2014 Freshman Class - Worst 4 Year Record/Winning % Since First JC Years - Numbers Don't Lie

[UCweCONN]

I posed this question on a thread the other day so I decided to do the work to see if I was right. I'm a bit of an Excel geek........

Excluding the first Calhoun years when recruiting classes won 50 games in their 4 years, the 2014 Freshman Class does in fact have the most losses in their four years, the second fewest wins, and lowest winning percentage of any UCONN graduating class in the past 30 years. With full disclosure, I'm giving the team one more win and one more loss for this season in the AAC Tourney.

This also underscores the dominance of those 90's teams (what the heck happened in '97??? 18-15 sandwiched between three 30 won seasons) I loved and the early 2000's. It's been a long time since our teams performed at that level. The national championships sprinkled in are great and I'm not here to knock them. What I do want to show is that the program is not what it was and some changes need to be made quickly before we reside in mediocrity permanently.

This isn't about an injury plagued season or wait until next year when we're healthy.....We've lost 10-15+ games in 6 of the last 8 seasons. Due to the performance the past three years, unless there's a huge record improvement next year and the team loses less than 9 games, the 2015 class will claim the top spot after next season. There is a trend here.....

The values below are the record that year and the 4 year totals of that year's incoming freshman class.

Discuss.


Class Record 4 Year Wins 4 Year Losses Winning %
88 20- 14 89 44 67%
89 18-13 89 40 69%
90 31-6 86 40 68%
91 20-11 84 39 68%
92 20-10 92 33 74%
93 15-13 102 25 80%
94 29-5 105 27 80%
95 28 -5 108 27 80%
96 30-2 114 24 83%
97 18-15 109 32 77%
98 32-5 111 29 79%
99 34-2 106 31 77%
00 25-10 95 39 71%
01 20-12 103 35 75%
02 27-7 106 31 77%
03 23-10 109 28 80%
04 33-6 103 32 76%
05 23-8 94 35 73%
06 30-4 102 32 76%
07 17-14 90 44 67%
08 24-9 105 39 73%
09 31-5 101 44 70%
10 18-16 90 49 65%
11 32-9 104 41 72%
12 20-14 92 47 66%
13 20-10 97 44 69%
14 32-8 92 51 64%
15 20-15
16 25-11
17 15-17*

 

[Brochacho]

A sound argument built on facts and stats without making any outlandish claims or coming off as a jerk.

Enjoy the backlash!

 

[tzznandrew]

So, since 2009, UConn has only had single digit losses 3 times. That's 9 seasons, and only 3 where they had fewer than 10 losses. Woof.

That said, those three seasons: Final Four, Championship, Championship

 

[Tenspro2002]

What's even more damning is that these last 4 years have arguably come against the weakest schedules we've played in this era. The last 3 years we could very easily be under .500 overall if we're in the ACC or B1G.

 

[UCweCONN]

What's even more damning is that these last 4 years have arguably come against the weakest schedules we've played in this era. The last 3 years we could very easily be under .500 overall if we're in the ACC or B1G.

Yes, that was a key point I meant to include but forgot. This is the AAC, not Big East competition.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

What's even more damning is that these last 4 years have arguably come against the weakest schedules we've played in this era. The last 3 years we could very easily be under .500 overall if we're in the ACC or B1G.

Yep. That fact cannot be overstated

 

[August_West]

What happened in 97?

We lost two of our best players for the year ( suspension) and a great freshman class was asked to do more than they should've been.


Sound familiar?

What happened the next 2 years?

Methinks the bandwagon fills back up next year.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I think everyone here realizes the past three seasons have been (to say the least) disappointing. What I find truly surprising however is the apparent endless whining that we are seeing on this forum.

 

[Travelman6]

One can hope, but you can not argue the numbers AW.

 

[BugsyCT]

What I find truly surprising however is the apparent endless whining that we are seeing on this forum.

Really?

 

[JSM1970]

The recruiting has fallen bad outside of PG.

We now have to hope players like VJ, CV, Durham, SE, Diarra can compete on a really high level. And then incoming players like Carlton, Polley.

None of the current players impress me. I know there is some love for CV, JD, VJ -- I think they are average at best AAC players.

