UCONN 2025 Draft

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Preseason basketball buzz: Inside my trips to Rutgers, Duke, UNC and UConn

From top-10 picks to Apple Watch notifications, ESPN's Jonathan Givony reveals what he saw and overheard on his four-school swing to scout practices.

www.espn.com

 

[James]

Particularly notable that he states Stewart has the best physical profile for an NBA prospect on the team, and the scouts will be monitoring to him 'closely' (Jives with what many see here as his audition year to enter the draft). Also interesting to see that he slates Diarra as the starting pg with Ball/Stewart sharing the backcourt, not much discussion of Mahaney in the piece. I think this makes sense from recent Hurley quotes talking about Diarra taking on a bigger role and needing to be a 'different player'.

I do like the starting lineup quite a bit he forecasted:

Diarra
Ball/Stewart
McNeeley
Karaban
Reed/Johnson

 

[auror]

Particularly notable that he states Stewart has the best physical profile for an NBA prospect on the team,

NBA teams love 2-way wings.

 

[HooperScooper]

Particularly notable that he states Stewart has the best physical profile for an NBA prospect on the team, and the scouts will be monitoring to him 'closely' (Jives with what many see here as his audition year to enter the draft). Also interesting to see that he slates Diarra as the starting pg with Ball/Stewart sharing the backcourt, not much discussion of Mahaney in the piece. I think this makes sense from recent Hurley quotes talking about Diarra taking on a bigger role and needing to be a 'different player'.

I do like the starting lineup quite a bit he forecasted:

Diarra
Ball/Stewart
McNeeley
Karaban
Reed/Johnson

We've been debating how many of Stewart's minutes come from the 3 and 4 spot and Givony says he could start at the 2. Does Stewart have the handle and the quickness to play the 2? If he does, holy cow watch out.

Talent has never been an issue for the 19-year-old, who shows vivid flashes of ability as a ball handler, passer and shooter. He's likely to see time at shooting guard next to Diarra and McNeeley, possibly in UConn's starting lineup.

 

[UCann]

One thing that stood out to me in this piece was this line: "there is not a great deal of playmaking ability on the roster". But then he goes on to talk about how great Ball, McNeeley, and Stewart look. I wonder if the concern is Hass in the PG spot being able to make the leap to lead playmaking...if so I might agree a little since he's not proven it as a starter yet, but also it's not a huge deal as we have Aiden and Ahamad who bring some of that skill set. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

One other thing - he didn't spend much time on the Center position, which is probably where we have the biggest drop off from last year, I thought that was odd.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

We've been debating how many of Stewart's minutes come from the 3 and 4 spot and Givony says he could start at the 2. Does Stewart have the handle and the quickness to play the 2? If he does, holy cow watch out.

Talent has never been an issue for the 19-year-old, who shows vivid flashes of ability as a ball handler, passer and shooter. He's likely to see time at shooting guard next to Diarra and McNeeley, possibly in UConn's starting lineup.

As Hurley says, we don’t have a real defined 1-3, even 1-4 in some cases. It’s best for these guys’ development to use then in multiple ways.

 

[superjohn]

Particularly notable that he states Stewart has the best physical profile for an NBA prospect on the team, and the scouts will be monitoring to him 'closely' (Jives with what many see here as his audition year to enter the draft). Also interesting to see that he slates Diarra as the starting pg with Ball/Stewart sharing the backcourt, not much discussion of Mahaney in the piece. I think this makes sense from recent Hurley quotes talking about Diarra taking on a bigger role and needing to be a 'different player'.

I do like the starting lineup quite a bit he forecasted:

Diarra
Ball/Stewart
McNeeley
Karaban
Reed/Johnson

I love Jaylin but I don't really think he has the foot speed or the shooting to man the two guard at this point.

 

[Supes]

I do like the starting lineup quite a bit he forecasted:

Diarra
Ball/Stewart
McNeeley
Karaban
Reed/Johnson

I agree with the starting lineup, but I'm not sure Stewart has the footspeed to defend the 2. I see it breaking down more like this:

Diarra/Mahaney
Ball/Mahaney
McNeeley/Stewart
Karaban/Stewart
Reed/Johnson

Wouldn't surprise me if Nowell also saw meaningful time. A lot depends on how Ball's ballhandling looks, and if he can be a reliable third ballhandler after Diarra and Mahaney.

 

[LStudfellow]

After all this time of watching basketball, observing my dad coach well for 20 years, announcing games on the radio and even playing the game as a kid and young adult, I do not understand why people get hung up on what position a guy is playing, or projected to play.

I give it a 99% chance that depending on the game and the situation we could see Jaylin playing anywhere from the 2 to the 5. Remember that he actually did play the 5 a couple of times at the end of last year. It is great that Hurley and this staff have become so good at reading the flow of games and brought in guys who can play multiple positions that he has the flexibility to mix and match and see what is working.

Why do some of you get a hair across your butt about it? Some of the most inane debates on this site over the years have been on this topic.

... and yet, we watched Niels Giffey play center... and hold his own... in a National Championship game in 2014. Oh, and we also watched Alex Karaban do the same against Zach Edey just last year in the National Championship game. Didn't you all learn anything from those situations?

