UConn out on Valdir Manuel

[McLovin]

Is that really true, though? Because Hurley got picked up on hot mics yelling at Whaley to get to the right spot/learn the plays basically every time he was on the court

To be fair, no one knew how to play / where to be in Hurley's system last year. That was the first year any of these guys played in a real college set.

 

[AdamaNation]

He’s a 2020 has to do another year at the Juco I coach At. TCU Rutgers Oklahoma West Virginia N.C. State are all kinda messing with him. We want him to go somewhere and redshirt just turned 19 July 7th. Redshirt and play two.

I like him a lot!! Looks like what we wanted from Durham..

 

[boog204]

I'm assuming your kids are bigger than these...?

That is, legit, the worst mixtape I've ever seen. He's playing against 5th graders and one of his big highlights is a bank shot 3?

 

[Engineer90]

We don't want guys that struggle to get the grades. The bar is low. If they can't make that bar, how well will they learn plays?

 

[husky429]

Is that really true, though? Because Hurley got picked up on hot mics yelling at Whaley to get to the right spot/learn the plays basically every time he was on the court

It's not true. Let's all be realistic. He'd be a lot better basketball player if he had a high IQ.

What he brings is great energy, length, and buy-in. Hopefully the weight gains sticking as well. That's fine for a bench guy. Other options would have been better. But Whaley will be serviceable, and hopefully surprise us a few games

 

[David 76]

Sad to hear the news. I think our year just diminished.

 

[imno1]

Since it’s the off-season and I’m a big UConn hoop fan I’ll go with Whaley is gonna surprise and be a decent backup. Of course if he doesn’t perform I’ll claim I never texted this. #mucga

 

[jibsey]

Question. Why can’t we get a back up middle of the road center? Or one of these guys that we always run into early season on a mid major that just torches us? Do they think there’s a plague on the Storrs campus? Just wondering.

 

[superjohn]

Question. Why can’t we get a back up middle of the road center? Or one of these guys that we always run into early season on a mid major that just torches us? Do they think there’s a plague on the Storrs campus? Just wondering.

There was a plague, we got rid of it. We'll get a good big this upcoming class.

 

[SeattleHoop]

I still think we should add a grad transfer center even if a bit undersized like 6’8 or 6’9 or even if David O skill level. It doesn’t hurt scholly count for next year and we have a body in case of foul trouble and injuries down low. It just makes sense to me

 

[Chief00]

We don't want guys that struggle to get the grades. The bar is low. If they can't make that bar, how well will they learn plays?

I get your point about learning plays. However, guys can be bad students for a variety of reasons, yet still pick up hoops well.

 

[CbbisGreat]

I still think we should add a grad transfer center even if a bit undersized like 6’8 or 6’9 or even if David O skill level. It doesn’t hurt scholly count for next year and we have a body in case of foul trouble and injuries down low. It just makes sense to me

I agree but I am not sure if there is a grad transfer available who will help us. Does anyone know of any ?

 

[navery12]

I'm pretty sure the grad transfer talk is pointless. Ignoring that there's nobody out there, weren't there a bunch of articles about how it was Manuel or banking the scholarship?

 

[UconnU]

I get your point about learning plays. However, guys can be bad students for a variety of reasons, yet still pick up hoops well.

Right. You get out what you put in to education. If you’re interested in basketball and WANT to learn the game you will learn the game. If have have no interest in geometry at all you likely won’t retain the information and learn geometry.

 

[ctchamps]

Right. You get out what you put in to education. If you’re interested in basketball and WANT to learn the game you will learn the game. If have have no interest in geometry at all you likely won’t retain the information and learn geometry.

Good start.

Aptitude and interest/motivation are both factors. Some people can love mathematics, be great at geometry, average in algebra and poor with calculus.

Some kids can be good on offense and poor on defense. Eric Cobb and Steve Enoch come to mind. In Steve’s case I’d conjecture it was more about desire. He certainly had the foot speed to develop into a good player on the defensive end. In Eric’s case it was a combo imo.

Alex O was a very good rebounder on the defensive end but lacked the lateral quickness to defend against the pick and roll.

 

[McLovin]

Sad to hear the news. I think our year just diminished.

If our year hinged on the signing of a 3 star JUCO transfer with a mix-tape highlight reel playing against middle schoolers, then we probably didn't have a chance at being relevant this year anyways.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I agree but I am not sure if there is a grad transfer available who will help us. Does anyone know of any ?

The remaining grad transfers currently available would be more practice/depth pieces than guys who can really "help" us.

In terms of the traditional transfer route, Stetson's Abayomi Iyiola just hit the transfer portal. The 6'9 210 forward averaged 22.9 minutes, 10.8p, 7.6r, 1.2b, 1.0s, 48.4 FG% and 73.3 FT% per game in his sophomore year at Stetson and really turned it on in his last 10 games of the season where he averaged 11.8 p, 9.9r, 1.3b, 1.6s in 27 minutes per game. Against Duke last year, he scored 19 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks in 24 minutes.

Stetson was bad last year, but overall the A-Sun was a decent mid-major conference with Lipscomb, Liberty and NJIT all having quality seasons. After sitting out a year as a junior, I could see Iyiola playing most of his minutes at the 4, backing up Akok and earning 15 minutes a game thanks to his defense and ability to crash the glass. Plus, he could be a good guy to have around if an injury strikes then he can play 25 minutes a game at the 4 or 5. Plus, I don't see his presence scaring off recruits, so he could be another good two-year depth piece for 2020.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Vlad Manuel to Penn State.

Adds to an already top-35 recruiting class for 2020. Best recruiting class since '16 when Lamar Stevens was their top performing recruit and one of their best players in team history.

 

[jibsey]

Vlad Manuel to Penn State.

Adds to an already top-35 recruiting class for 2020. Best recruiting class since '16 when Lamar Stevens was their top performing recruit and one of their best players in team history.

Well bully for them.

 

[ucp990411]

KFree still there?

 

[gtcam]

Amazing how many people are taking the "didn't really want him anyway" approach all of a sudden.

We’ll be hearing a lot of that especially when it comes to bigs. Few are quality and those will look at the P5 program first. The NBE is better than AAC but it isn’t the old BE and not a P5 no matter what some folks argue. It comes down to revenue and the NBE ain’t got it

 

[superjohn]

We’ll be hearing a lot of that especially when it comes to bigs. Few are quality and those will look at the P5 program first. The NBE is better than AAC but it isn’t the old BE and not a P5 no matter what some folks argue. It comes down to revenue and the NBE ain’t got it

We didn't want him anymore and everything in your post is wrong except for the revenue part.

 

[Hoophound]

Big East is clearly a power conference. UConn returning just removes any small shadow of doubt one could still have. Look at the recruits by conference. Big East is legit.

 

[uconnfan68]

Per Borges

One player UConn is no longer in on is Valdir Manuel, a big man out of Harcum Junior College in Pennsylvania. The Huskies showed some initial interest in Manuel, but it appears he is heading back to Harcum for next season.

Charles Okwando (?) was from there, wasn’t he? A friend that went to Villanova knew all about Harkem, Parkem, and ...

 

[WrenchFan69]

Charles Okwando (?) was from there, wasn’t he? A friend that went to Villanova knew all about Harkem, Parkem, and ...

Chuck did go to Harcum