Who will UConn target in recruiting this summer? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Who will UConn target in recruiting this summer?

Peacefrog said:
No Coombs-McDaniel, no Kemba step back if I’m recalling correctly.
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Yup, without that offensive rebound on Kemba's miss then Kemba probably doesn't get the chance for the step back winner.

 
I should start a "July Evaluation Period" thread so we can track who the staff has been watching. As I said above, things will become clearer with recruiting after July.

Five-Star SG Caleb Holt (No. 4 NATL): Arkansas’ John Calipari, Kentucky’s Mark Pope, Alabama’s Nate Oats, UConn’s Dan Hurley, Auburn’s Steven Pearl

Four-Star PG Deron Rippey (No. 17 NATL): Indiana’s Darian DeVries, Miami’s Jai Lucas, UConn’s Dan Hurley, Virginia’s Ryan Odom, NC State’s Will Wade

www.on3.com

College basketball coaches watch top recruits during July Live Period

Joe Tipton is out on the road this weekend tracking which college coaches are watching top high school talent.
www.on3.com www.on3.com

Alternate access:

College basketball coaches watch top recruits during July Live Period​

 
HooperScooper said:
Well @alexd asked, "Have we ever really had a package deal work out?"

"Work out" could just mean UConn landed both. And UConn landed both. And won a championship with both contributing to boot. So I'd say it "worked out".
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Michael LeBlanc and Jake Voskuhl!
 
CL82 said:
Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs McDaniel. Their exit might not have been graceful, but they both played a role in the 2011 national championship run.
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Coombs never ended up playing another college game after 2011. Sadly, he had some issues that derailed what could have been a very good career.
 

2. Four-Star SF Bryson Howard​

Bryson Howard flew under the radar nationally until having a breakout weekend during the first EYBL live period in Memphis. Now, the 6-foot-4 small forward has 25 or so offers and is ranked 34th nationally in the 2026 class with potential to move up. Howard is everything you want in a basketball player. He’s calm, cool, and collected. He can get into the lane, finish strong, and through traffic. He can fill it up from outside and defends at a high level. In Friday night’s game, he finished with 36 points on 72% from the field and five of six from three. He also added seven rebounds, three assists, four steals, and two blocks. Kentucky’s Mark Pope, UConn’s Dan Hurley, Texas A&M’s Bucky McMillan, and others were in attendance for his impressive performance.

www.on3.com

Friday's Top Performers at Nike EYBL

Joe Tipton is in North Augusta, South Carolina for EYBL Session 4. Here are your Friday Standouts from the loaded day of action.
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Friday's Top Performers at Nike EYBL​

 
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superjohn said:
The guys they seem to be watching all the time are Abdou Toure and Cole Cloer.

The only point guards they seem to be heavily on are Dylan Mingo and Davion Thompson but Thompson is class of '27.
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Mingo seems like the guy. Fits the mold, they've watched him for as long as they've watched Rippey, and they are watching him a ton with Dan, plus we've got a good relationship with PSA. They even watched his games the last 2 days when he wasn't even playing. He can play alongside Demary in a Castle role, etc.

We haven't set any random visits and Mingo hasn't set any of his visits yet.
 
auror said:
Mingo seems like the guy. Fits the mold, they've watched him for as long as they've watched Rippey, and they are watching him a ton with Dan, plus we've got a good relationship with PSA. They even watched his games the last 2 days when he wasn't even playing. He can play alongside Demary in a Castle role, etc.

We haven't set any random visits and Mingo hasn't set any of his visits yet.
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At the very end of the article I linked it says UConn hasn’t set any official visits “until late September.” But it doesn’t say who. Do we know who that visit is from?
 
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auror said:
Mingo seems like the guy. Fits the mold, they've watched him for as long as they've watched Rippey, and they are watching him a ton with Dan, plus we've got a good relationship with PSA. They even watched his games the last 2 days when he wasn't even playing. He can play alongside Demary in a Castle role, etc.

We haven't set any random visits and Mingo hasn't set any of his visits yet.
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Good, Mingo is who I want.
 
