The 2024 Portal Conundrum

[ctchamps]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the portal start during the NCAA tournament? That put UConn at a significant disadvantage in getting any players through the portal especially because UConn had a lot of post championship distractions and Hurley refuses to contact players before the portal officially begins. We were lucky to get Mahaney and Reed given how late we started.

We were always going to struggle given how many young players we have with have little or no college experience.

 

[HooperScooper]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the portal start during the NCAA tournament? That put UConn at a significant disadvantage in getting any players through the portal especially because UConn had a lot of post championship distractions and Hurley refuses to contact players before the portal officially begins. We were lucky to get Mahaney and Reed given how late we started.

Hurley mentioned that Tom Moore was in charge of managing the portal during the NCAA Tournament when the portal opened. It's true UConn probably was behind other schools because they won the national championship. I've argued that it's dumb to open the portal before the national championship game but others have argued it's not.

I think they moved it 2 weeks later this year but still during the NCAA Tournament.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Hurley mentioned that Tom Moore was in charge of managing the portal during the NCAA Tournament when the portal opened. It's true UConn probably was behind other schools because they won the national championship. I've argued that it's dumb to open the portal before the national championship game but others have argued it's not.

I think they moved it 2 weeks later this year but still during the NCAA Tournament.

Moore is essentially the GM of the team. Kimani and Luke do all of the scouting prep.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I’m curious. Would we have brought in guys for depth from the portal?

We got Mahaney and brought in Liam. Those were supposed to be to be our starters that we brought in. Were we supposed to to bring in another PG or SG? A SF to compete with Liam or for depth?

Hurley couldn’t both ask Stewart to come back and then bring in a guy who would start over him in Liam and then another guy in the portal to take all his minutes.

 

[ctchamps]

Hurley mentioned that Tom Moore was in charge of managing the portal during the NCAA Tournament when the portal opened. It's true UConn probably was behind other schools because they won the national championship. I've argued that it's dumb to open the portal before the national championship game but others have argued it's not.

I think they moved it 2 weeks later this year but still during the NCAA Tournament.

I'm sure even Moore was handicapped because he had responsibilities with the tournament. Plus there would be little time to discuss his observations with the other coaches. The resources were limited in this endeavor.

 

[RuffRuff]

There is definitely something to this. The activity for UConn started late and the process from there was brief. I can’t even remember many players we entertained beyond Reed, Brea and Mahaney. It didn’t feel like a thorough process at all, and may be seeing the results of that.

 

[superjohn]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the portal start during the NCAA tournament? That put UConn at a significant disadvantage in getting any players through the portal especially because UConn had a lot of post championship distractions and Hurley refuses to contact players before the portal officially begins. We were lucky to get Mahaney and Reed given how late we started.

We were always going to struggle given how many young players we have with have little or no college experience.

I don't think that had much to do with it. Hurley has talked a lot about loyalty to returning players and how incredibly important it was for them to buy into the process and remain at UConn. He chose some kids deveoping instead of recruiting over them through the portal. He said many times this season success was going to rely on the success of our sophomores. Unfortunately only Solo has performed out of that group.

 

[bendm]

Looking forward to next years portalers. Need a starting PG who can create his own shot and for others

 

[ctchamps]

I don't think that had much to do with it. Hurley has talked a lot about loyalty to returning players and how incredibly important it was for them to buy into the process and remain at UConn. He chose some kids deveoping instead of recruiting over them through the portal. He said many times this season success was going to rely on the success of our sophomores. Unfortunately only Solo has performed out of that group.

I think both are true. And we did take Liam which ended up recruiting over Stewart and Ross.

 

[superjohn]

I think both are true. And we did take Liam which ended up recruiting over Stewart and Ross.

Liam kind of fell into our lap and he's one of the best recruits the program has ever had. If Hurley turned him down we would all be calling for his head now. This season would've been really ugly and there would be no back to back if Cam and Liam didn't fall into our lap.

I think Hurley learned a valuable lesson this season and some big changes will be made before next season in terms of personnel.

 

[campcalhoun2009]

I don’t think this is it at all. We got Reed who we seemed to identify as a target.

