AAC Next Season

[wbball novice]

I think most of us agree that UConn is still likely to be AAC champion and winner of the conference championship next season. But without Stevens, Nurse, and Williams, will the other AAC teams be more competitive (or more entertaining from a certain perspective) than this season? (Fewer blowouts, more close games) Would this help or hurt UConn's chances in the NCAA tournament? Or will it make no difference?

 

[LasVegasYank]

There's a potential for USF here, the only true competition for the last several years. But, in the end, I think UConn will still go undefeated in conference play.

 

[BostonCanuck]

It's more likely than not that the Huskies will bear a loss or two during the 2018-19 season. And frankly, I think it's the best thing that could happen to them. But I don't think it will happen during AAC play.

 

[j66kicker]

It does not look to me like the AAC is getting any better at all. Is this because some (most) of the schools don't prioritize WBB, thus the resources for top facilities, coaches, etc., just aren't there? If so, then the conference isn't going to gradually evolve and improve as the other schools try to get up to UConn's level. If the programs are not supported by their own universities, then they have no chance.

Instead of being a good soldier, I think Geno should just start calling these schools out for what they are. He could do so in a way that's sympathetic to the coaches, but acknowledging they have no chance. Then he should call for conference rule changes not requiring a school to play all the schools every year. Doubt there would be any rule changes, but maybe it would draw attention to the real issues.

Title IX has gotten these girls their scholarships, but their schools are making zero effort for their WBB programs to be competitive.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

It does not look to me like the AAC is getting any better at all. Is this because some (most) of the schools don't prioritize WBB, thus the resources for top facilities, coaches, etc., just aren't there? If so, then the conference isn't going to gradually evolve and improve as the other schools try to get up to UConn's level. If the programs are not supported by their own universities, then they have no chance.

Instead of being a good soldier, I think Geno should just start calling these schools out for what they are. He could do so in a way that's sympathetic to the coaches, but acknowledging they have no chance. Then he should call for conference rule changes not requiring a school to play all the schools every year. Doubt there would be any rule changes, but maybe it would draw attention to the real issues.

Title IX has gotten these girls their scholarships, but their schools are making zero effort for their WBB programs to be competitive.

I posted my analysis in a prior thread about the AAC, and I made an additional note in the thread about Jemelle Elliott being let go by Cincinnati. Here are some highlights.

• In the four years of the AAC, South Florida has made four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round (Round of 32) in two of those years. South Florida finished 14th in this year's RPI. Jose Fernandez has done a great job of not just building, but making the program a consistent NCAA Tournament participant and a team that consistently competes to be in the Top 25.

• UCF is in the second year of Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's tenure, after she led Albany to five straight NCAA Tournaments. She went 21-12 in her first year at UCF - and winning 21 games had happened only one time in UCF's women's basketball history (approximately 30 years) before KAH got there. In two seasons, she took UCF to the WNIT and finished in the top four of the AAC, something her predecessor had not done in the previous five seasons. And UCF finished 45th in RPI, which is incredible.

• Ronald Hughey is in his 4th season at Houston, after having assistant coaching jobs at high-level programs (Texas and Florida State, to name a few). Houston has only made 2 NCAA Tournaments in the last 17 years, and outside of one year in the past seven years, has not been relevant since 2004, when the team had Chandi Jones and Sancho Lyttle. This year, Houston stumbled late, but still finished 20-12, after losing to South Dakota in the WNIT. And with the WNIT game, Houston made its first appearance in the postseason since the 2010-11 season. And consider this - Houston had not won more than 13 games since 2011. Yet in his four years, Hughey has led the Cougars to increased wins every year -- from 6 wins (2014-2015 and 2015-2016), to 12 wins last year, to 20 wins this year. Houston also returns its top seven players next year -- and three of Houston's top four players are sophomores.

To me, this shows development and growth of other programs. The AAC is getting better. Now are these three schools ready to compete with UConn for conference titles? Absolutely not. But are these three programs demonstrating a commitment to getting better.

 

[j66kicker]

I posted my analysis in a prior thread about the AAC, and I made an additional note in the thread about Jemelle Elliott being let go by Cincinnati. Here are some highlights.