How about we watch, see how it plays out and then discuss/debate how the guy did after we see him play the position in an actual game? I actually respect most of your takes @superjohn, but can you really sit here and say that Jaylin Stewart does not have the foot speed to play the 2 in a game? So you really think his foot speed is significantly slower than Jordan Hawkins was at the same time in his career? I respectfully disagree. But I am also happy to see if I am proven right or wrong in an actual game, when it happens.

The one other thing I know is this: if Dan Hurley and this coaching staff think Jaylin Stewart can play the 2 well enough to be comfortable putting him there during a game, I am damn sure going to give them the benefit of the doubt over any one on this board, no matter how well-versed in basketball you are, or think you are... me included.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I love Jaylin but I don't really think he has the foot speed or the shooting to man the two guard at this point.

We saw last year his progress as a defender. Solo was pretty poor defensively and Hurley had alluded to Liam needing to work a good bit on that end. Towards the end of the season JStew started to really impress me on the defensive end.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

... and yet, we watched Niels Giffey play center... and hold his own... in a National Championship game in 2014. Oh, and we also watched Alex Karaban do the same against Zach Edey just last year in the National Championship game. Didn't you all learn anything from those situations?

Giffey at center worked out well. I don’t ever want us to go back to Karaban or Stewart at center personally.

During those few minutes Karaban was on Edey it was pretty much a layup line with little resistance. It’s break in case of emergency but it’s not something we should do unless the other teams center is just that inadequate or we’re down guys.

Agree with everything else though and think Stewart also has plenty of athleticism and skills to play the 2 if need be. Jordan Hawkins comparison made a lot of sense.

I’m not sure what shooting has to do with playing a position too. Stewart isn’t a bad 3 point shooter either. He’s just not elite at it like some on the roster.

 

[BlueMAB]

I think the biggest reason we won’t see Jaylin at the two is the amount of talent we have that can play guard vs who can play the forward/center.

We have more depth in the backcourt than the frontcourt. Making the debate on whether Stewart can defend the two pretty pointless imo.

If Stewart, McNeeley, Karaban are all starters, that only leaves Abraham as a sub at the 4. I can’t see Hurley wanting an unbalanced rotation.

 

[HooperScooper]

... and yet, we watched Niels Giffey play center... and hold his own... in a National Championship game in 2014. Oh, and we also watched Alex Karaban do the same against Zach Edey just last year in the National Championship game. Didn't you all learn anything from those situations?

Well in fairness Karaban didn't exactly hold his own against Edey. That was mismatch city. Lol

I don't really get worked up about each player on the court having to be pigeonholed into the historical 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 positions. But what you do need are certain skills on the court and to be able to guard the skills on the other team. You can't put a good team on the court with 0 or only 1 player being able to handle the ball. You can't put a good team on the court with 0 or only 1 player who can shoot consistently. You can't put a good team on the court with 5 guys who can handle the ball and shoot but are all 6-2 and under. In almost all minutes of a game you need certain skills on the court to be able to play a cohesive, efficient game. That's more the way I look at it.

 

[ctbro1999]

Well in fairness Karaban didn't exactly hold his own against Edey. That was mismatch city. Lol

Karaban was trying his hardest but hard effort and determination can't make up for 6-7" in height and 60+ pounds. Lol

 

[UofCT]

I agree with the starting lineup, but I'm not sure Stewart has the footspeed to defend the 2. I see it breaking down more like this:

Diarra/Mahaney
Ball/Mahaney
McNeeley/Stewart
Karaban/Stewart
Reed/Johnson

Wouldn't surprise me if Nowell also saw meaningful time. A lot depends on how Ball's ballhandling looks, and if he can be a reliable third ballhandler after Diarra and Mahaney.

Johnson/Reed

 

[Iluvsuebird]

One thing that stood out to me in this piece was this line: "there is not a great deal of playmaking ability on the roster". But then he goes on to talk about how great Ball, McNeeley, and Stewart look. I wonder if the concern is Hass in the PG spot being able to make the leap to lead playmaking...if so I might agree a little since he's not proven it as a starter yet, but also it's not a huge deal as we have Aiden and Ahamad who bring some of that skill set. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

One other thing - he didn't spend much time on the Center position, which is probably where we have the biggest drop off from last year, I thought that was odd.

I think this team will be more explosive off the dribble than last year's team. Solo, Aidan and Nowell are more athletic and explosive than Cam and TN. And people are sleeping on Has. That young dude has grown his game soooo much in two years. If that growth continues from last year, he will be one of the better guards in the BE. And that's just the guards. Stewart, Liam, Ross and Abraham can all attack the basket. I don't worry about that. I need to see them play Defense. Anything close to last year's defensive output, and this team will be better than last year.

 

[Huskyforlife]

All this tells me is Mahaney is the easy favorite for 6th man of the year.

 

[HooperScooper]

Karaban was trying his hardest but hard effort and determination can't make up for 6-7" in height and 60+ pounds. Lol

More like 9" and 80 pounds (Draft Combine Anthrometric | Stats | NBA.com).

Good thing the Huskies were up by double digits with no feeling that Purdue had a chance to win so I could just laugh about it when it was happening.