Two more gone: Smith, Bradley granted release from UConn
Connecticut has confirmed that Michael Bradley and Roscoe Smith have both been released from their scholarships.
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UConn Basketball: Smith, Bradley Transferring Will Not Hurt the Huskies
Connecticut men’s basketball players Michael Bradley and Roscoe Smith have both been released from their scholarships, opening up the possibility to transfer. However, the loss of either player will not hurt the Huskies’ program.
As it currently stands UConn is ineligible for the 2013 postseason due to low scores on the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate. Current regulations use either a four-year score, or a two-year score from the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons to determine 2013 eligibility.
Schools need to have a four-year score of 900, or a two-year score of 930. UConn has a four-year score of 890 and a two-year score of 902. The Huskies 2009-2010 score was 826, and their 2010-11 score was 978, indicating a clear upward trend.
The way the NCAA regulation system is set up penalizes several current and future players that had nothing to do with the program’s previous low scores. The NCAA is not naive to this problem.
The Associated Press reported that the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Performance is meeting this week and may discuss changes to this policy. Those changes could include using the two most current academic years to decide eligibility. UConn would be eligible for next year’s NCAA tournament if that change is made.
The Huskies recently lost Alex Oriakhi after he decided to transfer to Missouri for his senior season. Additionally, sophomore Jeremy Lamb and freshman Andre Drummond announced that they would be entering the 2012 NBA draft.
This season was a far cry from the Huskies’ 2011 NCAA Championship. The Huskies (20-14, 8-10) finished ninth in the Big East, and lost, 77-64, to Iowa State in their first game in the Big Dance.
Even at that, Smith and Bradley were not a big part of the Huskies this season. Smith averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this season. That is one point and 1.6 rebounds less than he averaged during the Huskies’ 2010-11 NCAA Championship season. Bradley red-shirted this season after a preseason injury.
With that it is hard to argue that loss of either player would significantly hurt the Huskies, as Smith was on a slight downturn and Bradley remains untested in college play.
If both players end up transferring, that will leave Connecticut with six returning scholarship players including their No. 2 and No. 3 scorers, Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright.
So far the Huskies have signed Rivals’ 4-star recruit Omar Calhoun and have a verbal commitment from Holy Cross transfer R.J. Evans. Evans will graduate from Holy Cross this spring allowing him to play immediately with his final year of eligibility for the Huskies.
Should the NCAA change it current academic regulations this week, allowing the Huskies to be eligible for next year’s NCAA Tournament things could quickly pick up for Connecticut’s recruiting efforts.
While transfers can take an emotional toll on a program, Huskies fans should not worry much about the potential loss of these two players. If Smith and Bradley feel transferring is in their best interests then they should pursue that option.
Filling the shoes of 2012 NBA draft hopefuls Jeremy Lamb (UConn’s point leader) and Andre Drummond (UConn’s rebound leader) is a different story, and something the Huskies should be more concerned with.
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Smith, Bradley granted release from UConn (Yahoo! Sports)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut has confirmed that basketball players Michael Bradley and Roscoe Smith have both been released from their scholarships, a move that will allow them to transfer.
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NCAA defends APR decision, UConn ban
The NCAA defended its standard for academic performance that led to Connecticut being banned from next year’s postseason.
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Roscoe Smith: UConn Forward Joins Exodus of Talent from Huskies
University of Connecticut forward Roscoe Smith has been granted his release from the Huskies basketball program and the university, marking the latest of stars leaving the squad.
CBS Sports is reporting about the transfer:
Smith’s father told CBSSports.com on Saturday morning that his son, a sophomore forward for the Huskies, will leave the program and has received his release.
With uncertainty around UConn head coach Jim Calhoun’s future with the program and serious questions about the recruiting class, Smith becomes the latest in a long line of Huskies walking away this offseason.
What it Means
For the immediate future of the Huskies, this could be a serious issue. While Smith’s 6.3 points and 25.4 minutes per game were down from the year before, his averages were sure to jump up in his junior year with UConn.
Now that he will be transferring, another school will benefit from Smith’s return to form. UConn really messed up by not persuading the big forward to stay.
Smith joins the likes of Jeremy Lamb, Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi as players who have left the program this offseason. Add Smith to that list and that’s a major blow to any school.
What’s Next?
The first thing the University of Connecticut needs to do is analyze where they are heading in terms of a head coach. Calhoun is getting to the point where he could leave any year, and that’s an uncertainty kids don’t want to deal with.
Once they figure out if Calhoun stays or goes, they have to find his eventual successor and have that person become the main recruiter. At least that way, if Calhoun just decides one day that he can’t do it anymore, there will be a viable replacement to back him up.
This should be the only thing on the Huskies’ minds right now.
Check back for more on the NCAA Basketball as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s College Basketball Page to get your fill of college basketball.
