Jackson also made a point to say he wanted to come in right away and play and not have to worry about transferring.
When he committed to UConn, the season hadn’t even started yet. So we had a feeling Eli would be good and get all the minutes at the 3, but no one knew hed be leaving. We had Joe, Buddy, Jalen and a top 75 kid in Goodine who were all under class men. To anyone think Andre looked at that roster and thought “I’ll get plenty of PT” is lying.
When he committed to UConn, at the 1-3s they had:
-a PG transfer from Howard
-2 freshman ranked right around were Goodine was
-and Tyler Polley, who up until that point had done nothing of note at the college level.
-They had Christian Vital, who was getting a load of minutes but was also a senior and would be gone. They also had Gilbert, but as strictly a PG he wouldn’t effect Andre that much.
So if you’re Andre when you commit in October, looking ahead to 2020:
- UConn has 3 PGs possibly on the roster (Gilbert, Evans, Gaffney) but that’s fine, it’s unlikely due to size those 3 play together very often
- A departing Vital, who would leave over 30mpg+ on the table
- Bouknight, who is ranked near Jackson as a sophomore
- Tyler Polley, who averaged 8ppg and 2rpg as a 6’9” sophomore
- Syracuse meanwhile has Eli coming back, locked into the 3 and most of the minutes
- A combination of Girard, Buddy, Goodine, Carey in the back court battling for time
Hurley promised Jackson a starting spot, that’s what he needed to hear
But ironically,
- Bouknight ends up looking really, really good; will be UConns best player and on the court a lot
- Polley really emerges before tearing his ACL and ending his season, but he’ll be back and an upperclassman
- UConn adds Tyrese Martin; a 6’6 205 kid who Hurley recruited at URI and averaged 12/7 as a sophomore. They did this with Jackson already in the fold
So assuming Bouknight is locked into the 2G for 30+ mpg, Jackson will be battling for minutes at the 3/4 with Polley and Martin for 2 more years! If Akok wasnt hurt you gotta assume he’d be slotted in at the 4. I suppose Bouknight could leave after this year.
Meanwhile Syracuse loses Goodine, Carey and Hughes. With 38mpg available at the 3 (then we got Griffin of course).
gotta wonder if Jackson knew how 2019 would unfold if he still picks UConn. Cole and Bouknight need the ball; Gaffney is a PG. if he came here you’d think he’d have tge ball A LOT with Joe/Buddy spotting up on the wings. Now he’s at a place where he’ll be the 3rd ball handling option at best and he’ll be battling for playing time with 2 upperclassmen who are coming off productive seasons.
oh, and Danny hurley has literally never put a player in the NBA