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Zags: Mustapha Heron transferring

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UConnStats said:
its extremely rare that it’s that cut and dry. Usually the coach won’t force a player out, he will be honest and tell the last player on the bench what playing time they’re looking at, be honest about the situation, and see if he thinks transferring may be in his best interest. It definitely sucks for he kid, don’t get me wrong, but most coaches won’t just tell a kid that he doesn’t have a scholarship.
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Wouldn't he have already had that conversation with every player? He's gonna come across real phony if he changes his tune now.
 
tcf15 said:
Auburn's Mustapha Heron to withdraw from NBA Draft, transfer closer to home | Zagsblog
The 6-foot-5 Waterbury, Conn., native was testing the NBA Draft waters without an agent and worked out for the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He has opted to withdraw from the draft but transfer from Auburn in order to be closer to his mother, Thalia Heron, who lives in West Haven, Conn.

“What people don’t know is Mustapha’s mom has been sick for a year,” Bryan Heron said Tuesday by phone. “Being home, he wants to get closer to his mom. He knew he had to go back to school. The last month he’s been here and he wants to be close to his mom, where she can see him play.”

Heron will apply for a hardship waiver to be immediately eligible for the 2018-19 season at his new school.
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Okay...UNH or Quinnipiac then.
 
Walker11 said:
I understand it's a business but run the kid off politely when you sign on as the HC. June is ridiculous.
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Except its not a business... it SHOULD be, but these kids don't get legitimately paid, and don't have the rights that legal employees do. If a kid is essentially failing out anyway, that's one thing, but I can't just rubber stamp booting out a kid Hurley just re-recruited.
 
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Even if he were to come Hurley does not have to pull a scholarship player. He can be a walk on and pay his own way. There is no limit to how many walk on players there can be, only a limit to scholarship players(13). There is no way coach would take anybody off scholarship to add Heron. That would be a bush league move.
 
Stainmaster said:
No surprise that the guy who rooted for UConn men's basketball to lose games has no issue with yanking players off of scholarship in June after the coach has already told them they're on board for the next season.
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Every coach finds room if a major talent wants to join the team. My guess is he goes to St. John's but it's already been stated there is a player who is not in good academic standing.

Don't know why you guys are pretending that finding room for more talent would be some new shady practice when our legendary coach and every other coach does it.
 
andy34 said:
Except its not a business... it SHOULD be, but these kids don't get legitimately paid, and don't have the rights that legal employees do. If a kid is essentially failing out anyway, that's one thing, but I can't just rubber stamp booting out a kid Hurley just re-recruited.
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But if they weren't playing basketball would they have gotten into UCONN? I am not bothered by this. Its the game these kids have been in for years. Is AAU any different? My son plays Tier 1 hockey at U18 level and I have watched teams bring kids in and out every year to become more competitive. Basketball at this level can't be any different. So why should college be?
 
Heron is a stud. Heron + JA with a healthy rique could make a Final 4 run if our bigs are serviceable
 
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tcf15 said:
All that probably doesn't matter anymore with his mom being sick.
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The part about getting out of CT was in response to the poster he said UConn was the "last place he wanted to play".

The rest was moot because Slice left SJU.

I'd apologize for wasting people's time, but at least the post was on topic. ;)
 
superjohn said:
Every coach finds room if a major talent wants to join the team. My guess is he goes to St. John's but it's already been stated there is a player who is not in good academic standing.

Don't know why you guys are pretending that finding room for more talent would be some new shady practice when our legendary coach and every other coach does it.
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It's about timing, and running kids off in June may end up making it more difficult for Hurley to make up for the ground the program lost on the recruiting trail. I'm pretty sure nobody here would have any problem with Hurley having that conversation with a kid in late March or April, as every other coaches does.

Insiders have let it drop that Hurley spent a lot of time actively convincing much of the current roster to stay here and ensuring their importance to the team. To turn around now and give kids the boot at this point in the year after putting in that kind of work is not common, and it's a can of worms I'd much prefer not to open. Again, Hurley and staff have a significant hole to dig out of when it comes to other coaches recruiting negatively against UConn and maligning the honesty of the people in charge. Hurley can do what he wants with this and he'll have everyone's support, but it's not some no-brainer without any possible consequences.
 
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Stainmaster said:
It's about timing, and running kids off in June may end up making it more difficult for Hurley to make up for the ground the program lost on the recruiting trail. I'm pretty sure nobody here would have any problem with Hurley having that conversation with a kid in late March or April, as every other coaches does.
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This.
 
