Derrick Jones (Committed to UNLV)

[Fishy]

You are right, and the P5 thing may or may not have been issue for Mack, Jones, et al. My point was, I think recruiting would be through the roof if we were still in a P5 conference. Recruiting might still end up at an elite level, I am just saying that we'd be sitting pretty right now if we were in the ACC.

If anyone argues with you, they're deranged.

 

[Mooch82]

If anyone argues with you, they're deranged.

What's best case scenario for us from a conference realignment standpoint at this time? I haven't been paying attention to it much lately and there hasn't seemed to be much news. I think the NC in April made us forget for a while that we're in a little bit of a mess from a conference standpoint. I think we can ride our current momentum for a little while, but it may start to fade and recruiting may suffer if something doesn't happen within the next few years.

 

[Rico444]

Want to know why Mack wasn't coming here? T-Sam, Cassell, Calhoun, Purvis (potentially), Hamilton (likely), Jalen Adams are all going to be above him on the depth chart. There are three spots for these guys, but we're talking about 6 or 7 guys to play 3 spots. Plenty of playing time should open up the year after, but while guys like DeAndre and Kemba were OK with waiting a year to get significant minutes, some guys aren't alright with that. Mack would have probably been looking at ~10 minutes per game his freshman year. Not too surprising that he wasn't interested.

 

[Limbo Land]

We are not going to see the potential pay out for Ollie until next year. Most of these kids were be being recruited by some of these coaches for 4+ years. Hell we just got into the Mack game and to come in second after a less then 4 month courtship which is damn impressive. Calhoun had different kids on his radar then Ollie has now. Different teams with different philosophies between the two. The kids that matter are the next two years where the kids who were sophomores and juniors who watched us win are getting their first taste of recruiting.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So is there zero chance that he picks Kansas or Kentucky?

 

[Gurleyman]

People!!! Stop this. The arguments that UConn is too stacked at these positions or that UConn's conference is killing us cannot be supported when you realize that... 1. VCU has Williams and Larrier at the 2/3 2. VCU is in the A10 and UNLV is in the Mountain West. We are not losing these kids to either better conferences or schools with automatic playing time. I don't think anyone can say Mack is afraid of competition, not when he will be competing against Williams and Larrier for PT. Our conference will likely be a huge reason that we lose Stone to Wisconsin, but it plays practically no part in losing kids to VCU and UNLV. UConn will have a better strength of schedule than both these schools, and will appear on premium national TV 5x as many times.

Larrier is going to play a lot of 4 at VCU. Much more than Hamilton will play the 2 or 4 here. Hamilton is a 30+ mpg game player at his position, and there's no obvious way to slide the lineup around to make room for Hamilton and Mack on the floor at the same time, since we also have a loaded backcourt and three guys at the 4. Sure playing time may open up as a sophomore, but that assumes people leave early (no guarantee Hamilton leaves - we don't have enough info to go on yet other than that he looks good against DII teams) and that we don't recruit someone even better.

And kids don't look that far ahead. Mack admitted he analyzed every team thoroughly and wanted to play right away - and right away he would have to battle a 22-year old senior Calhoun for the right to back up Hamilton, who could dominate and stay 3 years for all he knows (family doesn't need money).

 

[UCFan1513]

Jones and Briscoe are announcing at 6 on ESPNU tonight right?

 

[Mooch82]

Jones and Briscoe are announcing at 6 on ESPNU tonight right?

Yes, don't get your hopes up.

Cross your fingers for Stone and another guard or wing in the spring.

 

[Deadrody]

Sometimes the arrogance around here is remarkable. UNLV has a lot of history, and plays in a place that is probably pretty appealing to a lot of kids. This notion that some 17 to 18 year old kid is going to choose a college based solely on what coach can "get them to the NBA" and that they think Kevin Ollie is always that guy, is just crazy. 99% of them aren't going to the NBA. Looking at the draft, you increasingly see that kids are drafted from all kinds of schools. If you have the talent, you can get drafted from most D1 schools.

So we should never be shocked if we lose a recruit to any P5 or strong mid major program any more than when a non-athlete student chooses to go elsewhere.

First of all, UNLV has a LITTLE history and all of it 20 years ago. So let's not get carried away with how wicked awesome UNLV is.

Beyond that, yeah Vegas is nice. If you're into that. But then, if that's your deciding factor, there are probably better places to go than UNLV.

And lastly, have you met kids today ? Yeah, 99% of the kids are not going to the NBA, but 99% of them think they ARE. Every school is selling kids on their ability to get them to the next level. So when you have demonstrated success there ? Yeah, big deal.

