2020 Recruiting: Seth Towns grad transfer

[mauconnfan]

I'll just throw this out there - Durham. Remember how long it took him to come back? With our history of players impacted by multiple injuries/surgeries I'd pass.

Certainly agree with this coming to mind immediately. But I'm not sure of the extent of the injury(ies) and Juwan blew out his knee 2 times. It would seem that Towns thought he could get back on the court without surgery so is it that bad or was it just not being timely with getting the proper diagnosis?

The kids a player if healthy and I am sure if he is even interested in UConn the staff and medical team will do its due diligence in assuring he would be a good fit both health wise and game wise.

 

[BFieldHusky]

To me, he is worth the risk. Especially if he is your "13th scholarship."

 

[navery12]

As the 13th scholarship it shouldn't even be a question if he's worth it. He'd immediately start for this team

 

[Kolumbo]

Giddyup.

 

[Huskyfan4evr]

Does he have interest in UConn or is it just a pipe dream?

 

[bmayuc]

Anyone saying they don't want an efficient 6'7 scorer, passer, and rebounder because he had a knee injury are completely nuts. This is 2020, not 1990. Knee injuries are something to recover from not debilitating in 99% of cases. Worst case scenario Diarra situation... who cares with your 13th scholly?

If he wants to come here, we should roll out a red carpet, fete him with our finest meats and cheeses, etc.

 

[kansashusky]

He wasn't. That said I'd take him in a second.

Wink if its Cliff?

 

[Kathy]

Interesting reaction in this thread - I seem to remember not so long ago how much criticism there was about recruiting injured/injury prone players. This guy hasn't played in 2 years and just had knee surgery - are we really that desperate as a fan base that we will waste a 2 year scholarship onan unknown. Sure when healthy he was good - but how long will rehab take and will he still be the same player?
And dont tell me this is different than Durham, Gilbert or Diarra

 

[bendm]

 

[Excalibur]

Eh. The team didn't have a true point and I'm not sure that good but not great teams can make a run in the tourney without a true point.

It wasn't about a tourney run. They played to their seed and Kansas was clearly better. They should have been better in the regular season, which would have resulted in a higher seed. They had two talented combo guards and a pretty good "point forward", and our best offensive big in the last decade.

 

[businesslawyer]

Interesting reaction in this thread - I seem to remember not so long ago how much criticism there was about recruiting injured/injury prone players. This guy hasn't played in 2 years and just had knee surgery - are we really that desperate as a fan base that we will waste a 2 year scholarship onan unknown. Sure when healthy he was good - but how long will rehab take and will he still be the same player?
And dont tell me this is different than Durham, Gilbert or Diarra

Obviously I want to do my due diligence on the surgery and rehab. But we can't shy away from every player who has had a serious injury just because we've had a string of recent bad luck.

 

[JMick]

Interesting reaction in this thread - I seem to remember not so long ago how much criticism there was about recruiting injured/injury prone players. This guy hasn't played in 2 years and just had knee surgery - are we really that desperate as a fan base that we will waste a 2 year scholarship onan unknown. Sure when healthy he was good - but how long will rehab take and will he still be the same player?
And dont tell me this is different than Durham, Gilbert or Diarra

It's different when it's your 13th scholarship and not your starting PG or projected starting center...

 

[HooperScooper]

I'll just throw this out there - Durham. Remember how long it took him to come back? With our history of players impacted by multiple injuries/surgeries I'd pass.

How about Mamadou Diarra?

We have no idea if either Durham's or Diarra's situations are similar to Towns' situation but it's clear that knee injuries to athletes are many times tough to overcome. Or take a long time to overcome. Time UConn wouldn't have with Towns since he has to complete his eligibility in the next 2 years.

 

[HooperScooper]

It's different when it's your 13th scholarship and not your starting PG or projected starting center...

I said it on this thread already and I'll say it again, just because he might be 1 of 13 scholarships doesn't mean his scholarship could be the 13th one which is usually a guy who never plays. Giving away that 13th scholarship who may not be able to help at all means you might be passing on a recruit in the spring who is a very good player and could help. Or maybe a top level recruit who could help a lot.

I don't think UConn is in a position right now to take that much risk with any scholarships. Obviously the staff will make their own evaluation, with much more information than we have, but this is just my opinion based on the cursory facts we are privy to.

 

[tower1]

Do we really want a 2 year player coming off knee surgery? He had a prior knee surgery also. Big pass for me. Not worth the risk.

Yes we do ! We need help .

 

[navery12]

I said it on this thread already and I'll say it again, just because he might be 1 of 13 scholarships doesn't mean his scholarship could be the 13th one which is usually a guy who never plays. Giving away that 13th scholarship who may not be able to help at all means you might be passing on a recruit in the spring who is a very good player and could help. Or maybe a top level recruit who could help a lot.

