Blake Harris

[upstater]

That's not unreasonable in a vacuum, but it speaks to the pattern that has developed here of kicking the can down the road.

Can't expect Ollie to reel in 2014 kids when it's only been his program a year.

Can't expect Ollie to reel in 2015 kids because we're still dealing with the sanctions.

Now, after the worst season in 30 years, we can't expect him to reel in 2017 kids - after already having lost half is roster and his top commit - because his associate head coach hasn't had time to recruit them?

It can't work both ways. If you're going to overhaul the program after a bad year, then you need to have a contingency plan that works on an accelerated timetable. I'm personally not distraught about losing Harris (it was unlikely a 3 star type was going to drastically change our fortunes next year), but if we don't bring in some horses soon - like grad transfers, who everybody has had time to recruit for the same amount of time - then he owes answers. And I'm not worried about him giving answers to people like me. I'm worried about him answering to his all-American junior point guard who believed in him but has watched the program around him mangled for all three years. That guy deserves better. He deserves a shot. Right now he's not getting it.

First, there is no consensus that Ollie is kicking these players off the team. They are leaving.

Second, it is April. Have a look at how many players are available. Barely any.

The idea that UConn was going to restock with talented players was always, frankly, preposterous.

 

[GemParty]

Ollie meet Harris this week for an in home. GTech was reported as also having one. Mizzou & Porter are on a roll. Chill isn't a miracle worker, yet. Was it reasonable to think he could get Harris for us, if he got him once prior?

 

[ctchamps]

Ollie meet Harris this week for an in home. GTech was reported as also having one. Mizzou & Porter are on a roll. Chill isn't a miracle worker, yet. Was it reasonable to think he could get Harris for us, if he got him once prior?

Of course it was reasonable to believe we had a chance. It's unreasonable to believe that something is set in stone. Sometimes odds are very low. Sometimes odds are higher. The odds were decent for Blake but not absolute.

Just for arguments sake, Chillious in recruiting Blake, could have sold Blake on the idea of playing with Porter. Well that could have made the decision to Mizzou more likely if we knew that pitch.

 

[navery12]

Of course it was reasonable to believe we had a chance. It's unreasonable to believe that something is set in stone. Sometimes odds are very low. Sometimes odds are higher. The odds were decent for Blake but not absolute.

Just for arguments sake, Chillious in recruiting Blake, could have sold Blake on the idea of playing with Porter. Well that could have made the decision to Mizzou more likely if we knew that pitch.

This was my fear of Harris/Mizzou. I'd imagine a big part of Chillious' recruiting pitch at UW for any recruit was the opportunity to play with both Porter brothers. Which at the time is an easy sell, but doesn't help him at UConn where that's no longer true

 

[Fishy]

I disagree. Another less then 500 season and i hear ollie is out. New AD is pissed and wants results yesterday

Not happening.

Given that they would have to pay $2-3M for someone else to coach in 2018-19 and pay Kevin Ollie about $11M not to coach in 2018-2019, you can be pretty well certain that anything but absolute disaster will bring Kevin Ollie back after next season.

 

[ctchamps]

This was my fear of Harris/Mizzou. I'd imagine a big part of Chillious' recruiting pitch at UW for any recruit was the opportunity to play with both Porter brothers. Which at the time is an easy sell, but doesn't help him at UConn where that's no longer true

And that's what you want from a great recruiter. Someone who is a great sales person who knows how to emphasize the positives. I bet @Chief00 has an every time he hears Chillious's name. I'm sure Chillious avoided the record of Washington and made Washington appear like a paradise. Was that deceitful? Depends on a lot of things which most of us aren't privy to.

Personally, if I was in a hiring position, I'd be approaching the positive people in these threads any day over the people who are approaching these events with the degree of emotional negativity they display. I wouldn't approach the superficial positive person but the people who recognize that problems exist and are looking for proactive ways to correct those problems as opposed to restating a negative position over and over again to get people to agree with their gloominess.

Getting Chillious was a coup that was as much a lucky break for KO and the program as it was about established relationships. I'm not throwing Glen under the bus, but if he was deficient in aspects to KO's coaching demands, a decent season this year may have kept KO from pushing him out even with the fortunate events that made Chillious available. Until I see evidence to the contrary I'm taking the position the firing of Miller and the hiring of Chillious was a short term negative with a long term positive. And was the one thing in a slew of events this season and postseason (but not preseason) that KO had complete control in undertaking.

