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navery12 said:
They're both definitely looking to start. Lindsay has Zoom calls with Texas and Oklahoma so seems like he's narrowing his list with no UConn. Smith visited Wake Forest but haven't heard anything after that
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It’s weird but I’m just as excited to see who the staff hones in on and can bring in as depth pieces
 
FreeKlaiber said:
George Mason final 4 shows he was an excellent coach, pre-NIL.

He made elite 8 at Miami the year before NIL
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I’m not debating he was an excellent coach, I’m saying NIL and the transfer portal brought him out of a long stretch of mediocrity. And the Elite 8 at Miami was during the NIL period. The life lock guy was offering NIL to Miami athletes before that season started and there were plenty of rumors that the cash was flowing before that even (with a decent amount of transfers on that elite 8 team). It just rings hollow for someone that revitalized his career based on NIL and hired guns to pearl clutch at the state of basketball these days.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
I’m not debating he was an excellent coach, I’m saying NIL and the transfer portal brought him out of a long stretch of mediocrity. And the Elite 8 at Miami was during the NIL period. The life lock guy was offering NIL to Miami athletes before that season started and there were plenty of rumors that the cash was flowing before that even (with a decent amount of transfers on that elite 8 team). It just rings hollow for someone that revitalized his career based on NIL and hired guns to pearl clutch at the state of basketball these days.
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Totally get that - but the fact his recruiting got better over a couple year span doesn’t change the headaches for the coach.

A coach like Larranaga is most likely not up on every detail of every kid’s NIL deals, etc., he’s just recruiting guys the staff identifies.

He’s old school, he doesn’t want to deal with all of it. It’s a headache and a hamper to his time dedicated to coaching.

This is my take on his feelings. So I don’t find it disingenuous or ringing hollow - he made it work for a year or so, but overall this is draining on what he likes about coaching the sport. Both can be true.
 
I think Darius Adams is the backup to Silas. Adams is a year away from his potential by most people's analysis, is a hound on defense, can hit a dribble 3 and is fairly silky with the ball. He will learn a ton from Silas. Ball has shown he is capable as well, so I am not sure another ball handler is our priority.

The open question is at the 4 where a decision is immense because if we need a 4 there are some good ones in the portal: Yaxel Lendebord from UAB would be fantastic.

If we are not in the market for a starting 4, the yes a backup PG/CG would be good for rotation and foul issues but agreed we need a 2nd tier bc who is coming here for a backup role if they can land a starting role elsewhere?
 
French may well be correct in his assessment of Larranaga but to me it sounded as if he was saying:

"I didn't have an issue with NIL and the portal when we had the advantage over nearly everyone else, but now that others may have an advantage and I'll have to be fighting with a large number of schools to to acquire player, then need to continue fighting to keep them, well, the entire system is wrong".
 
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RuffRuff said:
You raise a good point about setting NIL culture. If you set one based on players going because it’s where the biggest bag is to be had, you set a “me first” culture (Kansas). It’s not surprising Self is blowing up that hot mess of a situation.

If you set one where you’ll be paid fairly, but the reason you come is to be part of something, a greater good, a community, development and the chance to win, you attract a very different type of kid. The right kind.
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Perfectly said. I actually think Silas said he "met us in the middle". He then put up some smoke about it being what he brought to the table basketball-wise, but I doubt we were the high bidder. We have a coach that players want to play for and a roster filled with good, hardworking dudes they want to play with. We are VERY fortunate our NIL culture is established.
 
Right now the advantage goes to the high and even mid level guys in the portal. Once the portal closes (April 22nd) and teams finalize their rosters, there is a better chance to add depth pieces to the team. We added Joey California really late in the process.
 
navery12 said:
They're both definitely looking to start. Lindsay has Zoom calls with Texas and Oklahoma so seems like he's narrowing his list with no UConn. Smith visited Wake Forest but haven't heard anything after that
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Not surprising -They're high-quality guards who can definitely ball. Just looking at our current roster construction now that Silas is on board. Back-up PG help/secondary ball handlers. Not sure the freshmen will be ready Day#1 of season.
 
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CTFAN4LIFE said:
What's their roster comprised of at the moment?
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Transfer portal pickups-

Josh Dix 6'5 guard Iowa- 14.5 ppg

Owen Freeman 6'10 center Iowa- 16.7 ppg

Nik Graves 6'3 guard- 17.5 ppg Charlotte

Jackson McAndrew- soph 6'10 power forward stud

Fedor Zugic- international player shooting guard with big rep in second year. Injured most of last year, struggled and then played pretty well at the end

Jasen Green- junior forward. Stats don't show it but he's a good player and a jackknife , scored 19 against us in Big East tournament

Isaac Traudt- 6'10 forward. Good shooter but doesn't do much else

Ty Davis- sophomore guard. Meh

Hudson Greer incoming freshman small forward highly ranked

They're going to be really good, they're always really good
 
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navery12 said:
Nik Graves, Josh Dix, Jasen Green, Jackson McAndrew, Owen Freeman. Then Fedor Zugic, Hudson Greer, Isaac Traudt off the bench. Just need to add a backup big man and that's an elite 9 man rotation
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They willl miss an big Athletic wing player like Neal for sure. I wonder if they pick someone up like him in the transfer portal.
 
