2025 Recruiting: Acaden Lewis final four

[HooperScooper]

It doesn’t seem like we schedule big time visits around them.

From the comments from recruits it seems that Hurley type recruits are more impressed with a tough practice than the pageantry of First Night.

 

[awy]

caleb wilson the enthusiastic kentucky recruiter taking OV to UNC, not so committed to kentucky eh

actually seems like it's an unofficial, not good for the kentucky friendship ball narrative

 

[uconngb]

Who said what we are doing isn't working? And for the same reason recruits go to football games on visits(which Hurley has done), to give the kid a look into how awesome our fanbase is.

BTW, Clingan came to first night. My question was more so why we don't do more of it. It seems to be an effective recruiting tool for some kids.

Well, you kinda did. You said that other schools are using something as a recruiting tool that is "effective", why aren't we? I'm saying whatever we are doing seems to be pretty effective as is.

 

[dennismenace]

Yes. I think we're getting him but I have no inside info.

I also think there's a pretty good chance he's the best player we're involved with. He's a 5 star IMO.

The amount of talent we have on hand plus all these potential recruits is mind boggling. In a few weeks with all these potential recruits we may need to have Jay Bilas do another great interview. Way to go staff!!!!

 

[AntG168]

Well, you kinda did. You said that other schools are using something as a recruiting tool that is "effective", why aren't we? I'm saying whatever we are doing seems to be pretty effective as is.

So we should add nothing to it? Asking why we don’t do something. Is not saying what we’re doing isn’t working. You’re reaching

 

[AntG168]

From the comments from recruits it seems that Hurley type recruits are more impressed with a tough practice than the pageantry of First Night.

It’s not a big deal.

BUT

We can do both.

Side note. Recruiting aside our first nights in general are kind of boring. It should be a promotional night for the program. I teach in Southern Connecticut and UConn does very little to capture the love and attention from the youth in this area. It’s good for the long term health of our program to cultivate younger fans.

 

[HooperScooper]

It’s not a big deal.

BUT

We can do both.

Side note. Recruiting aside our first nights in general are kind of boring. It should be a promotional night for the program. I teach in Southern Connecticut and UConn does very little to capture the love and attention from the youth in this area. It’s good for the long term health of our program to cultivate younger fans.

Lewis looks thrilled at Duke. Must have seen the creepy baby.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Lewis looks thrilled at Duke. Must have seen the creepy baby.

High schoolers having almost quarter sleeve tattoos these days is so wild to me.

 

[uconngb]

So we should add nothing to it? Asking why we don’t do something. Is not saying what we’re doing isn’t working. You’re reaching

If it ain’t broke

 

[AntG168]

If it ain’t broke

Man if I have a Bugatti I might still upgrade the interior. The moment we stop looking for ways to improve it’s over

 

[uconngb]

Man if I have a Bugatti I might still upgrade the interior. The moment we stop looking for ways to improve it’s over

When you start tinkering with what works that’s when it stops working

 

[formerlurker]

When you start tinkering with what works that’s when it stops working

Or, you get left behind eventually.

 

[AntG168]

When you start tinkering with what works that’s when it stops working

You’re not tinkering with what works. You’re adding to it. This mindset gets you left in the dust. I hope Hurley doesn’t think this way.

 

[uconngb]

Or, you get left behind eventually.

Calhoun never liked it and he did just fine. Hurley isn’t into it and I think he’s doing just fine. Let the hucksters like Calipari and Kentucky have their used car shows. We don’t need that crap and we certainly aren’t missing out on anything.

Maybe they should be looking at what WE have been doing right for the last 25 years???

 

[superjohn]

You’re not tinkering with what works. You’re adding to it. This mindset gets you left in the dust. I hope Hurley doesn’t think this way.

We've maybe had one good Midnight Madness/First Night in 26 years. It's not a serious thing and we're a serious program.

 

[Jbirdp5]

I wonder if Chief has me blocked, with all this first night talk I’m looking for the post of chief coming in and calling ant a beloved casual

 

[AntG168]

We've maybe had one good Midnight Madness/First Night in 26 years. It's not a serious thing and we're a serious program.

This is a cop out in my opinion. Catering to younger fans does not make you an unserious program. If we’re not going to maximize the event what’s the actual point of doing it? I’d assume you all would be ok with just scrapping it all together. It’s a enormous waste of time.

I also don’t think Hurley or Geno are that much involved with the production of first night. This isn’t a Hurley thing. The UConn Athletic Department just doesn’t know how to cater to younger fans. We still play Jock Jams. It’s an athletic department flaw. Not a serious one. But it doesn’t make us “more serious” or “pure” lmao.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

This is a cop out in my opinion. Catering to younger fans does not make you an unserious program. If we’re not going to maximize the event what’s the actual point of doing it? I’d assume you all would be ok with just scrapping it all together. It’s a enormous waste of time.

I also don’t think Hurley or Geno are that much involved with the production of first night. This isn’t a Hurley thing. The UConn Athletic Department just doesn’t know how to cater to younger fans. We still play Jock Jams. It’s an athletic department flaw. Not a serious one. But it doesn’t make us “more serious” or “pure” lmao.

When you say younger fans do you mean fans in the state who aren’t on campus?