Rumors are we pulled back from Brea so we wouldn’t lose Ross (oooof)

And Aiden was a big target of ours that didn’t pan out. Plus we got Liam.

I think this is mostly the players we got (or kept) aren’t living up to it.

 

[ValleyGuy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the portal start during the NCAA tournament? That put UConn at a significant disadvantage in getting any players through the portal especially because UConn had a lot of post championship distractions and Hurley refuses to contact players before the portal officially begins. We were lucky to get Mahaney and Reed given how late we started.

We were always going to struggle given how many young players we have with have little or no college experience.

They got Spencer in like August after the ‘23 title. Not to mention trying to get Timberlake before Spencer - who ended up going to Kansas and was a major flop. I don’t think the tournament has anything to do with it.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I don’t think this is it at all. We got Reed who we seemed to identify as a target.

Rumors are we pulled back from Brea so we wouldn’t lose Ross (oooof)

And Aiden was a big target of ours that didn’t pan out. Plus we got Liam.

I think this is mostly the players we got (or kept) aren’t living up to it.

The last line is it.

2023 - Hawkins improved. Sanogo improved. Jackson improved (when asked to do what he’s good at). Newton improved.

Our bench had Joey C., Clingan, Alleyene.

2024 Newton improved. Clingan improved, Karaban improved Diarra improved.

Bench had Diarra and Johnson

We also had the the best freshmen (arguably) and defender in the country, and the best transfer in the country.

This team lost a ton and didn’t fill any of the holes in. The staff expected huge sophomore leaps and hasn’t gotten them

 

[REB1094]

We got exactly who we wanted. We needed a big, a PG, and a shooter, then rely on a big sophomore jump from Solo/Stewart/Ross. We got a big (Tarris), a PG (Mahaney*), and a shooter (Liam)

*the Mahaney miss was huge because our offense was designed with him being the lead guard that can get a bucket and it hasn’t worked out that way. We’ll see if we run that back next year or look externally for starting PG

 

[businesslawyer]

I don’t think this is it at all. We got Reed who we seemed to identify as a target.

Rumors are we pulled back from Brea so we wouldn’t lose Ross (oooof)

And Aiden was a big target of ours that didn’t pan out. Plus we got Liam.

I think this is mostly the players we got (or kept) aren’t living up to it.

This. Healthy, we were a dynamic offensive team. The problem is that on the defensive end of the court none of the sophomores contribute anything at all. ANYTHING AT ALL.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I’m amazed at how poor the sophomore defensive unit is. Didn’t they cover our A team Last year in practice ? Was there any signs at all that they could handle D1 defensive assignments ? Or did having clingan just cover up a ton of these deficiencies.

 

[boog204]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the portal start during the NCAA tournament? That put UConn at a significant disadvantage in getting any players through the portal especially because UConn had a lot of post championship distractions and Hurley refuses to contact players before the portal officially begins. We were lucky to get Mahaney and Reed given how late we started.

We were always going to struggle given how many young players we have with have little or no college experience.

Here’s the thing, I think we got exactly who we wanted. We wanted a heady lead guard type. Mahaney was pretty much the #1 guy in the portal for that. We wanted an athletic, untapped big. Reed was clearly our top choice there.

I mean besides Brea, did we even have anyone else visit? We got the guys we wanted. We just badly misread Mahaneys ability to adjust. Reed has been off the last few games, but it would be foolish to say he’s been anything but good for us. The other thing is that both of them are two year players and I think that’s really important for the DH culture thing that is used ad nauseum.

 

[dogpause]

Hurley mentioned that Tom Moore was in charge of managing the portal during the NCAA Tournament when the portal opened. It's true UConn probably was behind other schools because they won the national championship. I've argued that it's dumb to open the portal before the national championship game but others have argued it's not.

I think they moved it 2 weeks later this year but still during the NCAA Tournament.

It absolutely is dumb. No other sports league opens free agency until the seaon is over. Players will still have plenty of time, and it keeps the focus on the games.

 

[uconngb]

I’m curious. Would we have brought in guys for depth from the portal?

