Transfer Portal

[Peacefrog]

Ok so you are convinced that Hurley who has no track recored of leaning on Transfers is going to pick up 2 guards? I guess we will just have to see who is right then. Again it is just our opinions. You are stating stuff like you know exactly what Hurley will do. L

Of course, two of our three best players this past season were transfers. And I'm not sure how much it matters what someone's record has been; today's transfer portal/rules is a whole new game. Everyone is doing it.

 

[uconnfan68]

Yes I think Dan Hurley is going to replace the 2 open scholarships we have from transfers graduating with 2 new transfers. We're not even connected to a single 2022 recruit right now

What does that mean? Two guys are already here, and the others waiting to graduate from hs.

 

[McLovin]

Even with Cole back, we need a transfer who can shoot, and ideally it would be a big combo guard who can also run some point for us.

I think that has to be the top priority that we need to start making calls about, regardless of Cole’s decision.

 

[ToolzieFan]

2 of the best 3 players on this year’s team were transfers.

This is such an obvious point that many seem to miss.

In terms of next year, everything depends on Cole. My friend remarked to me that he’s the difference between a top-10 team and a 10-seed, and that might not be far off. I am all about tracking potential players who hit the transfer portal, but it is hard to speculate about what we need or who might come here until we know what Cole is doing.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

What does that mean? Two guys are already here, and the others waiting to graduate from hs.

I think he meant in addition to the commits coming in.

 

[Jimdish255]

Without Cole absolutely. If Cole does come back than just one. If he doesn’t we have to seriously start wondering if he gets it. Or hope and pray diggins is freshman year Shabazz Napier

I've been seriously wondering since last summer.

 

[navery12]

What does that mean? Two guys are already here, and the others waiting to graduate from hs.

The fact that we have 2 open scholarships currently (pending Cole's decision) and are not recruiting any 2022 guys leads to the conclusion that those spots are going to be filled with transfers

 

[Jimdish255]

What does that mean? Two guys are already here, and the others waiting to graduate from hs.

Pretty sure he specified transfers.

 

[the Q]

The fact that we have 2 open scholarships currently (pending Cole's decision) and are not recruiting any 2022 guys leads to the conclusion that those spots are going to be filled with transfers

Yup. And some new decommited players out there who could be nice fits

 

[Slick]

Without Cole absolutely. If Cole does come back than just one. If he doesn’t we have to seriously start wondering if he gets it. Or hope and pray diggins is freshman year Shabazz Napier

Shabazz was much much better then Diggins as a freshman

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Shabazz was much much better then Diggins as a freshman

Shabazz had much much more opportunity to play meaningful minutes than Diggins as a freshman.

I don't think we can any real evaluation of Diggins's potential because the minutes he played this year were inconsistent mop-up duty and garbage time with the second team. None of us saw him in practice so we can't evaluate based on that.

But the kid deserves a shot at consistent minutes with the first team players. I would've loved to see what he could do in a two-guard lineup with Cole and Jackson on the floor at the same time. Therefore, I'd grade his season as cannot evaluate. To me, his role was Hurley's biggest mistake this season. We needed a secondary ballhandler, it was clear JG was not the answer, and Diggins was never given a legitimate shot to earn that role.

Conversely, Gaffney got ample opportunity for minutes with the first team in meaningful parts of the game. By and large, he didn't come through. If anyone's minutes are going to get passed over next year, it's Gaffney.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Cole not making a decision public is detrimental to the team. We have to hope Hurley is informed on what Cole is doing and acting accordingly.

Or we are screwed.

Generally speaking - and this might sound crazy - I tend to think that people within the program are more plugged in than a bunch of armchair quarterbacks on a message board.

 

[AntG168]

Shabazz was much much better then Diggins as a freshman

Clearly. My point was we’d need to hope Soph Diggins is as good as freshman year bazz

 

[AntG168]

Martin may have been our 3rd best ball handler last season. That’s criminal

 

[bendm]

6-Banner Sunday: Fife out as IU assistant, four players enter transfer portal

A shake-up to the coaching staff and several players announcing their departure from IU were the highlights of what went down in Hoosier basketball this week.

www.insidethehall.com

4 players transferring from IU

 

[Captbluefin]

Generally speaking - and this might sound crazy - I tend to think that people within the program are more plugged in than a bunch of armchair quarterbacks on a message board.

It does sound crazy.. Generally speaking do you find it gratifying to be a complete tool ? Does making comments like this one make you feel important? Did you feel cool typing it ?

