Blaney doesn't think that Calhiun knows if he is going to return

[upstater]

Mark Few is never leaving Gonzaga. He isn't a beloved figure and isn't sought out by other big schools too often. He isn't on our list, I am almost sure of it. Miller is worth a phone call and Donovan may be too, but his family loves Gainesville as I understand it. Not only do the Gators pay him well, but there is no state income tax there.

Shaka is going to recruit very well imo. He has the personality, style of play and charisma kids like. He is young and the players will relate to him. He would be a recruiting juggernaut at UConn. The question is, can he coach successfully at the highest lever year in and year out?

I never said any of those guys would land at UConn. I wouldn't expect them to. They are the only relatively young guys (sub 50) out there (other than Jamie Dixon) that I could see future NBA prospects flocking to play for. Everyone else, Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens, etc., has to still prove themselves in terms of recruiting.

I don't buy this idea that Shaka would be a recruiting juggernaut. You can't expect him to pull in the players that Calhoun does. I'm not saying he's not good at recruiting. I am saying people come to UConn because of the proven capability to develop NBA players. Granted, Ray Allen (who wasn't a top recruit) and Donyell Marshall gave Calhoun the same chance about 8 years into Calhoun's tenure, but it took awhile for Calhoun to land such talents. The Dream Team had no one on it that stuck in the NBA (Tate George and Chris Smith had a cup of tea).

 

[freescooter]

Shaka Smart is recruiting well at Virginia Commonwealth, and more to the point, he's winning games. An Andre Drummond is never coming to VCU even if you offered to rename the school in his honor, for heaven sake. Of course you can't compare their recruiting with UCONN's but put Smart in Storrs and watch what he does. Mark Few, remember, didn't originate Gonzaga's success. Dan Monson started that program's rise to national prominence. Few built on that and kept it going. In fact you might even make a case that the program, as a program, statred with Monson's predecessor, Dan Fitzgerald. He had them in the tourney in 1995, and they were good, and won several regular season titles and got NIT bids in the years before that.

 

[upstater]

Shaka Smart is recruiting well at Virginia Commonwealth, and more to the point, he's winning games. An Andre Drummond is never coming to VCU even if you offered to rename the school in his honor, for heaven sake. Of course you can't compare their recruiting with UCONN's but put Smart in Storrs and watch what he does. Mark Few, remember, didn't originate Gonzaga's success. Dan Monson started that program's rise to national prominence. Few built on that and kept it going. In fact you might even make a case that the program, as a program, statred with Monson's predecessor, Dan Fitzgerald. He had them in the tourney in 1995, and they were good, and won several regular season titles and got NIT bids in the years before that.

A bunch of strawmen arguments.

First, Shaka Smart's starters were not recruited by Smart.

Second, no one is criticizing Smart for not landing Drummond at VCU. Please read more carefully. I didn't compare his recruiting at VCU with his recruiting potential at UConn. Where did you get that?

I'm comparing his potential for recruiting at UConn with recruiting by new coaches without a track record for producing NBA talent at schools like UConn. Sean Miller at Arizona, for instance, had 2 underwhelming recruiting years before landing a great class. He had coached a very winning Xavier team for 5 or 6 years prior to that, but during that period he did not produce a single NBA player.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I think Billy Donovan makes significantly more than Calhoun, not sure our State would ever agree to pay him what we would need to steal him from FL.
I'm not as sold yet on Shaka Smart as everyone else seems to be, he didn't build the VCU program himeslf as everyone seems to intimate, Anthony Grant had them in the great shape and made the NCAA tourney a couple times in the years just prior to Shaka's coming on board.

 

[Hoophound]

I think Billy Donovan makes significantly more than Calhoun, not sure our State would ever agree to pay him what we would need to steal him from FL.
I'm not as sold yet on Shaka Smart as everyone else seems to be, he didn't build the VCU program himeslf as everyone seems to intimate, Anthony Grant had them in the great shape and made the NCAA tourney a couple times in the years just prior to Shaka's coming on board.

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

Billy D. makes about $3,000,000. If he wants to come back to New England, he may look at it. Again, he is happy in Gainesville as I understand it.

Miller seems like the better chance. He is rumored to want to be on the east coast. If that's true, he would not turn down UConn. He would succeed here.