Polley barely top 150, Carlton top 200.

Not sure how this gets back to an elite level anytime soon.

I think everyone here realizes the past three seasons have been (to say the least) disappointing. What I find truly surprising however is the apparent endless whining that we are seeing on this forum.

 

[UCweCONN]

What happened in 97?

We lost two of our best players for the year ( suspension) and a great freshman class was asked to do more than they should've been.


Sound familiar?

What happened the next 2 years?

Methinks the bandwagon fills back up next year.

Ricky Moore and Kirk King, right? That was the year I got seats in the third row at the Civic Center against UMASS. I've never touched seats that good in the 20 years since, including this losing season. I don't remember all the details but I didn't recall it being a full year suspension for getting the airline tickets home.

So you're saying Alterique is going to be our Ricky Moore and Larrier (or Diarra) our Kirk King?

 

[80shusky]

Statistics are a funny thing. For some perspective below is KO and a couple of mediocre coaches in their first four years at the institutions that made them somewhat well known. I know we are in the fifth year now and this one ain't great. Also, if you look at coaching records you see periods of ups and downs for the most part with the exception of a few programs. I know we expect and want better. I expect and want better. Let's just keep from running off the dock. I would imagine coaching and recruiting a Division 1 basketball program with zero previous head coaching experience is not an easy thing. Some of the coaches below had a head coaching job before these bigger jobs.

KO
2012-13 Connecticut Big East 30 20 10 .667 11.88
2013-14 Connecticut AAC 40 32 8 .800 17.23 8.63
2014-15 Connecticut AAC 35 20 15 .571 8.28 4.22
2015-16 Connecticut AAC 36 25 11 .694 15.89 6.28

Coach K
980-81 Duke ACC 30 17 13 .567 10.17 7.11
1981-82 Duke ACC 27 10 17 .370 1.20 7.17
1982-83 Duke ACC 28 11 17 .393 2.92 6.42
1983-84 Duke ACC 34 24 10 .706 11.86 6.92
Jim Boeheim
1979-80 Syracuse Big East 30 26 4 .867 16.43 2.09
1980-81 Syracuse Big East 34 22 12 .647 8.73 3.14
1981-82 Syracuse Big East 29 16 13 .552 7.57 4.15
1982-83 Syracuse Big East 31 21 10 .677 14.65 4.94
Tom Izzo
1995-96 Michigan State Big Ten 32 16 16 .500 6.78 9.04
1996-97 Michigan State Big Ten 29 17 12 .586 12.07 7.94
1997-98 Michigan State Big Ten 30 22 8 .733 18.65 9.25
1998-99 Michigan State Big Ten 38 33 5 .868 22.62 10.89
Jay Wright
2001-02 Villanova Big East 32 19 13 .594 10.71 6.18
2002-03 Villanova Big East 31 15 16 .484 9.11 7.56
2003-04 Villanova Big East 35 18 17 .514 10.04 8.25
2004-05 Villanova Big East 32 24 8 .750 19.06 8.43
John Calipari
1988-89 Massachusetts A-10 28 10 18 .357 -10.58 -2.02
1989-90 Massachusetts A-10 31 17 14 .548 5.30 0.83
1990-91 Massachusetts A-10 33 20 13 .606 7.17 3.23
1991-92 Massachusetts A-10 35 30 5 .857 16.39 4.71
Dean Smith
1961-62 North Carolina ACC 17 8 9 .471 2.93 3.46
1962-63 North Carolina ACC 21 15 6 .714 6.83 1.07 10
1963-64 North Carolina ACC 24 12 12 .500 2.80 2.71
1964-65 North Carolina ACC 24 15 9 .625 5.41 3.28
John Thompson
1972-73 Georgetown Ind 26 12 14 .462 -9.96 -0.22
1973-74 Georgetown Ind 26 13 13 .500 -3.01 0.46
1974-75 Georgetown Ind 28 18 10 .643 1.98 -1.98
1975-76 Georgetown Ind 28 21 7 .750 4.42 -1.20
John Wooden
948-49 UCLA PCC 29 22 7 .759 15 15
1949-50 UCLA PCC 31 24 7 .774 6.91 3.43
1950-51 UCLA PCC 29 19 10 .655 10.95 5.76
1951-52 UCLA PCC 31 19 12 .613 9.40 6.36

 

[TheChamps990411]

I posed this question on a thread the other day so I decided to do the work to see if I was right. I'm a bit of an Excel geek...

