Updated 2015 Roster (Projected)

[tentoes4rings]

Wow, what a job KO and the staff have done recently. With his work ethic, sincerity and connections to the league I'm not surprised he's started to get such a strong foothold on the recruiting scene. Here's how I see 2015 shaking out as of now. Would love to get others' opinions on the starting lineup.

C- Brimah, Nolan
PF-Facey, Lubin
SF-Hamilton, Calhoun
SG-Purvis, Ali
PG-Cassell Jr, Samuel, Jackson

This would put us at 11 deep already barring any transfers or early jumps to the league. I can easily see Omar transferring so it's still a 10 deep roster of high quality players. With the 5 backcourt guys, 3 likely to play both both positions the lineup possibilities are endless. I'm optimistic here about the development of the frontcourt guys but I'm not so sure we need another high profile big considering Brimah and Facey will be juniors, Nolan a senior.

I have personally never been a fan of the tiny backcourt, I'm personally happy we're now adding more length to the backcourt, should help immensely defensively and on the break. Would it be a stretch to think this squad could be a top 3 team in our program's history from a talent perspective?

 

[Huskybass]

Looks like a very strong roster to me. I always thought Ali was a shooting guard and Cassell Jr. was a point guard though. Also, even though I may agree with you on OC, transfer speculation is highly frowned upon, and for good reason.

 

[Silk City]

Looks like a very strong roster to me. I always thought Ali was a shooting guard and Cassell Jr. was a point guard though. Also, even though I may agree with you on OC, transfer speculation is highly frowned upon, and for good reason.

+1

 

[tentoes4rings]

I hope Omar does stick around, and there's nothing to indicate he won't. Just being completely hypothetical and thinking one person from that mix could drop out. With Tolksdorf, that's a roster of 12 guys who can all play. Not sure even we've had that level of depth before. I've always thought Ali was a true PG and Alien Jr. a combo guard.

 

[CTBasketball]

Need another big man. Brimah and Nolan have been foul magnets. Facey is not ready yet (getting there though). And Lubin is unknown.

 

[aceboon]

Ali isn't a PG

 

[tentoes4rings]

Need another big man. Brimah and Nolan have been foul magnets. Facey is not ready yet (getting there though). And Lubin is unknown.

CT. Your points as of now are well founded but we're talking two years from now when Brimah, Facey and Nolan will all be upperclassmen. I think their knowledge of the game and discipline will improve tremendously in those 2 years.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

IMO Brimah is gone after next season. People may disagree, but he is a huge prospect for the NBA... Especially since he's only been playing for 4 years.

 

[CTBasketball]

CT. Your points as of now are well founded but we're talking two years from now when Brimah, Facey and Nolan will all be upperclassmen. I think their knowledge of the game and discipline will improve tremendously in those 2 years.

I agree they will improve greatly, but I may be too worried. I'm not sure I keep getting flashbacks to that stupid 6OT game where everyone fouled out and I feel like having 5 serviceable bigs on the roster is a good thing.

 

[James]

I expect purvis to be a 1 year here and done . Excited to see who ollie gets next though ... GA looking like a pipeline

 

[tentoes4rings]

Ali isn't a PG

My bad. Mixed that one up based on his height.

 

[Fishy]

Brimah is so far away from the NBA that it's not worth worrying about. You can see an NBA prospect in there somewhere, but right now, it's in a wrapper that's averaging about as many fouls as rebounds. He's gonna be here for a while.

Assuming that no one transfers, and I suspect if someone does, it won't be Omar...I'd like to see another pair of front court players for 2015. Another small forward, a combo forward, power forward, center...don't care, just give me two that can rebound, play defense and catch the ball in the middle of a zone.

 

[Scot-e]

Need another big man. Brimah and Nolan have been foul magnets. Facey is not ready yet (getting there though). And Lubin is unknown.

