Huskies of Honor

[Dogbreath2U]

Congrats to those 3! Can we get Khalid up there already? Jeez...

Good point...hard to see Khalid not being up there with these three getting the call. I would see Khalid and Ben being the first two, with Caron just below, then Rudy trailing. Caron was only here two years and did not come away with an NC, but he did have an amazing run down the stretch of his soph year. Okay, put him up with Khalid and Ben.

 

[Waquoit]

But he still has haters. From his supposed fanbase. It's completely insane and exactly what's wrong with UConn fans. Bitching & a false sense of entitlement.

Because someone isn't as big of a Gay guy as you doesn't make them a hater.

 

[Gurleyman]

He was just on a balanced team with four seniors and two juniors, all of whom (other than Ed Nelson) were borderline NBA guys. Had he come back for his junior year, he probably would've had a Caronesque "put the team on your back" sort of season. But he was still considered one of the four best players in the country as a sophomore by the Naismith Committee. Caron was in a different situation, leading a young team. Ben played on a team with two starters who didn't even really try to score (Taliek, Josh) so he was often splitting the offensive load 3 ways (Emeka and Rashad/Denham) instead of 5.

But all three clearly belong up there. There's no finite number of people we can put in the Ring of Honor. If UConn at some point decided that they wanted to honor Ricky Moore and Rashamel Jones together for being the captains of our first national championship team and for putting "team before self", I'd stand and applaud both of them and not even glance at their stats.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

He was just on a balanced team with four seniors and two juniors, all of whom (other than Ed Nelson) were borderline NBA guys. Had he come back for his junior year, he probably would've had a Caronesque "put the team on your back" sort of season. But he was still considered one of the four best players in the country as a sophomore by the Naismith Committee. Caron was in a different situation, leading a young team. Ben played on a team with two starters who didn't even really try to score (Taliek, Josh) so he was often splitting the offensive load 3 ways (Emeka and Rashad/Denham) instead of 5.

But all three clearly belong up there. There's no finite number of people we can put in the Ring of Honor. If UConn at some point decided that they wanted to honor Ricky Moore and Rashamel Jones together for being the captains of our first national championship team and for putting "team before self", I'd stand and applaud both of them and not even glance at their stats.

true, maybe it was just me but I always thought Rudy was too tentative with the ball. I thought he was just a complete mismatch on anyone who was guarding him due to his length and athleticism. I thought guys like him should have had the ball in their hands at the end of the GMason game to take it to the rack (no offense to denham).

 

[Gurleyman]

true, maybe it was just me but I always thought Rudy was too tentative with the ball. I thought he was just a complete mismatch on anyone who was guarding him due to his length and athleticism. I thought guys like him should have had the ball in their hands at the end of the GMason game to take it to the rack (no offense to denham).

Rudy would have been a monster offensively as a college four, but it was tougher for him to use his face-up game in college against smaller players. He could shoot over the top easily, but he couldn't take anyone off the dribble because the guy guarding him usually had better foot speed, so having the ball in his hands to create his own offense wasn't a successful recipe. We tried from time to time, but it usually resulted in Rudy forcing a shot over a defender in position.

We ran a lot of stuff for Donyell his junior year as if he was a three-man, and it would have been nice to have the same offense for Rudy, where he could come off a screen and catch and shoot in rhythm. But Donyell had Donny beside him at the other forward who could also go inside or out, and it made them more inter-changable - usually Donyell had a slower power forward on him, while Donny was covered by a wing. Rudy never had that luxury of being guarded by a slower guy, since it was always some combination of Jeff-Hilton-Josh-Ed Nelson being covered by the other team's bigs.

 

[UConn990411]

Because someone isn't as big of a Gay guy as you doesn't make them a hater.

True, but by the same token, just because he didn't live up to certain people's expectations doesn't mean he was a disappointment.

The amount of vitriol people on this board still spill over Rudy is pathetic.

 

[ctchamps]

Congrats to all three. They are very deserving.

 

[ctchamps]

True, but by the same token, just because he didn't live up to certain people's expectations doesn't mean he was a disappointment.

The amount of vitriol people on this board still spill over Rudy is pathetic.

It's expected. No one admits that they put down a player or team because their happiness was impacted by the results of said player or team. That would be whining and ridiculed by many people. So people figure out ways to get back (their perception) at these players or teams by pointing out their defects or characterizing them as selfish, lacking effort, underachieving, thinking of their careers or whatever negative moniker they hope sticks to the player. Its about haters always hating and wanting to get payback. Hatred always clouds the mind.

 

[Ts5034]

I have no problem with Rudy going up there. In fact its about time they made some more additions to the huskies of honor. I think it adds a little mystique and history to Gampel and the program having those names on the wall, kinda like monument park at Yankee Stadium. One thing that i wish they did was actually retire those numbers. How many more people are we going to see wearing 34 after Ray Allen?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

What's the deal with all these "rules" to get into the Huskies of Honor, lol. Who's going to come after UConn if they break them...UConn?

Also, I wish that one side of the scoreboard was all pre-Calhoun era players, and the right side of the scoreboard was Calhoun era players.