 

[upstater]

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

Billy D. makes about $3,000,000. If he wants to come back to New England, he may look at it. Again, he is happy in Gainesville as I understand it.

Miller seems like the better chance. He is rumored to want to be on the east coast. If that's true, he would not turn down UConn. He would succeed here.

He turned down Maryland, and his wife is from the Maryland area.

Once again, I wasn't saying that Dixon, Donovan, Miller, Few would be coming to UConn. I was saying that, outside those guys, I wouldn't expect any new coach to improve on Calhoun's recruiting.

 

[businesslawyer]

First JC nas earned the right to retire when he wants. However, he should not hold hostage the
Uconn program. If he hasn't made up his mind then keep it in house. How can letting this out benifit Uconn. This yearly gamesmanship must stop. If he comes bsck this year, holds scholarships for next year but does the same thing how is that a benifit to Uconn.

This is where I am. JC has every right to coach as long as he wants without the school removing him. Having said that, he does not have the right to hold the program hostage on an annual basis to get things that he wants. This was o.k. one time, if he felt he needed to push Hathaway out the door (whether he was right or wrong, I'm just saying I can live with a coach pulling that kind of power play once), but it can't happen annually without causing too much damage to the program. At some point soon, Manual or Herbst is going to have to make that clear.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

My mother is not particularly old, but she's old enough. She has a dog that is about a year old. Every now and again, she will ask me what would happen to the dog in the unfortunate event that her life's odometer stops advancing.

I don't want to mislead her, so I tell her that I view her and the dog as a package deal - if mom heads to the afterlife, unless my brothers decide to adopt it, the dog will join her very, very shortly. Perhaps even in a matter of minutes.

George needs to realize that we view him much the same way. If Jim goes, there will be a line of Boneyarders at the UConn hoop offices packing George's personal effects in boxes and possibly driving them to his house. We might even drive George back to his house if we have room.

You'd really kill the dog?

 

[freescooter]

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

And has won 27, 28 and 29 games in successive years. gone to the Final Four once and then won a first round game the following year. Won the CBI his first season as a head coach. I'd say he not only acts, looks, talks and walks successful...his record indicates that he is successful...Given our academic "shortcomings" of late, the fact that he was an academic all-american and an NCAA post graduate scholarship winner can't hurt public perceptions either...By the way, this notion that he didn't recruit anyone isn't totally facutal. He recruited the guy who was the 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder, as well as th epoint guard who led th eteam in assists and steals and minutes played. Whether they are NBA prospects, who knows,but one wouldn't expect too many of those at that level.

 

[Danzz]

This is where I am. JC has every right to coach as long as he wants without the school removing him. Having said that, he does not have the right to hold the program hostage on an annual basis to get things that he wants. This was o.k. one time, if he felt he needed to push Hathaway out the door (whether he was right or wrong, I'm just saying I can live with a coach pulling that kind of power play once), but it can't happen annually without causing too much damage to the program. At some point soon, Manual or Herbst is going to have to make that clear.

My feelings exactly.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I can't believe there are people who would actually be disappointed if Shaka Smart was the next coach at Uconn.

If people are waiting to "see if he can keep this up" I'll save you some time - he's going to win another 28+ games next year too. He's losing one player from last year's team (Bradford Burgess) and Burgess' brother is a member of his incoming recruiting class.

There's a reason why he was the clear #1 candidate at NC State and Illinois and he'll continue to be the #1 candidate at any high major job that opens up.

 

[Rumrunner]

Does anyone know if Calhoun attended the Nike Elite camp in VA over the weekend? I know every head coach of consequence was there, including Duke- Coach K, Williams- UNC, Self-KU, Cal-KY,Pitino- L'ville, Howland-UCLA, Izzo-MSU, etc. All the mid majors were there, Wright-VU, Stecens-But were also there.

 

[OkaForPrez]

And has won 27, 28 and 29 games in successive years. gone to the Final Four once and then won a first round game the following year. Won the CBI his first season as a head coach. I'd say he not only acts, looks, talks and walks successful...his record indicates that he is successful...Given our academic "shortcomings" of late, the fact that he was an academic all-american and an NCAA post graduate scholarship winner can't hurt public perceptions either...By the way, this notion that he didn't recruit anyone isn't totally facutal. He recruited the guy who was the 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder, as well as th epoint guard who led th eteam in assists and steals and minutes played. Whether they are NBA prospects, who knows,but one wouldn't expect too many of those at that level.

