SF/PF Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky Commit)

[KembaStepback]

http://www.scout.com/college/basket...572-busy-week-ahead-for-5-star-wenyen-Gabriel

"I’d say my favorite part of the visit was spending time with the team," Gabriel said about the trip. "[They are] a very high character group that I felt comfortable with. I also liked how clearly coach explained his plan for me and I felt like I could see myself playing there in the Xfinity center."

"They see me coming in and replacing Jake Layman's role at the three," he added. "They also have a really good weight program that impressed me as well."

Gabriel's next official visit will be the weekend of September 26th to Kentucky. He'll then go to Connecticut and Providence the next two weekends and close things out at Duke the weekend of October 17th.

Couple things I take away from this. UMD wants to play him at the 3? He's 6'10? I don't know much about his game, but if they're considering him at the 3, wouldn't he make a perfect stretch 4 for us?
Hopefully he likes our guys as well, and is more impressed with our new facilities.

 

[8893]

"They also have a really good weight program that impressed me as well."

Turgeon is selling that big time I guess. Diamond Stone claimed that that was what made him choose Maryland.

 

[AfgHusky15]

http://www.scout.com/college/basket...572-busy-week-ahead-for-5-star-wenyen-Gabriel

"I’d say my favorite part of the visit was spending time with the team," Gabriel said about the trip. "[They are] a very high character group that I felt comfortable with. I also liked how clearly coach explained his plan for me and I felt like I could see myself playing there in the Xfinity center."

"They see me coming in and replacing Jake Layman's role at the three," he added. "They also have a really good weight program that impressed me as well."

Gabriel's next official visit will be the weekend of September 26th to Kentucky. He'll then go to Connecticut and Providence the next two weekends and close things out at Duke the weekend of October 17th.

Couple things I take away from this. UMD wants to play him at the 3? He's 6'10? I don't know much about his game, but if they're considering him at the 3, wouldn't he make a perfect stretch 4 for us?
Hopefully he likes our guys as well, and is more impressed with our new facilities.

No we are recruiting his as a 3...and he has made it clear that he wants to play as a 3 at college. We have enough big guys going into 2016 he would be great for us at the 3.

 

[Fishy]

If there is a team where numbers do not matter, it's UConn.

He'll be on the floor at UConn and if he wants to call himself a three or a four, it won't much matter.

 

[KembaStepback]

If there is a team where numbers do not matter, it's UConn.

He'll be on the floor at UConn and if he wants to call himself a three or a four, it won't much matter.

Good point. So he has the ability to step out? How's his handle? I'm guessing impressive for a guy his size.

 

[David 76]

I don't think they get to see his "handle" on a OV. Maybe unofficial.

 

[Mooch82]

Allegedly he wants to play the 3 and we're recruiting him as a 3, but he isn't a college 3, and especially not a UConn 3. He's a 3 as much as Ajou Deng was a 3. Ollie has had a lot of success playing 3's as 4's....this would be the case of playing a 4 at the 3 if true. Would surprise me. Hope we're not either a) telling him what he wants to hear or b) trying to force him into a position he's not for the sake of his professional career.

 

[Matrim55]

Allegedly he wants to play the 3 and we're recruiting him as a 3, but he isn't a college 3, and especially not a UConn 3. He's a 3 as much as Ajou Deng was a 3.

Or maybe he's a 3 as much as Niels Giffey or Deandre Daniels were 3s?

If he can knock down open 3s and defend a bit on the perimeter, he can play forward in Ollie's lineups - especially since we almost always play 2 guards who can handle & initiate the offense.

 

[Mooch82]

Or maybe he's a 3 as much as Niels Giffey or Deandre Daniels were 3s?

If he can knock down open 3s and defend a bit on the perimeter, he can play forward in Ollie's lineups - especially since we almost always play 2 guards who can handle & initiate the offense.

Not sure what your point is with the Daniels/Giffey thing...especially when Daniels almost exclusively played the 4 at UConn.

I've watched Gabriel a couple times and I just don't seem as a 3 at all. I think he would have a very hard time defensively with quicker small forwards and his outside shot is very much developing. Like someone else said, he's a perfect stretch 4 for us, but he could be a little bit redundant with Durham. Don't want to scare Durham off.

 

[Stainmaster]

Let's let the coaches make the decision as to where our recruits will be playing.

 

[mauconnfan]

They will be playing basketball. They are after all basketball players so whoever can guard the other guys and make plays on both ends will play. No need when your 6'5-6'11 to have a position number just go out and play the game and you will be rewarded with time off the pine.

I have to say for big guys especially calling them a 3, swing, 4, stretch 4 or C is overrated. Granted some are prototypical but these days kids are such good athletes they're like hybrids.

 

[Walker11]

I would love to land Gabriel and I know that positions don't really matter for us. He has great length and tenacity and would kill it here. But just for a brief idea as to where his skillset currently stands - Gabriel has the type of handle to beat big men off the dribble with a quick first step but his ball handling is very much a work in progress. He also shot something like 20% on 3's on around 50 attempts this summer.

 

[Rico444]

Didn't we win a national title recently with 6'6" Niels Giffey playing center down the stretch?

 

[Mooch82]

I would love to land Gabriel and I know that positions don't really matter for us. He has great length and tenacity and would kill it here. But just for a brief idea as to where his skillset currently stands - Gabriel has the type of handle to beat big men off the dribble with a quick first step but his ball handling is very much a work in progress. He also shot something like 20% on 3's on around 50 attempts this summer.

