2024 Recruiting: Ahmad Nowell OV 6/8

[uconngb]

UConn the championship in 1999 and that class was 2000 (started school fall of 2000), so they committed in the fall of 1999 and maybe the spring of 2000. Here's the 2000-2001 roster.

UConn won the championship in 2023 and the guys they're getting now are 2024 class. So same thing.

But the title was won in 1999 just like this title was won in 2023. So the guys committing now are class of 2024 just like then they would have been class of 2000. What am I missing??

Caron et al were freshmen in 00-01, so the proper comp here would be 24-25

 

[Huskyforlife]

No idea why they think he’s a combo guard.

 

[HooperScooper]

But the title was won in 1999 just like this title was won in 2023. So the guys committing now are class of 2024 just like then they would have been class of 2000. What am I missing??

Caron et al were freshmen in 00-01, so the proper comp here would be 24-25

Yes!

You’re very confused. Lol

Someone else want to help him understand this?

 

[HooperScooper]

But the title was won in 1999 just like this title was won in 2023. So the guys committing now are class of 2024 just like then they would have been class of 2000. What am I missing??

Caron et al were freshmen in 00-01, so the proper comp here would be 24-25

When did the current freshmen commit? It was last year, before UConn won the title in 2023. So the title didn’t help any of the 2023-2024 freshmen commit. The first class the title would help with would be the 2024-2025 freshmen. Right? Just like the 1999 title didn’t help recruiting until the 2020-2021 freshmen. Right?

Ok now my head hurts trying to explain this!

 

[navery12]

When did the current freshmen commit? It was last year, before UConn won the title in 2023. So the title didn’t help any of the 2023-2024 freshmen commit. The first class the title would help with would be the 2024-2025 freshmen. Right? Just like the 1999 title didn’t help recruiting until the 2020-2021 freshmen. Right?

Ok now my head hurts trying to explain this!

He has me on ignore so I'm missing large chunks of this conversation, but I think you're both saying the same thing. The Caron class he mentioned is the first one that would have been affected by the championship.

1999 championship = 2023 championship, so the 1999 class is equivalent to the Castle class of 2023 who's freshman year will be 2023-24 (1999-00). Caron's freshman year was 2000-01 so is equivalent to 2024 guys who will start their UConn career in 2024-25

 

[sdrouin]

@husky99 Are you hearing of any Ngongba timeline or really the fall?

 

[husky99]

@husky99 Are you hearing of any Ngongba timeline or really the fall?

Absolutely will ask around

 

[Fan1978]

One of a kind.. Uber- athletic.. Who you taking.. Sticks or Andre J for athleticism?? IMO..Tough choice.. Can't go wrong with either dude..

Andre and much higher bbiq

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Absolutely will ask around

I thought publicly he stated October timeline?

 

[mauconnfan]

Checking in y’all. Thanks for everyone for the birthday shout-outs. Fun spending my noon time watching Abraham’s commitment, then headed to my favorite art museum (shout out to the Aldrich) and then sushi dinner at a place that was way too fancy (Oko in Westport) so we paid the tab early and then picked up food from a local favorite (Little Tokyo). Solid day. Bday gift is a stay at The Graduate and a Yardgoats game next week, can’t wait for that.

Anywho, back to Nowell. I’ll sum it up simply:

He seems like a guy who can start anywhere from Day 1.

In that case, should Nowell commit to the Good Guys, I’m picturing a Nowell/Ball starting backcourt from Day 1.

Too soon to tell, obviously, but that thought’s got me giddy.

Hey Happy belated Adrien!!

 

[Chin Diesel]

I feel like as UConn men's college basketball fans we are as lucky as the Green Bay Packers fans going from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. I will always regard Jim Calhoun as the greatest program builder that college basketball has ever seen and truly amazing in all aspects of coaching and running an elite Division 1 program ...

But I do not remember feeling THIS confident about our whole recruiting apparatus from top to bottom as I do now, and I have been following recruiting for around 35 years. Obviously Calhoun and co. started and continued getting many great players after The Dream Season of 1989-1990. But I am truly in awe of how great Danny Hurley and staff are at this whole process. When they zero in on a guy and decide he is their man, it does not matter how much he may be leaning toward another school (Examples include: Akok Akok and Andre Jackson - Syracuse and Adama Sanogo - Seton Hall), we become a serious threat and right now almost always close the deal.

Other staffs must HATE to see us coming... and I guarantee even Scheyer and company are secretly cursing that we have gotten involved with Cooper Flagg and have gained momentum. Honestly, at least on this one, give him truth serum and he would admit that he is hating seeing Danny and Co. involved even more than John Calipari. And THAT says it all.

I love this coaching staff! We are so darn lucky to get someone of the caliber and passion of Hurley in relatively short order after JC (even if the previous 4 to 5 years or so felt like we were in the middle of the Sahara desert with no water in sight. It has made this renaissance that much sweeter!).

Well said LStudfellow. I LOVED the Calhoun years & always felt confident in the man's decision-making. I always believed it was the "good old days in real time."

But Danny's successes are right there, especially in recruiting. I have run out of words (juggernaut, stellar?) to describe the effectiveness of strategic approaches. His work with Castle and Stewart were nothing short of brilliant.

If the '24 and '25 classes come together like we believe it can, there is little doubt in my mind he is Top 3 recruiter nationally...and maybe the best given he is not Duke, Kentucky, Kansas or UNC. It gives me chills.

It's really tough for fans to see the fruits of an HC building a staff and a program until results are shown.

Like any good foundation much of the work is done before you see results.

JC knew how to build a program. Part present, part future, balancing maximizing what you have while still pursuing highest level talent.