I don't think UConn is in a position right now to take that much risk with any scholarships. Obviously the staff will make their own evaluation, with much more information than we have, but this is just my opinion based on the cursory facts we are privy to.

I'm very curious to hear more about this top recruit who's available in the spring and coming here

 

[Stainmaster]

Still not good enough for UConn, folks?

 

[Kathy]

It's different when it's your 13th scholarship and not your starting PG or projected starting center...

That's BS and you know it. If we sign him and he never plays a game this fan base will sing a different song.

 

[HooperScooper]

I'm very curious to hear more about this top recruit who's available in the spring and coming here

I'm very curious to hear how much Towns could help next year and if the injury will hold him back. If he's completely healthy and ready to play like he has before then definitely bring him in.

 

[bendm]

That's BS and you know it. If we sign him and he never plays a game this fan base will sing a different song.

i'm interested to see if you can project the top 10 rotation players for 2020 if hurley can bring in both a guy like cliff, and towns. then you'd realize how stacked the roster is and why towns is worth the risk/reward. his presence would raise the ceiling all the more and his absence would barely put a dent in the floor. no more than 10 guys should get meaningful PT anyways.

 

[auror]

i'm interested to see if you can project the top 10 rotation players for 2020 if hurley can bring in both a guy like cliff, and towns. then you'd realize how stacked the roster is and why towns is worth the risk/reward. his presence would raise the ceiling all the more and his absence would barely put a dent in the floor. no more than 10 guys should get meaningful PT anyways.

Wasting a scholarship is about the opportunity cost of not that year, but the lost development time. In 3 years, do you want a junior in that scholarship or a freshman plus 2 years of a guy who suited up a rusty 6 games total?

 

[UConnStats]

Still not good enough for UConn, folks?

That tweet was referring to when he was in HS, not right now. But I have already heard we, and a number of other schools, have reached out. Wouldn’t get too hopeful though.

 

[JMick]

That's BS and you know it. If we sign him and he never plays a game this fan base will sing a different song.

How else would you propose the last scholarship be used?

 

[navery12]

I'm very curious to hear how much Towns could help next year and if the injury will hold him back. If he's completely healthy and ready to play like he has before then definitely bring him in.

I think he's at the level of talent where you bring him in at all costs. Likely all a moot point because he's gonna end up somewhere much better than here

 

[bendm]

Wasting a scholarship is about the opportunity cost of not that year, but the lost development time. In 3 years, do you want a junior in that scholarship or a freshman plus 2 years of a guy who suited up a rusty 6 games total?

goes without saying it depends on who the alternative to towns is. no one arguing hurley should take towns over a guy like cliff.

 

[TheChamps990411]

This is nothing tangible. But if we passed on him I think we’d regret it

Possibly but we've past on a lot of guys we later regretted. I just dont see it as too big a deal because I think our front court will be in really good shape going forward. Polley and Jackson should be solid at the 3, Akok,Whalley and Springs at the 4 and Carlton, Ferguson and Springs at the 5. If I could get a healthy Towns this season id jump on that in a heartbeat but next year and beyond I think well be fine if we miss out on him.

 

[TheChamps990411]

goes without saying it depends on who the alternative to towns is. no one arguing hurley should take towns over a guy like cliff.

If given a choice why take Towns over Cliff?

 

[bendm]

If given a choice why take Towns over Cliff?

one would not make that choice

 

[HuskyHawk]

i'm interested to see if you can project the top 10 rotation players for 2020 if hurley can bring in both a guy like cliff, and towns. then you'd realize how stacked the roster is and why towns is worth the risk/reward. his presence would raise the ceiling all the more and his absence would barely put a dent in the floor. no more than 10 guys should get meaningful PT anyways.

I don't understand how anyone can argue against bringing him in if he will come and if his injury is at least likely healed. Here are my reasons why:

1. He's a winner. Out team needs a veteran leader who is a winner. (He's likely smart too)
2. He's a versatile do everything basketball player at 6'7". He shoots, he dribbles, penetrates, passes he's a complete basketball player. We desperately need that kind of player.
3. Jackson will be a freshman. Sure he looks great. But we were excited about Sid and many thought he'd start freshman year. Suggesting Andre is a plug in starter is a very big stretch. Learning from Towns would help him. Polley is terrible at the SF position and is a better stretch 4.
4. We are out of time to start winning. No freshman we are likely to get (maybe Cliff) is going to have anywhere near the impact on winning in 2020-21 that Towns could have.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If given a choice why take Towns over Cliff?

It's arguably a greater area of need. We are adding a 7' guy in Javonte Brown Ferguson and a 6'9-10" guy in Springs. I'm assuming Carlton will return. Akok is absolutely starting at the 4 next year. So while I like Cliff's build and physicality, is Hurley going to use him? If he's going to run the offense and defense the way he does this year, Javonte Brown Ferguson may be better than Cliff in that system.