We got Mahaney and brought in Liam. Those were supposed to be to be our starters that we brought in. Were we supposed to to bring in another PG or SG? A SF to compete with Liam or for depth?

Hurley couldn’t both ask Stewart to come back and then bring in a guy who would start over him in Liam and then another guy in the portal to take all his minutes.

The issue is that they whiffed on Aidan. Not that we got a late start or were somehow disadvantaged. And that they are completely misusing Reed who is a plus player but somehow manages to go a whole game that we lost taking ONE shot after 14 and 7 the previous game.

 

[uconngb]

Here’s the thing, I think we got exactly who we wanted. We wanted a heady lead guard type. Mahaney was pretty much the #1 guy in the portal for that. We wanted an athletic, untapped big. Reed was clearly our top choice there.

I mean besides Brea, did we even have anyone else visit? We got the guys we wanted. We just badly misread Mahaneys ability to adjust. Reed has been off the last few games, but it would be foolish to say he’s been anything but good for us. The other thing is that both of them are two year players and I think that’s really important for the DH culture thing that is used ad nauseum.

You nailed it

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

The issue is that they whiffed on Aidan. Not that we got a late start or were somehow disadvantaged. And that they are completely misusing Reed who is a plus player but somehow manages to go a whole game that we lost taking ONE shot after 14 and 7 the previous game.

Yeah that’s all it comes down to. It’s just silly to keep up this narrative that Hurley bet his season on sophomores that he tried to recruit over.

 

[ctchamps]

Liam kind of fell into our lap and he's one of the best recruits the program has ever had. If Hurley turned him down we would all be calling for his head now. This season would've been really ugly and there would be no back to back if Cam and Liam didn't fall into our lap.

I think Hurley learned a valuable lesson this season and some big changes will be made before next season in terms of personnel.

When Liam decommited from Indiana we reached out to him. If he was in the portal and expressed interest in UConn we would have reached out to him. Distinguishing whether he's a high school player that we took or a player from the portal is not the salient point. He was taken and the position he fits on the team is the three. He was recruited over Ross. (Sophomore 1)

Reed was recruited over Singare. (Sophomore 2)

We held off on recruiting a 4 until we knew what Karaban was going to do. If Karaban had not returned Hurley said we would look for the best possible 4 if there still remained a player who could contribute. Karaban's indecision (and his return) prevented the staff from recruiting over Stewart. (Sophomore 3)

And @campcalhoun2009, the rumor that we avoided going after Brea was because there was a concern Solo would leave. Ross did not have the leap in development that Hurley proclaimed until this past summer, long after the portal ended. It's this type of misremembering that I hope to dispel.

Mahaney was recruited over Hassan. In essence the staff did everything possible to shore up the weaknesses they perceived in this last portal.

His commitment to the sophomores was using the NIL to retain them. He still values them but not at the expense of winning this year.

 

[Scoe]

Stop making excuses.

 

[lateralous]

Here’s the thing, I think we got exactly who we wanted. We wanted a heady lead guard type. Mahaney was pretty much the #1 guy in the portal for that. We wanted an athletic, untapped big. Reed was clearly our top choice there.

I mean besides Brea, did we even have anyone else visit? We got the guys we wanted. We just badly misread Mahaneys ability to adjust. Reed has been off the last few games, but it would be foolish to say he’s been anything but good for us. The other thing is that both of them are two year players and I think that’s really important for the DH culture thing that is used ad nauseum.

I came here to post this same thing. I definitely think the staff prioritized guys who had multiple years of eligibility left.

 

[superjohn]

Mahaney was recruited over Hassan. In essence the staff did everything possible to shore up the weaknesses they perceived in this last portal.

His commitment to the sophomores was using the NIL to retain them. He still values them but not at the expense of winning this year.

Correct, Liam fell into our laps with his decommit and we got the transfer portal guys we wanted. It was a miscalculation on Hurley's part. The sophomores outside of Solo haven't been nearly good enough and Mahaney isn't a point guard and Hurley screwed up thinking he should be our starting point guard. I expect lessons will be learned and he will try and bring in the players we need for next season through the portal instead of relying on a major jump from some of our veterans who have yet to show much of anything on the court.