"Great kid, great family."  That was the first comment I received from of all people, one of Brendan's former teachers in Baltimore.  Next thought?  "Really smart guy."  That checks out.  Brendan was an all-academic when UCONN was competing in the American Athletic Conference, and has graduated from Storrs in three years with a degree in economics.  With two years of eligibility remaining, there's an excellent chance that Brendan will receive a Master's degree, all while on scholarship.  That's an achievement.

Brendan was Dan Hurley's first recruit at UCONN.  He had planned on attending URI and then followed Hurley to UCONN.  He showed strong improvement during his sophomore season which included a 20 point game off the bench against a Nate Oats coached Buffalo team and hit four three pointers while scoring 16 in an overtime win against Cincinnati.  Last season, he replaced James Bouknight in the starting lineup when Bouknight went down with an injury.  He averaged over 25 minutes per game of playing time during that stretch.  Included in that stretch was a 9 rebound game in a loss to Creighton. He would have been a big, physical guard for URI in the A10.  In the Big East, he was neither quite so big nor quite so physical.

Quite frankly, the shooting prowess that he had exhibited at Calvert Hall has not translated at the college level.  In three seasons of college ball, he has yet to eclipse the 40% mark from the floor, or the 30% mark from downtown.  When Bouknight returned to the lineup, he took Brendan's minutes with him, including a couple of notable DNP's down the stretch.  Perhaps Hurley knew then that Brendan would be moving on.  In any case, nobody heard a single complaint about it.  In fact, Brendan continued to be who he always was, the first guy off the bench to congratulate a teammate after a big moment, even while he was being benched.  

Brendan is the younger brother of Jaylen Adams who performed sensationally for St. Bonaventure.  Brendan is not a point guard nor is he the shooter or scorer that Jaylen is.  At this lower level, Brendan will need to become a reliable perimeter threat.  The 1-3 positions on this team are somewhat crowded given the presence of Bishop, Freeman, Bamisile, Harris, perhaps Nixon, and Adams.  (I'll refer to Ricky as a 4 even though he may often play like an oversized 3.)  It stands to reason that we will frequently be playing three of these players at this same time and on some occasions, perhaps this team goes very small playing 4 points/wings at a time.  

It's practically impossible not to root for someone like Brendan.  A hard worker, smart young man, and consummate team player.  I hope to watch him become a major on-court contributor for this team.  And if by chance this turns out not to be the case, if the shooting stroke doesn't improve, if other players take the lion's share of his potential minutes, what we'll still be left with is a true leader and positive influence on this team.  Character traits that are especially welcome on this team.

Nice to see such an influx of athleticism, GW's fortunes really declined when we started turning to transfers like Steeves and Sina with club team level athleticism

 

Conversation about BBall talent between dumb and dumber - priceless!
Can't wait for the season to start so the posters here with relevant info will come back from their hiatus.

I think that Brendan possesses the needed maturity to slide into a 6th man role and embrace it.  My sense is that he wants to have a more consistent role with a team.  That would be fine it it turned out to be in the 20-25 minute per game range.  Playing 30 minutes one game and wondering if you'll be playing at all the next game is something I'm guessing he'd rather not go through again. 

I will repeat what someone else said on the board, I can't believe that Adams would transfer to GW to come off the bench. But this might be more important-- I can't believe that JC would start the season with a freshman --no matter how good Freeman is -- as his starting point guard. In addition to normal concerns about a freshman point guard, let's not forget how much JC's offense is focused on the point guard. He has said he wants the point guard to be a major scorer, not just a distributor.  

Not underestimating Adams' character. I don't know a think about it. But I have watched two years of JC's teams. I saw how he uses his point guards and how his starting lineup changes from the beginning of the season. So while Freeman could eventually be the starting point guard, it's hard to see how he will begin the season as the starting point guard. As far as Freeman and Bishop sharing the point guard duties, that seems kind of scary.  From what we saw of Bishop last season, I would be pleasantly surprised to see him sharing the ball. 

Your Honor (Barry), please strike the above post as unresponsive, lacking relevancy and argumentative. This thread has nothing to do with Matt Cimino. 

Last edited by GWRising (7/20/2021 5:05 pm)

As a players Coach JC can entice top flight talent

Which is a marked difference from when word gets out your about to be fired for abusing your own players

JC is putting the pieces back together very intrigued by this influx of new talent