Everyone chillax

[Goat]

Has UConn ever needed an all all-star class to be in the mix? Sign the best you can. Train and condition them, teach them to play better. Motivate them to expect excellence. Produce Huskies. Repeat.

Purvis and Hamilton have committed. Wait and see who else will be there next season.

Phil Nolan committed on May 2, 2012, Several in this forum have anointed him the starting 5 for 2013-14. No one knew anything about him when he was signed.

Enjoy the peaks and valleys, but don't be manic.

 

[upstater]

Has UConn ever needed an all all-star class to be in the mix? Sign the best you can. Train and condition them, teach them to play better. Motivate them to expect excellence. Produce Huskies. Repeat.

Purvis and Hamilton have committed. Wait and see who else will be there next season.

Phil Nolan committed on May 2, 2012, Several in this forum have anointed him the starting 5 for 2013-14. No one knew anything about him when he was signed.

Enjoy the peaks and valleys, but don't be manic.

Good advice.

And remember the 2004 class:

Rudy Gay
Antonio Kellogg
Ed Nelson
AJ Price

Didn't result in a championship.

Hell, the 2005 class had us giddy too:

Andrew Bynum
Jeff Adrien
Marcus Johnson

And oh my god, check out 2006:

Jerome Dyson
Hasheem Thabeet
Curtis Kelly
Stanley Robinson
Doug Wiggins

In that 3 year period, Calhoun pulled in:

2 top 10 players: Bynum and Gay
2 top 20 players: Price and Robinson
5 top 50 players: Kelly, Thabeet, Dyson, Kellogg, Adrien
2 top 100 players: Johnson, Wiggins

And they couldn't win a championship.

Flash forward a few years. They lose out on their top recruits. No Brandon Jennings, Samardo Samuels, Tyreke Evans, Willie Warren, Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Brandin Knight, Dominic Cheek, Jordan Hamilton, Erik Murphy, Durand Scott, Josh Selby, Tobias Harris, Kevin Durant, Doron Lamb, Phil Pressey, Cory Joseph, Fab Melo, CJ Leslie.

Instead, Kemba Walker and a bunch of guys named Donnell Beverly, Chuck Okwandu, Alex Oriakhi, Niels Giffey, Tyler Olander, Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier and Roscoe Smith, win a national championship.

Of these, only Kemba, Oriakhi and Roscoe were coveted by other top schools.

 

[intlzncster]

I still remember us 'settling' for Emeka Okafor, over some guy who went to Arizona (?) State (?) (Isaiah Fox maybe?).

Clearly, I don't remember so well, but you get the point. One of the best misses in UConn history.

 

[upstater]

I still remember us 'settling' for Emeka Okafor, over some guy who went to Arizona (?) State (?) (Isaiah Fox maybe?).

Clearly, I don't remember so well, but you get the point. One of the best misses in UConn history.

We missed on 3 bigs that year. Jamal Sampson, Isaiah Fox, Ike Diogu.

 

[EricLA]

I haven't noticed that people AREN'T chillaxing on the board. During all the JC years that I can remember, I don't recall him EVER being as involved with as many top kids as Ollie is. Now that may be a factor of lack of reporting on the boards, my own lack of knowledge in following recruiting, JC's desire to keep a low profile, JC's desire to focus on less kids and cast a more narrow net, or other factors.

I think what fans are experiencing is an incredibly energetic Head Coach with a great supporting staff who are going balls to the wall to go out and land recruits. We have a great core - Boat and Daniels are juniors (both may jump after this year tho). Calhoun, Nolan and Tolksdorf are sophomores. Brimah, Samuel and Facey are freshmen (and Purvis will have 3 years so he's essentially part of this class). And we have Hamilton on board. Calhoun and Facey are 4 star recruits, and Hamilton is a 5 star recruit. Purvis also was a 5 star recruit when NC State got him in 2012.

I guess my point is that with so many irons in the fire, it's obvious that we won't get most of the guys on our "list". But I'm betting that we will get our share of "first choices" as Hamilton and Purvis clearly were. and as others have pointed out, often it was our back up options who led us to NC's (Walker and Okafor for example).