To support the numbers further, one of my good friends and fellow basketball junkies whose opinion I greatly value sat behind the VCU/UCLA bench at the garden for coaches vs. cancer either last year or the year before.

He said that juxtaposed against Ben Howland, Shaka appeared to be the far superior coach. His ability to engage and motivate his players and the level of respect he commanded were palpable. Anyone who has watched VCU compete knows that the guys Shaka puts out there will run through brick walls for him.

I don't know what makes a great recruiter, but as a basketball fan, I'll take class B talent that outworks their opponent every night out over class A that gets outworked.

 

[upstater]

I can't believe there are people who would actually be disappointed if Shaka Smart was the next coach at Uconn.

If people are waiting to "see if he can keep this up" I'll save you some time - he's going to win another 28+ games next year too. He's losing one player from last year's team (Bradford Burgess) and Burgess' brother is a member of his incoming recruiting class.

There's a reason why he was the clear #1 candidate at NC State and Illinois and he'll continue to be the #1 candidate at any high major job that opens up.

Who are the people who would be disappointed if Smart were the next UConn coach?

 

[Danzz]

Who are the people who would be disappointed if Smart were the next UConn coach?

What makes anyone think that a top coaching candidate would jump at the Uconn job? We will be coming off a down year or 2 of recruiting. The top candidates aren't going to want to rebuild a program in Storrs and play in a diluted BE. We are not getting Smart, Miller, Few, or Donavan. The reason for our success is a stubborn thick headed Irishman who established a reputation, recruited successfully and won 3 NCC's. It was a monumnental task and basicly the new coach would almost have to start over. It isn't impossible but it sure isn't one of the top job opportunities in the country.
We would be better off handing the job to Ollie because we aren't going to get one of the top guys.At least Ollie would bring continuity and an NBA background. Can Ollie coach? I have no idea but we stand a better chance with him rather than rolling the dice than some second tier guy.

 

[upstater]

What makes anyone think that a top coaching candidate would jump at the Uconn job? We will be coming off a down year or 2 of recruiting. The top candidates aren't going to want to rebuild a program in Storrs and play in a diluted BE. We are not getting Smart, Miller, Few, or Donavan. The reason for our success is a stubborn thick headed Irishman who established a reputation, recruited successfully and won 3 NCC's. It was a monumnental task and basicly the new coach would almost have to start over. It isn't impossible but it sure isn't one of the top job opportunities in the country.
We would be better off handing the job to Ollie because we aren't going to get one of the top guys.At least Ollie would bring continuity and an NBA background. Can Ollie coach? I have no idea but we stand a better chance with him rather than rolling the dice than some second tier guy.

Huh? Were you replying to what I wrote?

 

[superjohn]

I'm 100% sold on Shaka Smart and I think we can get him. I'll never understand the UConn fans who don't think we can get any big name coach, we are a national power. My guess is Calhoun is trying to get his way in who our successor will be. Whatever is going on behind the scenes it needs to be decided soon what will happen, the uncertainty is clearly hurting the program.

 

[Kitaman]

I'm 100% sold on Shaka Smart and I think we can get him. I'll never understand the UConn fans who don't think we can get any big name coach, we are a national power. My guess is Calhoun is trying to get his way in who our successor will be. Whatever is going on behind the scenes it needs to be decided soon what will happen, the uncertainty is clearly hurting the program.

Guys like Smart 'appear' to gain the respect of their players. I really am not sure if UConn needs a proven coach versus one who the players would die on the court for. Smart seems to be one of those coaches. Like Calhoun as the victories increase so do the chances of a NC. I personally would like to see a leader of men come to Storrs moreso than a coach with a lot of notches on his belt (i.e. victories). By the way this could include Ollie as well.

