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Abu on UConn and Ollie

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Has Uconn ever won with a dominant 4? We are wing U! Give me a versatile 3, an athletic backcourt, a shotblocking 5 and a workhorse 4. That has been our recipe for success and I for one hope Ollie and company stick to it!
 
djct1999 said:
Has Uconn ever won with a dominant 4? We are wing U! Give me a versatile 3, an athletic backcourt, a shotblocking 5 and a workhorse 4. That has been our recipe for success and I for one hope Ollie and company stick to it!
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Emeka?
 
djct1999 said:
Has Uconn ever won with a dominant 4? We are wing U! Give me a versatile 3, an athletic backcourt, a shotblocking 5 and a workhorse 4. That has been our recipe for success and I for one hope Ollie and company stick to it!
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We have not won a National Championship without a center that can rebound, block shots, and "somewhat" score better than most.
1999 - Jake
2004 - Emeka
2011 - Oriakhi
 
uconnforlife said:
Emeka?
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Emeka was a 5. I believe Josh Boone was the starting 4 on that team. Hardly the go to guy! Thats my point. The Uconn system doesn't need a dominant 4 which is why Robinson is far more important than Abu ever was.
 
djct1999 said:
Emeka was a 5. I believe Josh Boone was the starting 4 on that team. Hardly the go to guy! Thats my point. The Uconn system doesn't need a dominant 4 which is why Robinson is far more important than Abu ever was.
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You're gonna eat those words this year when our dominant 4 leads us to the national championship.
 
Rico444 said:
You're gonna eat those words this year when our dominant 4 leads us to the national championship.
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i will eat more than words for a national championship! but i am fairly sure our backcourt will have to be dominant to take us that far.
 
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Adrien was fairly dominant.

Abu is a big loss, hopefully things work out for him at NCSt. Like Chukwu at PC, now these coaches have to prove they can actually coach these kids.
 
Rico444 said:
You're gonna eat those words this year when our dominant 4 leads us to the national championship.
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Deandre is an excellent player, but he really isn't a 4, except by default. If there was a Freeman or Adrien on this roster, Deandre would be playing small forward.
 
CTBasketball said:
We have not won a National Championship without a center that can rebound, block shots, and "somewhat" score better than most.
1999 - Jake
2004 - Emeka
2011 - Oriakhi
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Jake didn't score much but did set great screens and get some tough rebounds.
 
upstater said:
I've had it up for months. Coles is one of my favorites.
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Months? I guess I am so interested in the intelligence you bring I never noticed.......or maybe I only look at the avatar's with nice t*ts in them?:oops:
 
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3uconn said:
I don't think it's because of that. Like I've said earlier, job, cash, something.
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Think horses, not zebras.

The world loves Kevin Ollie. Kevin Ollie is getting onto the short list for a ton of players....but he's not landing them.

Either there is a new jobs initiative out there or kids would rather take road trips to Michigan, Duke or North Carolina instead of Tulsa, East Carolina and the University of Orlando Airport.
 
Fishy said:
Think horses, not zebras.

The world loves Kevin Ollie. Kevin Ollie is getting onto the short list for a ton of players....but he's not landing them.

Either there is a new jobs initiative out there or kids would rather take road trips to Michigan, Duke or North Carolina instead of Tulsa, East Carolina and the University of Orlando Airport.
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A little early to say Ollie isn't landing them don't you think? In his first offseason recruiting as head coach in this new conference he has gotten a 5 star transfer and a 5 star shooting guard who is one of the best scorers in the country. It's a very small sample size, he's only been recruiting without restrictions for 2 months. We missed out on AMA so what. Some of us believe there was other stuff going on with his recruitment. Who knows if we will find out, it took some time before the truth came out about Durand Scott. I don't believe conference affiliation has much to do with College basketball recruiting. For the most part kids are looking for the school that helps them get most ready for the NBA. We're very lucky Purvis and Hamilton don't know we play in the AAC, hopefully Robinson and Colson also don't find out.
 
superjohn said:
A little early to say Ollie isn't landing them don't you think? In his first offseason recruiting as head coach in this new conference he has gotten a 5 star transfer and a 5 star shooting guard who is one of the best scorers in the country. It's a very small sample size, he's only been recruiting without restrictions for 2 months. We missed out on AMA so what. Some of us believe there was other stuff going on with his recruitment. Who knows if we will find out, it took some time before the truth came out about Durand Scott. I don't believe conference affiliation has much to do with College basketball recruiting. For the most part kids are looking for the school that helps them get most ready for the NBA. We're very lucky Purvis and Hamilton don't know we play in the AAC, hopefully Robinson and Colson also don't find out.
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I think you and fishy are both right - the conference affiliation does not help the situation, and Abu is the first recruit I think we might have landed if we were still in the Big East (Perkins and McLaughlin weren't leaving the West Coast either way). Most recruits - especially kids like Abu who may stick around four years - want to play in environments conducive to big time competition and great atmospheres. I think you're being a bit naieve if you don't believe the opportunity to play at Cameron Indoor, the Carrier Dome, and the Dean Dome is appealing to kids like Abu.

