A little concerning we seem to be coming up 2nd or 3rd in recruiting

[upstater]

The reason so many of us mention Purvis in every post should be blindingly obvious. His presence at UConn, whether he was a recruiting victory or not, creates a logjam at the wing. Now, Ollie is going to play 3 guards, so there will be plenty of time on the floor for the 4 or 5 players at those positions. But Purvis's presence alone makes a kid like Larrier think twice. Larrier is fashioning himself as a 2 (in the interview I read). Now, I don't believe that, but you have to believe that without Purvis, and only Samuel, Hamilton and Calhoun stocking those 3 positions (holy cow, we have absolutely NO ONE competing with Samuel!) the roster would look much different to a recruit like Larrier.

 

[djct1999]

Negative nancy over here

Just a realist who is simply exhausted watching a beloved sports program crumble in front of our eyes. Football is an absolute disgrace and basketball is all we have left as fans. I fear a similar fate to a program that over the last 25 years has been as good as Duke, Kansas, and UNC. Perhaps I am shell shocked, maybe a bit over protective and definitely highly sensitive, but nothing in terms of basketball over the past few months has made me feel confident that UConn will remain elite.

 

[djct1999]

I'm behind the times I guess. Who did Steve Alford grab? I know Enfield got local kid McGlaughlin. Larry Brown is NOT a "new" coach, please. For that matter, Alford isn't either. If Brown were just getting started now at SMU, that never would have happened. Groce seems to me your top example.Not sure at all what Spaghetti legs junior has accomplished.

Hamiltons older brother, in a similar way we got Purvis. People on this board keep saying that UConn is being mentioned by top recruits, well so to is Minnesota. Pitino is on par in that department. Groce is doing things at Illinois as you acknowledged. I did not say Brown is new, I said he is in a new place and landed an absolute stud going head to head with Kentucky.

 

[djct1999]

The reason so many of us mention Purvis in every post should be blindingly obvious. His presence at UConn, whether he was a recruiting victory or not, creates a logjam at the wing. Now, Ollie is going to play 3 guards, so there will be plenty of time on the floor for the 4 or 5 players at those positions. But Purvis's presence alone makes a kid like Larrier think twice. Larrier is fashioning himself as a 2 (in the interview I read). Now, I don't believe that, but you have to believe that without Purvis, and only Samuel, Hamilton and Calhoun stocking those 3 positions (holy cow, we have absolutely NO ONE competing with Samuel!) the roster would look much different to a recruit like Larrier.

i do not think for one minute it was purvis' presence that made larrier look the other way. you said it yourself, there is a plenty of playing time. regardless of position, larrier has to beleive and made belive that he will see more floor time than samuel. my guess is ollie is telling the likes of larrier, hamilton, robinson, that purvis will be our pg.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Taking over an elite program with a head coach having a 10+ year nba pedigree should help in recruiting not hurt it. UConn and its elite status should be an asset not a liability. In terms of overall experience, both Larry Brown and Steve Alford trump Ollie's coaching resume, Groce slightly ahead, the the others do not. If we truly are elite, we dont rebuild, we reload. To say that Ollie is only in his second year and needs time to build out his resume is not the type of transition elite schools look for. It is this mentality, coupled with where we stand in realignment, that is extremely concerning. To be clear, I do not think that Ollie has failed and we can potentially land a great class. I do worry though, particularly if Robinson goes elsewhere and Hamilton renegs, that this is the start of a very troubling trend. The fact that we lost local kids to VCU and NC State and Providence should not happen to UCONN. If you want to be honest with yourself, look at the history of other elite schools and they all tend to get those kids. Honestly, Kitaman, you know basketball, the last few weeks has to at least have you at the edge of your seat for the next few.

You're jumping the gun quite a lot with this.

We have a window into recruiting this year like we have never had before... thanks 3uconn... So for the first time, we get to see how frequently coaches deal with rejection.

The truth is, this recruiting season is not significantly different than a dozen or so years with Calhoun. Many long time posters have already said this without being heard; time to stop the chicken little routine and listen to them.

We're fine. It's early. We'll be rejected a lot more, but we'll also get a couple, and they will be plenty talented.

Go smoke a doob or take a pill or do whatever it is that chills you out, but chill out nonetheless. Please.

