Sadie Edwards to transfer

[huskyharry]

Sorry to see her leave, particularly so soon and the fact that she is a local kid, but I understand her reasons and wish her well.

 

[hjoerring]

If you watch some of her high school interviews, you have to be super impressed about how well spoken and confident Sadie is for someone so young, for example

Thanks for citing this interview. Wow. What a young woman. I am extremely sad to see her moving on. This could not have been an easy decision for her. I am extremely selfish- but I hate when players make a decision to leave. It's like my own kids leaving home. I hope that the coaches were as honest as possible and suggested some schools where she could play and develop into a quality player.

 

[sawxfan23]

This decision benefits both Edwards and the team. Edwards is able to transfer to a school where she will have a better chance at significant playing time and the team benefits in that a scholarship opens up for UConn to recruit another player. It was apparent that Edwards was going to be buried on the bench and see very little playing time.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I feel badly for this great kid, but one could see the inevitability of this situation from a mile away. And, so long as the current coaching staff, led by Geno, is in place, we'll see it play out again and again. For the top-tier recruits in the country, the attractions that this program offers are hard to resist...being elevated to one's full potential, playing in the spotlight for national championships, etc. Be successful and the world will beat a path to your door. This is why it's a thousand and one times harder for a coach to win his or her first championship than the ninth or tenth. So any recruit good enough to be offered a scholarship to come here is obviously pretty talented, but is nevertheless faced with a tough calculus in deciding whether or not it's wise to accept. So now, here's poor Sadie, sitting on the bench, observing what no one could really foresee: one of her classmates, before Christmas of their Freshman year (!!!), has not only put an absolute lock on a starting guard spot for the next four seasons, but has already emerged as one of a handful of the most elite players in the nation. Simultaneously, she observes the remaining eligibility of Moriah and Saniya, and, finally, she's confronted with the news of this Dangerfield kid signing on...from whence cometh the hope for any significant career minutes for herself?

 

[HuskyNan]

Folks, please resist the temptation to speculate on who else may or may not transfer. We've found through painful experience that speculating on possible transfers leads to extremely ugly threads.

 

[semper]

Nothing in my observations that haven't already been said.

With KN we have a freshman guard who plays like a seasoned junior...so four years of KN is in the tea leaves. We knew she was great, and alot of us talked about this, but how great, I don't think any of us, maybe even Geno, realized. How often do you get a freshman who plays like a senior? I don't think there will be a freshman wall or a sophomore slump for this kid. She'll have ups and downs, like anyone, but what you see is probably what you got, only getting better. Then there is Mo. Then there is Saniya, Courtney, and when Mo graduates, in comes Dangerfield. And already Sadie wasn't earning much playing time, of course that's to be expected this early in the year for a freshman, but one of her classmates is starting. And Geno doesn't like to start freshmen, he really doesn't. But he is. So this is a kid who really wants to play! What would you do? I think it's probably smart to go now.

I wonder where she will go. Any clues? She must know right?

 

[Vowelguy]

This decision benefits both Edwards and the team. Edwards is able to transfer to a school where she will have a better chance at significant playing time and the team benefits in that a scholarship opens up for UConn to recruit another player. It was apparent that Edwards was going to be buried on the bench and see very little playing time.

If she was unhappy, then yes it's better that she leave.

It is howver not clear that she would see very little playing time. The team has 8 healthy bodies right now. God forbid something else happens, and then the bench gets very short.

Nor do I see much issue with scholarships. Geno wasn't using them all anyway, so having another available does little.

 

[easttexastrash]

I don't get the impression that she wanted to leave and was making plans to do do. It sounds like she went to Geno to discuss how to get more playing time and he suggested that she go somewhere else if that's what she was looking for at this time.

That is the impression that the ESPN story gives.

 

[sawxfan23]

If she was unhappy, then yes it's better that she leave.

It is howver not clear that she would see very little playing time. The team has 8 healthy bodies right now. God forbid something else happens, and then the bench gets very short.