 

[David 76]

Want to know why Mack wasn't coming here? T-Sam, Cassell, Calhoun, Purvis (potentially), Hamilton (likely), Jalen Adams are all going to be above him on the depth chart. There are three spots for these guys, but we're talking about 6 or 7 guys to play 3 spots. Plenty of playing time should open up the year after, but while guys like DeAndre and Kemba were OK with waiting a year to get significant minutes, some guys aren't alright with that. Mack would have probably been looking at ~10 minutes per game his freshman year. Not too surprising that he wasn't interested.

1s are not 3s.
Hamilton and Calhoun vs Williams and Larrier

 

[Jluc]

You are right, and the P5 thing may or may not have been issue for Mack, Jones, et al. My point was, I think recruiting would be through the roof if we were still in a P5 conference. Recruiting might still end up at an elite level, I am just saying that we'd be sitting pretty right now if we were in the ACC.

Absolutely agree with you. My point was just that it was not the case for these three. But yes being in the AAC is hurting us big time with other recruits. Anybody who says otherwise is just in denial.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Want to know why Mack wasn't coming here? T-Sam, Cassell, Calhoun, Purvis (potentially), Hamilton (likely), Jalen Adams are all going to be above him on the depth chart. There are three spots for these guys, but we're talking about 6 or 7 guys to play 3 spots. Plenty of playing time should open up the year after, but while guys like DeAndre and Kemba were OK with waiting a year to get significant minutes, some guys aren't alright with that. Mack would have probably been looking at ~10 minutes per game his freshman year. Not too surprising that he wasn't interested.

Again, Kemba played 25mpg as a freshman.

 

[ctchamps]

We are not going to see the potential pay out for Ollie until next year. Most of these kids were be being recruited by some of these coaches for 4+ years. Hell we just got into the Mack game and to come in second after a less then 4 month courtship which is damn impressive. Calhoun had different kids on his radar then Ollie has now. Different teams with different philosophies between the two. The kids that matter are the next two years where the kids who were sophomores and juniors who watched us win are getting their first taste of recruiting.

I feel like we "back to the futured" two years ago and are hearing all the panic posting again. Or maybe it was more than two years ago since it seems like we've been doing this forever.

As soon as things go wrong we have people arguing the worst case scenarios, others arguing counter explanations and still others waiting to see which nonsense is correct. There are so many factors I can't see how any one really knows if this is a short term or long term problem or even if it's a problem. My guess is we weigh things in a manner that reflects our personality and/or mood.

I either lost it or found it because for the first time I'm not aggravated by any of this. The way recruiting has gone and the way people are reacting to it I find it's all good.

 

[caw]

You certainly have optimism, but you're over complicating this.

Briscoe is going to UK or SJU - most likely UK. We've been a distant 3rd for a while.

I don't know the last time we spoke to or watched Jones - he's going to UNLV.

Mack is the one we have a shot with - I'd say 40%. 40% doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies. I'll be disappointed if we don't get any of the three, but it's what I'm expecting.

Need to hope we get Stone (who we have a better shot with than anyone else at this point) and then get an under or de-commit wing in the spring. We'll be fine.

I think you missed the point of my post if you think I was being optimistic.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Larrier is going to play a lot of 4 at VCU. Much more than Hamilton will play the 2 or 4 here. Hamilton is a 30+ mpg game player at his position, and there's no obvious way to slide the lineup around to make room for Hamilton and Mack on the floor at the same time, since we also have a loaded backcourt and three guys at the 4. Sure playing time may open up as a sophomore, but that assumes people leave early (no guarantee Hamilton leaves - we don't have enough info to go on yet other than that he looks good against DII teams) and that we don't recruit someone even better.

And kids don't look that far ahead. Mack admitted he analyzed every team thoroughly and wanted to play right away - and right away he would have to battle a 22-year old senior Calhoun for the right to back up Hamilton, who could dominate and stay 3 years for all he knows (family doesn't need money).

Mack has a very good chance to bump Jordan Burgess down on the food chain for PT. I am sure Smart sold Mack on replacing Treveon Graham at the 3. For a guy who already told the general public that PT was his #1 priority this is not a hard sell for Shaka (who is smart and can deliver the message very clearly.)

The problem with VCU is they desperately need a BIG to act as the anchor to Havoc. MA-Cox is not the answer and that team will get sliced and diced (SHREDDED) against a good back court on a neutral site (The NCAA Tournament). Mack is a piece they need to replace with what they are losing in Graham.