Lubin is a beast. He was a top 40 guy on some sites then got hurt- then committed to UCONN- that is a black hole if you are looking to be noticed by the talking heads. He is personally carrying his whole team on his shoulders right now. Impressive.

 

[kcc1442]

I see it as:

PG: Purvis (If he can handle the 1) if not (push him to the 2 and Hamilton to the 3): Samuel, Jackson, Cassell Jr.
SG: Hamilton, Ali
SF: Calhoun, Facey, Tolksdorf
PF: Nolan, Lubin
C: Brimah


I think Faceys game will end up being more of a 3 who is athletic and instinctual on the glass so can play the 4. I am optimistic that Calhoun can bounce back from injury during this offseason and play like he was towards the end of his freshman year. I think Nolan will continue his steady albeit slow progress. I think we definitely need one more space eater for the final scholly. Unless Tolksdorf transfers or Purvis/maybe Hamilton jump ship early.....

 

[stick]

Yeah, I don't know what games mikesol has been watching, but there's a better chance that Brimah will be here for his senior year than he will be able to declare by next year. I love Brimah, but the guy can barely stay on court for 15 minutes a game without fouling out in college. For KO to get two top 50 players this early and being in the league that we're in is pretty great news going forward.

 

[DogMania]

IMO Brimah is gone after next season. People may disagree, but he is a huge prospect for the NBA... Especially since he's only been playing for 4 years.

Brimah looks more like a three-year player to me. He needs at least two more years to improve is understanding of the game and his body. He just seems like the type of kid who wants to enjoy his college experience as long as he can. In the end I think the money will be hard to resist, and he jumps before his senior year. If that doesn't happen it means he's not as talented as many of us think. The trend at UConn for quite some time now with Bigs has been for them to stick around for 3 seasons to not only improve their draft stock, but to ensure they stick in the league as long as possible. Of course, Drummond was the exception. He was a man child when he was here. Granted his game was very raw at the time. He was such an elite athlete that it was in his best interest of the jump to the league after his freshman year since there was little doubt that he wouldn't get drafted in the upper portion of the draft.

 

[Huskybass]

I see it as:

PG: Purvis (If he can handle the 1) if not (push him to the 2 and Hamilton to the 3): Samuel, Jackson, Cassell Jr.
SG: Hamilton, Ali
SF: Calhoun, Facey, Tolksdorf
PF: Nolan, Lubin
C: Brimah


I think Faceys game will end up being more of a 3 who is athletic and instinctual on the glass so can play the 4. I am optimistic that Calhoun can bounce back from injury during this offseason and play like he was towards the end of his freshman year. I think Nolan will continue his steady albeit slow progress. I think we definitely need one more space eater for the final scholly. Unless Tolksdorf transfers or Purvis/maybe Hamilton jump ship early.....

On what planet would Facey and/or Tolksdorf play small forward ???

 

[johnhuskies95]

Lubin is a beast. He was a top 40 guy on some sites then got hurt- then committed to UCONN- that is a black hole if you are looking to be noticed by the talking heads. He is personally carrying his whole team on his shoulders right now. Impressive.

I was under the impression that he's just an under the radar type. I don't think he was ever highly rated.

 

[kcc1442]

On what planet would Facey and/or Tolksdorf play small forward
On what planet would Facey

all tolksdorf does is shoot from behind the arc. He isn't what I would call a physical specimen. He may be 6'8 but that doesn't automatically qualify you as a PF....

And personally from the game I see out of Facey he likes to face up way more than he likes to play with his back to the basket. He is also quick enough to play with the 3's both defensively and offensively. In the first couple of games I saw some slash out of him.


To add I would compare Facey more to DD than I would a Nolan or Adrien, or AO or any other 4 that we have had recently......And we know DD is much better suited at the 3 than the 4...

 

[CTBasketball]

I feel like a senior Phil Nolan will be a consistent double-double guy.

 

[Tenspro2002]

all tolksdorf does is shoot from behind the arc. He isn't what I would call a physical specimen. He may be 6'8 but that doesn't automatically qualify you as a PF....