Stainmaster said:
It's about timing, and running kids off in June may end up making it more difficult for Hurley to make up for the ground the program lost on the recruiting trail. I'm pretty sure nobody here would have any problem with Hurley having that conversation with a kid in late March or April, as every other coaches does.

Insiders have let it drop that Hurley spent a lot of time actively convincing much of the current roster to stay here and ensuring their importance to the team. To turn around now and give kids the boot at this point in the year after putting in that kind of work is not common, and it's a can of worms I'd much prefer not to open. Again, Hurley and staff have a significant hole to dig out of when it comes to other coaches recruiting negatively against UConn and maligning the honesty of the people in charge. Hurley can do what he wants with this and he'll have everyone's support, but it's not some no-brainer without any possible consequences.
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I think it's a tough balance because I think his main concern should be winning. If he feels Heron can come in and help us win the AAC and win a few tournament games, that would really help put some juice back into the program. At the same point, essentially booting someone this late isn't a good look. Im sure he'll weigh all the options and see what happens.
 
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Stainmaster said:
It's about timing, and running kids off in June may end up making it more difficult for Hurley to make up for the ground the program lost on the recruiting trail. I'm pretty sure nobody here would have any problem with Hurley having that conversation with a kid in late March or April, as every other coaches does.

Insiders have let it drop that Hurley spent a lot of time actively convincing much of the current roster to stay here and ensuring their importance to the team. To turn around now and give kids the boot at this point in the year after putting in that kind of work is not common, and it's a can of worms I'd much prefer not to open. Again, Hurley and staff have a significant hole to dig out of when it comes to other coaches recruiting negatively against UConn and maligning the honesty of the people in charge. Hurley can do what he wants with this and he'll have everyone's support, but it's not some no-brainer without any possible consequences.
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Well put. I just can't understand people who don't want Heron because of past comments he made about UConn or because he passed on us in general.
 
RayIsTheGOAT said:
Well put. I just can't understand people who don't want Heron because of past comments he made about UConn or because he passed on us in general.
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If we had a) an open scholarship and b) assurances that he was reasonably clean from an NCAA standpoint, Hurley should've been speeding down I-84 yesterday and sealing the deal -- no excuses.
 
Stainmaster said:
If we had a) an open scholarship and b) assurances that he was reasonably clean from an NCAA standpoint, Hurley should've been speeding down I-84 yesterday and sealing the deal -- no excuses.
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Absolutely. I assume if they do pursue him they've done their due diligence re: the NCAA issue. The thing is we don't have a scholarship. If we're talking about removing a scholarship from a current player who is failing his classes, that's one thing. If we're talking about arbitrarily taking away a scholarship from a current player because he's not as good as Heron, that's a risk. Hurley has to weigh the cost of potentially alienating his current players and losing their trust.
 
This is a long shot but is it possible for a basketball player to get a full ride based on academics or no? I ask because Tarin Smith was valedictorian of his class in high school. Guessing he is a really smart dude, but figure if you could give out scholarships based on academics then everyone would do it.
 
Do the people preening about ethics remember the time we were passed over for the Power 5 for the most renegade athletics program of this era? Fun times.

It is completely reasonable for a new coach to be honest with the roster he inherited. If Hurley believes Heron would be an asset compared to a current player who is not in the teams plans he is allowed to be honest with the kid. What do you think happened with the 3 commits?
 
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brasssbonanzaa said:
Absolutely. I assume if they do pursue him they've done their due diligence re: the NCAA issue. The thing is we don't have a scholarship. If we're talking about removing a scholarship from a current player who is failing his classes, that's one thing. If we're talking about arbitrarily taking away a scholarship from a current player because he's not as good as Heron, that's a risk. Hurley has to weigh the cost of potentially alienating his current players and losing their trust.
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And to reiterate, there's a distinct difference between taking that scholarship away in the early Spring and taking it away now.
 
ASweet3781 said:
What do you think happened with the 3 commits?
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Hurley was up front and honest with them and released all 3 from their LOIs well in advance of the Spring signing period, giving them plenty of time to find new homes at the many DI programs still looking to fill out their 2018–19 rosters.

Apples and oranges.
 
Stainmaster said:
Any idea where he's been the past few years? Weird to see a guy that (relatively) young completely drop out of the coaching profession.
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I don't know. I know he interviewed for the Rutgers job. He has a reputation of being a little sketchy.
 
Jaybird65 said:
And we are assuming Dan Hurley is interested....maybe someone going to the "Happy Hour" tomorrow should ask him....
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Not sure he can comment on a transferring player BUT a tactfully worded question about whether the roster is set or something like that may do the trick.
 
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