This years roster

[the Blades]

Recent summer twitter highlight on Rique....the most important thing I got out of this from Al is " consistency ". Anything Uconn does this year will be determined by what AG himself does as a consistent floor leader. He's got to stop with those over penetration drives( think Kemba and the pull-up game he developed) , make better decisions with the ball, stop the forced shots and shoot it at a much higher %.....Can't have the guy taking the most shots being one of the worst shooters on the team, like last year. (38.1 FG% )...if Rique adds consistency to his game sky's the limit.

 

[the Blades]

Getting a Eurobigman would be nice, and there are probably some good Euroguys out there, but you have to be somewhat connected and in tune with the Euroball circuit and I don’t see what Hurley has on that.

I guess Hurley may be trying to expand his scope for the last scholly:

UConn still has a scholarship open for next season, and Hurley is looking at different options, Class of ’20 high schoolers who may reclassify, grad-student transfers or perhaps a player from Europe. If he gets a player, and who it is, will influence the completion of the nonconference schedule in the next few weeks.

 

[the Blades]

DH talks about roster make-up in regards to the new 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches 3pt line:
“I think it’s gonna be great for spacing, great for the direction the game’s going in, the four-out around one, interchangeable parts around the perimeter,” Hurley said " If you’re a marginal shooting team, I think it will hurt and have a negative impact on the bruising team, the bully-ball team.”............He added that he feels he has the shooters (Gaffney, Bouknight, Christian Vital, Tyler Polley) to take advantage of the new distance, as well as the personnel to play four out, with bigger wings, interchangable guards and a big man in the middle. "

 

[the Blades]

New AG article:
"He’s the strongest player in the program pound-for-pound.” Hurley meant physically. That applies mentally, too. Gilbert had two major shoulder injuries in high school and two more that cost him just about all of his first two years in Storrs. Another shoulder injury — this one, thankfully, not so significant — cost him seven games last season, which still ended early with that bloody collision, after which Hurley rushed to his side and said, “Al, you’re a wolf!”

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

If he is as hard a worker as we hear, he should be hard at work improving his 38.1% FG and 33.6% 3 point shooting which are not acceptable for an elite point guard. I also hope he can do better than 3.8 assists per game. His decision making is the main reason for his shooting percentages. Once he starts making better decisions and taking better shots, the numbers should improve. I do expect him to be a lot better. I don’t know if we will see a Kemba-like improvement from sophomore to junior years, but I would expect him to improve his shooting percentages and his assists and his decision making. He made a correct statement to Anthony when he said there is a lot of room for improvement in his play. He is gifted, he just needs to be wiser and more experienced. Kemba once had the same need, and Kemba was a hard worker who improved. So I hope for the best with this kid because he is similar in some ways to Kemba.

 

[piantinofamily_a_gmail.com]

I think this year’s team is going to vastly different and improvement will be seen everywhere. Coach Hurley and his assistants will have UCONN back in the big dance if not this year it will be next.

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It sounds like he has a very good attitude, but the article says with the weight gain, Whaley isn't jumping as high. What I liked best about this kid's game was his hops which occasionally led to some eye popping blocked shots and boards. I remember in past years some guys put on weight and were not as effective moving around or jumping, so it's a wait and see kind of thing as to how it will pan out.

 

[the Blades]

Interesting photo from Uconn twitter for height comparison (click):

 

[Dominicfrank]

This is going to be such an interesting year.......We could be tourney sweet16 good or NIT third round good. Interesting.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

There are enough players and enough experience to suggest that this is a team that will play in the post season and have a winning record. How good they will be and how far they will go will depend on good health, certain players getting stronger and becoming better rebounders, and the very deep guard corps being managed effectively. The team is not deep at the 4/5 and doesn't have a ton of size, so they have to play more up tempo even than last year.

 

[the Blades]

There are enough players and enough experience to suggest that this is a team that will play in the post season and have a winning record. How good they will be and how far they will go will depend on good health, certain players getting stronger and becoming better rebounders, and the very deep guard corps being managed effectively. The team is not deep at the 4/5 and doesn't have a ton of size, so they have to play more up tempo even than last year.