Excluding the first Calhoun years when recruiting classes won 50 games in their 4 years, the 2014 Freshman Class does in fact have the most losses in their four years, the second fewest wins, and lowest winning percentage of any UCONN graduating class in the past 30 years. With full disclosure, I'm giving the team one more win and one more loss for this season in the AAC Tourney.

This also underscores the dominance of those 90's teams (what the heck happened in '97??? 18-15 sandwiched between three 30 won seasons) I loved and the early 2000's. It's been a long time since our teams performed at that level. The national championships sprinkled in are great and I'm not here to knock them. What I do want to show is that the program is not what it was and some changes need to be made quickly before we reside in mediocrity permanently.

This isn't about an injury plagued season or wait until next year when we're healthy.....We've lost 10-15+ games in 6 of the last 8 seasons. Due to the performance the past three years, unless there's a huge record improvement next year and the team loses less than 9 games, the 2015 class will claim the top spot after next season. There is a trend here.....

The values below are the record that year and the 4 year totals of that year's incoming freshman class.

Discuss.


Class Record 4 Year Wins 4 Year Losses Winning %
88 20- 14 89 44 67%
89 18-13 89 40 69%
90 31-6 86 40 68%
91 20-11 84 39 68%
92 20-10 92 33 74%
93 15-13 102 25 80%
94 29-5 105 27 80%
95 28 -5 108 27 80%
96 30-2 114 24 83%
97 18-15 109 32 77%
98 32-5 111 29 79%
99 34-2 106 31 77%
00 25-10 95 39 71%
01 20-12 103 35 75%
02 27-7 106 31 77%
03 23-10 109 28 80%
04 33-6 103 32 76%
05 23-8 94 35 73%
06 30-4 102 32 76%
07 17-14 90 44 67%
08 24-9 105 39 73%
09 31-5 101 44 70%
10 18-16 90 49 65%
11 32-9 104 41 72%
12 20-14 92 47 66%
13 20-10 97 44 69%
14 32-8 92 51 64%
15 20-15
16 25-11
17 15-17*

View attachment 20371

This is about recruiting. Yet i got trashed by some for saying it because to them high school rankings and not what kids do once they lace up decides how good a recruit is. Pfft!

 

[captainron2]

Statistics are a funny thing. For some perspective below is KO and a couple of mediocre coaches in their first four years at the institutions that made them somewhat well known. I know we are in the fifth year now and this one ain't great. Also, if you look at coaching records you see periods of ups and downs for the most part with the exception of a few programs. I know we expect and want better. I expect and want better. Let's just keep from running off the dock. I would imagine coaching and recruiting a Division 1 basketball program with zero previous head coaching experience is not an easy thing. Some of the coaches below had a head coaching job before these bigger jobs.

KO
2012-13 Connecticut Big East 30 20 10 .667 11.88
2013-14 Connecticut AAC 40 32 8 .800 17.23 8.63
2014-15 Connecticut AAC 35 20 15 .571 8.28 4.22
2015-16 Connecticut AAC 36 25 11 .694 15.89 6.28