 

[Dogbreath2U]

We missed on 3 bigs that year. Jamal Sampson, Isaiah Fox, Ike Diogu.

deja vu...this is where Hooper comes in and says, "Actually Diogu was the next year" (or something like that). Not that it matters.

 

[tzznandrew]

deja vu...this is where Hooper comes in and says, "Actually Diogu was the next year" (or something like that). Not that it matters.

I literally almost posted that Diogu was the year later until I read this...

 

[HooperScooper]

deja vu...this is where Hooper comes in and says, "Actually Diogu was the next year" (or something like that). Not that it matters.

Yup, I was about to post that for like the 8th time in the last few months until I saw your post. Thanks for doing it for me. And thanks for making me feel like someone reads and remembers my post!

 

[intlzncster]

Yup, I was about to post that for like the 8th time in the last few months until I saw your post. Thanks for doing it for me. And thanks for making me feel like someone reads and remembers my post!

And I missed seeing all 8 of them! I guess the Okafor thing comes up ad nauseum, and I have the distinction of being completely derivative.

Granted, I skip most recruiting threads until somebody actually commits.

 

[Waquoit]

Let's be honest, if we don't sign one of these guys we've been chasing, it's not a good thing.

 

[ctchamps]

Let's be honest, if we don't sign one of these guys we've been chasing, it's not a good thing.

After reading upstater's lengthy post in this thread I'm just as nervous now if we get one or more of the recruits we're chasing. In other words we can't win or lose either way. It all depends on your perspective.

 

[upstater]

After reading upstater's lengthy post in this thread I'm just as nervous now if we get one or more of the recruits we're chasing. In other words we can't win or lose either way. It all depends on your perspective.

The guys I listed other than Durant were misses over a 3 year period. A lot of names that Calhoun missed on during that time.

 

[ctchamps]

The guys I listed other than Durant were misses over a 3 year period. A lot of names that Calhoun missed on during that time.

You gave examples where the more sccessful classes recruiting classes did not win an NC than the "less successful" recruiting classes. I wasn't being serious however.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We don't know if KO is going to be the same guy as JC.

JC reveled in being the underdog, with the blue-collar, lunchpail guys. KO might want, or need, to bring in the flashier, higher-ranked kids.

I, for one, wouldn't mind a good mix of expected superstars and role players.

 

[upstater]

You gave examples where the more sccessful classes recruiting classes did not win an NC than the "less successful" recruiting classes. I wasn't being serious however.

Yes, exactly. I was just pointing out that there were a ton of names listed, and it wasn't over a long period. Just 3 years.

 

[upstater]

We don't know if KO is going to be the same guy as JC.

JC reveled in being the underdog, with the blue-collar, lunchpail guys. KO might want, or need, to bring in the flashier, higher-ranked kids.

I, for one, wouldn't mind a good mix of expected superstars and role players.

JC went after the flashier higher-ranked kids though, so... it's not necessarily a style choice.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I get the point of that list, but let's not act like that 2009 team wasn't dominant for periods of time and didn't make the Final 4 with the nucleus of the players listed above.

 

[upstater]

I get the point of that list, but let's not act like that 2009 team wasn't dominant for periods of time and didn't make the Final 4 with the nucleus of the players listed above.

Well, the 2006 team too had a ton of talent and we looked for big things.

 

[Danzz]

I guess we should be recruiting players ranked between 100-200. Why are we wasting our time with top 100 kids? Naming kids who underachieved at UConn doesn't help our cause.

