It’s exciting to follow but I hate to lose these kids! I really wished we could have watched them develop!
Does he end up at UNC?
This is important to remember. None of these are really surprising, and all make sense to varying degrees. Also getting it out the way early clears the way to make adjustments.
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Guess my nightmare scenario is coming to fruition. Hate it.
Nah. The transfer portal allows us to upgrade somewhat. Morsell and McKoy were my favorite players personality wise though. But we can get a shooting guard who can consistently shoot and a more athletic 4/rim protector.
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Sucks to lose Casey + Justin who really committed themselves to the program. But man oh man are we going to get some serious talent…
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The only mistake with McKoy was him not playing regular minutes both years. He produced in almost every single stint he played.
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That feels more like a self fulfilling prophecy given what we saw from the squad this year. These are obvious choices.
We also don’t know what the convo were with the coaches? Are the coaches suprised by McKoy and Abdur-Rahim?
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All are disappointing as they’re all great young men with bright futures, and I wish those futures were at UVA. And all three make some sense. It just wasn’t coming together for Morsell and he needed a change of scenery. JAR was a top40 HS player who barely got to see the floor at all, and wants to go somewhere he’s got a better shot at more playing time.
McKoy didn’t get a lot of run last season or during most of ACC play this year, and I’m sure he’s unhappy about that. But it seemed like something clicked late this year, and he averaged 16 minutes/game over the last 4 games of the season. Next season, especially if Murphy stays in the draft, he will not find a team with less competition for a starting frontcourt spot. All I can assume is he talked to CTB, and didn’t like what he heard in terms of how his game was coming along and how CTB intended to use him next year. Or after two years he’s just decided he just can’t live with UVA’s offensive game. Because I get that he might be unhappy about the playing time he’s gotten in the past, but the future should look a lot more open.
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What’s the worse that happens if the program loses 4 players, 2 of them never played last year 1 played about 15 mins and 1 was out there, but everyone basically dragged.
My point being, yes it sucks, it’s not ideal all of that, but it’s also not like they are losing 40 points and 20 boards a game. They are losing potential and prospects.
The silver lining is they have the opportunity to replace with potentially established and proven talent. At the very least, it’s unlikely yield less production than what they already have.
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I thought late in the year when McKoy was getting minutes and buckets he was looking really promising. This one I think is upsetting a little. Besides being, likely, all great kids, I felt Casey underperformed and whatever player comes in is likely an upgrade. Jabri…who knows, but the staff felt he wasn’t ready. Justin was good, and could have been solid in a really good team.
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I hear what you’re saying, but the Packline has famously been harder for big guys to master. Next season we’re going to have starters in at least 2 and possibly all 3 frontcourt spots with minimal experience running it. I’m suddenly feeling a lot less confident in having a strong defense next year.
Casey and McKoy are your classic transfers. Both have been in the program for 2 years and haven’t seen the type of role development they’d like. If they don’t think their role will be where they want it to be next year, it’s best for them to move on since they’re already halfway through their careers.
The Jabri transfer is the really brutal one. Key piece to our future and highly rated recruit that only gave it one year (which was essentially a necessary redshirt). That sucks.
I love Casey and McKoy and hope they’re bigger contributors at their next school. I think there’s a good chance we’ll be able to replace them with equally impactful players at worst.
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They will have the same experience as this year. Maybe even more with summer workouts and a summer trip vs COVID halting everything. Also more athletic = can cover more ground defensively.
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Your last sentence is definitely not true. Haha. Especially his first year.
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There isn’t going to be a summer trip.
Last yrs front court had basically the same experience. Jay played sparingly in 4 yrs. Sam was new trey was new. And the guys on the roster weren’t good enough to beat out those new guys. Its not great for sure but for me it feels more like a lateral move than a loss
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I think it’s just hard to assess right now. Get a bunch of guys like Gardener and all of a sudden things look good and honestly we come out a net positive. But if it’s a bunch of Nigel Johnson’s (sorry Nigel) then yeah this is pretty bleak
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I might be wrong, but if we lose one more player I think we get compensatory picks in the 2022 draft?
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And ifnotiw a Nigel johnson then they’re likely rigjt where they started the exception being Jabri maybe
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