Calhoun and recruiting

[MarieM]

Jeremy Lamb wasn't even ranked coming out of high school and you would look at him now and ask if he was a top 10 player all american coming out of high school ... its all politics with all american

 

[HooperScooper]

Jeremy Lamb wasn't even ranked coming out of high school and you would look at him now and ask if he was a top 10 player all american coming out of high school ... its all politics with all american

Well that's not exactly true. He was ranked in the 70's by most recruiting analysts. But your general premise is correct.

 

[John Fryer]

A better argument would be to say that Coach K recruits the few kids in the top 10 / top 25 that will fit into his program.... which is a program based on team concepts, as well as flopping, shooting 3s, and being white

You raised an interesting point. As I recall, when coach C came to UConn the men's team had very few black players. His first major success, IMO, was to change the perception of UConn being an unwelcoming environment for black basketball players.

The rest is, as they say, history.
Peace,

John Fryer

 

[MarieM]

Well that's not exactly true. He was ranked in the 70's by most recruiting analysts. But your general premise is correct.

he wasn't nationally ranked by espn or scout ...
- http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/100189/jeremy-lamb

- http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=4293719

 

[MarieM]

that goes to show you that Calhoun doesn't need 5 McDonald's all-american on his roster to win a championship

 

[Edward Sargent]

Alex Drummond wasn't a McD?

 

[Gurleyman]

AD wasn't in it because at the time it was selected he was listed in the 2012 class.

With that said, the interest in UConn with some of the top recruits has ebbed and flowed since the 99 NC. AJ Price and Rudy Gay were both highly rated at their positions and chose UConn over some very good programs. Although UConn has had some very highly ranked recruits most of them were spring signees. I might be wrong but I think all of the following signed in the spring: Donyell, Rip, Khalid, Charlie, Hasheem, Daniels and Drummond (note AD is a bit special since he's from CT). I might be wrong about Donyell and possibly one or two of the others.

Donyell was spring. We caught a break that the McDonald's A-A game was in Springfield that year, so he took an extra visit and that might have helped him commit, along with Syracuse's budding issues with the NCAA. Rip was a fall signing, though - he was actually just about the last one selected for the McD's game - just snuck in there (he was rated #36 in the fall and then jumped to #20 in the spring), but I think we got Freeman in the spring. Rip actually looked like a fish out of water in the McD's game - skinny as hell, missed a breakaway dunk, maybe made one shot the whole game - and then he shot 2-12 in his debut against Indiana. I remember thinking he wouldn't amount to much - so goes to show what my opinion is worth. Emeka was also a spring signing, along with Chad Wise.

 

[MarieM]

Alex Drummond wasn't a McD?

who?

alex oriakhi ?? Andre Drummond ?? you got mixed up
Oriakhi was a McD AA
Drummond wasn't he was stated as a 2012 player, if he would of stayed in his original class (2011) pretty sure he would of been an all american

 

[upstater]

You raised an interesting point. As I recall, when coach C came to UConn the men's team had very few black players. His first major success, IMO, was to change the perception of UConn being an unwelcoming environment for black basketball players.

The rest is, as they say, history.
Peace,

John Fryer

Huh? Really?

I admit to starting to follow UConn during its BE days, but UConn outside the Georgetown teams was the most black team in the conference. While others had Dan Calandrillo and John Pinone and Chris Mullin and Seikaly and Santifer and Donovan as the face of their teams, UConn was trotting out Tim Coles, McKay, Corny, Stormin' Norman, Giscombe, Hobbs and Kelley with a white Aleksinas thrown in. This was the early 80s. Before Calhoun got there, Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble were leading the team.

 

[HooperScooper]

he wasn't nationally ranked by espn or scout ...
- http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/100189/jeremy-lamb

- http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=4293719

On the Scout.com 2010 Rankings he was ranked #88. You're right, amazingly he wasn't ranked by ESPN. On the RSCI Composite Rankings he was ranked #78 overall - Rob Harrington of Prepstars had him at 73, Hoopmasters at 77, Scout at 88, Brick Oettinger of Prepstars at 58, Rivals.com at 76 and Scouts Inc. (ESPN) didn't have him in the top 100. I think they all missed badly on this one!

 

[Gurleyman]

I love how they have as a strength "ability to create" and then as a weakness "shooting off the dribble". Those two things usually go hand-in-hand, unless it's a point guard and you are talking more about creating for others when you say "ability to create".

 

[mauconnfan]

Huh? Really?

I admit to starting to follow UConn during its BE days, but UConn outside the Georgetown teams was the most black team in the conference. While others had Dan Calandrillo and John Pinone and Chris Mullin and Seikaly and Santifer and Donovan as the face of their teams, UConn was trotting out Tim Coles, McKay, Corny, Stormin' Norman, Giscombe, Hobbs and Kelley with a white Aleksinas thrown in. This was the early 80s. Before Calhoun got there, Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble were leading the team.

Prior Al Weston, Jeff Carr, Al Lewis, Cal Chapman, John Thomas, Jimmy Foster, Lee Otis Wilson, Earl Wilson, Mike McKay, Ray Broxton, Eddie Williams, Al Frederick, Willie McCloud...........the list goes on and on. They were only as "white" as most of the Yankee Conference was nothing more, nothing less on top of the Bog East thereafter. UConn was never considered in that respect from what I remember?!?

 

[MarieM]

On the Scout.com 2010 Rankings he was ranked #88. You're right, amazingly he wasn't ranked by ESPN. On the RSCI Composite Rankings he was ranked #78 overall - Rob Harrington of Prepstars had him at 73, Hoopmasters at 77, Scout at 88, Brick Oettinger of Prepstars at 58, Rivals.com at 76 and Scouts Inc. (ESPN) didn't have him in the top 100. I think they all missed badly on this one!

scout and espn are the major rankings that everyone looks at ..