Hurley had hopped around a bit at lower level schools and didn't have resources to fully show breadth of his program building skills.

 

[NJHoops]

Hurley had hopped around a bit at lower level schools and didn't have resources to fully show breadth of his program building skills.

Yes and no, I think. He went from St. Benedict‘s to Wagner to Rhode Island to UConn. It was kind of an unconventional but very thoughtful and intentional career path. It’s true that the resources available were nothing like at UConn, but each program, including the high school one, was dramatically changed and improved when he left and moved up. I guess I don’t blame people for wanting to see it work first-hand at each next level, but the program building was always there.

Rhode Island hadn’t made the tournament since 1999 when he arrived, and the program was a disaster- basic things needed to run a program hadn’t been updated or implemented, even relative to A10 levels. He left it as a top of the conference program and had won a conference title and conference tournament and NCAA tournament games. Then, another example of why a head coach matters so much happened.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yes and no, I think. He went from St. Benedict‘s to Wagner to Rhode Island to UConn. It was kind of an unconventional but very thoughtful and intentional career path. It’s true that the resources available were nothing like at UConn, but each program, including the high school one, was dramatically changed and improved when he left and moved up. I guess I don’t blame people for wanting to see it work first-hand at each next level, but the program building was always there.

Rhode Island hadn’t made the tournament since 1999 when he arrived, and the program was a disaster- basic things needed to run a program hadn’t been updated or implemented, even relative to A10 levels. He left it as a top of the conference program and had won a conference title and conference tournament and NCAA tournament games. Then, another example of why a head coach matters so much happened.

Not doubt he improved each of those programs. But none of those skills allow a coach to demonstrate they can build a program at the highest level nationally competing fornxhampionships and getting in to the living of any recruit.

There's always a risk projecting if what a coach did at a smaller school works at the national championship level. It's different contacts, different approaches and different goals. It's a small club of coaches who can do it and UConn, for the second time, has a coach in thst club.

 

[tzznandrew]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like this national championship will benefit us more than any other one we've won.

Recruiting (in terms of ranking) permanently went up a level after the 1999 win. The program felt more lasting and less flash-in-the-pan.

I think this one will probably be the next most beneficial since I see Hurley continuing to grow—and this title puts both him and the program into a different level (with only UNC, Kansas, Kentucky).

 

[HuskyFich]

Recruiting (in terms of ranking) permanently went up a level after the 1999 win. The program felt more lasting and less flash-in-the-pan.

I think this one will probably be the next most beneficial since I see Hurley continuing to grow—and this title puts both him and the program into a different level (with only UNC, Kansas, Kentucky).

I think this one could be argued as the most impactful when we look at this in 10 years time.

The timing of this championship with the NIL landscape continuing to be the Wild West for probably 1-2 more years gives us a huge advantage, especially since we are doing it “the right way.”

This ‘24 class will be a huge factor for our future sustained success, and Hurley undoubtedly knows it. Abraham, Nowell, Ngognba, and a Flagg reclass(?) could be the greatest haul we’ve ever had.

Plus of course, throw in the theoretical Big 12 move. It would rejuvenate our athletic department and would give Hurley an even larger budget to operate with.

This is of course the blue glasses point of view outcome, but it is possible and more than a pipe dream.

 

[uconngb]

When did the current freshmen commit? It was last year, before UConn won the title in 2023. So the title didn’t help any of the 2023-2024 freshmen commit. The first class the title would help with would be the 2024-2025 freshmen. Right? Just like the 1999 title didn’t help recruiting until the 2020-2021 freshmen. Right?

Ok now my head hurts trying to explain this!

When did the current freshmen commit? It was last year, before UConn won the title in 2023. So the title didn’t help any of the 2023-2024 freshmen commit. The first class the title would help with would be the 2024-2025 freshmen. Right? Just like the 1999 title didn’t help recruiting until the 2020-2021 freshmen. Right?

Ok now my head hurts trying to explain this!

You’re right, got it now. My bad

 

[Mooch82]

I thought publicly he stated October timeline?

Believe that was Betsey. Haven’t seen timeline on Ngongba.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Believe that was Betsey. Haven’t seen timeline on Ngongba.

Hmmm, yeah that could be. We're involved with so many excellent targets at once that they start to blur together.

 

[FearThePups]

Believe that was Betsey. Haven’t seen timeline on Ngongba.

I believe I read that Ngongba would declare close the the November timeline. I hope it’s much sooner.

 

[aburks41]

Believe that was Betsey. Haven’t seen timeline on Ngongba.

Per On3, Ngongba said no date is set but he plans to commit before the early signing period, which is in November.

So that could mean August or late October. Who knows

 

[Fan1978]

Book it danno

 

[Fan1978]

The Beltway Ballers aren't walking through that door.

Waquoit will in Saratoga for travers weekend. If you are there would like to buy you a drink or bottle of wine.

 

[Chief00]

I want guys that want to be here. Guys that take a slew of late visits are making good business moves for themself to maximize their situation. I can’t fault them for it. But I think Hurley wants a certain type of player that wants to be here and be part of a tradition that’s bigger than just them, but also serves to help them get in the league and showcase their ability.

I am always skeptical on the talk of culture, etc. However, I think Hurley has really nailed down the culture thing. His guys are good players but even better people.

Hurley, ideally likes to lock down recruiting by early August except for specific situations.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Book it danno

If he wants to win in college, there's only one option from that final four.

 

[aburks41]

I am always skeptical on the talk of culture, etc. However, I think Hurley has really nailed down the culture thing. His guys are good players but even better people.

Hurley, ideally likes to lock down recruiting by early August except for specific situations.

Chief! I haven't seen you around these parts in a long time