And personally from the game I see out of Facey he likes to face up way more than he likes to play with his back to the basket. He is also quick enough to play with the 3's both defensively and offensively. In the first couple of games I saw some slash out of him.


To add I would compare Facey more to DD than I would a Nolan or Adrien, or AO or any other 4 that we have had recently.And we know DD is much better suited at the 3 than the 4...

Nolan and AO were 5's. DD is a college 4. Facey is even less skilled at the perimeter game than DD. Don't let Calhoun's absurdly big lineups fool you into thinking anyone 6'7-6'9 is automatically a 3.

The important thing is having three guys who can handle the ball and, preferably, four who can slash and shoot it from deep. Facey hasn't shown enough to get minutes at the 4, and unless he becomes possessed by the spirit of Michael Jordan, isn't going to have the requisite ball skills to play the 3.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Nolan and AO were 5's. DD is a college 4. Facey is even less skilled at the perimeter game than DD. Don't let Calhoun's absurdly big lineups fool you into thinking anyone 6'7-6'9 is automatically a 3.

The important thing is having three guys who can handle the ball and, preferably, four who can slash and shoot it from deep. Facey hasn't shown enough to get minutes at the 4, and unless he becomes possessed by the spirit of Michael Jordan, isn't going to have the requisite ball skills to play the 3.

And how does someone expect Hamilton will play the 2, especially with the bevy of backcourt players already in the mix. Hamilton should be the starting 3, getting 30 plus mpg.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

If Hamilton plays at all like he's played his senior year in HS we'll have him just a year.

 

[champs99and04]

What I like the most about what Ollie's doing on the recruiting trail is that he's stockpiling talent at every position. With the retention rate in college basketball being so low, that's pretty much a necessity these days. For instance, between Hamilton, Purvis, and Calhoun (and, for the sake of argument, I'm assuming Calhoun finds himself, which I think he will), we have three kids at the wing alone who could turn out to be studs. Now, if one of the three emerges as an all-American type player and jumps to the NBA after next season, we have two other guys who can step right in and fill the void, and we're not in scramble mode trying to sign somebody late in the recruiting period. The same could be said about what we have in the front court - I don't think Facey, Nolan, and Brimah are talents in the same category as what we have on the wing, but two seasons from now, they'll all be upper-clansmen. Even without mentioning Lubin, and whoever else we figure to sign up front later on, we're in pretty decent shape up front. At the guard position you now have Samuel, Cassell, Ali, and Jackson. Long story short, we're going to be loaded in two years. You can really see the difference a full slate of scholarships make.

 

[kcc1442]

Nolan and AO were 5's. DD is a college 4. Facey is even less skilled at the perimeter game than DD. Don't let Calhoun's absurdly big lineups fool you into thinking anyone 6'7-6'9 is automatically a 3.

The important thing is having three guys who can handle the ball and, preferably, four who can slash and shoot it from deep. Facey hasn't shown enough to get minutes at the 4, and unless he becomes possessed by the spirit of Michael Jordan, isn't going to have the requisite ball skills to play the 3.

So let me get this straight, as for projecting forward......You render Facey as useless because he can't play the 4, doesn't have the ball skills for the 3 and isn't Michael Jordan.
You honestly believe that DD is a college 4 and that we aren't just using him there because AO transferred and we didn't get the likes of Vonleh, Bell, Bennett, Stokes et al and subsequently we have no bonafide 4 man.
You think Nolan is a 5 at 6'10 215 pds.
I understand that you can get away with these guys playing those positions if you have to stretch them similar to what Nova does every year with their players but personally I don't want to be that team. We have always had a Center on this team going back to Thabeet, Okafor, Knight, and Voskhul alongside big strong power forwards (Adrien, Freeman, Marshall, King, Boone, Villanueva). Personally that is ideal in my book. To have to powerful tall big men up front.