With the changes to the BE team roster and of course our current/future situation I don't think UConn is as attractive as it was say 5 years ago. It would take a relatively young stud of a coach to weather this storm and create a new path. Therefore my vote would be for a Ollie/Smart type, and roll the dice.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

What makes anyone think that a top coaching candidate would jump at the Uconn job? We will be coming off a down year or 2 of recruiting. The top candidates aren't going to want to rebuild a program in Storrs and play in a diluted BE. We are not getting Smart, Miller, Few, or Donavan. The reason for our success is a stubborn thick headed Irishman who established a reputation, recruited successfully and won 3 NCC's. It was a monumnental task and basicly the new coach would almost have to start over. It isn't impossible but it sure isn't one of the top job opportunities in the country.

Shaka's in a different category than those other guys, who are either firmly established where they are (Few and Donovan) or already have a big time job (Miller).

If you don't think Shaka would take the Uconn job, then you either think 1) he's waiting for a much better job (i.e. better than NC State, Illinois, and Uconn since he already turned those other schools down; or 2) he's perfectly happy at VCU and doesn't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.

I don't think for a second that #2 is true, so if #1 is true, what job is he waiting for that realistically could open up soon? Duke? Unc? Kansas? I suppose Calipari could bolt at any time. Tom Izzo's passed on the NBA multiple times now. Howland was probably in danger territory but now he's got an absurd recruiting class. Same for Tom Crean, but Brad Stevens would be the first choice even if Crean gets canned. Syracuse has Hopkins lined up. Where else is Shaka going?

 

[johnhuskies95]

UConn is absolutely an elite job.

Coaches want support from the fan base and support from the administration. With the clown Hathaway in charge the latter was an issue, but with Herbst and Manuel that shouldn't be a problem. UConn is in between two cities that produce a number of very good players every single year. They have the national prestige and tradition, a soon to be opened brand new practice facility and they're in a very good conference that has a lot of prestige and competitiveness, yet is also very winnable every year, which is huge.

All of that is very appealing to coaches.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I want to know why so many are convinced that JC is strong arming the administration. Please provide some insight as to why you believe this. The way I see it, he is being coy merely with a few in the press and thise morons are falling for it hook, line and sinker.

My belief on JC's remaining tenure here is that shy of some development to his health situation (that we do not know about at the moment and that JC may not even know about), JC will complete his current ontract and may even coach a year beyond this deal.

I still view (my opinion, nothing else) KO as the top candidate but within this opinion, if he isn't viewing this as his last job (basically, if Doris was correct in her statement that he wants to coach in the NCAA), I no longer want him taking over.

I also happen to believe that Shaka Smart is a legitimate candidate, that we can land him if we want to, that he may well be the best possible choice and that if there was any truth to what was published earlier (that he is holding out for the UConn job), it is because of a conversation or two that JC had with him, basically recruiting him to lead us for the next thirty years.

Too many are getting agitated over nothing. JC will do the right thing for the program, as will Manual and Herbst.

 

[superjohn]

FfldCntyFan, Being coy with a few in the media and these morons are falling for it hook line and sinker? What? Why the hell would Calhoun do this, he's trying to fake out the media for what reason? If you haven't noticed we are in a really crappy position and it's getting worse the longer Calhoun remains in silence. He told the media he would make a decision final 4 weekend regarding his future and now we hear from Blaney that he doesn't know if Calhoun is returning. Some of us think there must be something going on behind the scenes because it makes absolutely zero sense for him to drag this out. We have no frontcourt for next year as it stands now and we desperately need to change this, with recruits not knowing whether coach will come back they will not come here. I don't understand how anyone can't see that this is hurting our program.

 

[johnhuskies95]

FfldCntyFan, Being coy with a few in the media and these morons are falling for it hook line and sinker? What? Why the hell would Calhoun do this, he's trying to fake out the media for what reason? If you haven't noticed we are in a really crappy position and it's getting worse the longer Calhoun remains in silence. He told the media he would make a decision final 4 weekend regarding his future and now we hear from Blaney that he doesn't know if Calhoun is returning. Some of us think there must be something going on behind the scenes because it makes absolutely zero sense for him to drag this out. We have no frontcourt for next year as it stands now and we desperately need to change this, with recruits not knowing whether coach will come back they will not come here. I don't understand how anyone can't see that this is hurting our program.

If Calhoun announces right now that he's retiring, Boatright, Napier, and probably Daniels all leave.

Calhoun probably figures that if they change the apr dates, UConn has a good enough team with those guys to make the tournament and maybe even win a game or two. Without them, they're screwed.

