Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Why Cooper Flagg fits UConn’s model of ‘basketball people'

[husky429]

Not holding my breath, as I assume it's Duke, however.....wouldn't he have said so by now?

No.

Even kids on an expedited schedule usually take a week or so to make an announcement after their last OV.

 

[jibsey]

Is the UCONN staff allowed contact once the visit is completed from coaches and players?
Hurley if he’s talked to him probably knows already if he’s coming or not.

 

[krinklecut]

Is the UCONN staff allowed contact once the visit is completed from coaches and players?
Hurley if he’s talked to him probably knows already if he’s coming or not.

Yea coaches are in constant contact with recruits aside from dead periods

 

[PNolanFan]

I know its a bit OT but I really dont understand the playing time situation at Duke, they have brought back most of the team from last year and brought in 4 top 25 players. They are going to have several 5 star recruits getting almost no minutes next year and then the following year they already have 2 5 star and 1 4 star forward signed, if they went out and got edgecombe and flagg they would literally have so many forwards, I just dont get the team building

 

[AdamaNation]

Well this isn't ideal

= drama and shiftiness quite often.

 

[auror]

I know its a bit OT but I really dont understand the playing time situation at Duke, they have brought back most of the team from last year and brought in 4 top 25 players. They are going to have several 5 star recruits getting almost no minutes next year and then the following year they already have 2 5 star and 1 4 star forward signed, if they went out and got edgecombe and flagg they would literally have so many forwards, I just dont get the team building

I think Edgecombe committing might cause some decommit/transfers at the end of the season honestly. They'd have like 6 2-guards on the roster.

 

[brihman]

Was Grant Hill even there at their first night?

You wasn’t with me shooting in the gym!

 

[HuskyFich]

I know its a bit OT but I really dont understand the playing time situation at Duke, they have brought back most of the team from last year and brought in 4 top 25 players. They are going to have several 5 star recruits getting almost no minutes next year and then the following year they already have 2 5 star and 1 4 star forward signed, if they went out and got edgecombe and flagg they would literally have so many forwards, I just dont get the team building

Calamari has tried this approach before as well. Just get the most top players he can; Then tries to run even PT based on 2 distinct groups. They look great all season long and then fold in March because the chemistry when platoons aren’t an option is complete trash.

If you listen to Hurley’s podcast with @RobDauster, you can hear him say one of his biggest realizations was you have to focus first and foremost on roster construction with complementary players. I couldn’t agree more.

 

[Ricker]

"Tenterhooks" seems to be the Boneyard Cooper Flagg post Duke mentality. (My word for the day that I always thought was 'tenderhooks') Being on the Boneyard is obviously a learning experience for me, as well as a way to keep my blood pressure up.

 

[Nate]

Proctor and Roach will be gone. The plan is to have Caleb and Jared but one could easily blow up and go in a weak draft. Schutt’s not a starter. Isaiah Evans can play 2/3 but VJ seems to want to wait until spring to decide to see what happens with the NBA decisions but there’s minutes available.

Obviously Pat at the 5 is a need and Cooper gets huge minutes regardless.

 

[TheRealKBuks]

I hate how smug Duke fans are.

I love how much Duke fans hate how boisterous we are.

 

[Verne]

There's no way Grant Hill spoiled that. If Hill knew so would a lot more people. He definitely goofed and thought the post was a commitment and then someone told him that it wasn't so he took it down.

 

[Mr. French]

Yea coaches are in constant contact with recruits aside from dead periods

Dead periods are only for in person…they still can talk to the recruits.

 

[gtcam]

This Flagg crap is getting sick.
If he goes to Dook, who at UConn is going to cry when the Dook bus makes it's annual return to Durham after the 1st weekend of the NCAAs as it has in recent history.
Playing with ten 5 star players has to be brutal and cannot create a great chemistry. To be a NC you have to mix in luck with chemistry. I think the Dookies just love to brag about their annual recruitment rankings but are too blind to see that, like Kentucky, it's not a recipe for NC tournament success.
If Flagg goes to UConn - awesome
If he goes to Dook, then he knows he can watch UConn play in the Final Four from the warmth of his Durham apartment.
The kid is a great talent, but UConn can live greatly without him.

 

[krinklecut]

Dead periods are only for in person…they still can talk to the recruits.

You’re right. For some reason I thought it was no contact at all, but that really doesn’t make sense.

 

[2Infinity]

J

Dead periods are only for in person…they still can talk to the recruits.

Just to expound on post, here is the exact definition from the NCAA:

What is a dead period?​

During a dead period a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.