Regarding this, we've been hearing rumors for months now regarding one more player for 2019. Borges keeps mentioning a big ( and now a specific type player) once again, today, in this article he put out regarding the NCAA regional camp in Storrs:

" HUSKY HEARSAY- UConn may not have much representation from its staff at the event, which runs through Sunday, but the Huskies aren’t done recruiting. UConn is still looking to fill its 12th and final available scholarship — most likely a big man, and not necessarily a short-term fix — at some point over the next month or so. "

Also:
" The Huskies will also likely finalize their non-conference schedule within the next week, though the final addition probably won’t be a high-major opponent. With Florida, Villanova, Indiana and the Charleston Classic (where UConn will open against a good Buffalo team) on the docket, the Huskies are satisfied with their non-conference slate. "

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I wonder who is out there that is not a short term fix? They must be looking at a foreign dude.

 

[the Blades]

I wonder who is out there that is not a short term fix? They must be looking at a foreign dude.

Yeah, kinda weird Borges seems to be hinting specifically, like he knows something/ was told something off the record. But as we know coaches can't mention anyone until they sign their NLI. The other thing could be Uconn is still hoping a decent 2020 reclassifies before school starts...ie. the Andre Drummond effect, as in he decided to skip his prep year at the last second.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Yeah, kinda weird Borges seems to be hinting specifically, like he knows something/ was told something off the record.

That’s exactly what it sounds like, he was told off the record some info about who they are on, and he can only be very cryptic about it in his report. I am just glad that the staff realizes there is a shortage of size and depth at the 4/5. There is nobody domestic we know about that seems like more than short term end of the bench depth, so I am gonna guess it’s a big young Eurodude.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Speaking of which Wichita State had a freshman Eurokid big man last year who was very impressive and his play was decisive in the UConn loss at Wichita State. 7 footer, solid body, coordinated and a factor on D in that game and also active on O-boards.

 

[the Blades]

Speaking of which Wichita State had a freshman Eurokid big man last year who was very impressive and his play was decisive in the UConn loss at Wichita State. 7 footer, solid body, coordinated and a factor on D in that game and also active on O-boards.

That kid was a HUGE big for sure, (7-0/ 270), but a typical short term fix and not much else. He's actually a JR this year and Asbjorn Midtgaard has played a total of 36 games in 2 years. ....2.9pts /2.5 rebs/ 0.6 blocks a game ain't exactly killin' it on the stat sheet. Seems like he's been more of a project (only played 9 games/ 49 mins total as a FR) for Wichita St.

But beggars can't be choosers I guess and he'd be more than adequate at this point compared to what Uconn has as a 12th...Hopefully DH and Co. can find that "non- quick fix" Borges is talkin' about.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Midtgaard was the guy I was talking about. He certainly looked better than those stats. Very big kid and looked like he was more than serviceable to me. I would be very happy if UConn could get a kid like him. Midtgaard may still develop, bigs take longer and when you have a kid that big who can actually function and play and isn’t clumsy and uncoordinated, some times it’s just reps and experience. The kid had some Voskuhl- like qualities in a bigger body. I would say he was Voskuhl Lite.

Also if you look at his minutes totals they went up at the end of the year as they figured out they had something with him. He could start next year.

 

[the Blades]

I'll just add this...for speculation fun...is it a cryptic tweet ? TCF caught this....


Richie Springs (PF - 6-9/ 217lb - Rivals profile) is a former class of 2019 who was a teammate of James Bouknight, but in June it say's he's heading to a prep year at Brewster.... could he be a 2020 big who is reconsidering ? (already has a Uconn offer and has visited in Dec 18' )

 

[the Blades]

Richie Springs (PF - 6-9/ 217lb - Rivals profile) is a former class of 2019 who was a teammate of James Bouknight, but in June it say's he's heading to a prep year at Brewster.... could he be a 2020 big who is reconsidering ? (already has a Uconn offer and has visited in Dec 18' )

Well is this a case of .... where there's smoke... there's fire ?...other offers from :
Creighton, Illinois, UMass, Minnesota, Penn St, Pittsburgh, Providence, URI, Rutgers, Saint Louis, Seton Hall, St. Bonaventure, St. John's, Wake Forest, USF, Depaul

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

There is a real chance for playing time for Richie Springs. At the 4 and the 5. Hopefully he can be sold on that.

 

[the Blades]

Borges put out these 2 tweets back to back today:

James Bouknight from Richard Springs

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Does anyone know if Springs’ springs are as good as Whaley’s? Would be nice to have two 6’9” guys with hops even if it’s in name only for one of them.

