Rick Issanza (C, 7'1", 225) to visit

[Pudge]

Plus

You develop Carlton incrementally better playing daily against a 7 foot guy than Whaley. You can argue till you’re blue. We are better off TODAY with Issanza than throwing dice on 4 guys in 2020. You still can get one of them.

 

[Danzz]

“Mamadou is a valued member of the program,” Hurley said, “a valued member. We have a ton of respect for Mo. He’s home for break right now, he’ll be back for Summer I (on June 3) and we’ll kind of go from there.”

"....we’ll kind of go from there.”
Not exactly an endorsement of Mamadou's future as a Husky.

 

[UconnU]

"....we’ll kind of go from there.”
Not exactly an endorsement of Mamadou's future as a Husky.

Taking this statement literally, Hurley is normally fairly honest and direct, they’re still trying to figure out what to do with Diarra and will let him know when he returns for summer camp. This puts Diarra in a terrible situation, uncertain about his future.

 

[lange10]

Losing out on Cockburn hurt big time. No guarantee we land Cliff in '20 but have to think if Carlton makes another leap that we have a huge selling point to bigs looking at UConn. Been awhile since we've seen development in the frontcourt like we saw from Carlton last year.

Still think the safe bet is taking on Issanza, Manuel or Coleman for next year.

 

[UofCT]

The '19 options are weak, so I'd rather go grad transfer route this year for depth and then try to get an actually good big who can eventually replace Carlton in 2020.

Tops grad transfer bigs still available:

Kelvin Jones: 6'11 230 from Idaho State. Averaged 10/5.6/1.5b in 20.0 mpg.

Jalone Friday: 6'9 250 from Abilene Christian. Averaged 13.1/4.7 and 1 block in 21.9 mpg.

Jeff Pollard: 6'9 240 from Washington State. Averaged 4.8/2.6 in 18.1 mpg.

Romani Hansen: 6'8 200 from Savannah State. Averaged 9.5/5.5/1 block in 23 mpg.

Eric Hamilton: 6'9 250 from UNC-Greensboro. Averaged 6/4 in 16.3 mpg.

Pass

 

[coachn]

My bet Whaley steps up because this time Hurley will .. play him like he should have this year. Cob was never a player. Whaley will play D in the paint,rebound and block shots. That's all he has to do. He can hedge better than anybody including JC.

 

[imno1]

Has anyone seen this guy play a game?

 

[HooperScooper]

Probably 70% of 7 footers aren't really 7 footers.

So where's the cut off if someone is quoting that statistic of how many 7 footers in the world make the NBA? Any guy whose team says he's 7 feet tall? Then it's a useless statistic.

 

[McLovin]

Well....technically Brimah wasn't really a 7 footer (DraftExpress - Amida Brimah DraftExpress Profile: Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook). 6'10.75" in sneakers.

I laughed!

 

[superjohn]

So where's the cut off if someone is quoting that statistic of how many 7 footers in the world make the NBA? Any guy whose team says he's 7 feet tall? Then it's a useless statistic.

I have no clue what PJ is talking about in this thread.

 

[UconnU]

Losing out on Cockburn hurt big time. No guarantee we land Cliff in '20 but have to think if Carlton makes another leap that we have a huge selling point to bigs looking at UConn. Been awhile since we've seen development in the frontcourt like we saw from Carlton last year.

Still think the safe bet is taking on Issanza, Manuel or Coleman for next year.

Yes I agree take a center this year to develop during what seems to be another rebuilding year. We can always bring in another center in 2020 or 2021. My problem with Carlton is that his ceiling is limited because of his lack of athleticism. Also, His style of play doesn’t mesh well with what Hurley is looking to do, you kind of need a shot blocking defensive presence at the 5. But still his offensive performance last year gives me hope.

 

[idahohusky]

What does a drowning bucket look like to a fish?

I need a drowning bucket.

