Before I even got to the JC part, I thought, it sounds like KO is getting back to the roots of the program: TOUGHNESS. Mentally and physically.
I think KO has decided if I go down, I'm going to go down doing it my way, the UConn way!
I'm a huge KO fan, but he absolutely deserves a lot of criticism and my most pointed criticism is very fixable: Recruiting. He has spent a ton of time chasing five star players and missed on virtually all of them. 5-star prima donnas like Diallo, Stone etc were not how this program was built into a national powerhouse, but Bruce Brown and Beattys were (perhaps) those kind of players. 4-stars with some versatility and toughness. This is fixable, why Killings and Chillious were brought in. They can do more heavy lifting, I think KO had to do too much recruiting. KO is going to get TOUGH kids, physically and more important, mentally.
It's crazy that we went from this guy is the hottest college coach NBA candidate EVERY offseason to it's a sinking ship and recruits won't return our calls. It seems really overstated, but these coaches have to get some momentum going again. Perception is reality. Don't know how but they need to fight like never before to change it, I believe they can.
I also think it shows great growth as a leader to not do the comfortable thing and retain the entire staff. It was very clear change was needed after 3 underwhelming seasons, I have never seen such a weak mentality in our team that if things started to go south they almost always snowballed, and absolutely never seen us manhandled physically like we were game in and out. The coaches that left I have nothing bad to say but KO needed to rock the boat for everyone, including himself.
KO's back is against the wall. I love that he's coming out punching and not feeling sorry for himself. I am very concerned as the national perception of recruits has fallen off a cliff but I think the changes KO and his staff have made suggest positive changes are ahead.