Coach K
980-81 Duke ACC 30 17 13 .567 10.17 7.11
1981-82 Duke ACC 27 10 17 .370 1.20 7.17
1982-83 Duke ACC 28 11 17 .393 2.92 6.42
1983-84 Duke ACC 34 24 10 .706 11.86 6.92
Jim Boeheim
1979-80 Syracuse Big East 30 26 4 .867 16.43 2.09
1980-81 Syracuse Big East 34 22 12 .647 8.73 3.14
1981-82 Syracuse Big East 29 16 13 .552 7.57 4.15
1982-83 Syracuse Big East 31 21 10 .677 14.65 4.94
Tom Izzo
1995-96 Michigan State Big Ten 32 16 16 .500 6.78 9.04
1996-97 Michigan State Big Ten 29 17 12 .586 12.07 7.94
1997-98 Michigan State Big Ten 30 22 8 .733 18.65 9.25
1998-99 Michigan State Big Ten 38 33 5 .868 22.62 10.89
Jay Wright
2001-02 Villanova Big East 32 19 13 .594 10.71 6.18
2002-03 Villanova Big East 31 15 16 .484 9.11 7.56
2003-04 Villanova Big East 35 18 17 .514 10.04 8.25
2004-05 Villanova Big East 32 24 8 .750 19.06 8.43
John Calipari
1988-89 Massachusetts A-10 28 10 18 .357 -10.58 -2.02
1989-90 Massachusetts A-10 31 17 14 .548 5.30 0.83
1990-91 Massachusetts A-10 33 20 13 .606 7.17 3.23
1991-92 Massachusetts A-10 35 30 5 .857 16.39 4.71
Dean Smith
1961-62 North Carolina ACC 17 8 9 .471 2.93 3.46
1962-63 North Carolina ACC 21 15 6 .714 6.83 1.07 10
1963-64 North Carolina ACC 24 12 12 .500 2.80 2.71
1964-65 North Carolina ACC 24 15 9 .625 5.41 3.28
John Thompson
1972-73 Georgetown Ind 26 12 14 .462 -9.96 -0.22
1973-74 Georgetown Ind 26 13 13 .500 -3.01 0.46
1974-75 Georgetown Ind 28 18 10 .643 1.98 -1.98
1975-76 Georgetown Ind 28 21 7 .750 4.42 -1.20
John Wooden
948-49 UCLA PCC 29 22 7 .759 15 15
1949-50 UCLA PCC 31 24 7 .774 6.91 3.43
1950-51 UCLA PCC 29 19 10 .655 10.95 5.76
1951-52 UCLA PCC 31 19 12 .613 9.40 6.36

The difference between all of those people you mentioned and KO is they all took over crap programs and made them great. That isn't remotely the case with KO. He took over a great program and...

 

[August_West]

That isn't remotely the case with KO. He took over a great program and...

He took over a program that had just gone through scandal with Nate Miles, the APR witch hunt, a tournament ban in his first year and recruiting sanctions and disadvantages in the first couple years..


Peoples willingness to ignore this never fails to boggle my mind.


I love Jim Calhoun with all of my heart. The things that made him great though are the things that opened us up to so much bad will at the tail end of his run.

KO did not have this thing tee'd up. AT ALL.


Why are people so bliind?

 

[tykurez]

He took over a program that had just gone through scandal with Nate Miles, the APR witch hunt, a tournament ban in his first year and recruiting sanctions and disadvantages in the first couple years..


Peoples willingness to ignore this never fails to boggle my mind.


I love Jim Calhoun with all of my heart. The things that made him great though are the things that opened us up to so much bad will at the tail end of his run.

KO did not have this thing tee'd up. AT ALL.


Why are people so bliind?

Doesn't work around here pal. Bring it somewhere else.

It's merely a coincidence the current state of the program occurred after a set of recruiting sanctions limited our available scholarships and visits/contact with potential recruits. Or that, gasp, kids might not be as compelled to play for a program that lost one of the greatest college coaches of all time. Or that maybe "@ Tulane" doesn't really give you that tingle in the pants.

Nah - the guy who finally got to recruit at full strength in 2014 only to have his top-10 class get absolutely decimated by injuries is definitely the problem.

 

[tzznandrew]

He took over a program that had just gone through scandal with Nate Miles, the APR witch hunt, a tournament ban in his first year and recruiting sanctions and disadvantages in the first couple years..


Peoples willingness to ignore this never fails to boggle my mind.


I love Jim Calhoun with all of my heart. The things that made him great though are the things that opened us up to so much bad will at the tail end of his run.

KO did not have this thing tee'd up. AT ALL.


Why are people so bliind?

Also, UNC had a national title before Smith. Same with Villanova and Michigan State. Michigan State had MAGIC JOHNSON! in their history.

Both Duke and Syracuse had stronger histories than UConn as well when their respective coaches arrived. Duke had been to multiple Final Fours and played in a title game.

Also, KO has as many titles as Boehiem, Thompson, Wright, Izzo, Calipari.