If so it may be pretty hard for those fans to make it out to Storrs for a first night event. It’s so out the way to where the rest of Connecticut actually lives. The closest big city Hartford is almost an hour itself.

 

[Huskyforlife]

It’s insane how the athletic department can do the hard things so well, like hiring coaches and having consistent winning programs in most sports. But the easy things get messed up.

Intros/banner ceremony
Speeches from the coaches and captains
3pt/Dunk contest
Scrimmage/s
Outro/NIL reminder/thank everyone for coming out

No rap battles, no broken baskets, no cringy music acts.

Maybe bring a legend out to give a short speech and get the crowd energized. Induct a former husky into the huskies of honor, or retire some legends jersey.

Make it a night to celebrate how awesome it is to be a Husky basketball fan.

 

[AntG168]

When you say younger fans do you mean fans in the state who aren’t on campus?

If so it may be pretty hard for those fans to make it out to Storrs for a first night event. It’s so out the way to where the rest of Connecticut actually lives. The closest big city Hartford is almost an hour itself.

1. People under the age of 21

2. If s big enough deal was made about it parents , youth groups, schools, AAU teams would go. I know a guy who has an organization in New Haven where he takes kids all over the state to events. It’s a pretty large organization. He’s never even heard of first night or even the Husky ticket project. Southern CT isn’t made a priority nearly enough for a state this small.

 

[AntG168]

It’s insane how the athletic department can do the hard things so well, like hiring coaches and having consistent winning programs in most sports. But the easy things get messed up.

Intros/banner ceremony
Speeches from the coaches and captains
3pt/Dunk contest
Scrimmage/s
Outro/NIL reminder/thank everyone for coming out

No rap battles, no broken baskets, no cringy music acts.

Maybe bring a legend out to give a short speech and get the crowd energized. Induct a former husky into the huskies of honor, or retire some legends jersey.

Make it a night to celebrate how awesome it is to be a Husky basketball fan.

All I’m saying. And this wouldn’t make us unserious

 

[superjohn]

This is a cop out in my opinion. Catering to younger fans does not make you an unserious program. If we’re not going to maximize the event what’s the actual point of doing it? I’d assume you all would be ok with just scrapping it all together. It’s a enormous waste of time.

I also don’t think Hurley or Geno are that much involved with the production of first night. This isn’t a Hurley thing. The UConn Athletic Department just doesn’t know how to cater to younger fans. We still play Jock Jams. It’s an athletic department flaw. Not a serious one. But it doesn’t make us “more serious” or “pure” lmao.

It's an unserious event, the coaches just want to introduce the players to the fans and get out of there with nobody getting hurt. Hurley hates it.

Hurley and staff have a strategy to get the recruits they want and First Night isn't a part of it. Why do you care about it when we have hands down the best program in the country and the recruiting formula works so well?

Jock Jams is UConn tradition, replacing it at games with some other corny music 18 year olds like at the moment isn't going to happen and shouldn't happen. Same goes for Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle on defensive third downs.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

1. People under the age of 21

2. If s big enough deal was made about it parents , youth groups, schools, AAU teams would go. I know a guy who has an organization in New Haven where he takes kids all over the state to events. It’s a pretty large organization. He’s never even heard of first night or even the Husky ticket project. Southern CT isn’t made a priority nearly enough for a state this small.

You’re right and trust I have A LOT of thoughts on what UConn could do to better connect with the CT community.

 

[AntG168]

It's an unserious event, the coaches just want to introduce the players to the fans and get out of there with nobody getting hurt. Hurley hates it.

Hurley and staff have a strategy to get the recruits they want and First Night isn't a part of it. Why do you care about it when we have hands down the best program in the country and the recruiting formula works so well?

Jock Jams is UConn tradition, replacing it at games with some other corny music 18 year olds like at the moment isn't going to happen and shouldn't happen. Same goes for Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle on defensive third downs.

I don’t think you’re understanding the point.

If we’re going to do it. Which we are. You maximize the event or it’s just a giant waste of time. The fans that need to be brought into the fold don’t even know it’s going on. The event is unserious and it’s not really for fans like me and you. I just feel the way we do it is a waste of time.

Also, don’t get rid of the tradition. But unless the athletic department starts to cater somewhat to younger fans our fanbase is going to get really old, really fast. It’s why I like how much better our social media team has gotten. It helps promote our program to a different demographic in this state. We need to keep growing our fanbase.

All in all it’s not a major issue. Just a thought.

 

[boog204]

It’s insane how the athletic department can do the hard things so well, like hiring coaches and having consistent winning programs in most sports. But the easy things get messed up.

Intros/banner ceremony
Speeches from the coaches and captains
3pt/Dunk contest
Scrimmage/s
Outro/NIL reminder/thank everyone for coming out

No rap battles, no broken baskets, no cringy music acts.

Maybe bring a legend out to give a short speech and get the crowd energized. Induct a former husky into the huskies of honor, or retire some legends jersey.

Make it a night to celebrate how awesome it is to be a Husky basketball fan.

I agree with all of this. I attended "Midnight Madness" in I think 99 and 00 and it was awesome. There was incredible energy and excitement associated with it for the players, fans, and the campus as a whole. I fully understand that it is a facade of sorts but I think improving it would only help and not detract.