• In the four years of the AAC, South Florida has made four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round (Round of 32) in two of those years. South Florida finished 14th in this year's RPI. Jose Fernandez has done a great job of not just building, but making the program a consistent NCAA Tournament participant and a team that consistently competes to be in the Top 25.

• UCF is in the second year of Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's tenure, after she led Albany to five straight NCAA Tournaments. She went 21-12 in her first year at UCF - and winning 21 games had happened only one time in UCF's women's basketball history (approximately 30 years) before KAH got there. In two seasons, she took UCF to the WNIT and finished in the top four of the AAC, something her predecessor had not done in the previous five seasons. And UCF finished 45th in RPI, which is incredible.

• Ronald Hughey is in his 4th season at Houston, after having assistant coaching jobs at high-level programs (Texas and Florida State, to name a few). Houston has only made 2 NCAA Tournaments in the last 17 years, and outside of one year in the past seven years, has not been relevant since 2004, when the team had Chandi Jones and Sancho Lyttle. This year, Houston stumbled late, but still finished 20-12, after losing to South Dakota in the WNIT. And with the WNIT game, Houston made its first appearance in the postseason since the 2010-11 season. And consider this - Houston had not won more than 13 games since 2011. Yet in his four years, Hughey has led the Cougars to increased wins every year -- from 6 wins (2014-2015 and 2015-2016), to 12 wins last year, to 20 wins this year. Houston also returns its top seven players next year -- and three of Houston's top four players are sophomores.

To me, this shows development and growth of other programs. The AAC is getting better. Now are these three schools ready to compete with UConn for conference titles? Absolutely not. But are these three programs demonstrating a commitment to getting better.

Totally agree there are at least 3 other schools besides UConn in the AAC who are somewhat committed to WBB. It's the other 8 I'm worried about.

 

[Charliebball]

The only two schools that could trouble UConn would be USF and UCF.........in some ways the weak AAC schedule helps the team in terms of minutes played but certainly doesn't help from a competitive standpoint...............let's just pray the KLS and Crystal can stay injury free

 

[Plebe]

No one in the AAC will be good enough to trouble UConn, unless UConn plays an absolutely horrible game as they did at Tulane last year.

 

[Charliebball]

No one in the AAC will be good enough to trouble UConn, unless UConn plays an absolutely horrible game as they did at Tulane last year.

I tend to agree but I want to see exactly what kind of team UConn fields next year before I say that with complete confidence...............much can happen between now and the new season..........

 

[wbball novice]

I'm not suggesting that the AAC will become a power conference, or that there will be parity anytime soon. Of course out of conference games are going to be more challenging. It's the combination of incremental improvement on the part of some of the AAC opponents in concert with an arguably weakened UConn team, due to key departures and necessary reliance on inexperienced players, that might result in more competitive games. Without Stevens, Tulane came pretty close to beating UConn. No Nurse to shut down South Florida's Laksa. Without Stevens, teams with predominantly smaller players would have an easier time penetrating and defending, and my impression is that many of the AAC teams are handicapped by having mostly shorter players. Besides UCF, other AAC teams might take note of UConn's issues with slow down zone defense. UConn might very well beat them anyway, but not by as much. (There was an interesting article in The Ringer on zone defense -- I wasn't aware that it was rarely used by NBA teams and has potential for throwing off the rhythm of the increasingly common reliance in the NBA on pass and shoot.) Like many fans (and very few non-fans) I enjoy UConn blowouts, but fewer of these and more grind it out games might be a lot more beneficial to the team in the long run, especially one that will have a lot of inexperienced players. One concern might be the coaching staff could leave the starters in the game further into the second half, with more potential for injury or burn-out. And the beauty of pass/assist/3pt/transition, what makes UConn basketball so aesthetically pleasing, might not be experienced as often.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Don't worry. The AAC has a long way to go.

Yes, I think Coach Abe at UCF is one of the bright young stars. It will be interesting to see if they can entice her to stay very long term. Jose has indeed done wonders at USF, but they were not a push-over in the oBE either.

I'm not a Ron Hughey fan, really, he spent a year at Rutgers, among the many places he's been. But he did appear to dedicate himself to learning his craft and Houston has prospered some under him. And Houston would, I think, embrace WBB relatively, as would some other schools.

As I have said, some of the other coaches are fine, too, but over-all do lack the support and facilities - and the schools probably lack the finances - to raise the programs to the next level.