A thought regarding choices by top recruits.

[alexrgct]

Some posters zeroed in on that one phrase "they can get away with it" and automatically interpreted it as a negative or critical comment when in fact it is just the opposite.

Context is important when reading too.

Yes indeed, it's quite the positive when your recruiting approach has led to the successful recruitment of players from all over the country who have produced 10 national championships. Geno gets away with murder...

 

[easttexastrash]

Do you think there may actually be less stress on a top recruit at UCONN vs. other schools? Does a top recruit feel she has to be the savior of a program at other schools? A top recruit may feel they have to carry more of a team load somewhere else. Would Cox have a sense of less of a load to carry at UCONN that would allow her to just be the player she can be?

I have long thought that a player has less stress by going to UCONN than by going to another university where they are expected to step in and immediately perform.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Believe it or not the phrase "they can get away with it" came from a family member. I didn't make it up.

Some posters zeroed in on that one phrase "they can get away with it" and automatically interpreted it as a negative or critical comment when in fact it is just the opposite.

Context is important when reading too.

 

[mhshuskies]

I have long thought that a player has less stress by going to UCONN than by going to another university where they are expected to step in and immediately perform.

Exactly what the original post was trying to say, well said!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't know if stress or pressure is quite the right word, but there is a responsibility at UConn. The good news is that the kids whom Geno recruits actually embrace that. In addition to working harder than they thought possible and trying to win every possession, they have the legacy to face. When Stef and Bria came in, the winning streak was at 78. Their goal was to "not screw it up." They were playing with one of the best players in history. Additionally, Stef came from the same state, was wearing the same number, and was playing the same position as former NPOY great Tina Charles. Bria was a soccer-playing guard from Long Island, like the iconic Sue Bird. The expectations at UConn go beyond winning championships or winning every game; they are to measure up to the best teams and best players in history.

 

[NickyNewark]

So let me understand this. Sounds like you are claiming stress because you choose to pony up the funds for your kids to attend college. Maybe they could have gone the community college route. Maybe they could have worked their way thru school. Maybe student loans. So you're mad because these kids have the skills to generate interest in them from the coach at one or more schools who will then throw a free ride at them to come play a game, Stress or envy?

Me..stress...envy...personally i could care less...relax..have a drink..its a kids game not life or death...you sound like a teenage girl looking at Elvis in the 60s when you put these youngsters on that pedestal. Skills.....maybe we could start recruiting kangaroo's and flying chimps for free college educations due to a ''unique'' skill set.....a good many ''athletes'' really shouldn't be in college but we stretch the rules for them that ''generate interest'' merely on athletic ability at many schools....UConn certainly is not one of those schools but too many are abusing a broken system.Unreal what went down at UNC-CH a so called respected institution of learning.

 

[TitleTown]

Me..stress...envy...personally i could care less...relax..have a drink..its a kids game not life or death...you sound like a teenage girl looking at Elvis in the 60s when you put these youngsters on that pedestal. Skills.....maybe we could start recruiting kangaroo's and flying chimps for free college educations due to a ''unique'' skill set.....a good many ''athletes'' really shouldn't be in college but we stretch the rules for them that ''generate interest'' merely on athletic ability at many schools....UConn certainly is not one of those schools but too many are abusing a broken system.Unreal what went down at UNC-CH a so called respected institution of learning.

I think a quote by the character Coach Sam Winters(played by James Caan) in the 1993 reality based movie called The Program sums it up best when he said "When is the last time you saw 80,000 people show up to watch a kid do a damn chemistry experiment"?

 

[UcMiami]

Stress is a very individual thing, and what brings it on changes for each person throughout their life. Most kids in moderate or better income families do not have a lot of stress about financial issues, but check back with them a few years out of college and that may have become one of their major stress areas. Playing a sport in front of a full house can be stressful for some, for others it is a great source of energy and motivation. Being called on in class, taking a standardized test, making a toast at a wedding, performing in a play, leading a business meeting, standing in an open field, or on the edge of a cliff, or being in a large crowd, or a dark room, or ....
We all react differently, and how we react can change as we age or get treatment or repeatedly face and pass or fail our individual stress tests.
For some recruits the 'stress' of being compared to DT might be unappealing, while others might love the idea of following in DT's footsteps. But really - for most of the top recruits, they have never known a situation where they were not consistently the best player on the court and I doubt they would recognize the 'stress' of any college situation as being a factor in their decision.
The most common refrain in decision making for recruits that choose a school that has never (or at least not in years) reached the final four/won a NC is that they want to play the role that Lobo did for Uconn of leading the team to the mountain top. certainly not that playing for Uconn or Baylor, or TN is 'too stressful'. Might stress or a lack of confidence in themselves be a factor subconsciously, maybe, but most kids don't really think that way, and certainly not the ones that have already won so much acclaim as the top recruits have.