 

[the Blades]

One of his strengths seems to be rebounding, but not as a high flyer, more just relentless. At the Peach Jam in July his minutes went up to 28 per game and he averaged 12.8 pts./ 13.4 rebs and 1.4 blocks. .PSA Cardinals (NY) - 2019 NIKE EYBL - Richie Springs( stats)... including a 17 pt/ 15 reb game vs. Texas Titans who featured a front line of 2 of the top 7 players in 2020 according to Rivals.

That was after Dallas & being named:

EYBL Dallas Averages:
14.8 PPG, 70.4 FG%
8.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG

" PSA was undermanned in Dallas without AJ Griffin, and Richie Springs had no problem picking up the slack. Head coach Munch Williams saw his junior big man play up to his potential in Dallas, and it resulted in his best session of the season production-wise. The Cardinals will need Springs to play at this level in order to sustain success at Peach Jam, and he’s not the type of player that demands the ball. He rebounded at a high rate in Dallas, and he consistently made plays on both ends while running the floor. Springs is a fairly highly-rated recruit to make the All-Breakout team, but his increased production in Dallas was too difficult to overlook. "

 

[the Blades]

Does anyone know if Springs’ springs are as good as Whaley’s? Would be nice to have two 6’9” guys with hops even if it’s in name only for one of them.

This link has alot of his highlights (some playing with Bouknight @ MacDuffie) :
RICHIE SPRINGS - The Hoop Hustle

 

[the Blades]

Yeah, kinda weird Borges seems to be hinting specifically, like he knows something/ was told something off the record. But as we know coaches can't mention anyone until they sign their NLI. The other thing could be Uconn is still hoping a decent 2020 reclassifies before school starts...ie. the Andre Drummond effect, as in he decided to skip his prep year at the last second.

Well I guess Uconn did get the Drummond effect after months of speculation on the 12th scholly. (Good call Dave Borges) In Dre's case he was supposed to transfer from St Thomas More to Wilbraham & Monson for a prep year but switched in August to Uconn....Now Richie (at 17 years old) also passes on a transfer and the prep year (at Brewster, Jalen's former school) to join his teammate & be the 2nd player from MacDuffie to become a Husky...

Also James Bouknight's tweet in July was cryptic:

 

[the Blades]

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

He is exactly what they need- a body who can board and defend off the bench. There are now 4 legit 6'9"/6'10" guys to rotate between the 4 and 5, not including Polley, who you would rather see at the 3 due to his rebounding deficiencies.

 

[the Blades]

I just posted his ( Rick Issanza- thread) new highlights from 3 days ago....he looks like he's improved/ got stronger, compared to his older highlights. But yeah this is a scary undersized roster, once Carlton gets 2 quick fouls, like he did a bunch of times last year. Honestly this is insanity, Diarra who's really only about 6' 5" or 6" and always hurt... Whaley and who ?
Misses:
Kofi Cockburn- Illinois
Aidan Igiehon - Louisville
Karim Coulibaly - Pitt
Tre Mitchell - Umass
Qudus Wahab - Georgetown
Emmanuel Ugboh -Tulsa

Gotta give Hurley and Co. credit to not freak out as much as we did with all the misses .... to be able to bring a young player for depth upfront and one who can develop is a great piece for 2019-20.

Also read that .... Over the past year, Springs’ stock has been up and down. At one point, he was rated as the No. 64 player in the class of 2020 by Rivals but fell after a rough start to the AAU season. But is headed back up from what he did @ the Peach Jam and now that according to 24/7 " More importantly, instead of focusing on being a perimeter player, Springs showed a renewed energy on using his length and athleticism to make an impact closer to the rim, and also looked more focused as a rebounder. " .....I guess his growth spurt from 6-7 last year as more of a wing had something to do with it.....

Also noticed he's had some good numbers vs. decent comp like the game below vs. Karim Coulibaly ( Pitt ) who Borges said was a Uconn target. Seems to already have more of a BB skill set than Josh did when he arrived and he's only 17. If Kenya can work his magic skies the limit !

 

[Dominicfrank]

Make no mistake if this was Ollie we would be roasting him for this pick up. That doesnt mean this kid doesnt have skill and can help but we all have rose colored glasses on with Hurley, ME INCLUDED, but we would not be happy if Ollie took a kid in the 150 range last minute.

 

[Dominicfrank]

Gilbert, Vital, JB, Akok, Carlton is your starting 5 if you ask me. Maybe TP plays ahead of AA at first.....

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Gilbert, Vital, JB, Akok, Carlton is your starting 5 if you ask me. Maybe TP plays ahead of AA at first.....

