Why Not UConn

[diggerfoot]

After watching the presser with Jabir I am left with this thought: "Why not UConn?" .... as in all those recruiting threads where we lose an occasional battle for a recruit. One side always responds that any elite recruit not choosing UConn is making an unwise basketball decision. Sometimes I agree, but that would not be the case if we lost one to Jabir.

From the opening of "That was fun!" to his use of Berube to develop the right culture, this man gets it. I loved his anecdote about how a recruit he was pursuing hadn't returned his calls for three months; now she was calling him. Wonderful! That recruit is making a wise move.

Here's the thing: if you are an elite, uber-competitive recruit why not play for an upcoming team that develops a team culture and executes well on the basketball court? If enough elite recruits join you, you just may reach the mountaintop someday. You may not be a Stewart that wins multiple championships, but you could be a Lobo that brings the first to a deserving team.

I know the odds are against this. As Bobby Knight once advised our own Jim Calhoun, you want to be coaching a state school for the best advantage, but I would love to see those Dayton Flyers reach the next level of a Final Four ... and even a championship if it's not at our expense.

Addendum: At one time Providence had both Jabir and Berube on staff, in a conference heading towards becoming the best in basketball. Talk about your wasted opportunities!

 

[meyers7]

Welllll, sure you have Jabir, but you also have Dayton. Colloquially known as "Little Detroit". Not necessarily a good selling point.

 

[UcMiami]

Digger - great post!
It always bothers me the way people denigrate recruit's thinking when they choose a program other than Uconn. And someone like Mallot has had a fantastic career, helped make her program so much better, improved greatly as a player over her four years, and is holding her head high on the way out the door. She will get drafted in the WNBA and if she goes to the right team will have success. And she made the best decision for herself, not for some fan base. And I bet she had a blast her four years!

 

[DobbsRover2]

It's gotta be a good selling tool to put up a big performance against the best team in the country if you are a smaller program, but the question is, how long does the effect last? Part of the issue is that a coach like Jabir usually soon gets snapped up by a major school and the program slides back. If I was a top recruit for say the 2016 class, I might think that Dayton is an interesting program, but I would also think that by the time I committed to the school the chances are that that top coach is directing a P5 program by the time I'm a freshman and I may be left behind, as Meyers notes, in Little Detroit.

But last night was a fantastic showcase for the Flyers, and you gotta expect some good things will come of it.