 

[billnaples]

Me..stress...envy...personally i could care less...relax..have a drink..its a kids game not life or death...you sound like a teenage girl looking at Elvis in the 60s when you put these youngsters on that pedestal. Skills.....maybe we could start recruiting kangaroo's and flying chimps for free college educations due to a ''unique'' skill set.....a good many ''athletes'' really shouldn't be in college but we stretch the rules for them that ''generate interest'' merely on athletic ability at many schools....UConn certainly is not one of those schools but too many are abusing a broken system.Unreal what went down at UNC-CH a so called respected institution of learning.

You raised your stress as an issue, paying for your kids to go to school and selecting said school. I can appreciate the athletic talent of those who are able to play in this case basketball but whatever the sport at high level. That is not putting them on any pedestal. As another reply to your thought agreed by making the point of how many people are putting down $20 or what ever the cost to attend a college game vs. a kid acing a chem lab test? Now two points you made are quite valid. There are a ton of kids with great athletic ability that have no business taking up space in a classroom at the U of Anywhere. And the most outrage I may have ever felt at the NCAA (and they earn that almost every day) was to hammer UConn for the "failure" to reach a number in the APR business so they tell the team and coach even though none of them were involved in the calculation. They did that and have failed now after some 5 years to hit UNC for 18 years of academic fraud involving over 300 students, nearly half of whom were athletes. UNC should, for all the Dean Smith and Roy Williams and the history that was good, shut them down. Way worse than SMU, Syracuse, Penn State, COMBINED!

 

[CocoHusky]

Some posters zeroed in on that one phrase "they can get away with it" and automatically interpreted it as a negative or critical comment when in fact it is just the opposite.
Context is important when reading too.

Having trouble thinking of anything positive where someone could contexually say "I got away with that ".
The other contex could also be interpreted negative Specifically: "Geno and the coaching staff tend to move on" tends to imply: We are UCONN take it or leave and make up you mind quickly kind of recruiting approach-which I believe to be incorrect. Depending on the player most recently (Wilson ,Brown, Durr) UCONN was willing to wait as long as necessary and UCONN seems to be taking the same approach with Cox.

 

[UcMiami]

You raised your stress as an issue, paying for your kids to go to school and selecting said school. I can appreciate the athletic talent of those who are able to play in this case basketball but whatever the sport at high level. That is not putting them on any pedestal. As another reply to your thought agreed by making the point of how many people are putting down $20 or what ever the cost to attend a college game vs. a kid acing a chem lab test? Now two points you made are quite valid. There are a ton of kids with great athletic ability that have no business taking up space in a classroom at the U of Anywhere. And the most outrage I may have ever felt at the NCAA (and they earn that almost every day) was to hammer UConn for the "failure" to reach a number in the APR business so they tell the team and coach even though none of them were involved in the calculation. They did that and have failed now after some 5 years to hit UNC for 18 years of academic fraud involving over 300 students, nearly half of whom were athletes. UNC should, for all the Dean Smith and Roy Williams and the history that was good, shut them down. Way worse than SMU, Syracuse, Penn State, COMBINED!

Just a correction over 3000 student/classes - not 300.

 

[UcMiami]

The other contex could also be interpreted negative ( I certainly intrepreted it that way). Specifically: "Geno and the coaching staff tend to move on" tends to imply: We are UCONN take it or leave and make up you mind quickly kind of recruiting approach-which I believe to be incorrect. Depending on the player most recently (Wilson ,Brown, Durr) UCONN was willing to wait as long as necessary and UCONN seems to be taking the same approach with Cox.

Agree - but I think it goes about in two sorts of paths:
Prior to contact a period of viewing and evaluating and talking to coaches to created an initial list of recruits of interest. Then initial contact and ... ifUconn is still interested:
1. An evaluation of whether their is a mutual interest from the player/family
A. If YES - continued recruiting.
B. If NO - recruit dropped from list of potential recruits.