 

[UConn990411]

Want to know why Mack wasn't coming here? T-Sam, Cassell, Calhoun, Purvis (potentially), Hamilton (likely), Jalen Adams are all going to be above him on the depth chart. There are three spots for these guys, but we're talking about 6 or 7 guys to play 3 spots. Plenty of playing time should open up the year after, but while guys like DeAndre and Kemba were OK with waiting a year to get significant minutes, some guys aren't alright with that. Mack would have probably been looking at ~10 minutes per game his freshman year. Not too surprising that he wasn't interested.

So Kentucky's able to stockpile potentially lottery picks at the same position, but UConn can't lock down any of their 3- to 4-year targets to come because they have other 2s and 3s on the roster?

Like I've said in other threads, I'm not going to lose sleep about UConn losing any of these guys - they have one good and one great player signed for 2015, and I'm confident they'll end up with another good recruit or two before all is said and done. Yet despite coming off a NC and opening the best practice facility in the country, the staff whiffed on Clarke and Mack and (in all likelihood) Jones.

Will they end up with good players in the end? If history is any indication, yes, they will. But it just doesn't seem like the staff has done a good job in recent months.

 

[RipCity]

Stone is infinitely more important to our future success than a wing.

Bigs may be our downfall this year and next year if we don't land Stone. In 2015 we're going to have at least 1 and more likely both of Hamilton and Calhoun.

No more tears

 

[dogfan96]

So Kentucky's able to stockpile potentially lottery picks at the same position, but UConn can't lock down any of their 3- to 4-year targets to come because they have other 2s and 3s on the roster?

Like I've said in other threads, I'm not going to lose sleep about UConn losing any of these guys - they have one good and one great player signed for 2015, and I'm confident they'll end up with another good recruit or two before all is said and done. Yet despite coming off a NC and opening the best practice facility in the country, the staff whiffed on Clarke and Mack and (in all likelihood) Jones.

Will they end up with good players in the end? If history is any indication, yes, they will. But that doesn't mean the staff hasn't done a poor job in recent months.

Just because guys went elsewhere doesn't mean the staff did a "poor job"

 

[Nova Fan]

FWIW, my son goes to Archbishop Carroll and word at school for some time is Derrick goes to UConn. His family attends every game and is very involved so it made sense to me he'd be a Huskie. I've seen him play many times and there's no doubt he's got talent. Good luck.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So Kentucky's able to stockpile potentially lottery picks at the same position, but UConn can't lock down any of their 3- to 4-year targets to come because they have other 2s and 3s on the roster?

Like I've said in other threads, I'm not going to lose sleep about UConn losing any of these guys - they have one good and one great player signed for 2015, and I'm confident they'll end up with another good recruit or two before all is said and done. Yet despite coming off a NC and opening the best practice facility in the country, the staff whiffed on Clarke and Mack and (in all likelihood) Jones.

Will they end up with good players in the end? If history is any indication, yes, they will. But it just doesn't seem like the staff has done a good job in recent months.

What is new about this? Good grief people, this is already a darned good class, with Stone it would be great. Staff is doing the job, kids will decide what they decide, for a variety of reasons. No reason to worry at all.

 

[Rico444]

1s are not 3s.
Hamilton and Calhoun vs Williams and Larrier

We play lots of three guard sets. Ollie even played a 3/4 combo at center for meaningful minutes in the NCAA Tournament last year, so I'm not convinced he would stick so literally to his lineup.

Again, Kemba played 25mpg as a freshman.

Fine, bad example. My point still stands: playing time would have been a factor here with the glut of guards we have.

 

[#1 PA Husky Fan]

Very credible source. UNLV. Disappointing.

 

[Limbo Land]

Always amazed at how many people have all these "credible sources". Not saying that I think he is coming here, not that you don't have a very credible source, just makes me wondered how so many people can be so plugged in to the high school basketball world... kind of frightening.

 

[JLock819]

UNLV/Rice sure can recruit, but man, his teams have been horrible on the court.

 

[Gurleyman]

So Kentucky's able to stockpile potentially lottery picks at the same position, but UConn can't lock down any of their 3- to 4-year targets to come because they have other 2s and 3s on the roster?
.

Everybody figured the entire Kentucky starting five was turning pro - and that Cauley-Stein and the Harrisons would be gone now. If a couple of this year's Kentucky freshmen had known they were walking into a five-man platoon system and looking at 15-20 mpg, there's a good chance that they would have chosen elsewhere.

Like I said in another thread, we could have said that we were set at the wing with Hamilton and Calhoun for the next two years and not even looked at a wing in this class - and none of us would have batted an eye. Instead, we went after some players we didn't need right away as an insurance policy against an early departure. I commend the staff for being proactive and trying to cover ourselves for any contingency, but I hardly consider it whiffing or a poor job when you are recruiting at a position where you are already two deep.