It's Kentucky!

[HuskyHawk]

Equally relevant Robert Frost: miles to go:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

That's the one I like best. I've done the Robert Frost walk in VT several times and think of this.

 

[WlfdHusky]

He did the same thing he did when he landed Jalen Adams and Daniel Hamilton. I mean, haven't we learned our lesson with the Abu M. Abu recruitment? There it was reported that UConn didn't spend as much time, and it hurt them. You always want him spending time with recruits.

I think we /uconn/Ollie did not do the same thing with Hamilton or Adams. It seems 10x more resources were put into this effort. I think success lies in the middle. Too much time was spent here. Given the time,effort invested a commitment should of been demanded earlier to close the deal.

 

[upstater]

I think we /uconn/Ollie did not do the same thing with Hamilton or Adams. It seems 10x more resources were put into this effort. I think success lies in the middle. Too much time was spent here. Given the time,effort invested a commitment should of been demanded earlier to close the deal.

Talk to the recruiting guys. Talk to 99 about this. They doubled and tripled up at Adams' games. Hamilton was in doubt up until the summer. He didn't even sign with UConn. He was a free agent till the last moment. He required an amazing amount of effort as UCLA tried to sweep in as late as mid-summer. The fact that Hamilton refused to sign his letter of intent was a huge red flag, one that even the national media focused on.

Many of them wanted to see Ollie fail.

 

[Jaker]

Did UK have a scholly available right now for Hami, or is a booster paying for the spring semester?

 

[upstater]

Did UK have a scholly available right now for Hami, or is a booster paying for the spring semester?

Both.

 

[yankeewc]

Why do schools like Gonzaga, San Diego State and Butler seem to do so well year after year and they don't get the highest rated recruits. I'm sure we can think of other schools that don't seem to have so many down years.

 

[Jaker]

Why do schools like Gonzaga, San Diego State and Butler seem to do so well year after year and they don't get the highest rated recruits. I'm sure we can think of other schools that don't seem to have so many down years.

San Diego St? LOL

 

[intlzncster]

Yeah, I don't get that take. We need to act like an elite program, and that means targeting and landing one-and-done talent.

KO's results so far of recruiting one Top 20-40 guard and calling it a year isn't getting it done.

There's about 4-5 programs that target and land 1 and done talent regularly. UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas to a lesser extent, and now maybe UCLA is in.

Look at where a lot of the best players in program history were ranked coming in. Guys like Kemba, Shabazz, Okafor, et al were not top 10 one-and-done guys. UCONN success was built on finding a lot of unpolished gold. While adding the occasional Spanish doubloon to the mix.

 

[jayteeman]

Agreed. Jalen looks better than Kemba and Napier as a soph.

Agreed as a soph...and also that you left Ray out who was a freak scorer as a frosh.
Will see if we can say the same as a junior.

 

[8893]

I'm an lit teacher

Sorry @tzznandrew ; I was happy to see you chime in as expected with the proper context for the poem, but I got such a chuckle seeing this ironic typo that I couldn't let it slide.

Well, maybe I could have, and it wouldn't have made a difference...or would it?

 

[Chief00]

We have a thread dedicated to the kid that contains about 8 million posts. Do you think it's KO who needs to learn from this? I'm personally thinking that this board might gain something from it...

Agree - get rid of the mega threads - they have pluses and minuses - but after a couple years and the guy announces for someone else - it gets shut down.

 

[Chief00]

My only comment comes from Robert Frost, a worthy read for any HS recruit.

The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I have always liked that poem - but incorporating it into our recruiting with existing deep dives into class catalogues and schedules etc - don't give Glen Miller any ideas.

 

[A10 fan]

Diallo may never play a second at UK. When spring rolls around, the lure of the NBA may become too great for him to resist.

 

[tzznandrew]

Sorry @tzznandrew ; I was happy to see you chime in as expected with the proper context for the poem, but I got such a chuckle seeing this ironic typo that I couldn't let it slide.

Well, maybe I could have, and it wouldn't have made a difference...or would it?

No worries. You can tell I originally wrote English teacher and went back and changed it (without fixing the article).

I really very sloppy when it comes to writing on message boards--it's an informal setting and I don't use my real name so who cares tends to be my attitude. I do try to avoid hilarious malapropisms, but even those will happen from time to time.

