Byron Jones: UConn DB A State Treasure

[sportsart]

Terrific athlete, terrific kid, from a terrific family. Very good read. The kid has a bright future.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...on-jones-0922-20110922,0,5481859.column#start

 

[21Huskies]

i don't follow much recruiting so i knew nothing about him, but i don't remember many guys being more impressive thru their first 3 games.

excited about his future

 

[UConnPete]

Jacobs off a little with his facts. We played Rutgers on Halloween in 2009, not Louisville.

 

[sportsart]

Jacobs off a little with his facts. We played Rutgers on Halloween in 2009, not Louisville.

Louisville was Jazz's last game.

 

[jeffjacobs]

Louisville was Jazz's last game.

You are correct Pete. I changed the date to Oct. 17, 2009 in the on-line story. Thanks for the catch.

 

[HuskyFan16]

wow, with the heat you take on this board, to walk into the lions den like this. and then actually post!? gotta say, shows a lot of sac. reminds me of when jason page used to frequent TOB. maybe Edsall's next?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I was more impressed by Jacobs walking into the middle of the tailgate at the lumber yard in Ann Arbor last year.

I actually enjoy Jacobs' stuff. Sure, some of it can be provocative and I don't always agree with his opinion, but it's an interesting read. This column on Jones was terrific.

 

[jbdphi]

It's funny, I used to place media people on a bit of a pedestal but when you think about it, they are just people doing their job like everybody else. And a very difficult job it is at that given all of the pressures that the newspaper industry is going through (anyone else see Neil Ostrout's tweets yesterday?). I think it's great that Jeff has logged in here and is open to having dialogue with fans in this forum. He does the same (in a more moderated forum) on the game day chats at the Courant's website and I've appreciated the dialogue we've had over there as well. Not a bad guy at all - we may just disagree on certain things at certain times (most notably on Calhoun). Welcome Jeff and thanks for participating.

 

[huskysupporter]

Great article. And only a redshirt freshman. On a great defense, Jones has really stood out, IMO. He looks like the fastest player on the field when he is out there. Bright future.

 

[Adios]

You are correct Pete. I changed the date to Oct. 17, 2009 in the on-line story. Thanks for the catch.

Can you get the Whalers to come back??

 

[freescooter]

this can't be accurate. UCONN never gets any local kids. Edsall didn't recruit Connecticut high schools.

 

[Palatine]

Stories like this is why it is important to recruit local kids. A story like this helps the the whole program and, obviously, could not be written about a kid from Ohio.

 

[BlueMAB]

Stories like this is why it is important to recruit local kids. A story like this helps the the whole program and, obviously, could be written about a kid from Ohio.

It's not a black and white issue. Stories like this couldn't be written about a local kid that spends his career as a backup.

They have to be playmakers first. If they are from Connecticut, then that's even better, but they have make an impact on the field before they can inspire other local kids to stay home.

 

[Palatine]

It's definitely black and white. Recruiting Connecticut players is critical to the success of the program.

 

[mets1090]

Getting our backups from CT now will help establish relationships with coaches that produce playmakers later.

Yes the same could be said of any state, but it is much easier to create those relationships in your own backyard.

 

[BlueMAB]

It's definitely black and white. Recruiting Connecticut players is critical to the success of the program.

Recruiting THE RIGHT Connecticut players is critical.

It would also be nice if you would stop pretending that kids don't have stories written about them in their local cities/towns, and acting like that doesn't also have a positive impact on our recruiting. Especially the New England kids.

 

[BlueMAB]

Getting our backups from CT now will help establish relationships with coaches that produce playmakers later.

Yes the same could be said of any state, but it is much easier to create those relationships in your own backyard.

Why would we want to establish and reinforce to local coaches that UConn is a good place to send their borderline D1 kids?

Coach P was brought in because he is supposed to already have those relationships. We can't fairly judge his recruiting going forward with the turmoil surrounding the conference, but I refuse to accept we should be pitching ourselves as a backup school. This is small time thinking with no place in BCS football.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Good solid start. Kid comes from a great family.

 

[freescooter]

It's definitely black and white. Recruiting Connecticut players is critical to the success of the program.

Of course that is insane. And nobody, not a single person got all excited because UCONN landed Byron Jones. Well, maybe the Jones family was. He was the 9th ranked player of the 10 1A recruits in Connecticut. We beat Akron & UNH for him as I recall. He was another 2 star kid who was looks to have been severely under appreciated by the recruiting services. You guys all whined because we didn't get Fortt & Redd. When we get this type of player, you and all your cronies do nothing but complain tha twe need to get the top local kids. When they turn out to BE top local kids, you say we should get more like him...so yo want us to recruit more 2 star local kids who turn out to be better than that? We've gotten kids like Byron every day of the week...Lutrus comes to mind. Campbell comes to mind.

 

[FluxTZ]

Colin Cowherd said something interesting the other morning: All the great quarterbacks in the NFL had to fight to get where they are today. Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, etc. They weren't #1 draft picks, they weren't the #1 high school recruit at their position. They were talented players with passion and motivation to succeed.

We don't always need the highest rated recruits - some of the best players we've had never were. I love seeing the Todman's and Easley's of our program grow and develop into incredible athletes. While it would be nice to get the highest rated recruits, I think we continue to do a great job with the players we have and it will only get better.

 

[rich1122]

Football, as opposed to basketball, allows kids to develop "into" good athletes. Basketball, except for the big guys, not so much.