This year sucked hard. After all the injuries though, I was much more upset with last year's result than this year's. I understand people's patience is starting to wane, and frankly I get it in the abstract. But with a JR PG, and two high end players as back-ups (or playing the 2), and strong play on the wing, we should be in good shape. We've won 3 titles without a great center. If Enoch / Durham / the incoming freshman can give us minutes and play stronger defense, we can win a lot of games.

And we really really ought to, though I suspect some difficulties early as we integrate a new batch of players, and two of our three best players come back from injury.

 

[80shusky]

The difference between all of those people you mentioned and KO is they all took over crap programs and made them great. That isn't remotely the case with KO. He took over a great program and...

They weren't crap programs, well most weren't. The difference between those people and possibly KO, other than the fact that they are already hall of fame coaches, is that they were given the chance to continue coaching at that level despite struggling a little early. The other difference is that none of them won a championship in their first four years. Because it takes time to build your own program. Imagine how different the legacies of those programs might have been if they decided to jettison their coaches because they had a tough year or two?

 

[Inyatkin]

He took over a program that had just gone through scandal with Nate Miles, the APR witch hunt, a tournament ban in his first year and recruiting sanctions and disadvantages in the first couple years..


Peoples willingness to ignore this never fails to boggle my mind.


I love Jim Calhoun with all of my heart. The things that made him great though are the things that opened us up to so much bad will at the tail end of his run.

KO did not have this thing tee'd up. AT ALL.


Why are people so bliind?

The thing that's blinding people to the fact that we're actually on a fine progression from that starting point is that Kevin Ollie had to go and win a national championship in his first opportunity. It gave everyone the impression that everything was fine and we wouldn't miss a beat. It wasn't fine. It'll be fine.

 

[geordi]

I'm as disappointed as anyone about the league we are playing in and the performance on the court the past four years. But I also think it's time to recognize the greatness of Jim Calhoun. He wasn't taking players that were that much better or worse than what we have been getting. To some degree, KO is maybe even a better recruiter; especially considering that playing in the BE was a better incentive to come to UConn than the AAC.

But Jim understood the flow of the game, knew when to call TOs, knew when to get a technical. He knew how to interrupt an opponent's run, and he especially knew how to get in players' faces and move them to give more than they thought they were capable of. I still remember, in the 99 final, that he put Antric Klaiber in for a couple of minutes in the first half, just to make the point that we were not intimidated by the Pukies. Brilliant.

I believe that much of the 'fall off' is endemic to moving from someone who is arguably one of the best 3 coaches in NCAA history to a very good coach who has all the tools to perform at this level but that really can't compete with a Jim Calhoun and his legacy. Not many can.

If Calhoun were getting the recruits that typically go to Puke or Kentucky, he would have won 6-8-10 national championships over his 20+ years at UConn.

 

[jibsey]

What's even more damning is that these last 4 years have arguably come against the weakest schedules we've played in this era. The last 3 years we could very easily be under .500 overall if we're in the ACC or B1G.

I'd say in the ACC we would have won maybe 3 games.

 

[Tuna]

The difference between all of those people you mentioned and KO is they all took over crap programs and made them great. That isn't remotely the case with KO. He took over a great program and...

won a chamionship the year after a postseason ban?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The difference between all of those people you mentioned and KO is they all took over crap programs and made them great. That isn't remotely the case with KO. He took over a great program and...

Duke lost to Kentucky in the 1978 national title game, K took over a couple of years later.

The only 'crap' programs mentioned were UCLA pre Wooden and UMass, for basically all except a few years pre-Calipari and Calipari's last five years there.

 

[TheChamps990411]

He took over a program that had just gone through scandal with Nate Miles, the APR witch hunt, a tournament ban in his first year and recruiting sanctions and disadvantages in the first couple years..


Peoples willingness to ignore this never fails to boggle my mind.


I love Jim Calhoun with all of my heart. The things that made him great though are the things that opened us up to so much bad will at the tail end of his run.

KO did not have this thing tee'd up. AT ALL.


Why are people so bliind?

Dont forget missing out on getting into a P5. If few years from now this program is still struggling then we can start looking at KO and pointing the finger. But seeing all the stuff he had stacked against him when he took over and then winning a national title hes bought himself a couple of years leeway.