CCSU’s star basketball player Kyle Vinales recently announced his plans to transfer from the University in hopes of future basketball endeavors. The six-foot-one sophomore hasn’t told the media where he plans to go, just that he knows he isn’t staying at Central.
In Vinales’ comments to several publications he was very gracious towards CCSU and the opportunity that the school gave him when no one else was willing to take a chance with him. The Detroit native averaged 21.6 PPG this past season with a field goal percentage of 41.1 in only 38.2 minutes a game.
“I appreciate everyone at CCSU [that’s] supported me [and] helped me over the past two years, but I am deciding to play my remaining two years elsewhere,” tweeted Vinales.
Vinales’ career at Central was nothing short of spectacular. As a freshman he received the NEC Rookie of the Year award. This past season he finished 8th in the country in NCAA scoring. Experts predicted that by the time he finished playing here he’d possess several records judging by the pace he was at.
Unfortunately for CCSU, Vinales knew that his potential here was limited given the state of the basketball program. Despite all of the team’s efforts, it finished the year 13-17. Vinales told the Hartford Courant that his main motivation for leaving was to increase his chances of playing in the NCAA tournament and to play against better competition.
In all its years as a division I basketball team, CCSU has only advanced to the NCAA tournament three times. The sad reality is that it would have been too daunting of a task for Vinales to lead his team to the big dance. As much work as the athletics department staff put into its program, CCSU simply cannot compete with the bigger schools that have more money and resources at their disposal.
No one can blame Vinales for his decision. The ceiling that this program placed on his potential clearly made his choice all that much easier. The basketball program’s biggest hurdle to overcome in the future will be to prevent stars like Vinales from abandoning it.
The school’s catch 22 lies within this very type of situation. Other universities will more than likely do a better job scouting than Central. But should another case like this occur where CCSU does end up with a star, what motivation would that player have to stay? Vinales chose to leave in spite of the fact that he’ll have to sit out a year due to NCAA rules.
This is the issue that CCSU faces that leaves it between a rock and a hard place. It’s just one of the factors that prevents it from getting out from UConn’s shadow.