The loss of players was very unfortunate. It set back the positive Chillious development. Vance was predictable from early in the season. The other players were less predictable but not shocking and in the end could be a positive. But that remains to be seen how lucky the staff gets at plugging this sudden gaping hole.

 

[InKembaITrust]

So Harris to Mizzou, whatever on to Tremont...

 

[champs99and04]

I don't think I would disagree with any of this. But I think you're missing my point, I'm not saying KO deserves a pass on this recruiting class for any of the reasons you stated, he doesn't deserve a pass at all. But some people (not saying it was you) seemed to think we'd hire Chillious and he'd have 5* guys commiting here for next year already. I'm not excusing Ollie on this recruiting class, but to expect Chillious to come in and have results in a few weeks is shortsighted. Not saying that was you, but I've seen multiple people already calling that hire a failure which is absurd.

Maybe it's the eternal optimist in me, but I'm not all that worried about next year. For the first time in a while we're bringing back our best player. The situation around him is far from ideal, but it helps to have a little bit of certainty knowing that the team runs through Jalen early next year. Still enough time to bring in some grad transfers who can help out next year. And who knows, maybe there's a nice surprise and Waters ends up here as well

This is definitely fair, and I apologize if it seemed like if I was putting words in your mouth. I do share your optimism about next year, but I think our upside is more limited without Durham.

@upstater nobody was expecting Chillious to re-stock the roster with five star talent, but as it stands now we're struggling to put enough bodies together to field a team. As for whether KO is pushing guys out...sure, he's not doing that, but he certainly does not appear to be running a program conducive to guys wanting to be here. It's absolutely fair - and reasonable, I think - to expect him to find guys in the grad market that can play at this level. Even at this stage in the game, it's not selling water in the desert to get somebody to buy in on the idea of playing with a championship caliber back court in a competitive conference. If we can't get guys from Green Bay or UMass to come here with tons of minutes available, there is a real problem.

 

[navery12]

This is definitely fair, and I apologize if it seemed like if I was putting words in your mouth. I do share your optimism about next year, but I think our upside is more limited without Durham.

@upstater nobody was expecting Chillious to re-stock the roster with five star talent, but as it stands now we're struggling to put enough bodies together to field a team. As for whether KO is pushing guys out...sure, he's not doing that, but he certainly does not appear to be running a program conducive to guys wanting to be here. It's absolutely fair - and reasonable, I think - to expect him to find guys in the grad market that can play at this level. Even at this stage in the game, it's not selling water in the desert to get somebody to buy in on the idea of playing with a championship caliber back court in a competitive conference. If we can't get guys from Green Bay or UMass to come here with tons of minutes available, there is a real problem.

Agreed on Durham, he's the one transfer that concerns me. Everyone else I feel like hurts, but we can at least replace even if it might be with a less talented player. A ball handler off the bench and a spot up shooter I think we can find. Someone with the upside of Durham, or even to rely on for minutes at the 4/5 I'm less optimistic about finding

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Now, after the worst season in 30 years, we can't expect him to reel in 2017 kids - after already having lost half is roster and his top commit - because his associate head coach hasn't had time to recruit them?

It can't work both ways. If you're going to overhaul the program after a bad year, then you need to have a contingency plan that works on an accelerated timetable.

I don't understand this "overhaul the program" stuff. Is the suggestion still that Ollie ran off the guys that left? That seems insane to me.

 

[superjohn]

This is definitely fair, and I apologize if it seemed like if I was putting words in your mouth. I do share your optimism about next year, but I think our upside is more limited without Durham.

@upstater nobody was expecting Chillious to re-stock the roster with five star talent, but as it stands now we're struggling to put enough bodies together to field a team. As for whether KO is pushing guys out...sure, he's not doing that, but he certainly does not appear to be running a program conducive to guys wanting to be here. It's absolutely fair - and reasonable, I think - to expect him to find guys in the grad market that can play at this level. Even at this stage in the game, it's not selling water in the desert to get somebody to buy in on the idea of playing with a championship caliber back court in a competitive conference. If we can't get guys from Green Bay or UMass to come here with tons of minutes available, there is a real problem.

