With the news yesterday that VCU F Terry Larrier is transferring to UConn, Kevin Ollie heads into the 2015-16 season with one remaining open scholarship. While the Huskies look to have a strong roster going into next season, it’s at least worth considering what the options are.
Updated Scholarship Grid with Terry Larrier transferring to UConn: pic.twitter.com/sjTB8yOyyz
— tcf15 (@tcf_15) May 28, 2015
Option #1: Recruit an additional 2015 player
The 2015 recruiting class isn’t completely barren yet, but it’s getting close. With KeVaughn Allen (247 composite rating of 60) reportedly electing to stay with his Florida commitment after Billy Donovan’s departure to the NBA, the perimeter options are very limited. SF Kobie Eubanks (90) is still uncommitted, and his shooting would definitely be welcome, but he doesn’t appear to be considering UConn. There are a handful of point guards available further down the list, like Hyron Edwards (190), Samir Doughty (199), Domontrae Jefferson (205), and Jojo Anderson (220), but given that Ollie already passed on similarly-ranked players in Nych Smith (241) and Jahshire Hardnett (236), and also that there don’t appear to be many minutes available for another point guard on next year’s roster, the Huskies getting seriously involved with any of these players would be a pretty big shock.
One possible option on the perimeter would be 3-star swingman Tyler Kohl. Kohl’s questionable athleticism and conditioning make him a reach for a high-major program like UConn, but he’s a heady player with a great shooting stroke. He would never be an impact player at UConn, but if he can stay in shape, he could provide solid wing depth and shooting.
As far as uncommitted big men, there is slightly more available. Thon Maker (10) is, by far, the best player still on the board, but UConn doesn’t appear to be a factor for his services. Florida de-commit Noah Dickerson (70) is a versatile power forward with a sound offensive game, and UConn was involved in his initial recruitment, but he is still a huge longshot to end up in Storrs. Georgios Papagiannis is a talented Greek big man about whom Kevin Ollie has seriously inquired in the past, but indications at this point are that Papagiannis will probably stay in Greece to play professionally. If he were to come to the US, it’s a safe bet he’d be looking for a sure-thing starting job, something that wouldn’t be available at UConn due to incumbent center and reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year Amida Brimah. Beyond that, it’s lower-ranked bigs like Brad Brechting (168), Jonathan Nwankwo (170), and Levi Cook (194). It’s possible that UConn’s pedigree as an elite program could move the needle for one of these guys at this late stage in recruiting, but any of the three would come in knowing he’d play sparingly as a freshman, and would need to develop quickly to have a chance to start as a sophomore.
Option #2: Recruit a transfer for 2016
The Huskies have been going to the transfer well early and often this offseason, so this is definitely a possibility. With Larrier already in the fold, adding another 2016 transfer would bring in an additional player with D1 experience for next season, allowing the Huskies to recruit a reasonably-sized class for 2016, rather than having to bring in 6 or 7 players to fill the roster.
The first and best option would appear to be 7-2 Providence transfer Paschal Chukwu. Chukwu was a 2015 target for Kevin Ollie out of Fairfield Prep, but initially chose to play for Ed Cooley at Providence. He wasn’t thrilled with his experience there (not hard to believe for anyone who has visited Providence), and is leaving the Friars after one season. Indications are that Ollie has reached out to Chukwu, though the Huskies were not on the list of schools recently released that will be getting visits by Chukwu. It’s possible that Ollie could get back into this, but given the schools cited by Chukwu (UVA, Michigan State, Kansas, and Nebraska), it appears that the big man is looking to leave the northeast.
Another option would be Ole Miss C Dwight Coleby, who last week announced that he planned to transfer. The 6-9 Coleby was a reserve big man for the Rebels in his two seasons in Oxford, averaging 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 16.5 minutes as a sophomore. It’s not clear if UConn will be involved in Coleby’s recruitment, but he’s good enough to be a fringe starter for a high-major program at UConn, and would, at the very least, be a very capable rotation player for Kevin Ollie.
Option #3: Give a scholarship to Nnamdi Amilo
At the end of the day, this seems to be the most likely scenario. Amilo only played 3 minutes last season, so his on-court impact is nonexistent, but he’s a good citizen and a good student, which helps the team’s APR score. As frustrating as it was last season, with the team struggling to bring players in to such a degree than Amilo and Pat Lenehan were both on scholarship, only to see one scholarship still go unused, rewarding a hard-working kid like Amilo with a free year of school is a worthy use of the last scholarship.
Whatever Ollie chooses to do, it’s imperative that he continue to recruit aggressive for the 2016-17 season, else we’re left in a situation like last year, when the team didn’t have enough capable, high-major players on the roster to sustain a run through the end of the season.