 

[8893]

No worries. You can tell I originally wrote English teacher and went back and changed it (without fixing the article).

I really very sloppy when it comes to writing on message boards--it's an informal setting and I don't use my real name so who cares tends to be my attitude. I do try to avoid hilarious malapropisms, but even those will happen from time to time.

Wait, tzznandrew isn't your real name? Bummer. It's fun to (try to) pronounce it.

 

[Kgun7]

Just to be clear, this is a poem about how most choices don't actually make a difference, but in retrospect we impart meaning to them to justify our own actions.

Thank you for that insight! Always Usually Sometimes I leave the BY a little smarter ....

 

[Palatine]

If we were winning he probably goes here. But he really had no choice.

 

[crewbear742]

Just to be clear, this is a poem about how most choices don't actually make a difference, but in retrospect we impart meaning to them to justify our own actions.

As the journalist said to Ransom Stoddard "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." There is after all a reason Ford Motor Company doesn't use Conqueror Worm in its advertisements.

 

[tzznandrew]

Wait, tzznandrew isn't your real name? Bummer. It's fun to (try to) pronounce it.

To be fair, I my father's side is from Eastern Europe, so I understand the confusion :

Clinton Deploys Vowels to Eastern Europe

 

[Dove]

If he came here was he taking Vance Jackson's place? Or was he a #2 guard?

Either way...I hate how he was ours and then....psyche!!! But in no way was he making us better this season so I there is that. This season is a season from hell. Gotta withstand the heat.

Next season the team will be young with a veteran in Jalen Adams. Will be fun to watch but still an adventure.

 

[champs99and04]

Not to derail this thread, but Brimah was pretty much a worst-case scenario over the last 3 years.

Bad enough that you can't win with him, but entrenched enough that we couldn't recruit over him.

You can win with Brimah, just not necessarily because of him. It's an important distinction between him and Purvis.

 

[intlzncster]

No worries. You can tell I originally wrote English teacher and went back and changed it (without fixing the article).

Were you lit at the time?

I'll see myself out.

 

[TitleTown]

Why are you people acting surprised? Diallo was NEVER coming to UConn! The days of UConn being a national power year in and year out are over and the sooner you all realize that, the better. The ceiling of this program is now a team that makes the NCAA tournament every few years and makes a sweet 16 run once a decade. UConn basketball as you once knew it is gone!

 

[Rocktheworld]

Why are you people acting surprised? Diallo was NEVER coming to UConn! The days of UConn being a national power year in and year out are over and the sooner you all realize that, the better. The ceiling of this program is now a team that makes the NCAA tournament every few years and makes a sweet 16 run once a decade. UConn basketball as you once knew it is gone!

Doomed. So doomed. We are all so incredibly doomed.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Why are you people acting surprised? Diallo was NEVER coming to UConn! The days of UConn being a national power year in and year out are over and the sooner you all realize that, the better. The ceiling of this program is now a team that makes the NCAA tournament every few years and makes a sweet 16 run once a decade. UConn basketball as you once knew it is gone!

I certainly hope not. Although I would be lying if I could confidently believed otherwise. One thing I don't like is justifying every poor season in the AAC, and making excuses already for next year. The quality of our roster (including non injured players) still ranks at the top of the conference. We don't need to be nationally ranked, but there's no excuse to be last or second to last behind ECU in the AAC. I think KO is at a crossroad. The next year (or 2 tops) will definitely be determinative. That said, I hold out a modicum of hope. Next year, we still have Jalen Adams and Rique, both of whom have scads of talent and bring a healthy dose of moxy. I also think that Vance Jackson will become that pure shooter we recruited him for, but there's a lot of confidence issues being thrust into the spotlight as quickly as he has and surrounded by a team that is struggling. Lastly, I think that Ashton-Langford will contribute as a freshman given his obvious talent. I'm still concerned about our front court, but if our guards are firing and we continue to play decent defense, and the coaching improves a little, we'll be in good shape. So I'm going to withhold final judgment, until next year. Confidence, just like pessimism, can be contagious among the players and coaching. A good start to next season could launch us back to relevancy and more. Coach just has to prepare the players better at the start of next season.