SF/PF Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky Commit)

[MuchoDogYears]

Happiness is not needing to care one way or the other about this one. We're in very good shape at his position(s). If ever we had a "nice to have" versus "need to have" recruiting situation this may have been it. Life is good.

Peacefrog is hoppy with the turn of events and he's right on all accounts. Once Durham committed, WG was no longer a "need", but simply a "nice to have".

The biggest "need" still left on the 2016 recruiting front is to bring in a SG or swingman. Diallo and Vance Jackson are the top targets here.

 

[uchusky32]

We need a natural SF as well. Someone who can learn under TL.

 

[James]

crap posters rarely change their tune, most of them are grown men, @fleudslipcon . paesano is stll outchea claiming Cal is funneling money to recruits to get them. fact is he no longer needs to be dirty, he's built a brand at uk that speaks for itself and attracts top 15 recruits every year. it has nothing to do with a briefcase of benjamins tossed at an overpass.

and no academics mean squat to kids who most likely wont be finishing their degrees til deep in their respective nba careers, when theyll have already aggregated millions of dollars.

All that said, the jig is up with cal and player development. He thrives on generational talents @ UK, which he is fantastic at getting. from the horses mouth, he is interested in producing lottery picks more than winning chips. Winning and player development are entirely correlated. Hes not a bad coach at all, a very good one @ d1 level, but definitely not the master of x&os. he isn't a basketball junkie, he is an egocentric brand building maniac ( things were a little different at memphis as he developed some nice players, but times have changed, and so has the game).

 

[Rocktheworld]

Look at the order of the pictures. Working off the obvious fact that Providence is in last, we now know that UConn is in fourth and UK is in first. What makes it damning is the question mark. There's only one. It isn't accompanied by an exclamation mark. It isn't bolded or italicized. Severe lack of emojis. We now know that he is not in deep contemplation over this; that there is no real internal struggle going on here. UK is clearly running away with him.

DAMN YOU CALIPARI

*gasp*

Just like the gyspy woman said...!

Sorry guys

Does this make me an insider now?

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

crap posters rarely change their tune, most of them are grown men, @fleudslipcon . paesano is stll outchea claiming Cal is funneling money to recruits to get them. fact is he no longer needs to be dirty, he's built a brand at uk that speaks for itself and attracts top 15 recruits every year. it has nothing to do with a briefcase of benjamins tossed at an overpass.

and no academics mean squat to kids who most likely wont be finishing their degrees til deep in their respective nba careers, when theyll have already aggregated millions of dollars.

All that said, the jig is up with cal and player development. He thrives on generational talents @ UK, which he is fantastic at getting. from the horses mouth, he is interested in producing lottery picks more than winning chips. Winning and player development are entirely correlated. Hes not a bad coach at all, a very good one @ d1 level, but definitely not the master of x&os. he isn't a basketball junkie, he is an egocentric brand building maniac ( things were a little different at memphis as he developed some nice players, but times have changed, and so has the game).

Can you define what constitutes a crap poster? I am assuming you know and that your not an eogocentric message board maniac.

Thanks in advance for educating me. I am truly honored.

Have a wonderful evening to all the basketball geniuses that I am so blessed to share this wonderful and thoughtful board with.

 

[UConNick]

*gasp*

Just like the gyspy woman said...!

Sorry guys

Does this make me an insider now?

No, but it makes you a psychopathic pyromaniac secretary

 

[Rocktheworld]

No, but it makes you a psychopathic pyromaniac secretary

YOU'RE NOT MY MODERATOR

 

[James]

Can you define what constitutes a crap poster? I am assuming you know and that your not an eogocentric message board maniac.

Thanks in advance for educating me. I am truly honored.

Have a wonderful evening to all the basketball geniuses that I am so blessed to share this wonderful and thoughtful board with.

I'm not trying to mistake your surliness for genuine interest, but if its the later its not hard to see the asinine comments spewed by many posters, repeatedly... one could call that a pattern. There are a lot of basketball junkies on this forum who love hoops and speak on it in a productive manner, others heave off the wall generalizations and minimal engaging input. No i'm not a basketball genius, i'm a hoops junkie... its a sport thats been part of my life forever at many levels including coaching.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I'm not trying to mistake your surliness for genuine interest, but if its the later its not hard to see the asinine comments spewed by many posters, repeatedly... one could call that a pattern. There are a lot of basketball junkies on this forum who love hoops and speak on it in a productive manner, others heave off the wall generalizations and minimal engaging input. No i'm not a basketball genius, i'm a hoops junkie... its a sport thats been part of my life forever at many levels including coaching.