And then each 6+/- months a continuing re-evaluation of needs, recruits, and level of interest in Uconn - some new players may get added, some players may get dropped based on the whole landscape of the team and the field of recruits and potential recruits.

There is probably a third category - the maybe interested recruits who, if they are good enough, may last on the recruiting list for another 6 months treated the same way as the 'YES' recruits. But they will get dropped faster than the definite YES recruits if the landscape changes, and if they are borderline in the evaluation process will be treated as NO immediately.

 

[billnaples]

Just a correction over 3000 student/classes - not 300.

Sometimes the fingers or the keyboard (I like to share the blame) misbehave. Absolute, over 3000. Shameful/

 

[reno tony]

Has anyone thought that the coaching staff might just be considerate of that 16 year old girl they are recruiting. How many letters, phone calls, visits, talks with their coach, other players questions, classes, practices, games, personal life, friends, pets, parents, social media, extra curricular activities, video games, music and whatever else a teenage girl has to deal with on a daily basis might lead the recruiting staff to give them a little space.

A recent recruit piled her recruiting letters up and took a picture with them and I believe I counted 12 from Notre Dame. What on earth did N.D. say after the third letter that was of any importance. It made me think that maybe UCONN uses their soft recruiting as a test to see whether the recruit will need a lot of attention once they are at UCONN. No names on the jersey, no surprise contact with the media and whatever else these players need to get their daily dose of attention might not be allowed at UCONN, so maybe another school would be a better fit. But, if you can survive on the attention a National Championship brings you then maybe UCONN is your place.

 

[CocoHusky]

Has anyone thought that the coaching staff might just be considerate of that 16 year old girl they are recruiting?
What on earth did N.D. say after the third letter that was of any importance.

I think the coaching staff must be and is considerate of the recruit regardless of age and does an incredible job of making subjective judgements regarding attention and space.
From a 16 years old perspective 14 pieces of mail might not say anything different but 14 pieces is more attention that 1 piece. So for the recruit where attention is a need 14 is the way to go-that too is a subjective judgement made by ND.

 

[UcMiami]

Has anyone thought that the coaching staff might just be considerate of that 16 year old girl they are recruiting. How many letters, phone calls, visits, talks with their coach, other players questions, classes, practices, games, personal life, friends, pets, parents, social media, extra curricular activities, video games, music and whatever else a teenage girl has to deal with on a daily basis might lead the recruiting staff to give them a little space.

A recent recruit piled her recruiting letters up and took a picture with them and I believe I counted 12 from Notre Dame. What on earth did N.D. say after the third letter that was of any importance. It made me think that maybe UCONN uses their soft recruiting as a test to see whether the recruit will need a lot of attention once they are at UCONN. No names on the jersey, no surprise contact with the media and whatever else these players need to get their daily dose of attention might not be allowed at UCONN, so maybe another school would be a better fit. But, if you can survive on the attention a National Championship brings you then maybe UCONN is your place.

I think I remember some Geno interview where he mentioned different approaches based on listening to the recruit/her coaches/her family. Some wanted a weekly chat, others wanted an arms length recruiting experience, and the coaches adapted to what they were told/heard.
I think whatever went down with Vaughn's recruiting might have involved some serious miscommunication along those lines.

 

[Kibitzer]

I think many of the Top Recruits end up being disappointed on how UConn recruits them compared to other programs. No over the top recruiting praising players and going out of the way to make the player feel indispensable and will be the future of the program. Recruits and families aren't catered to.

I've talked to a number of the families of UConn players and they all say the same. UConn's method of recruiting is different then other schools and they can get away with it because of who they are.

Earlier I dug a couple quotes from Geno's book. In the foreword, Diana states that other schools will "kiss your ass" when recruiting, Elsewhere, Geno states (about recruiting) that "There's no bull$hit about our program,"

 

[CocoHusky]

Earlier I dug a couple quotes from Geno's book. In the foreword, Diana states that other schools will "kiss your ass" when recruiting, Elsewhere, Geno states (about recruiting) that "There's no bull$hit about our program,"

There was similar words in the Kid from Chino. DT: "He (Geno) was probably the only coach who came into my house and challenged me"

 

[easttexastrash]

Earlier I dug a couple quotes from Geno's book. In the foreword, Diana states that other schools will "kiss your ass" when recruiting, Elsewhere, Geno states (about recruiting) that "There's no bull$hit about our program,"

Every coach other than Geno is an ass kisser.

 

[Carnac]

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