I agree. As I said earlier, I see Polley as an ideal 6th man, someone who can come off the bench and knock down 3s that need to be made. Go with the starting lineup that gives you the best chance on the boards. This could be a true 10 deep team. It will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out.

 

[the Blades]

Agree with you guys on the starters, because that seems the best line-up for Hurley to play his pressure style with rim protection, not just for better rebounding, with Akok out there as a premier shot blocker. The only thing is DH seems to be loyal to his players and I don't know if he keeps TP as a starter for that reason. In either case starting means nothing, its minutes. Hell, Olander was a starter on Kemba's NC team.

 

[the Blades]

Make no mistake if this was Ollie we would be roasting him for this pick up. That doesnt mean this kid doesnt have skill and can help but we all have rose colored glasses on with Hurley, ME INCLUDED, but we would not be happy if Ollie took a kid in the 150 range last minute.

Don't agree ...this was a perfect pick-up at the last minute because of the roster make-up and lack of front court depth.... it's not some Kwintin Williams dunk show add or David Onuorah who couldn't even play the game after 4 years in college... like KO pulled.
And it's results vs other top comp and offers in recruiting that matter, not ratings, even though this kid spent plenty of time as a 4 star/ top 100, if that will make you happy....

ps. Springs started and played major minutes on his PSA team over his teammate/ 4 star & #23 ranked Franck Kepnang so I'd assume his AAU coach knew something about who was more productive and wasn't as worried about stars as some fans.

 

[Dominicfrank]

Blades: Fair points but my comments were more around how this would be viewed if Ollie was still the coach. He was so BAD at this thing that we would be all over him not getting a better rated player. Our belief that DH will be different still needs proving....kids like this being solid players over 2-3 years will prove that one way or the other.

I love DH so far but this next year we need to see a BIG record improvement to keep me blindly in his corner.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I think there is always some level of optimism until we see the finished product on the Court get tested in real games. Springs looks like a young player with some upside, and is probably a better pick up than Onuorah as a grad transfer. I honestly believed Onuorah would help a lot more than he did on defense and rebounding and I think he may have been bothered by an injury much of that season.

The 3 point shooting is really the only area of concern. Polley is the best 3 point shooter they have followed by Vital. Akok can reportedly drain 3s and we will see if he can add a big who can also shoot and stretch the defense. Bouknight is also an unknown. The potential is there but only two proven shooters in Vital and Polley and I am not sure if either one cracked 40%. Both have the potential to do so with proper shot selection. Polley was a tad streaky with his shooting and you would like to see him develop more consistency which he probably will if used in a 6th man role. I think that will happen eventually although not to start the season. He is ideal for that role.

 

[the Blades]

I think there is always some level of optimism until we see the finished product on the Court get tested in real games. Springs looks like a young player with some upside, and is probably a better pick up than Onuorah as a grad transfer.

True... it had been more hope....but then lack of results with KO and the desperation moves( Cobb and Whaley, weren't even ranked) he made as he leaked out players (transfers,etc.) in his last few years...
This doesn't seem like a desperation play by DH ......when you add the upside of the 17 year old and how he progressed over the summer. Also the fact that Hurley said unless they could find someone who could be an impact guy down the road he would save the scholly. Plus I have more faith with Kenya's track record working with bigs (@ G-town and with Josh).

Could Springs become a Hilton Armstrong type working with Sal and the staff ? That would be nice, but as a current 12th man on the roster, who should be a 4 year guy, I think it's a good fit. Plus Uconn has at least 2 open schollies (from Vital and the sanction) next year to go after elite talent. Also last SEPT.... RS was measured at (below)..so maybe he's not done growing:

Hurley on filling his 12th scholly

 

[blenner]

Make no mistake if this was Ollie we would be roasting him for this pick up. That doesnt mean this kid doesnt have skill and can help but we all have rose colored glasses on with Hurley, ME INCLUDED, but we would not be happy if Ollie took a kid in the 150 range last minute.

They improvement with Hurley is HUGE. We are getting much better recruits,he is improving his players by bringing in excellent speakers like Chris Herren, Maurice Clarett etc. This shows that he really cares about his players as people. Bringing in Sal as your strength coach was an incredible move in itself.Guys are much stronger in a short time.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I was not totally sold on Hurley when he was initially hired but he has really won me over. I like a lot of the things he says and does. Now he needs to deliver a winner to the fans. The work they did with Josh Carlton last year was impressive. Now he has some more of his own guys and some good pieces that he inherited. He and the team need to take the next step.