But if Calhoun announces in late June or early July that he is retiring, those guys pretty much have to stay at UConn. It's kind of selfish, but Calhoun wants what's best for the program.

At least that's the only reason I could possibly see Calhoun holding out for.

 

[upstater]

FfldCntyFan, Being coy with a few in the media and these morons are falling for it hook line and sinker? What? Why the hell would Calhoun do this, he's trying to fake out the media for what reason? If you haven't noticed we are in a really crappy position and it's getting worse the longer Calhoun remains in silence. He told the media he would make a decision final 4 weekend regarding his future and now we hear from Blaney that he doesn't know if Calhoun is returning. Some of us think there must be something going on behind the scenes because it makes absolutely zero sense for him to drag this out. We have no frontcourt for next year as it stands now and we desperately need to change this, with recruits not knowing whether coach will come back they will not come here. I don't understand how anyone can't see that this is hurting our program.

Whatever his reason. I find the idea that he's trying to shoehorn Ollie into the position totally preposterous. Slam him all you want but the idea that he's playing a devilish game like that is hard to believe. To what purpose? It's not like they aren't going to go out and hire another coach regardless.

 

[superjohn]

It's certainly more preposterous to think Calhoun would wait until late June early July to announce he's retiring so that Napier, Boatright and Daniels can't transfer, that's something I'm positive Calhoun would never do.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

FfldCntyFan, Being coy with a few in the media and these morons are falling for it hook line and sinker? What? Why the hell would Calhoun do this, he's trying to fake out the media for what reason? If you haven't noticed we are in a really crappy position and it's getting worse the longer Calhoun remains in silence. He told the media he would make a decision final 4 weekend regarding his future and now we hear from Blaney that he doesn't know if Calhoun is returning. Some of us think there must be something going on behind the scenes because it makes absolutely zero sense for him to drag this out. We have no frontcourt for next year as it stands now and we desperately need to change this, with recruits not knowing whether coach will come back they will not come here. I don't understand how anyone can't see that this is hurting our program.

You're right superjohn. JC making an announcement will solve everything. The moment he does, Emmert will issue a public apology and reinstate our eligibilty for next year's tournament. Anthony Davis will announce that instead of entering the draft, he instead will transfer to UConn (at which point Emmert will state that as we were unduly punished, the one year transfer rule will be waived in his case.

Yes, JC's status is a problem at the moment.

 

[Ts5034]

I believe that Calhoun really wants to come back, but at the same time he knows exactly whats going on and how it could be hard landing recruits since he cannot guarantee he will be there for X number of years. Maybe deep down he knows this maybe the right time to walk away but thats obviously a tough decision after 25 years. He probably does not want to leave the program in the condition its in either. I kind of wish he left on top after 2011 because last season was nothing but BS from start to finish.

 

[superjohn]

FfldCntyFan, was that an attempt at humor? You lost me, I didn't say anything about how the NCAA is unjustly punishing us isn't a problem and unibrow isn't transferring here. Obviously the NCAA's BS position is a problem but if you don't think Calhoun's silence on whether he's coming back or not is also a problem than you're clueless.

 

[selles]

What makes anyone think that a top coaching candidate would jump at the Uconn job?

Eh, I think you underrate us in this post. The conference issue is a real one, but...you're taking over a program with 3 recent national titles, alums like Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton/Rudy Gay/Caron Butler/Kemba Walker, you're the most important sports team in the state, and you have the media and fan base to prove it. I think that's a pretty good job. If a coach has confidence in his ability to recruit, then I think this looks like a pretty darn good position. Coming off (or into) an expected down year is a plus, since it gives a chance to establish one's own identity and success.

 

[johnhuskies95]

It's certainly more preposterous to think Calhoun would wait until late June early July to announce he's retiring so that Napier, Boatright and Daniels can't transfer, that's something I'm positive Calhoun would never do.

Then why do you think he is waiting this long? So Ollie can get the job? Even if that was the case, I can almost guarantee you that Manuel would put Ollie in the same position that Luke Fickell was in this year at Ohio State, basically giving him a year to prove himself, but not giving him anything past that.

This isn't some ego trip for Calhoun. It's not like ESPN is going to be outside his house waiting for his decision. If he wanted attention he'd start talking more to the media.