 

[Ewekon]

Yes I agree take a center this year to develop during what seems to be another rebuilding year. We can always bring in another center in 2020 or 2021. My problem with Carlton is that his ceiling is limited because of his lack of athleticism. Also, His style of play doesn’t mesh well with what Hurley is looking to do, you kind of need a shot blocking defensive presence at the 5. But still his offensive performance last year gives me hope.

Yes and no. Yes I admire all the hard work Josh has put in and his improvement. Yes he is limited athletically and not a starter on a good team. No, don't take a 2019 project you hope will develop. This team is not going to be all that anyway and 2020 schollies are too valuable. Just because we whiffed on Kofi does not mean we will on a big for '20.

 

[imno1]

Yes and no. Yes I admire all the hard work Josh has put in and his improvement. Yes he is limited athletically and not a starter on a good team. No, don't take a 2019 project you hope will develop. This team is not going to be all that anyway and 2020 schollies are too valuable. Just because we whiffed on Kofi does not mean we will on a big for '20.

I'll disagree and believe that Carlton would start on many good teams. I expect enough improvement over last year to make Josh one of the best bigs in our league.

 

[3rdbass]

Yes and no. Yes I admire all the hard work Josh has put in and his improvement. Yes he is limited athletically and not a starter on a good team. No, don't take a 2019 project you hope will develop. This team is not going to be all that anyway and 2020 schollies are too valuable. Just because we whiffed on Kofi does not mean we will on a big for '20.

Why isn’t Josh Carlton a starter on a good team? Jake Voskuhl. Travis Knight , Alex Oriakhi and Amida Brimah were the centers on great teams. None of them were extremely talented even Alex who was overrated. I guess fans think we always had Emeka Okafors and Andre Drummond’s at Center. Uconn has been built with great wings and guards and a solid and not spectacular center. Josh is already offensively better than all of them. Hopefully with another offseason of getting stronger he can be up their defensively too. I think we are fine with Josh Carlton as our center next year. Our problem is we have nobody to back him up in any capacity. Whaley is too undersized to be backing up Carlton at center. He will foul out in 5 minutes.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Taking this statement literally, Hurley is normally fairly honest and direct, they’re still trying to figure out what to do with Diarra and will let him know when he returns for summer camp. This puts Diarra in a terrible situation, uncertain about his future.

I think they are leaving it to Diarra to decide after going home and talking to his family.

 

[Edward Sargent]

What does a drowning bucket look like to a fish?

A bucket with no water

 

[UofCT]

I think they are leaving it to Diarra to decide after going home and talking to his family.

Why would Diarra decide to get rid of his scholarship?

 

[BlueMAB]

Yes I agree take a center this year to develop during what seems to be another rebuilding year. We can always bring in another center in 2020 or 2021. My problem with Carlton is that his ceiling is limited because of his lack of athleticism. Also, His style of play doesn’t mesh well with what Hurley is looking to do, you kind of need a shot blocking defensive presence at the 5. But still his offensive performance last year gives me hope.

Akok is his shot blocker.

 

[Nebraskan18]

Tom, if you're reading this, I still like Bones Hyland

 

[BlueMAB]

Why would Diarra decide to get rid of his scholarship?

I believe they can give him academic or need-based aid, make him a manager, free up the scholarship, and still get him a (mostly) free education.

 

[Kenny11]

Akok is his shot blocker.

Josh averaged about 2 blocks per game last year. He may not be athletic but he is very long.

 

[tcf15]

Corey Evans picked Oklahoma for Issanza: Rick Issanza, 2019 Center - Rivals.com

 

[BFieldHusky]

Corey Evans picked Oklahoma for Issanza: Rick Issanza, 2019 Center - Rivals.com

Important to note that I don't believe UConn has even offered him yet.

 

[BlueMAB]

Josh averaged about 2 blocks per game last year. He may not be athletic but he is very long.

I've been a big supporter/defender of Josh since the beginning of the season when people were saying he should never be a starter on a uconn team. I was just saying that Akok's length brings shot blocking, didn't intend to imply that Josh doesn't. I think your response probably should have addressed @UcannUconn