Vital to UConn

[Dove]

Vital and Jackson raining treys of death upon the enemy!

 

[UChusky916]

As I mentioned in the Vital thread. KO is undefeated going up against Pitino for guards. Everytime its us or Louisville for a guard....ours.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Realistically, what's a good comp for this kid?

If he could be Craig Austrie -- solid 4-year contributor, provides some shooting and ballhandling, accepts bench role and doesn't mind being recruited over -- that would be a big lift.

 

[willie99]

Notice, he didn't tweet "Connecticut". He tweeted "New England".

f.u. BC. There's only one big dog in New England.

and it's cool to be associated with WINNING

 

[UC990411]

You're actually insufferable.

Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Paul Millsap, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Reggie Jackson, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Russ Smith, Mike Scott, Shelvin Mack, DeMare Carroll, Cj Watson, Marcus Thornton, Jordan Crawford, Courtney Lee, Tony Snell, Trevor Booker.

Ever heard of them? ALL these players were rated 3 stars or less coming out of high school.

And by the way, I'd argue Steph Curry and Westbrook ended up being the best players in their class.

Can someone who has followed this kid closely tell me why everyone is so excited about a sub 200 recruit? I can't remember a kid we've recruited that low ever becoming a star......

 

[3rdbass]

Great get by KO. Kind of thought he was a definite Louisville lean with all the doubters here. Lol! Now if we lose RP it won't be as big of a blow. He also seems like a guy who could be here for 4 years and be very solid. We definitely need that on this team!

 

[Matrim55]

Realistically, what's a good comp for this kid?

If he could be Craig Austrie -- solid 4-year contributor, provides some shooting and ballhandling, accepts bench role and doesn't mind being recruited over -- that would be a big lift.

I'd sign up for that in a nanosecond. I'd continue negotiations for "Tony Robertson" or "Albert Mouring"-level contributions, though.

 

[pnow15]

Realistically, what's a good comp for this kid?

If he could be Craig Austrie -- solid 4-year contributor, provides some shooting and ballhandling, accepts bench role and doesn't mind being recruited over -- that would be a big lift.

Hell no. I want this kid to push for starter minutes every second of every day he is at UConn. We want over achievers and guys who won't accept being a backup, but who stick anyways..

 

[Stainmaster]

guys who won't accept being a backup, but who stick anyways..

That's kinda mutually exclusive.

 

[Stainmaster]

Can someone who has followed this kid closely tell me why everyone is so excited about a sub 200 recruit? I can't remember a kid we've recruited that low ever becoming a star.

A) If Purvis leaves, our only guard off the bench would've been a 5-11 walk-on.

B) We have 2 guys with star potential in this class already and needed glue guys/role players.

Oh wait, looking for another excuse to start the bandwagon again.

 

[pnow15]

That's kinda mutually exclusive.

Not really. If your backups don't think they could be starters, I will guarantee they will be lousy backups.
Calhoun's whole coaching career(and Ollie') is that everyone has to earn his minutes in practice.

 

[tcf15]

Can someone who has followed this kid closely tell me why everyone is so excited about a sub 200 recruit? I can't remember a kid we've recruited that low ever becoming a star.

From another thread:

Seen him play over 60 times the last two years..he will be a fan favorite simply because he puts more effort into everything he does than anyone else and also does the little things.....no one leaves more flesh and blood literally on the court.and he's a great teammate.one last thing he'a true combo guard and more streaky shooter than a great shooter.all aaa nepsac 1st team should validate any rating

 

[superjohn]

Can someone who has followed this kid closely tell me why everyone is so excited about a sub 200 recruit? I can't remember a kid we've recruited that low ever becoming a star.

We don't need him to be a star, we desperately need guard depth for next season and CV provides that. He's a very good shooter and competitive as hell. He was being pursued by Louisville, Iowa, Bama and Marquette and was 1st team all conference in arguably the toughest high school league in the country. He isn't some scrub who will just be taking up a roster spot. I'll take a gritty kid with a work ethic who demands competitiveness from his teammates any day of the week.

 

[tcf15]

 

[rip7774]

He was also committed to UNLV for a while so all the services forgot about him or didn't bump him up as they would an uncommitted kid or kid at one of their favored schools like Dook or Kentucky.

Read Corey Evans and the other quote, this kid has toughness and fire in spades. We need more of that! This class is incredible if we get Durham to be Durham and not hobbled by knee issues in college. If not still a great great class!

 

[Excalibur]

Realistically, what's a good comp for this kid?

If he could be Craig Austrie -- solid 4-year contributor, provides some shooting and ballhandling, accepts bench role and doesn't mind being recruited over -- that would be a big lift.

He's quicker than Austrie, but very slight of build. Think EJ Harrison with a really good jump shot.

 

[Marat]

And also UConn lacked the toughness characteristic last year. It seems like these freshman (Gilbert, Vital, and Diarra) will provide some of that needed toughness.

 

[Tenspro2002]

And also UConn lacked the toughness characteristic last year. It seems like these freshman (Gilbert, Vital, and Diarra) will provide some of that needed toughness.

I like the sound of that.

Frankly, the loss of DHam will be "addition by subtraction" in the toughness department as well.

 

[Mano]

Seen him play over 60 times the last two years..he will be a fan favorite simply because he puts more effort into everything he does than anyone else and also does the little things.....no one leaves more flesh and blood literally on the court.and he's a great teammate.one last thing he'a true combo guard and more streaky shooter than a great shooter.all aaa nepsac 1st team should validate any rating

Boy if that doesn't sound exactly like one Jerome Dyson. That's an incredibly good thing if you ask me. One of my all time favorite players, the haters.

 

[superjohn]

He's quicker than Austrie, but very slight of build. Think EJ Harrison with a really good jump shot.

He's just as big as Austrie, with room to pack on more muscle. Austrie was pretty slight.

 

[Silk31]

As I mentioned in the Vital thread. KO is undefeated going up against Pitino for guards. Everytime its us or Louisville for a guard....ours.

Nice to see us be able to beat Louisville at something these days. Although I'm not so sure beating them out for SCJ is truly a win and also didn't we really want Synder after he re-opened his commitment?

Was happy to see them go, the KFC Yum Center was a House of Horrors for us, but KO has turned the same recruiting trail path into a similar house of horrors for Pitino and Co.

 

[CL82]

Mom knows best.

"...and don't even tell me that you are thinking about going to that stripper school, because that is not going to happen."

 

[tcf15]

From a 247 article a while back:

Vital can definitely play in the ACC, 247Sports analyst Andrew Slater said.

“There’s been a ton of interest,” Slater said. “He’s more of a combo guard. An excellent three-point shooter. He has a very high motor and can really defense and keep opposing guards out of the lane.”

 

[Chin Diesel]

If all he does is push everyone in practice for PT and make it clear that he's going to out hustle everyone for PT, the team and program will be better for it.

Moreso the front court than the backcourt it seems like there's minutes to be had by taking them via practice and improvement and no one has stepped over another player in the rotation.

That type of positive competition makes everyone better and makes everyone play harder.

 

[puppygenius]