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No, we absolutely have not created dudes like this. Let's be clear about that. This site is about as contained as it gets on the internet. He's not reaching out to recruits to satisfy the interests of the posters and lurkers of BTownBanners. He is a blowhard trying to monetize a niche social media following on twitter with engagement bait and generally shameless behavior which is incentivized by that platform.

I now understand why some UK fans want to move on from him, lol. Would think he'd learn from last year with Wilkerson... not exactly the target audience. You love to see it.

Trilly says USC is the school to watch for Reibe

Yeah a guy like Karaban is the perfect example of your point on McNeeley. Wonder how much he has made at UConn over four years... Hurley said on the Dan Patrick show Mullins would probably make the same at UConn next year as he would being the 15th pick. For whatever that's worth (I doubt he was being very exact). Google says McNeeley's contract is worth 5.6M guaranteed, total value 14.1M if they take the team option. Rookie salary 2.7M next year 2.9M. He was 29 overall last year. You're definitely right in most cases the longer you stay in school the lower you fall in the draft since there's less "potential" to project etc. And for most guys it's probably best to go asap. Still think every situation is unique so maybe if you trust the staff you're with your development plan and think you have a chance to improve from ~25 give or take 5 spots to top 10, you consider giving it a shot if you're not losing money vs rookie salary / guaranteed money. I don't think UConn has close to as much NIL as people imagine but with Reibe leaving and Hurley making these comments publicly I imagine he will give it his best shot at swaying Mullins to stay. Dad seems pretty bought into Hurley so we will see... still, business decision in the end.

I don't consume Field of 68 content (or avoid it as much as possible anyway) ... do they frequently speculate on transfer destinations? Surprised to see them report something like this. Would flip the sentiment around here pretty quick if it happens. I can't see it but boy would I love to be wrong.

He'd be fine off the bench for a year if we can pair him with a good perimeter defender and some good shooters. A good one year mentor for PAM. Moot point because he's probably not going to go for a bench role unless it comes with a somewhat sizable pay day, which I doubt we are allocating for a bench guard.

Aberdeen heading back to Florida

And the good news is, as that UConn fan admits, he could be a really good one if he gets stronger and coached up some more on D. Maybe it clicks for him with more playing time. Likely all the players we are shopping for have some major opportunities for improvement that hopefully our staff is equipped to help them address.

RE: Reibe, one of the more reputable posters on the Boneyard had this to say: There was enough smoke here through the year that it isn’t particularly surprising. He'll be good somewhere else offensively but he's more power forward than center. 6'10.5, 7'1 wingspan, plays soft around the rim and is fairly unathletic. I do wish we had at least 1 center coming back who already knows the system like we had all these other years. I think he can be really good but he was nearly unplayable on defense for the latter part of the year. Got completely lost on screens, got turned around getting back to his man in help defense, and was just pushed around a ton down low. Curious to see where he lands if PT was his biggest concern. His offense is ready IMO but he needs to put in a ton of work on strength and defense to be a good high major starter. Best of luck to him.

He showed a lot of good stuff early in the year when Tarris Reed was injured. Had good games against Arizona, Illinois and Kansas. His minutes went down when Reed came back and he played progressively less as the year went on. Sounds like he has a very vocal camp that was concerned about playing time. UConn likely told him they won't commit to starting him next year, so portal it is.

I know Woody's staff was on Reibe, but did DDV's staff also pursue him? There were some rumors that his camp was grumbling about playing time this year. Goal is NBA asap of course. Ultimately looks like Reibe isn't on board with Hurley's vision for splitting time at the 5 as they did with Sanogo/Clingan, Clingan/Johnson, Johnson / Reed, Reed / Reibe. He faded pretty hard after a good early start for UConn, but their fans are definitely a little bummed to see him go and think he will be a good player. Sounds like he may want to face the basket more than Hurley's style really allows for the 5 to do. He can certainly come here and be our featured big guy. Tough for me to say who is worth overpaying at this rate but with 3 years of eligibility, hope we give him a close look.

Sounds like fanciful wishes from fans similar to the idea Darren Harris would entertain coming off the bench here

Absolutely. Hopefully we strike gold with some high upside reclamation projects at bargain prices. We will need to with this many spots to fill.

But I don't understand why we don't just buy all the best players? This seems obvious IMO.

Hurley encouraged Castle and McNeeley to be one and done... worked out great for Castle, less so for McNeeley thus far... so the change is interesting to me. I think Cal sort of set a precedent for the rest of CBB with encouraging guys to go to the NBA even if the player would benefit from more development and the program would benefit from having another year of them. When NIL first became a thing, a lot of people said how great it would be for retaining players who may not project so well as a pro. The conventional wisdom of going pro ASAP so you get to the second contract quicker makes perfect sense. I don't know what you make going in the back of the lottery vs end of the first round, but in a loaded draft class like this, it could make some sense IMO if the player wants to bet on themselves being able to improve draft position next year significantly. If I were advising Braylon I'd probably tell him run to the NBA and don't look back too... but I'd hate to wonder "what if" should he find himself shuffling between the G League teams in a few years like McNeeley potentially could

We will see about that... I just am not convinced that there is a limitation if / when you have a great coach (don't wanna restart the McCollum debate). All it takes is nailing the scout consistently enough for the stars to align IMO. Certainly more of an uphill climb at Iowa than UNC. And totally sucks for Iowa fans regardless

Are we supposedly trending away from Fru or something? Seemed like there was a lot of talk about him at first but no visit scheduled yet?

Hurley on Dan Patrick basically stating he will suggest Mullins return for another year of school before the NBA. From a basketball POV, seems like the right choice. Gotta weigh short vs long term financial implications. Could make sense in this loaded draft class especially. Better to be a sophomore than follow Liam McNeeley's career arc IMO.

Plus Hodgson is a good recruiter and stuff

Iowa fans have been expecting this... he probably earned himself a pay day in the tournament and for him it may be as good a check as he will ever get. PGs and Cs in the portal are getting crazy money. Super interesting to see where results stand compared to reported NIL budgets. I'd give him a look.

This is how I feel about Sherrill, would love to have him of course but don't see it happening. Hopefully it's not a situation where we passed on Estrella because of injury / cost profile, chased Sherrill and missed, and in the meanwhile someone like Fru's price goes from 3M to 3.5-4M causing us to whiff on him too.

Don't think we can pay both (maybe can't afford either) but one would be awesome

I think it's probably an ambitious list but fun to think of the possibilities while we wait. And totally agree... feels like a good day to start some good news for the weekend. Think we'd all be pretty happy if come Monday we have one of either Mustaf or Harris + Burton and Olsen on board.

My uninformed assumption is Darren Harris isn't looking for a bench role at his next stop.