Big East Helps UConn Draw Recruits

[scoscox]

What does it say about our program that we can't recruit without the help of being in a "good" conference?Pretty much says the Uconn name doesn't mean much. BS! I think being in the big east helping us is a myth. Our recruiting fell off because the guy doing the recruiting wasn't very good at recruiting plain and simple. Ollie was a straight up trash recruiter.

it took gonzaga almost 30 years to start recruiting at an elite level. conference affiliation has a big effect no matter who you are. UC's recruiting has taken a pretty big hit since leaving the Big East, meanwhile, Xavier and Butler recruit much better in the big east. the difference is night and day. UConn's basketball brand was big enough to sustain recruiting success, but it'd be naive to think it had no effect. Recruiting experts in the area have said as much.

 

[navery12]

Its a myth. Olliie was a trash recruiter. If we had spent the last 5 years with high seeds in the tourney, winning national titles and constantly in the top 10 and Ollie got off his rear end and put in the work recruits wouldn't care what conference we were in. It'd be about going to Uconn.

I mean, maybe it's a smaller difference. But the Big East is unquestionably an upgrade

 

[Palatine]

I mean, maybe it's a smaller difference. But the Big East is unquestionably an upgrade

We couldn't win the AAC, we were middle to bottom of the pack, so if we upgrade.....

But it's a lot easier on the athletic department travel department.

 

[navery12]

We couldn't win the AAC, we were middle to bottom of the pack, so if we upgrade.....

But it's a lot easier on the athletic department travel department.

I just want to tell you you're an idiot. This is the last response you'll get to me, feel free to try and spin this garbage to others

 

[YoungFree]

Memphis drew better recruits.

$$$$ drew better recruits

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Playing like total balls and turning Joey Brunk into an All America is sure to bring in the 5 stars

 

[TheChamps990411]

The only fact here is that recruits have specifically stated the big east when asking what they're looking forward to. Ignoring that is just stupid.

Their kids. They went to the school and coach that was the best fit. They could play in the big east with any other team. Point is Hurley in a short time is getting it done while Ollie didnt. Akok and Bouk are better than any recruit Ollie ever pulled in already and hes already got two more potential studs coming in next year. Oh yeah he also pulled in RJ Cole and Rich Springs who should be solid players for us.

 

[TheChamps990411]

it took gonzaga almost 30 years to start recruiting at an elite level. conference affiliation has a big effect no matter who you are. UC's recruiting has taken a pretty big hit since leaving the Big East

Youre going to seriously sit there and use Gonzaga as a comparison to Uconn? Ok.

You know what's been a bigger hit to our recruiting than leaving the big east? Our all time great hall of fame coach retiring. Ollie won with Calhouns recruits. When he had to get his own guys he failed. Miserably. Our recruiting failures rest squarely on the shoulders of Kevin Ollie not us leaving the conference. The man won a national title in his second season and was the talk of the cbb world and he couldn't turn that into recruiting success because he didnt put in the work. I dont want to hear about his highly rated class and how they all got hurt or transferred or whatever. Those kids weren't any good. Being back in the big east will help recruiting for sure but thats because its being sold that way. Kids at the end of the day are coming here to play for Dan Hurley.

 

[intlzncster]

We couldn't win the AAC, we were middle to bottom of the pack, so if we upgrade.....

But it's a lot easier on the athletic department travel department.

Because the program is static. Sweet no growth mentality tho.

Oh, and we have new folks running the show. In case you missed that as well.

 

[bendm]

does anyone have a list of the recruits at the game for us? that's gonna be what fixes things. old dogs cant learn new tricks.

 

[scoscox]

Youre going to seriously sit there and use Gonzaga as a comparison to Uconn? Ok.

You know what's been a bigger hit to our recruiting than leaving the big east? Our all time great hall of fame coach retiring. Ollie won with Calhouns recruits. When he had to get his own guys he failed. Miserably. Our recruiting failures rest squarely on the shoulders of Kevin Ollie not us leaving the conference. The man won a national title in his second season and was the talk of the cbb world and he couldn't turn that into recruiting success because he didnt put in the work. I dont want to hear about his highly rated class and how they all got hurt or transferred or whatever. Those kids weren't any good. Being back in the big east will help recruiting for sure but thats because its being sold that way. Kids at the end of the day are coming here to play for Dan Hurley.

you're misinterpreting what i said. i was just using gonzaga to illustrate how hard it is to recruit outside of the power conferences. i agree with everything else. all of that stuff is true. it's also true that it's more difficult to recruit outside of the power conferences.

 

[PChoops]

Damn that's why I love this board you guys come at your own.... PC board.....ppl are delusional

 

[Psolo12]

Their kids. They went to the school and coach that was the best fit. They could play in the big east with any other team. Point is Hurley in a short time is getting it done while Ollie didnt. Akok and Bouk are better than any recruit Ollie ever pulled in already and hes already got two more potential studs coming in next year. Oh yeah he also pulled in RJ Cole and Rich Springs who should be solid players for us.

They said the big east was one of the main reasons they came here. That is a fact. I'm not seeing how your point relates to mine or any concrete facts that refute that the big east is a draw for recruits.

 

[tentoes4rings]

We couldn't win the AAC, we were middle to bottom of the pack, so if we upgrade.....

But it's a lot easier on the athletic department travel department.

Still frustrates me how mediocre we were during our time in the AAC. Just a 5 year period we can hopefully all delete from our memories. The Big East and having a coach who actually works will help tremendously.