Nor do I see much issue with scholarships. Geno wasn't using them all anyway, so having another available does little.

She may have been pressed into playing emergency minutes but lets be honest she is buried on the bench now and it would had only gotten tougher for her to find PT with the influx of Butler, Samuelson, Collier, and Boykin.

 

[RadyLady]

If she was unhappy, then yes it's better that she leave.

It is howver not clear that she would see very little playing time. The team has 8 healthy bodies right now. God forbid something else happens, and then the bench gets very short.

Nor do I see much issue with scholarships. Geno wasn't using them all anyway, so having another available does little.

This is very true. Beyond saying that she is looking for more playing time and that this is a mutual agreement between the two, there are no other details in any of the reports announcing the transfer.

 

[Intpseeker]

I wish her the best, and hope she finds what she is seeking.

 

[meyers7]

Hoopgurlz had her ranked 16th? If that ranking was accurate it is hard to imagine that she would not be a contributor at some point.

I agree, but it doesn't look like she wanted to wait. Which is her choice.

Bummed to see her go. Coming in, she was my favorite from the class. Wish her luck with wherever she goes. Hope it's to a team I can cheer for her. I thought she might end up transferring down the road, really didn't expect it this soon though.

A few people on here have talked about having too many players, but like I said, there are always going to be injuries and transfers. Don't worry about having too many. It'll work itself out. If you want to worry, worry about having too few.

 

[meyers7]

I forget her composite ranking but it was definitely top 30 if not top 20.

Geno has ample scholarships, so the idea that she was being pushed out/aside is laughably wrong.

UConn will now have 12 scholarship players in 2015-16.
In 2016-17, there will be 2 sr, 5 jr, 3 soph, and ? Frosh.

I had her at #15 composite. ASGR, Hoops and Prospect Nation had her pretty high, Bluestar and Fullcourt had her lower. And she was a McD AA. Somebody is going to get a very good player.

 

[JSB60]

I don't think there were any serious problems with Sadie. She just ended up behind Nurse, Williams, and Ekmark (when healthy). Since they were all in her class, and all good enough that they would be difficult to beat out, she figured that being the fourth guard for four years wasn't what she was after.

 

[mrmojack]

I believe she did the right thing. Lets just hope we don't get injuries and end
up with a short bench again. Even next year, there would have been five guards
ahead of her, assuming Gabby went back to the guard position full or part time.
I think Sadie will find a good situation for herself just like B. Banks did.
When you bring in four guards in a class, someone ends up #1 and someone
ends up #4.
The best of luck to Sadie.

 

[Stinger92860]

In retrospect nurse may be the top rated point Guard in this class and next. If you want to be THE point guard, that will be difficult. Can she play the 2, not that it matters now.

 

[Striper69]

Sorry to hear this news but wish her the best!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Heck, from where I'm sitting Duke would be lucky to get her and a whole bunch of other "in the conversation" teams. She has confidence and knows what she wants. I'm thinking she pulled the trigger early, but I'm not in her head or her heart and no one was in the room but Geno and Sadie. Best of luck Sadie.

 

[Striper69]

Thinking about this year. We have three experienced true guards- Messiah, Nurse, Chong. Gabby has been playing the 4 or underneath for the most part. Her ball handling skills are rusty after two years of not playing basketball. In the event of even a minor or nagging injury to one of our guards, we could be in a bit of a pickle. And re Sadie- I don't think there is any reason to think she could not play for a top 10 team. She was a top ranked recruit. And she has quite an athletic build. She may just not fit in here obviously. But I am not sure that seals her fate as a person that couldn't get drafted into the WNBA. Just my thoughts! I wish we had her on the bench for the season as insurance.

It would've been very tough for her to get more playing time with Moriah, Nurse and Chong already competing for those spot minutes. She still has a good chance to get to the next level if she sticks with it.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Edwards is able to transfer to a school where she will have a better chance at significant playing time and the team benefits in that a scholarship opens up for UConn to recruit another player. It was apparent that Edwards was going to be buried on the bench and see very little playing time.