 

[djct1999]

You're jumping the gun quite a lot with this.



Go smoke a doob or take a pill or do whatever it is that chills you out, but chill out nonetheless. Please.

At last, some sound advice!

 

[mcs333]

Wow, we have a top25 team, with RP and DH coming in the future looks solid. Remember we signed some of our top players in the spring. Next year we should have a VG team with RP,DH, OC, Nolan etc. another top 25 team. We also could return DD aand RB. Also next year we will have a new practice facility to show off. No reson for UCONN not to remain elite. The future is bright!!!

 

[upstater]

i do not think for one minute it was purvis' presence that made larrier look the other way. you said it yourself, there is a plenty of playing time. regardless of position, larrier has to beleive and made belive that he will see more floor time than samuel. my guess is ollie is telling the likes of larrier, hamilton, robinson, that purvis will be our pg.

I didn't say it was Purvis's presence that did that. I said there is plenty of playing time.

But you're missing the whole point of what I wrote. I said that we keep mentioning Purvis for the simple reason that his presence here impacts the recruitment of ANY wing player. If you don't think Larrier took that into consideration, I'd say you're intentionally obfuscating the relevance of Purvis's transfer.

 

[aceboon]

Hamiltons older brother, in a similar way we got Purvis. People on this board keep saying that UConn is being mentioned by top recruits, well so to is Minnesota. Pitino is on par in that department. Groce is doing things at Illinois as you acknowledged. I did not say Brown is new, I said he is in a new place and landed an absolute stud going head to head with Kentucky.

Alford has two guys, we got 2 guys, and he also has over a decade of head coaching experience and he's at a blue blood. Pitino hasn't actually landed anyone so KO is a little bit ahead of him. Groce has 2 guys and is off to a great start with his class, same as KO, and he also had years spent with Thad Matta as the lead recruiter next to him so he is probably ahead of KO in regards to how play this game. Larry Brown is a HOF and has won championships at both the CBB and NBA level, it is even comical to include him in this group regardless of where he is coaching at. If its the end of the fall and spring signing periods and all we have in the bag is Hamilton and Purvis then yes, you're more than welcome to go into panic mode. I just don't understand how you and the rest of the sour hour crew have already predicted the demise of UConn basketball in September of 2013, most programs have 2-3 committments(Indiana and Mich St have ZERO) so we're pretty much in the same group as others. Our misses are just more magnified because UConn is in on so many kids, Borges did a good job of bringing this point up in his recent article.

 

[upstater]

Hamiltons older brother, in a similar way we got Purvis. People on this board keep saying that UConn is being mentioned by top recruits, well so to is Minnesota. Pitino is on par in that department. Groce is doing things at Illinois as you acknowledged. I did not say Brown is new, I said he is in a new place and landed an absolute stud going head to head with Kentucky.

I'm waiting for the end of the recruiting season to make a judgement. Nothing except Abu has surprised me so far, that and Hamilton's commitment.

At the beginning of all this in the spring, I had UConn getting Chukwu, Abu and Carrington. McGlaughlin was the PG but I thought that would be a very tough get. That's it. And maybe a player or two I hadn't heard of. If at the end of the day we land Newberry, Colson, Hamilton and Robinson instead, we will have exceeded my expectations.

 

[uconNYC]

Think recruiting will really trend up after KO takes us to the Sweet16 or further this year.

 

[djct1999]

I didn't say it was Purvis's presence that did that. I said there is plenty of playing time.

But you're missing the whole point of what I wrote. I said that we keep mentioning Purvis for the simple reason that his presence here impacts the recruitment of ANY wing player. If you don't think Larrier took that into consideration, I'd say you're intentionally obfuscating the relevance of Purvis's transfer.

I got the point, I just don't agree with it.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Jim Calhoun signed only one top 20 recruit as early as this in his entire career*. Think about that.

*Alex Oriakhi.

 

[djct1999]

I'm waiting for the end of the recruiting season to make a judgement. Nothing except Abu has surprised me so far, that and Hamilton's commitment.

At the beginning of all this in the spring, I had UConn getting Chukwu, Abu and Carrington. McGlaughlin was the PG but I thought that would be a very tough get. That's it. And maybe a player or two I hadn't heard of. If at the end of the day we land Newberry, Colson, Hamilton and Robinson instead, we will have exceeded my expectations.