You're right, though. In most cases, getting to the NBA is going to priority one, two, and three for an incoming recruit. It's why, like it or not, Kentucky can pretty much have their hand-pick of recruits. Unfortunately for UConn, the shift to the AAC occurred at the worst possible time - in the midst of the best program builder in the history of college basketball retiring. Ollie, while extremely personable and a guy most eighteen-year-old kids will run through a brick wall for, doesn't have the track record or cache Calhoun did. It will take a while for Ollie to develop the reputation of a guy who can get you to the NBA, but that's why Hamilton and Purvis are two of the biggest recruits in this programs history - they have NBA aspirations and if Ollie can get them there he's going to start pulling in big time recruits at a high rate, AAC or not.
 
Huskybass said:
Deandre is an excellent player, but he really isn't a 4, except by default. If there was a Freeman or Adrien on this roster, Deandre would be playing small forward.
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Sure, and he wouldn't be nearly as effective on the offensive end.

DeAndre is a stretch 4; he doesn't have the handle to play the 3 in college.
 
If the AAC has anything to do with it, the OOC needs to make up for it. Right now, it does. Just keep scheduling tough and winning games. The NYC connection needs to get stronger and stronger as well. Family being able to get to UConn easily is a major selling point. The AAC television exposure is great for us, so once kids see just how good it is, that will help alleviate concerns too.

Memphis has recruited very well from CUSA so I just don't think it's that big of a deal. However, our coaches need to be selling it properly so that prospects can't be swayed by negative recruiting. A strong, professional pitch needs to be made to recruits and parents. Most importantly, we need to stay on top for now to prove that the AAC will not hurt UConn basketball.
 
Fishy said:
Think horses, not zebras.

The world loves Kevin Ollie. Kevin Ollie is getting onto the short list for a ton of players....but he's not landing them.

Either there is a new jobs initiative out there or kids would rather take road trips to Michigan, Duke or North Carolina instead of Tulsa, East Carolina and the University of Orlando Airport.
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Explain Memphis recruiting or Mudaiy going to SMU. I don't buy the conference talk yet. If kids want exposure ....you get plenty at UCONN. Making the tourney brings the most exposure and thats something we do well. I think the problem is other coaches are most likely saying Ollie is unproven....but that will change in time IMHO. Oh and by the way other top programs are also striking out on top recruits. Florida just lost to NCSt and Kentucky to Smu.
 
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champs99and04 said:
I think you and fishy are both right - the conference affiliation does not help the situation, and Abu is the first recruit I think we might have landed if we were still in the Big East (Perkins and McLaughlin weren't leaving the West Coast either way). Most recruits - especially kids like Abu who may stick around four years - want to play in environments conducive to big time competition and great atmospheres. I think you're being a bit naieve if you don't believe the opportunity to play at Cameron Indoor, the Carrier Dome, and the Dean Dome is appealing to kids like Abu.

You're right, though. In most cases, getting to the NBA is going to priority one, two, and three for an incoming recruit. It's why, like it or not, Kentucky can pretty much have their hand-pick of recruits. Unfortunately for UConn, the shift to the AAC occurred at the worst possible time - in the midst of the best program builder in the history of college basketball retiring. Ollie, while extremely personable and a guy most eighteen-year-old kids will run through a brick wall for, doesn't have the track record or cache Calhoun did. It will take a while for Ollie to develop the reputation of a guy who can get you to the NBA, but that's why Hamilton and Purvis are two of the biggest recruits in this programs history - they have NBA aspirations and if Ollie can get them there he's going to start pulling in big time recruits at a high rate, AAC or not.
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Didn't see this...like it better than what I posted.
 
Somewhere between champs and Fishy lies some answers........I am not at all sold that KO will lose due to the AAC but I am sold on the requirement for him to have a solid year this year and a tourney run. As long as you can honor the commitment to being a huge player for national titles I think it will matter less what conference you do it from. An off year this coming year will fuel the negative recruiting as well as the KO to prove himself.

All ten toes in here......we'll be fine!
 
FlaHusky said:
Has to be. Doesn't make sense on any other level.
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I guess if a coach is a lovely guy, he would land every kid were it not for the league he's in. Calhoun didn't land every kid he coveted and lost some either to lesser programs or lesser leagues. Other than the implication some folks make about bribes, kids actually prefer other schools for their own reasons, and somtimes they are reasons that make perfect sense to a teen. Seems like KO has reeled in some possible gems despite the AAC.
 
We where out of the abu race becasue we opted to play clean. Pc is in the same ship. Hands where out and some of these teams reached into their pockets
 
DreamSeason said:
Explain Memphis recruiting or Mudaiy going to SMU. I don't buy the conference talk yet. If kids want exposure ....you get plenty at UCONN. Making the tourney brings the most exposure and thats something we do well. I think the problem is other coaches are most likely saying Ollie is unproven....but that will change in time IMHO. Oh and by the way other top programs are also striking out on top recruits. Florida just lost to NCSt and Kentucky to Smu.
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If Ollie is as good a coach and recruiter as we think he is, the AAC shouldn't prevent him from getting top talent to come to Storrs. It will have a disastrous effect on the football team, but the Memphises, Xaviers, Butlers, VCUs and Gonzagas of the world have shown us that you can still be a very good program in a midmajor conference.

But right now, the conference realignment dust is still in the process of settling. No one has seen the AAC in action yet (I'm being liberal when I use the world "action" to describe this conference) and Louisville is still on the way out, so you can bet your a** the conference is a drain on UConn's recruiting at the moment.

I think a year of being highly ranked and (hopefully) a deep tourney run will put a lot of those concerns to rest, at least from UConn's standpoint. We'll probably have a much clearer picture of Ollie's recruiting ability a year from now.
 
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