Please share I’m sure everyone else wants to feel as cool as you did when you posted it.

 

[uconnfan68]

The fact that we have 2 open scholarships currently (pending Cole's decision) and are not recruiting any 2022 guys leads to the conclusion that those spots are going to be filled with transfers

Ah, that makes more sense, but are there even any 2022 guards out there that are not spoken for? I figured that there wouldn’t be much help for us at this point.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Without Cole, we will need 2 new established point guards from the portal or one can be a grad transfer. I am not sure if the term portal includes grad transfers or if it is a separate category.

If Diggins has the skills, let him play himself into meaningful minutes. These days, players realize high level BB is competitive and major programs fill holes rather than deal with uncertainty.

What? I’m seriously confused by the takes here. I went back and looked at old UConn teams. Most had two PG on the roster. Some had 3. Maybe 4 if you count someone like Andrew Hurley.

Without Cole, this team needs 1 more. There is no room to bring in two guards and keep the guys we have. Floyd is going to play a lot. Hawkins is going to start and play even more. Diggins will play. Gaff, if here, will play.

Now, people can look at our SG and say they don’t have the ball handling skills of say, Ben Gordon, and that’s true. But the issue is at SG. Hawkins has to step up and be the ball handler we need. if he does and AJax is a 3 the team is very strong with ball handlers. Not sure how Karajan is, but expect he’d be a major upgrade on Polley. Expect Floyd to be Martin like, which is fine.

 

[Hoophound]

If you can't trust Diggins to be anything more than your 3rd PG as a Sophomore then I don't expect he'll ever play meaningful minutes here.

You can’t trust him until you see him play well. For now, we need someone we know can do the job on the roster.

 

[Rico444]

You can’t trust him until you see him play well. For now, we need someone we know can do the job on the roster.

There's nothing wrong with going that route if you're Hurley, but if Diggins didn't play as a Freshman and then his coach goes and brings in two point guards to play over him then why would he stay?

 

[AntG168]

What? I’m seriously confused by the takes here. I went back and looked at old UConn teams. Most had two PG on the roster. Some had 3. Maybe 4 if you count someone like Andrew Hurley.

Without Cole, this team needs 1 more. There is no room to bring in two guards and keep the guys we have. Floyd is going to play a lot. Hawkins is going to start and play even more. Diggins will play. Gaff, if here, will play.

Now, people can look at our SG and say they don’t have the ball handling skills of say, Ben Gordon, and that’s true. But the issue is at SG. Hawkins has to step up and be the ball handler we need. if he does and AJax is a 3 the team is very strong with ball handlers. Not sure how Karajan is, but expect he’d be a major upgrade on Polley. Expect Floyd to be Martin like, which is fine.

Floyd is not a pg. And not bringing in a guard so Gaffney can play is idiotic. Idk you all think Gaffney deserves minutes. He was legitimately the worst rotation player on our team. UConn hasnt won a championship since 2014 before the 2011 and the game has changed since then. BUT even then we had 2 high level pg's. We have one who is 5'10. We need more. If we rely on Gaffney and Diggins next season we may not have to worry about the second weekend and rather the bubble

 

[Hurleyman216]

Ideally the role for Cole (if he comes back) would be as a backup PG. That’s the type of UConn team that wins games in March.

Yeah, we should convince our 1st Team All Big East point guard he’s only good enough to be a backup next year…that should convince him to stay one more year!

 

[AntG168]

There's nothing wrong with going that route if you're Hurley, but if Diggins didn't play as a Freshman and then his coach goes and brings in two point guards to play over him then why would he stay?

Who cares? If he isn't good enough, he isnt good enough. Bringing in more talent is bringing in someone to play "over" him. Prove you are better and you'll play. It's simple.

 

[Rico444]

Who cares? If he isn't good enough, he isnt good enough. Bringing in more talent is bringing in someone to play "over" him. Prove you are better and you'll play. It's simple.

If that's your argument then I have no objection, we didn't see much of Diggins so it's hard to speculate on whether or not he'll be a good UConn guard. My only issue is there are people that think Diggins will willingly be the 3rd point guard next year if Hurley brings in two others. If that happens there isn't a scenario where Diggins plays major minutes in this program.

 

[uconnfan68]

Yeah, we should convince our 1st Team All Big East point guard he’s only good enough to be a backup next year…that should convince him to stay one more year!

I hope he meant RJ would be a 2, but that would make him a defensive liability in this system.