HooperScooper said:
Doesn't seem they're recruiting Rippey. Mingo was just offered recently so we'll see where that goes. Seems to be a good fit. Things should be clearer on the recruiting front after the July evaluation period.

www.on3.com

Top-20 prospect Deron Rippey gives latest on Louisville, Miami, Indiana, Kentucky, UNC & Alabama

On3’s Jamie Shaw caught up with four-star Deron Rippey to discuss the latest with his recruitment and what’s next.
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Top-20 prospect Deron Rippey gives latest on Louisville, Miami, Indiana, Kentucky, UNC & Alabama​

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UConn not mentioned again.

On3 MVP: 4-Star PG Deron Rippey​

Perhaps no player has taken advantage of this week more than Deron Rippey. The 6-foot-1 point guard is a blur athletically, but it is his pace that gets him to his spots. He makes natural reads with two feet in the paint, and he made shots today. Currently On3’s No. 3 point guard in the 2026 class, he has very boldly staked his claim for a bump up the list. We will see how July finishes up.

Nate Oats (Alabama), Mark Pope (Kentucky), Jon Scheyer (Duke), and Darian Devries (Indiana) along with assistants from Louisville, UNC, and Tennessee were watching.

www.on3.com

Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships: Saturday top performers

On3’s Jamie Shaw sat court side at the Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships to discuss the top performers.
www.on3.com www.on3.com

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Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships: Saturday top performers​

 
Umami Zen said:
Will be interesting to see if the staff shows any interest in Tristan Reed- younger brother of Tarris. PF-2026 prospect that currently has a great deal of interest from Big10 MBB programs. Rated top 60ish. Has mentioned how much his older brother is enjoying the UConn experience.
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Would be nice to have a Reed from the freshman year instead of Junior year like Tarris.

Plenty of offers as mentioned above.
https://x.com/2026tristanreed?lang=en
 
No mention of us with Mingo either on 247 recap and list of schools. I know this staff is tough to beat when they go after a guy. I just prefer to get positive vibes along the way in writeups about recruits.
 
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Not a lot of smoke between us and Mingo as of late. Similar situation to Tay Kinney actually, except I think the BY got it in their head that we're recruiting Mingo more than we are.
He's a very skilled player, good size for position, handle, etc (although possibly a bit selfish as a PG) - but it seems like he is looking to be a OAD and we can't promise that.
We did see him play another target of ours here, but I haven't seen much on us pursuing him since the original offer
From the last week or 2, it looks like we are taking hard looks at Toure, Samuels, Cloer, Howard, County, Diane - at least in the 2026 class
 
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6&counting said:
He's a very skilled player, good size for position, handle, etc (although possibly a bit selfish as a PG) - but it seems like he is looking to be a OAD and we can't promise that.
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Explain. We've had OADs 2 years in a row. I don't know about Castle but the thinking with McNeeley from the time UConn started recruiting him was he was OAD.
 
6&counting said:
Not a lot of smoke between us and Mingo as of late. Similar situation to Tay Kinney actually, except I think the BY got it in their head that we're recruiting Mingo more than we are.
He's a very skilled player, good size for position, handle, etc (although possibly a bit selfish as a PG) - but it seems like he is looking to be a OAD and we can't promise that.
We did see him play another target of ours here, but I haven't seen much on us pursuing him since the original offer
From the last week or 2, it looks like we are taking hard looks at Toure, Samuels, Cloer, Howard, County, Diane - at least in the 2026 class
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We'll see. Borges had him listed as a target. The staff have watched him consistently this summer (May EYBL, June Top 100 Camp, July EYBL, his team as far as I know didn't play in any event during the scholastic live period).

The only other PG target is Junior County.
 
HooperScooper said:
Explain. We've had OADs 2 years in a row. I don't know about Castle but the thinking with McNeeley from the time UConn started recruiting him was he was OAD.
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We have Demary, Ball, Mullins on the books for 2026-27. None are a lock to leave in the current NIL landscape. (*Yes there's the rumor that Hurley told Mullins he'd be here 8 months and leave, but Mullins has repeatedly stated publicly this is untrue) Castle was not a planned OAD when he signed. While it's true McNeeley was, Alex was also anticipated to leave this year and he didn't. If that happens and there is a logjam at guard, the staff does not want to deal with another Darius Adams situation. They would rather go into next spring with too little than too much.
On top of that, Hurley does not promise PT. A player like Caleb Holt for instance - who would probably fit the UConn system/culture great and has been offered by us - is telling schools he is going to be OAD and doesn't want to lose playing time if he makes mistakes. This type of demand is a non-starter with the staff. Don't have any intel that Mingo is being that aggressive in negotiations - just using this as an example of what turns the staff off.
 
