2022 Recruiting: Nahiem Alleyne commits to UConn!

[nelsonmuntz]

Pretty amazing what 10 days (and 2 key transfer commitments) can do for the view on this board.

Doomsayers, the fact is:

Newton, Alleyne + any other additional add is a SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE FOR 2022-2023 over Gaffney, Diggins and Floyd Jr.

And I lean toward the loyalty end of thing so I would have at least liked to have kept Floyd... but since this is the reality in which college basketball exists... We had to adapt.

And Hurley and staff obviously have adapted. Quickly. Kudos to them!

Now let's round out the roster (we still need 1 more ballhandler, preferably with some reliable shooting skills) and get ready for a potentially explosive 2022-2023!

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost with Martin, Cole, Whaley and Polley, who are 4 of the top 5 scorers from last year. Alleyne was the #4 scorer on a bubble team as a Junior, and Newton put up his numbers in the AAC. I am glad UConn got them, but I don't think either is a program savior. UConn still needs another player that can put the ball in the basket. Maybe that is Hawkins, or Clingan or Karaban, or Hurley still has to find a wing scorer.

 

[bendm]

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost

we still have 4 open schollys... with 1 more good transfer we'll be better than last year and i dont get how you could think otherwise. of the guys that actually played we're replacing cole, martin, polley, and whaley with newton, alleyne, another good transfer, and karaban, plus improvements from hawkins, jackson, sanogo, and samson....

 

[shizzle787]

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost with Martin, Cole, Whaley and Polley, who are 4 of the top 5 scorers from last year. Alleyne was the #4 scorer on a bubble team as a Junior, and Newton put up his numbers in the AAC. I am glad UConn got them, but I don't think either is a program savior. UConn still needs another player that can put the ball in the basket. Maybe that is Hawkins, or Clingan or Karaban, or Hurley still has to find a wing scorer.

Ramey.

 

[Husky Alien]

Nice! Welcome to Huskie Nation Nahiem.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost with Martin, Cole, Whaley and Polley, who are 4 of the top 5 scorers from last year. Alleyne was the #4 scorer on a bubble team as a Junior, and Newton put up his numbers in the AAC. I am glad UConn got them, but I don't think either is a program savior. UConn still needs another player that can put the ball in the basket. Maybe that is Hawkins, or Clingan or Karaban, or Hurley still has to find a wing scorer.

Alleyne will probably be the 5th or 6th leading scorer on next years team. Hopefully a more consistent version of Polley for our bench. We all know the season hinges on Newton/Jackson/Hawkins/Sanogo being all Big East level players. It’s about filling the holes around them.

 

[aburks41]

You can't ever make everyone happy, so I think you load up the best team you can and let them fight it out so you can possible have the best team in the country.

The issue is finding guys who are willing to take on that risk though. We have room for 1 more good guard. Besides that we’re basically full on minutes. Most of the guys in the portal are there because they are looking for guaranteed minutes somewhere. Assuming we land Castle or Rudi or RAmey, we don’t have any left to offer - unless you want to start taking away minutes from Newton/Jackson/Hawkins. And I don’t want to do that. I want our most talented players on the court as much as possible

 

[Umami Zen]

Ramy/Rudi want to be # 1 or #2 options on their next teams.. Not gonna happen at UConn. Too much talent here already.. If they want to be complimentary pieces to a Tournament team that goes deep.. Different story..

Leave the ego on the doorstep

 

[businesslawyer]

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost with Martin, Cole, Whaley and Polley, who are 4 of the top 5 scorers from last year. Alleyne was the #4 scorer on a bubble team as a Junior, and Newton put up his numbers in the AAC. I am glad UConn got them, but I don't think either is a program savior. UConn still needs another player that can put the ball in the basket. Maybe that is Hawkins, or Clingan or Karaban, or Hurley still has to find a wing scorer.

If we're going to be better next year, it's not going to be because Newton and Alleyne are better than Cole and Martin. It's going to be because Jackson and Hawkins play up to the level of Cole and Martin, and Newton and Alleyne play up to the level of last year's Hawkins and Polley. And because the Sanogo who was great for parts of the season plays that way most of the time.

 

[Burnsbros23]

So a question for you out of my respect of your opinion-- We now have 9 solid guys who are used to playing minutes -- And in the case of our new transfers-- Being the #1 or #2 option on their teams.. How do you fill out the rest of the roster spots and keep the guys already here happy? Do you fill in complimentary players so your main guys can be the focal point ? Did DH say this recruiting them??.. Or do you continue to load up with the best talent you can find and let them battle out for PT in pre-season? And do you even consider a potential SC reclass in your recruiting efforts for the upcoming season? You can only play with one ball at a time on the court.LOL

Appreciate your thoughts.

Edit: Roster Construction

We still have a lot of minutes in the back court. You could add another really good guy and say you three guys are going to split time at the 1 and 2. Or you can add two younger guys and kinda see which ones figure it out as ur backup 1 and 2. Also prolly need to add another big.

 

[Burnsbros23]

I do not see Ramey coming here. Don’t think we can offer what he wants right now.

