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I thought she was a freshman. That is even better because she would be at UConn for only one season. I know about the violation rule.
Maybe people are thinking of the Purdue "Center" Carter McCray who is
now also in the Portal. Carter is currently a sophomore, but is called
a "center" at 6'1", She is originally from Nothern Kentucky in the Horizon
League. At Wisconsin she played/started? in 29 out of 30 games with 25.4 minutes per game. FG%: .567, three point % .000 Free throws .625, scoring: 10.6 ppg,
7.1 rebounds, with 0.8 assists per game, 0.8 steals per game with 12 blocks.
She is nowhere in the same quality category as Serah Williams. Serah played
30/30 games, with 32 minutes per game. 19.2 ppg. So, all of Carter's stats
appear to have been achieved in Serah's shadow, so to speak. Clearly, it's
Serah for one year, and probably not at UCONN.
 
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Williams is interesting for several reasons. The one year rental is ideal. She would not adversely affect 2026 or 2027 recruiting and provides an experienced proven big to a roster full of young still unproven and still developing bigs like Jana, Ice, Ayanna and Gandy. All of those four should be significantly better one year later when Williams is gone.

Also I suspect Williams could also play some at the 4, and since she averaged 32 minutes a game it looks like she is a big that could play heavy minutes, which some bigs can't. If she started with Sarah, the next question would be how the backup minutes play out. If you use 4 bigs in the rotation a more traditional split might have Ice and Ayanna competing for the backup 4, and Jana and Gandy fighting for the backup 5, with at least a third decent option at each position if injuries occur,

A three big rotation, however, might be possible if one backup was considerably ahead of the other options, perhaps similar to Liv, Aaliyah and Dorka. If Jana next year, for example, was clearly the third best big and substantially better than Ice, Ayanna or Gandy, they could go with 3 bigs and Williams could play some at the 4 next to Jana at the 5. Similarly if Ice wound up being clearly the third best big, she could be in a three big rotation, where Sarah could move to the 5 when paired with Ice.

At the other extreme, if multiple big prospects elevate their game, playing Sarah at the 3 becomes a more viable option as well, and of course if we wanted to go small ball Morgan or Caroline at the 4 could be an occasional strategic play. Mainly though the potential addition of Williams would insure that maybe 60 of the 80 minutes at the 4 and 5 would be very high quality. Then if a couple of the other candidates raise their game significantly we would be fine for depth as well. I think Williams should be pursued.
 
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On a related note. Azzi was supposed to let Geno know her decision about whether or not she was returning a day or so after the Big East tournament. Presumably, this information would inform Geno’s actions relative to the transfer portal as well as providing important information to UConn’s returning players.

Do any of our Boneyard super sleuths have any information as to Azzi’s decision?
Azzi should be allowed to take as long as she wants to make this very hard decision. Sorry Geno.
 
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Azzi should be allowed to take as long as she wants to make this very hard decision. Sorry Geno.
Why "sorry Geno"? I'm sure he's not pressuring her. This is just a foofaraw drummed up by an ill-informed network analyst. All he's said is he'd like to know before the portal opens. She has plenty of time.
 

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Azzi should be allowed to take as long as she wants to make this very hard decision. Sorry Geno.
In theory I agree. But the longer Azzi takes, the more uncertainty it creates for the team, which is not a good thing. Azzi is an adult who is capable of making a very hard decision. For all we know, she has made that decision and communicated it to Geno. I along with the rest of the basketball world are curious as to what that decision is. Eventually we will all know.
 
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Williams is interesting for several reasons. The one year rental is ideal. She would not adversely affect 2026 or 2027 recruiting and provides an experienced proven big to a roster full of young still unproven and still developing bigs like Jana, Ice, Ayanna and Gandy. All of those four should be significantly better one year later when Williams is gone.

Also I suspect Williams could also play some at the 4, and since she averaged 32 minutes a game it looks like she is a big that could play heavy minutes, which some bigs can't. If she started with Sarah, the next question would be how the backup minutes play out. If you use 4 bigs in the rotation a more traditional split might have Ice and Ayanna competing for the backup 4, and Jana and Gandy fighting for the backup 5, with at least a third decent option at each position if injuries occur,

A three big rotation, however, might be possible if one backup was considerably ahead of the other options, perhaps similar to Liv, Aaliyah and Dorka. If Jana next year, for example, was clearly the third best big and substantially better than Ice, Ayanna or Gandy, they could go with 3 bigs and Williams could play some at the 4 next to Jana at the 5. Similarly if Ice wound up being clearly the third best big, she could be in a three big rotation, where Sarah could move to the 5 when paired with Ice.

At the other extreme, if multiple big prospects elevate their game, playing Sarah at the 3 becomes a more viable option as well, and of course if we wanted to go small ball Morgan or Caroline at the 4 could be an occasional strategic play. Mainly though the potential addition of Williams would insure that maybe 60 of the 80 minutes at the 4 and 5 would be very high quality. Then if a couple of the other candidates raise their game significantly we would be fine for depth as well. I think Williams should be pursued.
Sarah being a matchup nightmare for everyone (paraphrasing Geno) and the number of options at the 3 next season, unless there are injuries I dont see Sarah playing the 3. On the flipside, ideally Sarah would not play the 5 either, the combination of Jana/Ice both improve enough that Geno feels comfortable going with them at the at 5, with Ice potentially getting minutes at the 4 alongside Jana. Of course another option to rest Sarah like you suggest is to go small ball and play one of the big guards at the 4.
 

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Why "sorry Geno"? I'm sure he's not pressuring her. This is just a foofaraw drummed up by an ill-informed network analyst. All he's said is he'd like to know before the portal opens. She has plenty of time.
Actually, the announcer during the Big East tournament specifically indicated that Geno was looking for Azzi’s decision within a day after the tournament ended. His clear implication was that Geno and Azzi had an understanding on that point.
 

oldude

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Another comment on Azzi. She doesn’t have an indefinite time to make a decision about going pro. In order to be eligible for the WNBA draft college players need to declare their decision at least 10 days prior to the draft, or, if they are still playing in the NCAA tournament, within 24 hours after their last game.

You may recall that in 2016 Morgan Tuck was in the same position following UConn’s 4th straight national championship. The next morning Tuck went on ESPN’s Sportscenter to announce her eligibility for the draft.
 
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