Well said, don't understand why this is so hard to understand for some on the board.

 

[pj]

I disagree. Another less then 500 season and i hear ollie is out. New AD is pissed and wants results yesterday

Then why did the AD just extend KO's contract last November? I'm sure he's pissed and wants results, but that's not the same thing as wanting to fire his basketball coach.

 

[Stainmaster]

Then why did the AD just extend KO's contract last November? I'm sure he's pissed and wants results, but that's not the same thing as wanting to fire his basketball coach.

New AD also knows he can't do the same thing he did with football and hire the old coach -- no matter how many people here are begging for it.

Before Chief comes in and says something mind-numbingly stupid because he perceives that to be an insult to JC: how many 74-year-olds with a history of health problems would come out of retirement to coach in this dumpster fire of a conference and rebuild a team from the ground up?

 

[upstater]

Well said, don't understand why this is so hard to understand for some on the board.

I have no doubt we can fill the scholarships with just anyone. I have huge doubts that we can fill the scholarships with people who can play and help.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't understand this "overhaul the program" stuff. Is the suggestion still that Ollie ran off the guys that left? That seems insane to me.

I don't think he ran anybody off, and perhaps "overhaul" was hyperbole, but there seems to be a disconnect in communication somewhere along the line between coach and player.

I know transfers are not unique to us, but it would seem to me that the calculus that goes into recruiting a player is similar to the one that goes into retaining them, especially when we're as desperate for bodies as we are. I have to imagine that between last fall and now something about Ollie's temperament changed significantly, because the optics of the current situation just don't jive with how we've come to know him as a coach and personality. Even if Durham left on his own accord, something had to have happened to trigger that. Vance you can see, Durham and Enoch strike me as odd.

 

[superjohn]

I have no doubt we can fill the scholarships with just anyone. I have huge doubts that we can fill the scholarships with people who can play and help.

I have the same exact concerns.

 

[Coach J]

He committed before he even took his visit here - what does that say?

 

[AntG168]

He committed before he even took his visit here - what does that say?

That he really wanted to play with porter.....

 

[BUConn10]

That he really wanted to play with porter.....

*That the instagram likes are trending toward Missouri of all places, and he wants a piece.

 

[temery]

He committed before he even took his visit here - what does that say?

He was probably "entertained" well at other visits, and was hoping to be "entertained" elsewhere before committing?

 

[mauconnfan]

He committed before he even took his visit here - what does that say?

It tells me he never took a visit here so he liked what he saw at Mizzou.

This would only happen to UConn this has never happened before in the history of recruiting right? What a question.

 

[Blaneylover]

Not happening.

Given that they would have to pay $2-3M for someone else to coach in 2018-19 and pay Kevin Ollie about $11M not to coach in 2018-2019, you can be pretty well certain that anything but absolute disaster will bring Kevin Ollie back after next season.

 

[Coach J]

It tells me he never took a visit here so he liked what he saw at Mizzou.

This would only happen to UConn this has never happened before in the history of recruiting right? What a question.

Exactly, but apparently we weren't worth even getting a look at even if he did like what he saw at Mizzou. Duh!!! or maybe you can't fully comprehend the depth of "the question".

 

[Pudge]

This is definitely fair, and I apologize if it seemed like if I was putting words in your mouth. I do share your optimism about next year, but I think our upside is more limited without Durham.

@upstater nobody was expecting Chillious to re-stock the roster with five star talent, but as it stands now we're struggling to put enough bodies together to field a team. As for whether KO is pushing guys out...sure, he's not doing that, but he certainly does not appear to be running a program conducive to guys wanting to be here. It's absolutely fair - and reasonable, I think - to expect him to find guys in the grad market that can play at this level. Even at this stage in the game, it's not selling water in the desert to get somebody to buy in on the idea of playing with a championship caliber back court in a competitive conference. If we can't get guys from Green Bay or UMass to come here with tons of minutes available, there is a real problem.

Durham? What the heck did you see ...

 

[intlzncster]

Exactly, but apparently we weren't worth even getting a look at even if he did like what he saw at Mizzou. Duh!!! or maybe you can't fully comprehend the depth of "the question".

His point is that this happens all the time. A very common experience. It's happened to UCONN many times over the years.

To top it off, he's going to the school that hired a HC that he already commited to once. And the former #1 recruit.