 

[DOZE860]

I would rather see KEA get put up there before Rudy. I mean at least Khalid has a ring. if Rudy won an NBA title i could see it, but, to be honest, his his career at UCONN did not live up to the hype it was supposed to.. even though his NBA career has

 

[Gurleyman]

It's a ring of honor - not a jersey retirement. To me, if you have a ring of honor, the only way a first-team All-American can be left off is if he did something serious to embarrass the university or if there's been some sort of falling out where the player does not want to be honored or come back to campus. Yes Khalid belongs on there too (I don't consider a pot bust serious), but the marketing people would probably also like to stagger these things and make sure the honoree can be in attendance (and hopefully drive up ticket sales on more than one home date), and Khalid has been overseas most of the last decade.

 

[UofCT]

Rudy was a first team All-American by the NABC (second-team by the Associated Press) and was one of four finalists for the National Player of the Year as a sophomore. How does that not warrant a spot in a Ring of Honor? He definitely would have fallen short of having his jersey retired (if we retired them), but this is just honoring people who accomplished great things and it doesn't exactly put us out to honor him. I don't know where the magical cutoff line is, but being a first-team All-American should be above that line. Like I said, he would be far more conspicious by his absence than his presence.

Maybe because in his most important game of his life he lost to bleeping George Mason. Anyways, he comes back to UConn a lot and conducts workouts with the players. He might be a staple for recruiting.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

For his potential to donate money for a new basketball practice facility.

I like the way you think

 

[huskyniner]

Maybe it's just me, but I think both KEA and Jeff Adrien belong up there before Rudy.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

People would remember Rudy in a completely different light if it weren't for George mason shooting 70 percent...

Anyone have the list of who is in the ring of honor, I did a quick google but came up empty

 

[huskyniner]

People would remember Rudy in a completely different light if it weren't for George mason shooting 70 percent...

Anyone have the list of who is in the ring of honor, I did a quick google but came up empty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huskies_of_Honor

 

[Gurleyman]

He didn't lose that game. The team did. If anything, Rudy kept us in it with a great second half. We lost because we couldn't get a stop in the final eight minutes or overtime - and other than one Folarin Campbell fadeaway over him in OT, he wasn't really the offending party. I could beat the same dead horse about not have enough speed/quickness and how it hurt us on defense more than offense, but it's a new board that probably doesn't need to rehash '06 any more than necessary. I'm just glad that brutal loss to an unknown team happened in '06 after two 'ships and not '99 to Gonzaga (which wasn't Gonzaga yet back then)..

 

[ctchamps]

It's a ring of honor - not a jersey retirement. To me, if you have a ring of honor, the only way a first-team All-American can be left off is if he did something serious to embarrass the university or if there's been some sort of falling out where the player does not want to be honored or come back to campus. Yes Khalid belongs on there too (I don't consider a pot bust serious), but the marketing people would probably also like to stagger these things and make sure the honoree can be in attendance (and hopefully drive up ticket sales on more than one home date), and Khalid has been overseas most of the last decade.

This is eerily familiar. IIRC one of the last major sequence of posts that you made before going absent was regarding that 2006 team. Fast forward and here you are trying to talk logic with a bunch of people who can't forgive a team for disappointing them. It is incredibly strange that Rudy would be nominated for the ring of honor just as your resurface on this forum.

You weren't going to change peoples minds back then and I it is unlikely you will change them now. People counted a national championship that year and they felt deprived when that didn't happen. They don't want to examine why. They want to blame the team for their hurt.

I wouldn't spend any more energy on this if I were you.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Watched the SNY replay of uconn vs nova from 1995 the other day... And I was shocked at how good Donny Marshall was... I just kind of remember him as a hustle guy... But that year, at least, he was a player... Soothing the three ball, foul line jumpers, taking people off the dribble, pump fakes around the hoop, rebounding way above his size... Obviously not a ring of honor type guy but a really good player. Glad I watched it, will remember him differently now.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Maybe it's just me, but I think both KEA and Jeff Adrien belong up there before Rudy.

For me it's not Jeff, but A.J. Price and KEA before Rudy. AJ was the real star of that FF team.

 

[huskyniner]

For me it's not Jeff, but A.J. Price and KEA before Rudy. AJ was the real star of that FF team.

It's hard to disagree with that. I just love Jeff Adrien because he was a f@%#ing warrior. One of my favorite Huskies of all time.

 

[blackbird]

Rudy shouldn't be on there for his time at Uconn. He was on a team that underachieved, and he didn't live up to his potential while he was here. (Mostly because he was young) He'll probably be one of the best players from Uconn to play in the NBA, however.

I agree that AJ should be on there, when his time comes. He's one of four players (Rip, Okafor, and Kemba) to be an MVP of a regional. That alone should get him on there.

 

[UofCT]

As much as I love AJ he shouldn't be on there. It's Husky of Honor, and what he did back during his freshman year is not honorable. He had a very good career at UConn, helped mentor Kemba, but he does not deserve to be a Husky of Honor because of what he did off the court.

 

[UConn990411]

Price is one of my favorite players of all time, but he didn't play enough meaningful minutes (a lot because of injury/health reasons, but some of it from his own doing) to warrant a Huskies of Honor spot.

I agree with posters who think Gordon, El-Amin, and Butler are as or more deserving than Rudy, but it's also not absurd that a guy who was a First Team All-American while he was here (and who's been a model citizen and real good pro) gets his jersey on the wall as well. It's just weird how much flak he still gets from (certain) people on this board.