Considering we got the Death penalty in 2013....

[Uconn10922]

things could be worse.

 

[Jerry1714]

SMU football would take issue with your hyperbole

 

[Ewekon]

Please remember that UConn's APR citations and penalties were strictly voodoo perpetrated by Mark Emmert and the NCAA under increased public pressure. Conspiracy theorists will cite Emmert having been fired by UConn for being an historically negligent chancellor as a true indicator of revenge as motive. I find it hard to disagree.

There is no question that the men's APR and graduation rates were atrocious in the early 2000s. That the rules were changed mid stream to single out UConn, a program that had demonstrably improved in all academic areas, is not speculation. It is fact. Jim Calhoun didn't have a lot of friends to have his back either. He didn't manage academics well but that doesn't change the fact that we were the only school subject to a liquid rules process that helped get us the death penalty.

As for the semi death penalty of being relegated to the AAC, we can look no further than the exceedingly jealous and paranoid administration of Boston College and its former AD Gene DiFilippo. BCU bailed for the ACC in the midst of confidential strategy negotiations among Big East programs and an admittedly over zealous politico with higher aspirations in then Attorney General Dick Blumenthal sued BC (and Miami). BC, never without delusions of athletic grandeur, blocked UConn from joining the ACC in the second round of expansion to protect its laughingly unjustifiable self image as top dog in New England; status it never had and out of retribution toward the state of CT and the university for the lawsuit.

In hindsight. We made the wrong enemies.

 

[JMick]

He didn't manage academics well but that doesn't change the fact that we were the only school subject to a liquid rules process that helped get us the death penalty.

We did not get the "death penalty"

 

[Ewekon]

We did not get the "death penalty"

You're right and I know better. It just seems like it right now. We did get the 20 kicks in the nads penalty though and it was still voodoo.

 

[Travelman6]

Stupid BC. they screwed uconn. But that 0-18 in the ACC last year was a lot of fun as we were winning the aacT at the same time. They won 7 games last year and....what, 9 this year and 2-16 in the acc with wins against two other lowly opponents. They suck. That is karma hitting them very hard. I know they sucked before that 0-18 season too.

 

[Horatio]

The restrictions were a factor up until last year but this year is strictly about the injuries. We did have two grad. Transfer guys last year and that's a result of a scholarship reduction. I mean we should never get the point when need two Grade transfers. This season was supposed be our "restocking" of talent after the restrictions but the injuries came. It's crippling to have a lose of scholarships and then this many injuries.

 

[boog204]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I've never understood how the "sanctions" have really hurt us that much from a player standpoint. The idea that we HAD to take two grad transfers is ridiculous. We chose to take them after we swung and missed on other recruits. We weren't hampered. KO and the staff made the decision not to take a flyer on someone who might transfer out ala the Robert Swain's, Rob Garrison's, Jamaal Trice's of yesteryear. If your belief is that we "under" stock our roster due to a fear of future APR issues in regards to transfers, then I guess your view is adequate. But even in our heyday, we never had a "full" roster. JC always took a flyer on a couple guys who you knew were there to be a practice player.

We have about 38 threads bashing KO as a coach but always saying that the guy can recruit. So how can it be both ways in regards to the lingering effects of 2013?

 

[BUConn10]

It was only a death penalty because of the timing. The sanctions came right when UConn needed to be its strongest and have its most positive PR.

Instead the sanctions collided with APR and Calhoun leaving creating the perfect storm that played a major role in us getting passed over during conference realignment's most volatile period where our chances were the best.

So in effect, the indirect result of the sanctions is what became the death penalty, not the sanctions themselves. Death by slow suffocation.

 

[Fishy]

We got the purgatory sentence in 2014.