1. The extra scholarship is completely irrelevant since Geno never uses all of them and has plenty of unused ones. That is true every year.

2. Yes, she was going to be buried on the bench this year IF there are no injuries. That is the wild card. As for future years - no-one could predict that at this point.

 

[stamfordhusky]

This is absolutely no surprise. I'll bet she isn't the only one to leave by the end of the year. I think every scholarship player on this year's roster was either a high scool all american or all state player and next year he has several more coming in.
He does not like playing more than seven players so the writing is on the wall for the others. During preseason he had a lot of praise for Gabby Williams, yet she only plays against inferior competition or if there is foul trouble.
I am just guessing, but I bet UCONN has more transfers in the last five years than any other school. That is a lot of recruiting travel money wasted.

1. Geno has often used more than seven players in the rotation in past years. It depends on the players and their experience level.

2. There are dozens of programs who have had more transfers over the past five years.

3. It is not wasted money. No-one knows how these players will work out, and no-one knows who will be happy and who won't. To save money maybe he should have stopped at three recruits last year and not brought in Nurse. How would that have worked out?

 

[HoopsFan21]

This is absolutely no surprise. I'll bet she isn't the only one to leave by the end of the year. I think every scholarship player on this year's roster was either a high scool all american or all state player and next year he has several more coming in.
He does not like playing more than seven players so the writing is on the wall for the others. During preseason he had a lot of praise for Gabby Williams, yet she only plays against inferior competition or if there is foul trouble.
I am just guessing, but I bet UCONN has more transfers in the last five years than any other school. That is a lot of recruiting travel money wasted.

So how do other teams do it? I thought Geno kept a relatively lean team, just enough players to go 5 on 5 in practice. It is kind of crazy to see how many kids quit UConn, but this is an annual thing, so it's not surprising. Look at Stef and Bria's class, as they were only 2 of the 5 to stick with it.

 

[Vowelguy]

and end
up with a short bench again. .

8 players isn't a short bench?

 

[pinotbear]

DickG, your comment about "not lik(ing) playing more than 7 players" got me wondering, so I checked into that.

During 5 of the last 6 seasons, at least 8 players on the roster have averaged over 12 minutes per game. Last year and the year before, 9 players averaged over 14 minutes per game. This year, 8 players are averaging over 14 minutes, not counting Eck, who, in her one game, played 19.
The only exception was the 2010/11 season, where UConn only had a 10-player roster to begin the season - after Walker left, the roster was 9, with 4 freshmen and red-shirt soph Buck on the roster.
So, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that Geno doesn't like playing more than 7.

What is true, I think, is that in "big games", like playing Stanford or Notre Dame on the road early, or tournament (Conference/NCAA) games past the first couple of rounds, Geno does tighten the rotation. The reasoning, for the tournament games, seems obvious: at the end of the season, when it's "one and done", team performance is more important than individual player development. In those early season "big" games, Geno is on record as believing that, if a player isn't ready for that level of competition, then it does more harm than good to put them on the floor. Agree with him or not, at least there's a rational for it.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Interesting. The UConn roster even after the removal of Edwards' name shows 12 players of the roster, though the first player listed is ineligible for this year. I have not heard that any other player of the 11 is not going to definitely be on the court for the Huskies at least by February or March.

So in big games like with ND where even in a blow-out only 8 players see more than a minute of play -- no, 8 is not a short bench.

In the blow-outs of less strong opponents, getting Lawlor or Pulido some playing time seems like a move that even the stat-greediest fans shouldn't be too upset about, since they likely have earned it. It's wrong to throw out the "I" word, but if it does happen like last year then it just means the the main lineup shrinks a bit and players get more PT. And with all the cries about certain players not getting enough PT, it doesn't seem to be a big concern to have one less player on the roster.

On Saturday, Edwards was one of three players getting 1 minute along with Lawlor and Pulido, and for a proud player that must have stung a bit, and it would not have been what she dreamed of coming into the season. Good for her if she wants to get her path sorted out now so she can move ahead with a clear mind and strong spirit.