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NCAA defends UConn ban (Yahoo! Sports)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) The NCAA defended its standard for academic performance Thursday that led to Connecticut’s men’s basketball team being banned from next year’s postseason and has sparked concerns from members of Congress.
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UConn Basketball: Shabazz Napier’s Growth Now a Necessity for the Huskies
Shabazz Napier is now the man in Storrs, Connecticut.
UConn stars Andre Drummond, Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb are gone. Michael Bradley is gone as well, meaning that once Holy Cross transfer R.J. Evans signs his letter of intent, there will be just nine Huskies on the roster for next season.
Napier took on a much bigger role and ended the season as the Huskies second-leading scorer at 13 points per game to go with 5.8 assists, while also finding his groove at the guard position.
Now he must start all over again as three of his go-to teammates are now either NBA-bound or in Missouri.
A notoriously efficient player, Napier’s percentages were low due to a tough stretch during the middle of the season when he shot a combined 14-for-57 (24.6 percent) while UConn lost five of six games.
More worrisome about his performance during that stretch was that those games came against Tennessee, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Seton Hall (the lone win), Louisville and Syracuse.
A stretch like this is part of playing in the Big East, and if UConn is going to weather that schedule they will need Napier to be what he was during the Big East Tournament: himself.
In the Huskies three wins at the Big East Tournament, Napier turned in scoring numbers of 23, five and 26 points.
UConn needed him to score against Pittsburgh and West Virginia, so he did. They needed him to facilitate against DePaul, so he did (2-for-3 shooting, six assists, no turnovers).
The two newcomers, Evans and freshman Omar Calhoun, will be able to pick up some of the scoring slack that Lamb left behind. And Ryan Boatright will be in the fold for the entire year which will take a lot of pressure of Napier on the offensive end.
Napier has been exceptional at times in his career and we can only hope that this coming year will be the year he puts it all together. If he can do that, UConn will weather this storm of allegations and come out on the other side a stronger group.
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UConn F Oriakhi transferring to Missouri (Yahoo! Sports)
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) Alex Oriakhi, a 6-foot-9 power forward who played the past three seasons at Connecticut, is transferring to Missouri.
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Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Wildcats Miss out on UConn Transfer Alex Oriakhi
ESPN.com is reporting that UConn forward Alex Oriakhi will transfer to Missouri University.
He will have one season of eligibility and be able to play immediately due to UConn’s postseason ban next year. Oriakhi had also been considering a transfer to the University of Kentucky along with Duke, Xavier and North Carolina.
While the news hardly puts a damper on the Noel announcement from Wednesday (along with once again securing the No. 1 college recruiting class in the nation), it is unfortunate that the Wildcats were unable to land the veteran forward to make another run at a title next season.
What’s curious about Oriakhi’s decision is how early it came in the recruiting process. He was scheduled to visit Kentucky on April 20 and was even receiving encouragement from Nerlens Noel via Twitter to join the Wildcats next season. One has to wonder if Oriakhi would have made a different decision if he’d had a chance to actually make the trip to Lexington next weekend.
As it stands now, John Calipari and the Wildcats are still in great shape for next season. Even without Oriakhi, they should still be a favorite to defend their national championship next year.
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Alex Oriakhi: Former UConn Big Man Transferring to Missouri Tigers
Former UConn Huskies standout Alex Oriakhi apparently has a new home as reports issue that he will transfer to Missouri.
CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman reports via Twitter on Oriakhi leaving to Missouri where he is far more comfortable playing.
UConn transfer Alex Oriakhi just told CBSSports he is headed to Missouri. Story coming soon.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) April 13, 2012
Oriakhi was a mainstay on the Huskies’ championship team and averaged 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
This season, the big man saw a good amount of his production decline thanks to Andre Drummond featuring far more heavily for UConn.
He averaged 21.5 minutes per game this season after logging 29.1 in the previous campaign. CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish quotes Oriakhi who sounds optimistic on his prospects with the Tigers.
Obviously it’s a simple fact that they don’t have any big men, and I can play with a pass-first point guard. I just felt comfortable.
This is my last stop. It just seems perfect.
What’s not perfect is the outlook for UConn who is experiencing something of a mass exodus of top-level talent.
Not only is big man Andre Drummond leaving to the NBA, but so is prolific guard Jeremy Lamb. Now they will be without the services of a star they relied on heavily just a couple seasons ago.
Goodman has initial thoughts on Missouri bringing in the 6’9″ forward/center via Twitter.
The addition of Alex Oriakhi to Missouri makes the Tigers a legit Top 20 team, maybe even higher. Depends on chemistry with transfers.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) April 13, 2012
The big winner in all this may, in fact, be guard Phil Pressey who is the pass-first point guard that Oriakhi is referring to.
He is coming off a season in which he delivered over six assists per game, but that will very well climb with a gifted man in the middle to dish to.
As Parrish notes, due to NCAA sanctions, UConn is ineligible to play in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, meaning Oriakhi can join the Missouri team immediately.
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