Yakwe Commits | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Yakwe Commits

I'm loving Hurley's methodical approach so far. He put together a strong and diverse (from different programs, if not geographically diverse) coaching staff. Now he's doing the college version of preparing for a big free agent year. Mediocre grad transfer vs. 4 year players that weren't his choice (even though some may turn out fine) is our version of a salary dump while at least meeting a certain level of quality.
 
2Infinity said:
Hurley obviously sees potential he can work with and develop here. Seems like a nice opportunity for us...and him! Welcome aboard!
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Yeah, I kinda doubt it. He is looking for someone to step in and strengthen a pretty below average front court for a year until he can start recruiting guys that he can actually work with. Stopgap guy who brings some ability. If he gets better, that’s great. If not, it’s an open scholarship for next year.
 
Assuming Carlton and Diarra are penciled in at the 4 and 5 spots, it will be interesting how KW and Whaley's roles shake out with Yakwe aboard.

I think it's very clear that Hurley/the staff want guys who are a bit more physically mature.
 
Hurley and Co. are three for three !!

Get Lecque !!
 
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freescooter said:
Yeah, I kinda doubt it. He is looking for someone to step in and strengthen a pretty below average front court for a year until he can start recruiting guys that he can actually work with. Stopgap guy who brings some ability. If he gets better, that’s great. If not, it’s an open scholarship for next year.
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Politely disagree here. Based on what Yakwe did the last two seasons, I can't imagine Hurley bringing him on board for one season UNLESS he felt he could extract something more from Yakwe than he delivered at SJU! Otherwise, why not let the present guys develop further for one more season? I believe in Hurley's eyes, Yakwe brings something to the court that we just don't have on our current roster. This is a good and very inexpensive (1 yr scholly) "gamble".
 
upstater said:
Jalen Adams will make things easier for all these kids by drawing a lot of attention.

My only concern at this point is scoring.

Need a second go-to guy.

I'm not saying I expect a good year, but these new guys will improve simply because they were not playing with a guy of Adams' caliber.

Same with Anderson last year. He gave UConn more than he ever gave at Fordham.
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He averaged double digits in scoring his last year at Fordham and made a few game winning shots against some good A10 schools. He was one of the worst players (who played significant minutes) to wear a UConn uniform in the last 30 years. This statement couldn't be more wrong.
 
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Pgh2Storrs said:
Assuming Carlton and Diarra are penciled in at the 4 and 5 spots, it will be interesting how KW and Whaley's roles shake out with Yakwe aboard.

I think it's very clear that Hurley/the staff want guys who are a bit more physically mature.
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I wouldn't assume any spots are safe in the frontcourt. We have six bigs to hopefully form a competent 4 man rotation. But we have no idea how Hurley views the individuals, and neither Carlton and Diarra were so far superior to the options that they or you sould assume they are locks.
 
Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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I think Yakwe is much more talented that DO
 
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businesslawyer said:
I wouldn't assume any spots are safe in the frontcourt. We have six bigs to hopefully form a competent 4 man rotation. But we have no idea how Hurley views the individuals, and neither Carlton and Diarra were so far superior to the options that they or you sould assume they are locks.
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In the Katz podcast Hurley singled out three key players who he felt could have a big impact, Jalen, Carlton and Gilbert. Not much of a tea leaf, I'll grant you, but it does suggest that Carlton may be a step ahead of the other front court players in Hurley's eyes.
 
CL82 said:
In the Katz podcast Hurley singled out three key players who he felt could have a big impact, Jalen, Carlton and Gilbert. Not much of a tea leaf, I'll grant you, but it does suggest that Carlton may be a step ahead of the other front court players in Hurley's eyes.
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He said the same thing in the Rothstein interview.
 
tcf15 said:
Also, @Whtdmd is a self proclaimed St. John's fan - maybe he can give us the rundown on him.
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Lets just say him and Darien Williams are about the same player in terms of development 2 yrs ago. Darien avg like 3.8 ppg at SJ and picked Nevada over UCONN. Musselman will be a great coach to develop that stiff. He avg 2 pts before being dismissed from the Nevada team in January. Don't expect much from Yakwe except for help side defense. His offense is terrible. One of the reasons he got no time is that he is terrible at the pick n Roll. St John's team last yr is similar to the UConn team in 2018-19 under Hurley. I like Whaley alot more
 
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AntG168 said:
I think Yakwe is much more talented that DO
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Comparing them to AA and DO is fair enough based on stats. But both Tarin Smith and Yakwe were vastly higher regarded coming out of high school. Not that rankings are everything, but I believe Smith was a 3 star and Yukwe was a 4 star, while both AA and DO were unranked 2 stars. I think this may indicate something more for their potential
 
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MSGSeven said:
He averaged double digits in scoring his last year at Fordham and made a few game winning shots against some good A10 schools. . . . He was one of the worst players (who played significant minutes) to wear a UConn uniform . . .
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Sadly, you're correct. He might be an example of where a guy actually got worse under Ollie. Yeesh.
 
Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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Did you watch the video that Storrsouth posted?

If you're seeing DO in that, it may be time to get your eyes checked.

Kid is mobile, quick, has moves with offensive purpose around the hoop, did a beautiful pick & roll with strong finish, and showed a nice touch on his non-dunk shots.

I think he's a nice get!
 
Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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The difference is that Smith and Yakwe only tie up a scholarship for 1 year. I'd much rather have the 2 open spots for 2019 than have them tied up with Matthews and Kisunas.
 
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