o 2019 big man; the level of player would have almost certainly been not good enough to play anything more than a handful of minutes this season.
3) Bring in Richie.

None of those three options were going to help us in 2019, but having Richie spend a full year practicing with the team and working with Sal likely means he'll be more ready to contribute next year than most 2020 freshman centers.

 

[intlzncster]

I'll grant you I took less than 3 second look at the link. Saw Purple/gold and LSU immediately came to mind. That's on me. But I see that it's ECU. Which makes sense, because they aren't big time.

And miscommunication on the word 'AD' is also on me. I mean, 'AD' as in Athletic Department. I use those acronyms interchangeably to the detriment of clarity. Benedict runs it, so sets that tone, but no, he's not involved in any single recruit.

maybe the coaches would have had somebody do something, but to think the AD at LSU is getting involved in that stuff is crazy.

I get that people here view how college sports operate through the lens of the UCONN AD, but that's just not how big time programs are playing the game. I've spent long enough in the SEC scene (it doesn't take much) to know that all wheels can and are greased. Boosters require/facilitate it even, or you're gonna be out of a job. At some schools, I would not be shocked if more than 50% of football transcripts are doctored.

There's no way it's worth cheating for 1 win. If he's worth one win now as a raw project, what's he worth as a redshirt senior?

Don't poo poo contributions to one win. That one win could be in the AAC tournament. You don't know how critical it could be. And obviously, he'd probably help out more than that.

Do you know if Danny "definitely" wanted Springs to play this year or, you "think" he wanted him to play this year. You're talking out of your ...I see you creating strawmen and making inconsistent assumptions about what Hurley did or didn't want to do.

This is a message board. Of course it's "think". Every single post on this board is "think". You draw conclusions based on evidence on the table. Nobody has Hurley's ear on here. I thought that was blatantly obvious.

This very much looks to be a loss in Hurley's eyes--yes, we are all making assumptions because we haven't spoken to the man--just using common sense.

They desperately wanted another big this year. That is known. They recruited for it and struck out. They had a chance to grab a kid late in the game and took it.

Even a moron could see we had very, very little depth in the front court coming into this year. At that time, Hurley had no idea what to expect from Whaley (I'd argue we still don't). And Polley is limited. So he had 2 guys solidified (Akok/Carlton).

You think Hurley and UCONN just tried to have him reclassify eligibility-wise for the hell of it? I get bringing him in early to lock him down, there's value in that; that's true. But if you'd think he'd voluntarily red shirt him, when we are so flawed at his very position, idk what to tell you. We've only got 10 eligible guys on scholarship. That's far from ideal.

I'm also think it's highly likely that Ricky wouldn't go through the effort of reclassifying, at a young age, to come to UCONN simply to sit on the bench. He, like all kids, wanted to play.

Strawman. People aren't as concerned as you, they see the benefit in the long run over the short term, and/or they think blaming the AD because someone decided not to cheat is strange.

Relax. It's hyperbole. People are putting lipstick on the pig. Fine, that's their right. But it's definitely worse for this season.

 

[intlzncster]

All those comments were made before we knew that Whaley may have made a monumental jump

We still do not have a good idea. He looks more skilled. He looks thicker. But he's playing against small, low level talent. And the disparity between these types of players and major D1 kids is even greater for bigs. These are the types of games a guy like Brimah could put up 20+ and we'd be dreaming about what could be.

The one thing the yard never does is slow it's roll.

 

[Chief00]

The first step on any player you want is to get him enrolled in school. Mission accomplished.

 

[ctchamps]

You take Richie any day with that last scholarship even if you knew he was only a partial qualifier.

I'm not confident Richie sits one and plays four. More likely he sits one, plays three and moves on. Even if he sits one and plays four he loses whatever development he could have gained playing alongside players returning next season with in game scenarios. And ditto for those other players.

We are thin literally and figuratively in the front court. Richie's absence significantly impacts the options available to Hurley. This development will make it difficult to put Carleton and Whaley on the court at the same time. If Carlton gets double teamed Whaley is currently the only player who is strong enough to make other teams pay for that choice. And although I agree with the assessment that Richie needs time to condition his body, his height advantage over Whaley, his already developed passing ability, and his innate reflex development for rebounding is a serious loss imo for this season.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

It’s because we’re a traumatized fan base and any little change or incident makes us nervous. It does appear to be a good situation for Springs.

You know what dropped today, right?

 

[Horatio]

You know what dropped today, right?

Dude, I listened to it ten times already. Today is a holiday.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Dude, I listened to it ten times already. Today is a holiday.

So great to hear that voice again. I'm running it all day.

 

[superjohn]

You know what dropped today, right?

Watch "Gang Starr - From A Distance (Feat. Jeru The Damaja) [Official Audio]" on YouTube

 

[UConnStats]

Watch "Gang Starr - From A Distance (Feat. Jeru The Damaja) [Official Audio]" on YouTube

This was my favorite of the songs that weren't pre-released.

 

[Horatio]

This was my favorite of the songs that weren't pre-released.

Favorites already- Family and Loyality, Bad Name, Hitman and get together. Boy I wish Guru had one more verse on Hitman.

 

[superjohn]

Favorites already- Family and Loyality, Bad Name, Hitman and get together. Boy I wish Guru had one more verse on Hitman.

Take flight is dope. Haven't listened to all of it yet but it's Primo, he's never made a beat in his life. Is Group Home on it at all?

 

[Horatio]

Take flight is dope. Haven't listened to all of it yet but it's Primo, he's never made a beat in his life. Is Group Home on it at all?

Yep. Their up there

 

[David 76]

All those comments were made before we knew that Whaley may have made a monumental jump

Wasn't that like the day before yesterday? And what does it have to do with the coaches missing on his academic situation?
I would call that a lucky accident if it holds true.

 

[Excalibur]

I’m still waiting to see support for the assumption that the staff “missed” on his academic situation.

 

[David 76]

I’m still waiting to see support for the assumption that the staff “missed” on his academic situation.

His being academically ineligible and Hurley saying he didn't see this coming .