 

[TheChamps990411]

They said the big east was one of the main reasons they came here. That is a fact. I'm not seeing how your point relates to mine or any concrete facts that refute that the big east is a draw for recruits.

Im not saying it has no draw power what im telling you is that Ollie failed because he was a lousy recruiter not because we weren't in the big east. Im also saying that what's going to determine a kid coming here or not is the coach not the conference. You guys have attached yourselves to this narrative that we stunk and couldn't recruit because we were in the big east and just because a recruit says thee conference is a factor all of you just jump on that as the definitive proof that the conference was the problem. Its nonsense! We lost an all time great coach and his replacement won a national title with Calhouns recruits and when it came time to get his guys he failed miserably. Its a known fact that Ollie was not a good recruiter.

 

[Watchdog]

Its a myth. Olliie was a trash recruiter. If we had spent the last 5 years with high seeds in the tourney, winning national titles and constantly in the top 10 and Ollie got off his rear end and put in the work recruits wouldn't care what conference we were in. It'd be about going to Uconn.

As in Gonzaga? Or even the UConn Women's team? Totally agree.

 

[olehead]

Im not saying it has no draw power what im telling you is that Ollie failed because he was a lousy recruiter not because we weren't in the big east. Im also saying that what's going to determine a kid coming here or not is the coach not the conference. You guys have attached yourselves to this narrative that we stunk and couldn't recruit because we were in the big east and just because a recruit says thee conference is a factor all of you just jump on that as the definitive proof that the conference was the problem. Its nonsense! We lost an all time great coach and his replacement won a national title with Calhouns recruits and when it came time to get his guys he failed miserably. Its a known fact that Ollie was not a good recruiter.

Probably both have had an impact on recruiting. A dropoff in recruiting during the KO regime and the return to the Big East serving as a catalyst to our recruiting good fortune.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Probably both have had an impact on recruiting. A dropoff in recruiting during the KO regime and the return to the Big East serving as a catalyst to our recruiting good fortune.

It does help for sure but not to the degree people here and in the media would like to think especially as far as it being the reason Ollie couldn't recruit.

 

[TheChamps990411]

As in Gonzaga? Or even the UConn Women's team? Totally agree.

Yeah lets compare the women's team and Gonzaga with Uconn. smdh

 

[Mazhude]

Still frustrates me how mediocre we were during our time in the AAC. Just a 5 year period we can hopefully all delete from our memories. The Big East and having a coach who actually works will help tremendously.

It helps, from this perspective, to remember that the NCAA has officially requested that we scrub some part of this time from our collective memories.

 

[gtcam]

Its a myth. Olliie was a trash recruiter. If we had spent the last 5 years with high seeds in the tourney, winning national titles and constantly in the top 10 and Ollie got off his rear end and put in the work recruits wouldn't care what conference we were in. It'd be about going to Uconn.

lala land

 

[TheChamps990411]

lala land

Funny how RJ Cole,Bouknight, Akok and Gaffney were all signed before there was any news of us going to the BE. Those 4 alone appear to be better than any recruit Ollie ever brought in. Soooo yeah, looks like youre the one in lalaland.

 

[TheChamps990411]

you're misinterpreting what i said. i was just using gonzaga to illustrate how hard it is to recruit outside of the power conferences. i agree with everything else. all of that stuff is true. it's also true that it's more difficult to recruit outside of the power conferences.

I understand that but also understand that Gonzaga is not Uconn. If our conference Is the reason we can no longer recruit high level talent then the Uconn brand doesn't carry the weight that these same critics blaming conference for recruiting claim it has. Like I said in a previous post DH got RJ,Bouk,Akok and Gaffney here before we even had a sniff of joining the NBE. Im sorry I just dont buy the narrative of the AAC is what killed the program the last few years. I absolutely agree it had some negative effect but nowhere near what people are making it.

 

[scoscox]

I understand that but also understand that Gonzaga is not Uconn. If our conference Is the reason we can no longer recruit high level talent then the Uconn brand doesn't carry the weight that these same critics blaming conference for recruiting claim it has. Like I said in a previous post DH got RJ,Bouk,Akok and Gaffney here before we even had a sniff of joining the NBE. Im sorry I just dont buy the narrative of the AAC is what killed the program the last few years. I absolutely agree it had some negative effect but nowhere near what people are making it.

you're seeing disagreement where there is none. i wasn't comparing gonzaga and uconn. i was using gonzaga to illustrate the point that it's extremely difficult to recruit at a high level when you're not in the P5/Big East. kids want to play on tv every night. you acknowledge that and so we don't disagree.

 

[upstater]

Youre going to seriously sit there and use Gonzaga as a comparison to Uconn? Ok.

You know what's been a bigger hit to our recruiting than leaving the big east? Our all time great hall of fame coach retiring. Ollie won with Calhouns recruits. When he had to get his own guys he failed. Miserably. Our recruiting failures rest squarely on the shoulders of Kevin Ollie not us leaving the conference. The man won a national title in his second season and was the talk of the cbb world and he couldn't turn that into recruiting success because he didnt put in the work. I dont want to hear about his highly rated class and how they all got hurt or transferred or whatever. Those kids weren't any good. Being back in the big east will help recruiting for sure but thats because its being sold that way. Kids at the end of the day are coming here to play for Dan Hurley.

Not this crap again.