 

[jibsey]

This Flagg crap is getting sick.
If he goes to Dook, who at UConn is going to cry when the Dook bus makes it's annual return to Durham after the 1st weekend of the NCAAs as it has in recent history.
Playing with ten 5 star players has to be brutal and cannot create a great chemistry. To be a NC you have to mix in luck with chemistry. I think the Dookies just love to brag about their annual recruitment rankings but are too blind to see that, like Kentucky, it's not a recipe for NC tournament success.
If Flagg goes to UConn - awesome
If he goes to Dook, then he knows he can watch UConn play in the Final Four from the warmth of his Durham apartment.
The kid is a great talent, but UConn can live greatly without him.

Hurley is recruiting at a very high level and we will be competitive with or without him IMO but should we get him, the highest recruits out there will certainly notice and it could be a game changer. We’ve won a lot of championships when not expected so if we start having a river of multiple 5 stars on the roster every year it changes things.

 

[Hoophound]

I'm not sure of the staff's itinerary, but they were in VA this weekend, not too far from Durham (3+hour drive). They may have already seen Cooper since his visit to Duke.

 

[Dove]

Just in case Cooper decides to let his Dook flag fly, remember these seven things:

Donovan Clingan
Samson Johnson
Tristan Newton
Stephon Castle
Alex Karaban

Cam!!!

And the rest of the Huskies who will mush on this season!!

 

[UConnJim]

It would be nice to get the #1 recruit, but top 5 recruits do not win NCAA championships, which is the goal. The last top 5 recruit (by 24/7 as Duke's Okafor was rated #6) that lead their team to the NCAA championship was Anthony Davis of Kentucky in 2012.

 

[husky429]

Dead periods are only for in person…they still can talk to the recruits.

A lot of families at low- and mid-major schools are advocating for no contact outside of live periods. They get pretty sick of being bothered. I don't blame them.

 

[DogMania]

This Flagg crap is getting sick.
If he goes to Dook, who at UConn is going to cry when the Dook bus makes it's annual return to Durham after the 1st weekend of the NCAAs as it has in recent history.
Playing with ten 5 star players has to be brutal and cannot create a great chemistry. To be a NC you have to mix in luck with chemistry. I think the Dookies just love to brag about their annual recruitment rankings but are too blind to see that, like Kentucky, it's not a recipe for NC tournament success.
If Flagg goes to UConn - awesome
If he goes to Dook, then he knows he can watch UConn play in the Final Four from the warmth of his Durham apartment.
The kid is a great talent, but UConn can live greatly without him.

Cooper is not the typical highly ranked recruit who often has their focus on turning heads and filling the stat sheet to make it to the next level as high a draft pick as possible. Not saying that all highly ranked recruits think that way, but many often behave that way in March. I've seen many a highly ranked player, guards in particular who have the ball in their hands the majority of the time, who end up shooting their team out of the tournament when they should be doing all the little things to help their team survive and advance.

It doesn't happen often, but I think Cooper can be one of those National Player of the Year, or at least one in the conversation, to lead a team to the national championship. He is the type of player who is going to elevate the talent around him and encourage a culture of working hard and winning. In that regard he is probably more important to Dook then he is to UConn, since that is already a major trait of UConn's culture. If he ends up choosing UConn, I think that will be one of the major deciding factors. Coach Hurley is all about working hard, working as a team and winning. Elevating the skills and capability of each player is big part of that but is done within the team construct.

 

[OkaForPrez]

It would be nice to get the #1 recruit, but top 5 recruits do not win NCAA championships, which is the goal. The last top 5 recruit (by 24/7 as Duke's Okafor was rated #6) that lead their team to the NCAA championship was Anthony Davis of Kentucky in 2012.

Correlation is not causation. The #1 guys keep going to teams who have too much talent and not enough experience / role players. If you meld the two, you can get the right result.

 

[TheHorde]

Correlation is not causation. The #1 guys keep going to teams who have too much talent and not enough experience / role players. If you meld the two, you can get the right result.

But the teams that typically get those players don’t keep players three and four years very often and are often lacking role players who are satisfied to stay and play 5, 10, or 15 minutes a game. When you have 10 4 and 5 star rated players on your roster, they don’t want to be role players. That’s why so many hit the portal.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I know its a bit OT but I really dont understand the playing time situation at Duke, they have brought back most of the team from last year and brought in 4 top 25 players. They are going to have several 5 star recruits getting almost no minutes next year and then the following year they already have 2 5 star and 1 4 star forward signed, if they went out and got edgecombe and flagg they would literally have so many forwards, I just dont get the team building

This is what happens when a program gets addicted to the concept of getting as many five stars as possible and concerns themselves less with thoughtful winning roster construction…

Since it’s Duke, I’m all for it. Crash & Burn!