Go to the Hartford Courant Page C4 and look at the picture of Kevin Ollie with Donalyn Wall. Maybe that story can give you some perspective and many others here on what UConn Family is about. I usually enjoy your posts. The personal attacks get old (by not just you).

Have a good1 James.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

http://www.courant.com/hc-pictures-2015-uconn-husky-run-20150930-003-photo.html

 

[James]

Go to the Hartford Courant Page C4 and look at the picture of Kevin Ollie with Donalyn Wall. Maybe that story can give you some perspective and many others here on what UConn Family is about. I usually enjoy your posts. The personal attacks get old (by not just you).

Have a good1 James.

I dont read the newspaper and I couldn't give two f$$$$ what the hell is on c4 . I also don't care how much you and your condescending tone appreciate my 'posts'; there are dimwitted posters on here and thats a fact. I dont go out my way to accost them, but its open season when the rambling doesn't stop. They aren't part of this 'uconn family' you speak, and neither am I...currently.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I dont read the newspaper and I couldn't give two f$$$$ what the hell is on c4 . I also don't care how much you and your condescending tone appreciate my 'posts'; there are dimwitted posters on here and thats a fact. I dont go out my way to accost them, but its open season when the rambling doesn't stop. They aren't part of this 'uconn family' you speak, and neither am I...currently.

Well....I thought with the KO quote accompanying your moniker you might have some interest in the type of human being he is (above). I guess not. My bad...

 

[Ricker]

We have a quality recruiting class that just needs icing on the cake. I coveted Powell & Jackson for their 3 pt shooting and Gabriel as an elite versatile talent in spite of our quality depth at his position. Kegler I have always viewed as a long shot. I hope we don't get skunked. We need a 4th guard and x-Bruce Brown there are only 7 guards left in the top 150 and 3 of them are 5'10 +/- and most are geographically where we have little history. There also doesn't seem to be much alternative uncommitted 3 pt talent at SF. Alpha Diallo would be a great warrior to get involved with but it doesn't seem like we will be adding to this class from many other 2016 prospects. It looks like any additions will have to be reclassifications from 2017, 5th year transfers in the spring, juco, overseas, or much less coveted seniors. Fingers crossed for Jackson.

 

[Stainmaster]

Go to the Hartford Courant Page C4 and look at the picture of Kevin Ollie with Donalyn Wall. Maybe that story can give you some perspective and many others here on what UConn Family is about. I usually enjoy your posts. The personal attacks get old (by not just you).

Have a good1 James.

Mrs. Dribbles?

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Mrs. Dribbles?

Have a great night SM. Catch up with your posts in a few weeks.

Best
BDH

 

[James]

We have a quality recruiting class that just needs icing on the cake. I coveted Powell & Jackson for their 3 pt shooting and Gabriel as an elite versatile talent in spite of our quality depth at his position. Kegler I have always viewed as a long shot. I hope we don't get skunked. We need a 4th guard and x-Bruce Brown there are only 7 guards left in the top 150 and 3 of them are 5'10 +/- and most are geographically where we have little history. There also doesn't seem to be much alternative uncommitted 3 pt talent at SF. Alpha Diallo would be a great warrior to get involved with but it doesn't seem like we will be adding to this class from many other 2016 prospects. It looks like any additions will have to be reclassifications from 2017, 5th year transfers in the spring, juco, overseas, or much less coveted seniors. Fingers crossed for Jackson.

alpha diallo... we need him like a hole in the head or a third tit. basically a worst version of larrier. The biggest concern for KO is having another guard/ball handler off the bench , not just sam cassell jr. that spells disaster. A hamidou diallo reclassification would be ground breaking and nearly on par with dre's reclassifying back in 2011. He has every reason to reclassify and straight up start at the 2 in 2016, it'll hurt if he stays put and dips to UK or kansas cuse some ish.

 

[Stainmaster]

alpha diallo... we need him like a hole in the head or a third tit. basically a worst version of larrier.

Say Hamilton declares for the draft this year. Larrier will be eligible and Omar will have graduated, Rodney may be going pro after this year as well. Who else on the roster will be able to play the 3 besides maybe Durham (whom I see tending more towards the 4)?

 

[tcf15]

Mrs. Dribbles?

Thought the same - nice photo.