Right. Regardless of guys saying we play "positionless basketball", etc, you still need guys to handle the ball and spread the floor. My point is that I think you have issues if Gabriel is your 3rd best ball handler/shooter. He currently is not a great ball handler or outside shooter. Much better using his length near the hoop and I also think he'd have trouble defensively on the perimeter.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Right. Regardless of guys saying we play "positionless basketball", etc, you still need guys to handle the ball and spread the floor. My point is that I think you have issues if Gabriel is your 3rd best ball handler/shooter. He currently is not a great ball handler or outside shooter. Much better using his length near the hoop and I also think he'd have trouble defensively on the perimeter.

Yes, that could well be true. Once players sign and then show up, things seem to work out in terms of what is best for the team overall given the overall strengths and weaknesses of the squad. In other words, wherever he goes, he will become subject to the needs of the team (or coach). While he is intriguing, I would rather have players like Rip or Caron playing the 3 rather than the taller ones who can struggle with the smaller defenders. It would not be that outside the realm of the possible for Jalen and Alterique to be so good together that the player at the 3 could be taller and less of a asset against presses and such. I really have a hard time imagining that UConn is going to have a lot of trouble being pressed for a few years. Imagine a team with those two as the guards, then Daniel Hamilton back at one forward and Larrier at the other, with Durham being the highly mobile and elite shotblocker. Enoch is the other big who could become a fixture if he is hungry and tough enough. If dham declares, we have Diarra to dominate the boards with Durham and Enoch to mix and match with Larrier sliding into the 3. We could use a shooter to replace that part of Sterling Gibbs' game. Adams and Gilbert could be the best dynamic duo UConn has had, but that would need to be demonstrated considering how good we have had it (Kemba and Shabazz as a freshman, Ollie/Sheffer/Allen, Brown/Gordon/Anderson, AJ Price/Dyson/Kemba, KEA/Ricky/Rip, etc).

 

[MexicoHusky]

A few comments ago we were talking about named positions....i could be wrong, but i think the And1 tour actually called players finishers and something else. Maybe finishers and playmakers. They may have had it right. At least from the offensive side of the game. That's really what goes on. You have players who handle the ball and players who finish the play.

 

[Huskyforlife]

If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's not to take advice from jalen rose...

 

[RMoore1999]

All good David. I'm a fan like all of us here on the Yard. And have been an active member of the Yard for a very long time. I'll pass along info from time to time, and folks can read into at they wish. But anyone that thinks I fake (and or guess) to establish myself as an insider is just wrong. I got plenty outside of UConn in my life to feel loved. Not looking to make myself something more than I am (a fan) in order for my fellow Yarders to give me sense of belonging. ; )

To steal a quote from our Godfather, "My advice to you:...." ...ignore these kids and keep bringing it.

 

[aceboon]

Don't really agree with those saying Gabriel's position doesn't matter, as @walker11 points out his ball handling ability is beneficial going against big men that he can take away from the basket, but not really all that great at taking smaller players off the dribble, which is what he would be facing the majority of the time at the 3. And yea, DraftExpress has already gone in detail about the need for improvement in his jumper.
This recent article was written on Giannis Antetokounmpo, but you can apply it to Gabriel and basketball in general about positions. This part is most relevant to the recent posts in this thread about Gabriel:
http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2015/09/16/giannis-antetokounmpo-and-playing-up-the-positional-scale/

In evaluating young players, I think there is a strong tendency to mentally project them down the positional scale. Josh Smith came into the league projected as a swingman combo, perhaps destined to split time between shooting guard and small forward. He has grown into power forward. Same thing with Boris Diaw (although some have argued playing power forward was a lifestyle choice for him). Carmelo Anthony has demonstrated himself to be far more effective as a stretch-four than a bullying post-up three. LeBron won two titles playing more power forward than he ever had before. Paul George started his career as a shooting guard and will be playing power forward for the first time this year. Three years ago there was a conversation about whether Anthony Daviscould play small forward, now the question is whether the New Orleans Pelicans would be better off playing him at center.

This conversation is obviously muddy because small forward and power forward are terms with limited intrinsic meaning these days. But the point remains the same. Often teams, scouts and fans see the traces of small-man skill in a big body and give them a mental shove towards that smaller position. The inclination is natural — size is a benefit and if you can cram a few extra inches into each position without losing skill, then why not?

 

[scotty0330]

@coreyevans_10: Big news as 2016 STAB forward Javin DeLaurier has moved his visit to Duke up to next weekend

Guessing this will lead to a predicted commitment. One would think Duke drops down on race for Gabriel

 

[Dynasty]

 

[bingethinker]

Turgeon and Gabriel are meeting at Willbraham again this week. It's the fourth time Maryland and Wenyen have met in the last two weeks.

 

[jminziii]

Turgeon and Gabriel are meeting at Willbraham again this week. It's the fourth time Maryland and Wenyen have met in the last two weeks.

He's going to Maryland, got it. Can we move on now or do we wait for the requisite announcement 3 months later, a la Diamond Stone?

 

[auror]

I don't know if I'm paying attention more, but WG seems like a very intense recruitment. Seems like all 5 schools think they have a shot and are after him hard.