RJ Cole (Transfer)

[6xChamps]

 

[Chin Diesel]

Which makes Coach Hurley's "welcome everyone back even if they're of zero use to NEXT YEAR'S TEAM" approach so frustrating.

Updated it for you. Is there some dead wood on the bench I'd like to jettison based on performance the past two seasons? Absolutely.

Will keeping that dead wood mean a less talented 2019-2020 team overall? Most likely.

But, if those players are getting grades, going to practice and doing what coaches tell them to do, it helps with culture and building a program. All I'm looking for next year is around 20 wins and an overall winning record.

2020 and beyond is where there will be a full roster of higher level talent.

 

[BackAftaThis]

I’d imagine the staff is recruiting for 2 spots. One to play immediately and one to sit for a year.

 

[UofCT]

I’d imagine the staff is recruiting for 2 spots. One to play immediately and one to sit for a year.

Where is that last scholarship coming from

 

[JMick]

Where is that last scholarship coming from

It's been speculated over and over again.

 

[UofCT]

It's been speculated over and over again.

Yet still no answer

 

[UConnStats]

Yet still no answer

Not trying to be offensive but why are you acting like the public would be the first to know? For all you know, they already have it squared up.

It may be frustrating, but some things are better off being completely solidified before it all becomes public.

 

[JMick]

Yet still no answer

who owes you an answer?

 

[Jaker]

I don't think you pass on a player of Cole's quality if he wants to come here.

 

[UofCT]

who owes you an answer?

Who owes me an answer for what?

 

[HawkHusky]

Cole vs high-major competition

Freshman Year:
- 27 points, 8 assists at Indiana
- 16 points, 4 assists at Gonzaga
- 17 points, 8 assists at Georgetown

Sophomore Year:
- 28 points, 6 assists at Georgetown

 

[mauconnfan]

Again just guessing, they have discussed Alteriques future after graduating already this may be a sign of what they may have a good idea on. I'm all in on an impact player for 20-21, I mean with him they are in a good place in the backcourt for a while. Having said that I sincerely hope there is a solid wing/PF/C prospect coming in. And I also hate giving the extra one up if NTambwe wants to come here. Just think we need that type of guy because I am not sold on Sid or Tyler to be that guy.

Trust in the staff but certainly understand peoples concerns.

 

[tcf15]

Already at 1509 career points lol that's crazy.

 

[6xChamps]

Already at 1509 career points lol that's crazy.

For comparison, Chris Clemons (who just finished his career at Campbell and is now 3rd on the NCAA D1 all time scoring list) has 1460 after his first two seasons. If Cole stayed at Howard it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to be top 5 all time in scoring, with a chance to get to #2 behind Pete Maravich. We would be lucky to get this guy.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Funnily enough, Karl Hobbs may be hired to coach Howard.

 

[navery12]

Funnily enough, Karl Hobbs may be hired to coach Howard.

That was my first thought too. Not that he has any relationship with the kid, but UConn can kindly ask him to not recruit him back

 

[UconnU]

Cole vs high-major competition

Freshman Year:
- 27 points, 8 assists at Indiana
- 16 points, 4 assists at Gonzaga
- 17 points, 8 assists at Georgetown

Sophomore Year:
- 28 points, 6 assists at Georgetown

He’s also a natural born leader, great culture fit, the type of kid you win championships with.

 

[UConNick]

While at St. Anthony, Cole was his class's salutatorian with a 4.0 GPA. Obviously grades aren't an end-all, be-all, but it's probably an indication he's a high-character kid who's going to take care of himself and be a good teammate. Though the scholarship crunch had me a little apprehensive at first, I'm warming up to the idea of grabbing him for 2020-21, especially considering some of our top targets in the HS 2020 class are wings (Andre Jackson, Cam Thomas) or bigs (Cliff, Williams, Lewis, does Springs still count?).

 

[Towney007]

They could also float a year of education on something else and not use the scholarship. I think.

 

[rip7774]

They could also float a year of education on something else and not use the scholarship. I think.

Is this possible? Bc if so, wow this would solve some issues. Obviously he’d be on b-ball the following year.

 

[husky429]

They could also float a year of education on something else and not use the scholarship. I think.

You think he's going to come here to ppay and walk on?

 

[auror]

He shoots well, both from the FT line and 3. More importantly, he draws a ton of fouls, slightly at the expense of his 2 point finishing, but the 2pt shooting is somewhat to be expected for a guard of his size.

Still, his numbers compare favorably to Gilbert's in essentially every area. FT%, 3pt%, 2pt%, assist rate, turnover rate are all better on impressively high usage. His steal and rebound numbers are eerily similar, but slightly better. He shot 3x more FTs and 1.5x more 3s (keeping in mind he played in 6 more games).

The only question is how well his efficiency will translate to tougher competition and a different playstyle (his team plays very fast pressing style). I'd be pretty ready to give him a shot.

 

[Son of Robert]

Played for Hurley Sr.

So I finally watched the video of R.J. Cole and Bob Hurley Sr. It was good, gave some background on the character of R.J., which is top shelf, and the straight ahead coaching and basketball acumen of Hurley Sr.

There is talent and then there is coaching, and for R.J. to have played and thrived under Hurley Sr's demanding tutelage says volumes about R.J. as a young promising player. Sure he's undersized, but one look at our history and you can see that heart and talent can make up for size. If he is sitting a year this is essentially the guard replacing Christian Vital next year and we are ahead of the curve. Dan Hurley and staff perhaps are recruiting for best available talent for the backcourt for 2020-2021 and this is a proven college player with lots of history with the Hurley family. They know this guy.

We have plenty of size at the 2/3/4 that we can put on the floor, getting a player like R.J. solidifies our ballhandling, leadership, and point guard play with Jalen Gaffney already on board and Gilbert playing one more year and perhaps two. This may be an excellent recruiting move.

Still need a power 4/5 for this year though.

 

[Towney007]

I’m all over guys you know well, fit your culture and have actual college track record. They can figure out the fit.

ESP if he has to sit out a year then do it. If they can finagle Akok’s Scholarship situation they can do it with this guy.

 

[Engineer90]

Will probably end up at Memphi$.