 

[James]

Say Hamilton declares for the draft this year. Larrier will be eligible and Omar will have graduated, Rodney may be going pro after this year as well. Who else on the roster will be able to play the 3 besides maybe Durham (whom I see tending more towards the 4)?

i'll go on record hamilton isn't going to be in the 2016 draft, but your point is valid. we need wing depth too, i just think backcourt/ballhandling playmakers is a much higher need. either playmaking/skilled shooting wing ( not raw), or a guard who can pass to aid cassell. Alpha comes off as a scoring sg interested in buckets and thats it. but i mean if thats whats left on the table, by all means suit him up in husky blue.

 

[superjohn]

i'll go on record hamilton isn't going to be in the 2016 draft, but your point is valid. we need wing depth too, i just think backcourt/ballhandling playmakers is a much higher need. either playmaking/skilled shooting wing ( not raw), or a guard who can pass to aid cassell. Alpha comes off as a scoring sg interested in buckets and thats it. but i mean if thats whats left on the table, by all means suit him up in husky blue.

I would be pleasantly shocked if Hamilton came back for his junior year.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

This thread is a good example of why we should lock a recruiting thread after they commit somewhere else. Maybe give it 24 hours after the announcement, but this thread has turned all kinds of terrible

 

[James]

@superjohn ill change my mind if he becomes a consistent outside threat and finisher in the paint . But I do get the feeling he wants his chance at the pros asap no doubt .

 

[DogMania]

Blame DogMania.

Again, I'm being blamed. I'm never one who's not willing to eat my pound of crow. I at least thought we'd get that official visit and if so, we'd still have a chance to land Gabriel, but I was very wrong. But on the other hand, Vance didn't exactly jump all over KO's offer last weekend and accept a ship before leaving campus, and still intends to take his Cal visit.

As I said all along, Vance is a much better fit...kidding!!!! As much as I liked Gabriel's game and preferred him over Jackson if we only had room for one of them, I still see the value of what Jackson brings to the table in being a deep threat sharpshooter. Without Shad we don't win 2004 NC. It takes a team of complimentary players to win a championship. It's never about the team with the most talent, but the the team that's most talented.

I hope after Vance takes his visits and sits down with his family and other persons of influence that in the end he picks UConn. Maybe now that he knows that Gabriel is no longer a possible PT threat with him out of the UConn picture, that it makes his decision to commit to UConn much easier. Maybe wishful thinking, but who knows. Maybe he would have committed last weekend if he knew that it was just him and not him and Wenyen. The fact that KO was still expecting for a Gabriel visit might be an indication that he didn't tell Vance and his people that it was him or Gabriel.

I wish Wenyen well. I do feel he's sold his soul to the devil going to UK. As much as I don't like dook or MD, I respect those two programs while I despise everything that has to do with that car salesman of a coach who's name is not to be named.

 

[DogMania]

The only person on the board who thought we had a shot was Dogmania.

That's not true. I'm sure there were others that thought we had a chance. But whatever! Since he was scheduled for an official visit, I thought we had a chance but I was wrong. It's not the first and won't be the last. I never thought or said our chances were great to land him, but thought we had a chance if he took his visit.

 

[DogMania]

I look at it another way. This is not a Kentucky versus UConn issue. The majority of the players Kentucky gets would get into the NBA as one and dones with most good programs. I believe it's naive to think these kids don't know that. If my assumption is correct than the question that should be asked is why would these kids want to attend a program in which you have to sit for major parts of games when you can display your skills in major minutes at another program?

The only answers I can come up with are these kids want to take the easiest path to the NBA (not reputation, but degree of work both academically as well as practice) or are concerned about injuries. Both rationals are intelligent but I prefer players who are like Bazz. Give me hungry Huskies with talent any day!

I believe that now that the APR sanctions are no longer an issue, KO will end up with enough good talent to test the Kentucky model repeatedly and not as a one off.

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. This kids like the glitz and attention they'll get by attending UK. Like it or not, they have a Big Show image that get's pimped by ESPN and other outlets. The Squid gets a bucket load of highly ranked recruits. If you're a top recruit and you go to UK your perceived value cast high.

Recruits who come in with a lot of pre-tapped talent will do fine there. Ones that don't might or might not fair so well. There have been a few not-as-highly heralded recruits that have improved at UK under Cal but there have been some that have not.

The kid is very talented but raw. He might do just fine there. Who knows? I do know that KO and his staff would have done a great job of developing Gabriel and preparing him for the next level. All this means is there's a spot for someone else for KO to groom into a great player and even better person. It's for that reason I love UConn and am happy I didn't sell my soul to the devil and root for a program like UK.