 

[bendm]

If we’re starting Jackson at 4, it definitely would make sense to add 2 more guards. Rothsteins current projected lineup has no guards coming off the bench.

either way you slice it, with 1 more good transfer G (e.g. williams) we'd have a 9 man rotation. plus with a small ball lineup karaban would have to play G/F since jackson, samson, sanogo, and clingan would get all the PT at the 4/5

Newton 30- Williams 10
Alleyne 25- Williams 15
Hawkins 25- Karaban 10- Jackson 5
Jackson 25- Samson 15
Sanogo 30- Samson 5- Clingan 5

30- Newton, AJ, Sanogo
25- Alleyne, Hawkins, Williams
20- Samson
10- Karaban
5- Clingan

 

[87Xfer]

Landing Newton and Alleyne is a lot better than not landing them, but it still feels like UConn is taking a step back compared to what UConn lost with Martin, Cole, Whaley and Polley, who are 4 of the top 5 scorers from last year. Alleyne was the #4 scorer on a bubble team as a Junior, and Newton put up his numbers in the AAC. I am glad UConn got them, but I don't think either is a program savior. UConn still needs another player that can put the ball in the basket. Maybe that is Hawkins, or Clingan or Karaban, or Hurley still has to find a wing scorer.

I suppose you're you're not necessarily wrong. But I don't think it's the right comparison to make in declaring "a step back". The players you list either had no elligibility left, or were 4+ (or 5+?) year college sturdents with an opportunity to go pro somewhere. That's going to happen, particulary with all of the extra players in the population due to the covid year. What the staff has done thus far in the offseason does not feel like a step back to me. And if we get a couple of more developmental pieces so they can actually have solid 5 on 5 practices, I'd say overall the roster construction for next year looks like a step up.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Perfect fit! So happy to have Naheim on board!

 

[Tenspro2002]

A lot of those "sky is falling" posts from a couple of weeks ago really aging like milk right now.

The Tenspro takes are looking awfully smart.

 

[bendm]

Ramy/Rudi want to be # 1 or #2 options on their next teams.. Not gonna happen at UConn. Too much talent here already.. If they want to be complimentary pieces to a Tournament team that goes deep.. Different story..

Leave the ego on the doorstep

tend to agree about ramey but a team with rudi as the first or second option wouldnt be very good IMO. we can carve out 25 mpg for him as a backup CG. the final piece of the puzzle.

 

[Mooch82]

Ramy/Rudi want to be # 1 or #2 options on their next teams.. Not gonna happen at UConn. Too much talent here already.. If they want to be complimentary pieces to a Tournament team that goes deep.. Different story..

Leave the ego on the doorstep

How do you have any idea if this is true? If Rudi wanted to be the #1 option, he should just stay at Coastal Carolina.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

I do not see Ramey coming here. Don’t think we can offer what he wants right now.

Or what your perceive to know what he wants. You don’t really know what he wants right now.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Or what your perceive to know what he wants. You don’t really know what he wants right now.

I know people who know him. So I kinda Do. He ain’t coming to be a backup.

 

[willie99]

Love the tagline - Blue Collar Blue Blood

Someone is reading my signature

 

[Tenspro2002]

At this point we essentially just need 1 more guard for a solid 9. Hopefully Castle re-classifying. In that case we could go big with a lineup like

Newton
Hawkins
Jackson
Johnson
Sanogo

with Alleyne and Castle backing up the guards, Karaban at the 3/4, and Clingan at the 5.

Or we could go small with

Newton
Castle
Hawkins
Jackson
Sanogo

with Alleyne at the 1-3, Karaban the 3/4, Johnson and Clingan at the 5.

That's enough depth, high-end talent, and a roster well-rounded with ball-handlers, scorers, and shooters at multiple levels.

Hurley can coach up D and just needs this kind of talent on O.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The issue is finding guys who are willing to take on that risk though. We have room for 1 more good guard. Besides that we’re basically full on minutes. Most of the guys in the portal are there because they are looking for guaranteed minutes somewhere. Assuming we land Castle or Rudi or RAmey, we don’t have any left to offer - unless you want to start taking away minutes from Newton/Jackson/Hawkins. And I don’t want to do that. I want our most talented players on the court as much as possible

That’s the challenge. I found a list of everybody in the portal. I don’t know these guys but I would look for guys from lower levels of competition who are freshmen and maybe sophomores at 1-4. How about this kid from Marist
Jao Ituka

Stadium

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[Austin316]

 

[k-walk]

Damn I thought i was ready but I was trying to cop a PS5 on Playstation Direct at this time too so I was divided and must of missed OP by seconds. LOL! Eithey way there is our Tyler Polley for this year. Great get by DH. The team is coming together.

So glad walmart saved me from continuing the ps direct grind

 

[runner11]

Ramy/Rudi want to be # 1 or #2 options on their next teams.. Not gonna happen at UConn. Too much talent here already.. If they want to be complimentary pieces to a Tournament team that goes deep.. Different story..

Leave the ego on the doorstep

It will be very telling if Johnson decides not to schedule his visit. More telling than your guess.

 

[HooperScooper]

This article has a lot about 4 other guards the Huskies are after.

Virginia Tech transfer Nahiem Alleyne commits to UConn men’s basketball team. Here are four more top candidates in the portal.

Former Virginia Tech guard Nahiem Alleyne announced Thursday that he will transfer to the UConn men’s basketball team. Alleyne averaged 9.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists during the 2021-22 season. With Alleyne’s addition, the Huskies have four open scholarship spots for the 2022-23 season.

www.courant.com