I agree and I have said countless times the sky hasn't fallen yet. I would be thrilled with that class. I do find , however, this simple complacent trust that things will be fine infuriating. Haven't we learned our lesson? We all shared that same attitude in thinking we were a lock for the next invite to the ACC. We all know how that ended so if we can continue to think like this.....well, you know.

 

[Waquoit]

Think recruiting will really trend up after KO takes us to the Sweet16 or further this year.

That's the hope and that's what going to keep me going. But our two gets come with asterisks as far as the recruiting process is concerned. And losing guys we really wanted to a non-entity like NCST or a mid-major like VCU hurts, a lot.

 

[upstater]

That's the hope and that's what going to keep me going. But our two gets come with asterisks as far as the recruiting process is concerned. And losing guys we really wanted to a non-entity like NCST or a mid-major like VCU hurts, a lot.

Calhoun lost recruits to NC St. UConn was on Larrier very late. I can remember the day just a couple months ago when they first saw him play--the first they'd seen him!

Not sure what asterisks you're referring to with Hamilton.

 

[upstater]

I agree and I have said countless times the sky hasn't fallen yet. I would be thrilled with that class. I do find , however, this simple complacent trust that things will be fine infuriating. Haven't we learned our lesson? We all shared that same attitude in thinking we were a lock for the next invite to the ACC. We all know how that ended so if we can continue to think like this.....well, you know.

"Haven't we learned our lesson?"

Do you remember what people said about the Giffey, Napier, Lamb and Roscoe Smith class? It was way way way worse than this. The mood on the board after that class was signed was morose, dead, disastrous.

 

[upstater]

Jim Calhoun signed only one top 20 recruit as early as this in his entire career*. Think about that.

*Alex Oriakhi.

I think you're saying that only one of the top 20 recruits committed early.

That's a good bit of info.

 

[upstater]

About Daniel Hamilton, realize that Isaac Hamilton and Trevon Blueitt will both begin playing the SG/SF positions at UCLA in 2014. I would be a little leery of Hamilton's commitment were it not for that fact.

 

[aceboon]

"Haven't we learned our lesson?"

Do you remember what people said about the Giffey, Napier, Lamb and Roscoe Smith class? It was way way way worse than this. The mood on the board after that class was signed was morose, dead, disastrous.

Posters were demanding the firing of Sellers and LaFleur after that one.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I think you're saying that only one of the top 20 recruits committed early.

That's a good bit of info.

I said, "signed," but "verballed" is the accurate term.

Donyell, Rip, Khalid, Caron, Charlie, Rudy - all late verbals.

Nadav, Scotty, Travis, Ray, Doron, etc. so many, not top 20 recruits and also verballed late.

This is how we roll apparently.

 

[Waquoit]

Not sure what asterisks you're referring to with Hamilton.

He committed to another school and our main competition backed off. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome get and great piece of recruiting. But the circumstances to me make it a bit of a one-off. Now I know JC got some great gets in a similar fashion. But he was coaching a top team in the top league when he did so. KO is doing a great job. We can't hope for anyone better. But losing straight-up battles to who we are losing to is disheartening.

 

[aceboon]

He committed to another school and our main competition backed off. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome get and great piece of recruiting. But the circumstances to me make it a bit of a one-off. Now I know JC got some great gets in a similar fashion. But he was coaching a top team in the top league when he did so. KO is doing a great job. We can't hope for anyone better. But losing straight-up battles to who we are losing to is disheartening.

Huh? Hamilton never committed to another school.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Frankly, we should be partying. We've never had two players the caliber of Purvis and Hamilton already in the fold this early before. If we sign Robinson...whoa boy...this class leaps right to the front in terms of possible best ever class.

And yes, Purvis has to count. Its ridiculous to think otherwise. UConn was in his head for a long time, and the chance to play here was never really gone from it. That's recruiting that did that.

 

[James]

Huh? Hamilton never committed to another school.

I think he's saying some school backed off dham, therefore it doesn't really count that Ollie signed him... Haha. anyway, it wasn't easy for purvis to leave nc and come here, I'm sure it had to do with the effort Ollie put in back when he was in hs. honestly the fact that people are complaining is kind of insane. They're also the same people who think our freshman aren't d1 caliber.