Since we were discussing whether or not Isaiah will start this year here and in a couple of other threads, I believe Coach Hurley has settled the argument for us... and may I say that I agree 100% with his decision on both counts! (both Isaiah and obviously Bouk)
From David Borges' article on CTInsider.com. Dan Hurley talking about each of this year's players yesterday:
ISAIAH WHALEY, senior forward
“When I get asked by a fan, ‘Who you think is gonna start?’ Two people come to mind, and everything else is a little bit up in the air: Bouknight and Whaley. Isaiah really established himself the last third of the season as a key piece, whether that’s playing big at the four, or a lot of his better minutes were when we played smaller and he played at the five. He’s as good a ball-screen defender as you’ll see on the college level, great on both backboards, tremendous defensive instincts as a shot-blocker, and an underrated passer/ballhandler ... He looks really good, he had a great off-season, so big year for Isaiah to kind of ride that momentum of last year.”
Hell ya man. No one has earned a starting position more than Isaiah. And is anyone surprised to hear that he had another "great off-season" of hard work and improvement? Not me, and I am sure not most of you. He is one of the reasons I believe that we are underrated going into this year... and the Sweet 16 and maybe beyond could well be within reach. Go get 'em Isaiah!
P.S. (not trying to step on the mods' toes here by posting this direct quote... I believe this cut and paste is less than the 10% threshold for using a quote directly word for word out of a published article. And I also made sure to cite the article directly. If I am wrong, please let me know. Thanks)