 

[aceboon]

What I'm not understanding is why all of the panic when all of our visits and impeding decisions are happening now? If Sept and Oct pass and all of our targets have went elsewhere then ok, panic away. But you can't make the sky is falling posts like Chelo did yesterday with guys who UConn had long stopped recruiting, that just shows you haven't been paying any attention to what's been going on. I'll give the pessimists Abu since its looking like its not going to happen, but its not like he's the only player we're recruiting at the 4, he may be the only of his type, but Robinson, White, and Larrier if needed can play there and are more skilled than him. I think some of you need some perspective, there are major programs who have zero commitments right now(IU, UCLA, Mich St among others) and they're heading into the same big period as UConn with all of their visits lined up, while UConn already has 2 in the bag from big time players in Hamilton and Purvis. Can we at least hold off on Doomsday until all of our prospects commit elsewhere?

 

[Danzz]

What I'm not understanding is why all of the panic when all of our visits and impeding decisions are happening now? If Sept and Oct pass and all of our targets have went elsewhere then ok, panic away. But you can't make the sky is falling posts like Chelo did yesterday with guys who UConn had long stopped recruiting, that just shows you haven't been paying any attention to what's been going on. I'll give the pessimists Abu since its looking like its not going to happen, but its not like he's the only player we're recruiting at the 4, he may be the only of his type, but Robinson, White, and Larrier if needed can play there and are more skilled than him. I think some of you need some perspective, there are major programs who have zero commitments right now(IU, UCLA, Mich St among others) and they're heading into the same big period as UConn with all of their visits lined up, while UConn already has 2 in the bag from big time players in Hamilton and Purvis. Can we at least hold off on Doomsday until all of our prospects commit elsewhere?

Nobody should panic. We are doing fine. This is going to be one very quick UConn team that will create matchup problems for our opponents.

 

[BFieldHusky]

What I'm not understanding is why all of the panic when all of our visits and impeding decisions are happening now? If Sept and Oct pass and all of our targets have went elsewhere then ok, panic away. But you can't make the sky is falling posts like Chelo did yesterday with guys who UConn had long stopped recruiting, that just shows you haven't been paying any attention to what's been going on. I'll give the pessimists Abu since its looking like its not going to happen, but its not like he's the only player we're recruiting at the 4, he may be the only of his type, but Robinson, White, and Larrier if needed can play there and are more skilled than him. I think some of you need some perspective, there are major programs who have zero commitments right now(IU, UCLA, Mich St among others) and they're heading into the same big period as UConn with all of their visits lined up, while UConn already has 2 in the bag from big time players in Hamilton and Purvis. Can we at least hold off on Doomsday until all of our prospects commit elsewhere?

Most rationale post we have seen here for a while. UCLA did just get a commitment from a top 50 wing player (Bluiett) but it is still early in the process. Next 2 months will say a lot.

 

[UConnDad]

All this speculation is so much fun to fill the void until the season begins . It is sooooo great to hear all the opinions of passionate fellow fans. Looking forward to the first game. Whoever we accept to play for our great program I feel confident that they will continue the tradition established by the greatest basketball program architect of all time! UCONN will continue to make boys into men and some into stars. The ride so far has been a joy and I am so eager for it to continue. Whoever we get will be fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity. Coach Ollie will not fail!

 

[husky91]

That's fine, but none of the top targets are predicted to UConn and and the hype 2 weeks ago was Abu, Snider and some top 3 and it's unlikely any of that materializes.

I think it's due to this crap AAC league.

What I'm not understanding is why all of the panic when all of our visits and impeding decisions are happening now? If Sept and Oct pass and all of our targets have went elsewhere then ok, panic away. But you can't make the sky is falling posts like Chelo did yesterday with guys who UConn had long stopped recruiting, that just shows you haven't been paying any attention to what's been going on. I'll give the pessimists Abu since its looking like its not going to happen, but its not like he's the only player we're recruiting at the 4, he may be the only of his type, but Robinson, White, and Larrier if needed can play there and are more skilled than him. I think some of you need some perspective, there are major programs who have zero commitments right now(IU, UCLA, Mich St among others) and they're heading into the same big period as UConn with all of their visits lined up, while UConn already has 2 in the bag from big time players in Hamilton and Purvis. Can we at least hold off on Doomsday until all of our prospects commit elsewhere?

 

[Fishy]

The league definitely will not help our cause.