Whaley article

[selles]

Sorry if already posted, but I don't see it. Terrific in-depth article about Whaley by Charlotte Carroll in the Athletic.

UConn's Isaiah Whaley had to hit rock bottom to turn into the player he could be

"“When I didn’t get in [to the Villanova game last year] it kind of triggered something in me mentally where I just kind of felt like I had to do even more to get on the court,” Whaley says. “A lot of things changed after that game.”

He aimed for 8½ hours of sleep a night, up to two hours more than he was accustomed to. With less sleep, he noticed he’d wake up gloomy and that was reflected in practice. He tried to order less fast food and go grocery shopping in an effort to eat better as well. He says he even changed his circle of friends."

 

[gsmooth]

I don't have a subscription to the Athletic. Do you think you could copy and paste the text within this chat?

 

[Rico444]

I don't have a subscription to the Athletic. Do you think you could copy and paste the text within this chat?

Pretty sure that's against board rules

 

[selles]

I don't have a subscription to the Athletic. Do you think you could copy and paste the text within this chat?

I don't think we're allowed to post entire articles because of copyright issues. But in general the article has quotes from a couple of his former coaches and talks about his maturation from a quiet kid to a vocal leader. It also talks about how he invited Josh to West Virginia to work out with him this summer and how they both benefited from Whaley's dietary changes.

Also mentions that his grandfather would never ask him about how many points he scored in a game, only how many rebounds and blocks.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Also mentions that his grandfather would never ask him about how many points he scored in a game, only how many rebounds and blocks.

This is awesome.

 

[NJHusky]

I don't have a subscription to the Athletic. Do you think you could copy and paste the text within this chat?

I think you can get 7 day free trial....or get an introductory price of like $1/month...it actually has decent content

 

[gsmooth]

I don't think we're allowed to post entire articles because of copyright issues. But in general the article has quotes from a couple of his former coaches and talks about his maturation from a quiet kid to a vocal leader. It also talks about how he invited Josh to West Virginia to work out with him this summer and how they both benefited from Whaley's dietary changes.

Also mentions that his grandfather would never ask him about how many points he scored in a game, only how many rebounds and blocks.

Ok I see that could definitely cause copyright issues. It seems like Whaley's transformation can go far beyond basketball.

 

[LIuconn]

Haven't read the article but he's been a player who has taken all coaching in and transformed himself into a key pillar on the team. I mean, Hurley Sr. called him and the rest of the front line out at Dan's introduction presser as small and weak. Whaley answered the call

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ok I see that could definitely cause copyright issues. It seems like Whaley's transformation can go far beyond basketball.

The Athletic is pretty cheap for the full 12 months. When the Pandemic hit I decided to just pay for it. Posting some portion of it that stood out to me. Kid clearly works hard.

When COVID-19 brought the sports world to a halt, Whaley spent some time in West Virginia to work out with Brown, who he has worked out with whenever he he can. He brought along friend and fellow senior Josh Carlton. “I knew for this team, for us, to be successful, both me and Josh would have to be on top of our game,” Whaley says. Brown says the two pushed each other in workouts: When Carlton recorded a stop, Whaley would get one next. With Whaley manning the grill, good food choices resulted in Carlton dropping 20 pounds and Whaley adding 10 pounds to get to 230 on his 6-9 frame.

With gym access, they’d work out in the morning, getting another workout later in the day before putting up shots as well. Brown says he saw a more talkative Whaley and a player who was stronger and had more power on the court. “It seemed like he found his identity,” Brown says. “He wasn’t afraid to show who he was. Fearless, that’s the first thing that came to mind.”

 

[auror]

Some good nuggets mostly mentioned above... but also some weird editorial/factual errors.

When Akok Akok suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles, Whaley moved into the starting lineup for the remainder of the year. He played 30-plus minutes in six of the final seven games, averaging six points and five rebounds per game.

He averaged those for the year, but having it in the same sentence when talking about his impact at the end is weird. And it would've made more sense when talking about how he turned it on to have the stats for the stretch (12.5/8.5). Guessing an editor/fact-checker put in the wrong stats.

 

[UconnU]

Last game late in the second half one of Butler’s bigs decided he wanted to get aggressive and posted Whaley up really deep; caught the ball lowered his shoulder and with all his strength went into Whaley’s chest. Whaley stuck out his chest and took it without even flinching before blocking the kids turn around into the bench. That play really stuck out to me more than any other from Saturday.

 

[BGesus4]

Whaley really is one of the best stories we’ve ever had. Impossible to not admire what he’s done here.

 

[glastonbury50]

Apparently whaley's cooking and not the strength and conditioning coaches led to slim carlton

 

[UconnU]

Anyone else increasingly onboard with Whaley returning next year? Polley, Whaley, Carlton and Bouk is a lot to replace. That’s like half our rotation and over half of our production. Akok and Andre’s injuries have severely hampered their development to boot. Samson is thought to be a little bit of a developmental piece early on. We could really use one more interior piece for next year.