3rdbass said:
They willl miss an big Athletic wing player like Neal for sure. I wonder if they pick someone up like him in the transfer portal.
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They just added the Neal replacement 1 hour ago with Josh Dix
 
navery12 said:
They just added the Neal replacement 1 hour ago with Josh Dix
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He isn't as athletic, a good defender, and a creator off the bounce like Neal. He is more of a 3 point shooter.
 
3rdbass said:
He isn't as athletic, a good defender, and a creator off the bounce like Neal. He is more of a 3 point shooter.
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Agreed he's not the same type of player, but that's who they're replacing him with. They don't have any more room to add another starter at that spot
 
CTFAN4LIFE said:
What's their roster comprised of at the moment?
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I thought they had Jamiya Neal coming back but he’s graduating so I’m a bit less excited now than I was before. But right now they have
  • The two Iowa transfers - Dix (14ppg) and Freeman (17ppg)
  • Charlotte transfer - Graves (17.5ppg)
  • Returners Jackson McAndrew (6’10 shooter), Jasen Green (cooked us in the BET and started playing really well in Feb/March), Isaac Traudt (not great but a stretch big), Fedor Zugic (everyone’s pretty big on him but haven’t seen much yet)
  • 4 star Hudson Greer coming in
 
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WhereistheDove? said:
I’m not debating he was an excellent coach, I’m saying NIL and the transfer portal brought him out of a long stretch of mediocrity. And the Elite 8 at Miami was during the NIL period. The life lock guy was offering NIL to Miami athletes before that season started and there were plenty of rumors that the cash was flowing before that even (with a decent amount of transfers on that elite 8 team). It just rings hollow for someone that revitalized his career based on NIL and hired guns to pearl clutch at the state of basketball these days.
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I know Larragna to be honorable, and the no Nil for his elite 8 comes from his own mouth during that presser where he announced retirement. He claims the following year he had 4 nil players (that'd be the final 4 year). Is he lying? I dont know. You are right that they did pay big bucks to those 4 during the final 4 year

Your point is valid, but I took umbrage with Larragna being shaded in a way that he was only at the top because of $. He developed Isaiah Wong, beat us with George Mason. There are some current SEC coaches who i think are reliant on the NIL $ of their program, like you describe, but describing his pre Nil career as "mediocrity" i didnt like.
 
REB1094 said:
I thought they had Jamiya Neal coming back but he’s graduating so I’m a bit less excited now than I was before. But right now they have
  • The two Iowa transfers - Dix (14ppg) and Freeman (17ppg)
  • Charlotte transfer - Graves (17.5ppg)
  • Returners Jackson McAndrew (6’10 shooter), Jasen Green (cooked us in the BET and started playing really well in Feb/March), Isaac Traudt (not great but a stretch big), Fedor Zugic (everyone’s pretty big on him but haven’t seen much yet)
  • 4 star Hudson Greer coming in
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Not bad, not bad.
 
Umami Zen said:
Did you mean Bryce Lindsay-JMU? If yes- He would be an interesting addition to the guards if he isn't looking to start. Lindasy or Malachi Smith would be solid back ups to Silas as we develop the freshmen coming in.
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I forgot we were reported to be in on both Smith/Lindsay.

With Demary starting, both Smith and Lindsay would be excellent additions as a veteran guard to play Alleyne-level minutes as a backup guard.

I'd be happy with either guard, but if I had to pick one, I'd personally prefer Malachi Smith.

Small guard at 6'0, but he is versatile enough to be a pure PG (14th highest assist rate in the nation, 2.5 A:TO), but shoots well enough from deep (39%) to play off ball and is also capable at getting to the rim (347th highest FTRate nationally). He can be the backup PG and also play alongside Demary. If Demary even gets hurt, Smith would easily slot in as the starting PG.

My only question is now that would either Lindsay/Smith hold our for a program with a penciled in starting position? They could get that at an inferior program, but there's obvious allure/appeal to playing a lesser role at UConn then what they've got previously and what they could get elsewhere.
 
REB1094 said:
I thought they had Jamiya Neal coming back but he’s graduating so I’m a bit less excited now than I was before. But right now they have
  • The two Iowa transfers - Dix (14ppg) and Freeman (17ppg)
  • Charlotte transfer - Graves (17.5ppg)
  • Returners Jackson McAndrew (6’10 shooter), Jasen Green (cooked us in the BET and started playing really well in Feb/March), Isaac Traudt (not great but a stretch big), Fedor Zugic (everyone’s pretty big on him but haven’t seen much yet)
  • 4 star Hudson Greer coming in
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McDermot normally plays his offense without the need to create too much off the dribble but they always had that one wing Athlete who gave us trouble in Neal and before in Trey Alexander and Kaluma. I don't see that type of athlete on this years team yet.
 
REB1094 said:
I thought they had Jamiya Neal coming back but he’s graduating so I’m a bit less excited now than I was before. But right now they have
  • The two Iowa transfers - Dix (14ppg) and Freeman (17ppg)
  • Charlotte transfer - Graves (17.5ppg)
  • Returners Jackson McAndrew (6’10 shooter), Jasen Green (cooked us in the BET and started playing really well in Feb/March), Isaac Traudt (not great but a stretch big), Fedor Zugic (everyone’s pretty big on him but haven’t seen much yet)
  • 4 star Hudson Greer coming in
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I don't think they have a single really good defender.
 
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