Palatine said:
He grabbed a very meaningful rebound.
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became a key zone buster for that team. JMD was a goof ball but had his moments that helped that team run through the BET
 
6&counting said:
We have Demary, Ball, Mullins on the books for 2026-27. None are a lock to leave in the current NIL landscape. (*Yes there's the rumor that Hurley told Mullins he'd be here 8 months and leave, but Mullins has repeatedly stated publicly this is untrue) Castle was not a planned OAD when he signed. While it's true McNeeley was, Alex was also anticipated to leave this year and he didn't. If that happens and there is a logjam at guard, the staff does not want to deal with another Darius Adams situation. They would rather go into next spring with too little than too much.
On top of that, Hurley does not promise PT. A player like Caleb Holt for instance - who would probably fit the UConn system/culture great and has been offered by us - is telling schools he is going to be OAD and doesn't want to lose playing time if he makes mistakes. This type of demand is a non-starter with the staff. Don't have any intel that Mingo is being that aggressive in negotiations - just using this as an example of what turns the staff off.
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Thanks for the explanation. Can’t really dispute any of that but there is an issue if all this is right. The staff has said they only want to recruit a very few 2026 recruits that can make an immediate impact. These kind of kids are typically very highly rated and most are thinking they are OAD. So if that’s who the staff is going after they either need to find the very limited ones who don’t have that mentality (doubtful) or manage the expectations of these kind of recruits. Very difficult to do the former and not easy to do the latter either.
 
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I have no idea. I want Mingo, Toure, Cloer. I like Rippey but if big PGs are our thing then Mingo is the guy

Not expecting to get a star PG here tbh. We’ll have senior Silas and Solo so there is limited usage available. We’ll likely go after a star transfer after Silas graduates and fill the backup Gs with 30-50 range 4 stars and transfers. Maybe we get a 5* 2027 guard

We’ll need a big but with Reibe being the only big on the roster after next year, I’m sure that will come through the portal

We have wings (Stewart, Ross, Furphy) but can’t have enough wings lol
 
REB1094 said:
I have no idea. I want Mingo, Toure, Cloer. I like Rippey but if big PGs are our thing then Mingo is the guy

Not expecting to get a star PG here tbh. We’ll have senior Silas and Solo so there is limited usage available. We’ll likely go after a star transfer after Silas graduates and fill the backup Gs with 30-50 range 4 stars and transfers. Maybe we get a 5* 2027 guard

We’ll need a big but with Reibe being the only big on the roster after next year, I’m sure that will come through the portal

We have wings (Stewart, Ross, Furphy) but can’t have enough wings lol
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Silas and Ball could be gone. Even if they stay you tell Mingo that youre getting 25 mpg no matter what. Could lose Mullins too so well need star players.
 
REB1094 said:
I have no idea. I want Mingo, Toure, Cloer. I like Rippey but if big PGs are our thing then Mingo is the guy

Not expecting to get a star PG here tbh. We’ll have senior Silas and Solo so there is limited usage available. We’ll likely go after a star transfer after Silas graduates and fill the backup Gs with 30-50 range 4 stars and transfers. Maybe we get a 5* 2027 guard

We’ll need a big but with Reibe being the only big on the roster after next year, I’m sure that will come through the portal

We have wings (Stewart, Ross, Furphy) but can’t have enough wings lol
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Mingo is a star PG.
 
interesting note regarding the 2026 recruiting class from ESPN, the recruiting net might be even smaller this year. not going to post the piece related to the recruiting because of the wacked out mods but scouts/talent evaluators feel the 2026 class is one of the weakest in a long time and that coaches will be even more aggressive in the transfer portal because of it.

www.espn.com

NBA summer league buzz: Hansen impresses, Wemby returns and storylines to watch

What are league insiders buzzing about at 2025 NBA summer league in Las Vegas?
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
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