Florida Gulf Coast, other Sweet 16 teams thriving without highly touted recruits

[HooperScooper]

For the people here who think we need a bunch of 5 star recruits to win. There are plenty of unheralded recruits who can play.

Florida Gulf Coast, other Sweet 16 teams thriving without highly touted recruits

 

[CTBasketball]

It takes good recruits to have a good season. If you think a team can go 25-5 in a power conference with 1 star/2 star recruits you are delusional. Look at Providence, they get like 2-4 star recruits and a couple McD's All-Americans and they're still garbage.

The tournament is a different story, anything can happen.

 

[BearJWS]

For the people here who think we need a bunch of 5 star recruits to win. There are plenty of unheralded recruits who can play.

Florida Gulf Coast, other Sweet 16 teams thriving without highly touted recruits

No, but it sure makes life ALOT easier. FGCU is the first 15th seed ever to go to the Sweet 16.... Ever is a mightly long time in College Basketball. I'd rather a few 4-5 Star recruits & fill in with some others, like a lot of other big name teams that routinely challenge for National Championships do... But that is just me.

 

[Kitaman]

We Uconn fans should yawn at this article. Been there, done that and doing that. In fact Calhoun wrote the book.

 

[jibsey]

In the old days we had no choice but I really don't want to have 5 McD's because it's like playing with a loaded deck. The mix on the 2011 championship team was good, and it feels better winning from an underdog position.

 

[aceboon]

not sure what you guys are reading or what conclusion is being drawn from the post but I don't think anyone is saying it would be ok for KO to recruit an entire roster of 2 star kids, but that's its ok to recruit a kid in the 100s to supplement 4 and 5 star kids. That is the makeup that Indiana has, same thing with Michigan, Oladipo & Burke were both ranked in the 10os and a similar ranking to someone like say Terrence Samuel for instance. Now I'm not saying Samuel will be the next Burke or Oladipo, but signing someone like him shouldn't bring posters to their knees and cry about the death of the program like I've seen posters on here do. If KO can sign a top 30 kid or 2, and then supplement that with some top 75-100 kids, I don't see how adding kids who are outside the top 100 would be a problem if the staff is high on them. It would basically be duplicating the same formula that JC built and maintained the program on.

 

[EricLA]

In the old days we had no choice but I really don't want to have 5 McD's because it's like playing with a loaded deck. The mix on the 2011 championship team was good, and it feels better winning from an underdog position.

In theory what you say makes sense, but honestly, I loved each and every NC we won. I didn't give a rats ass if we were favored or not. Altho the season we won the BET playing 5 games in 5 days followed up with winning the NC was the most exciting...

 

[HooperScooper]

not sure what you guys are reading or what conclusion is being drawn from the post but I don't think anyone is saying it would be ok for KO to recruit an entire roster of 2 star kids, but that's its ok to recruit a kid in the 100s to supplement 4 and 5 star kids. That is the makeup that Indiana has, same thing with Michigan, Oladipo & Burke were both ranked in the 10os and a similar ranking to someone like say Terrence Samuel for instance. Now I'm not saying Samuel will be the next Burke or Oladipo, but signing someone like him shouldn't bring posters to their knees and cry about the death of the program like I've seen posters on here do. If KO can sign a top 30 kid or 2, and then supplement that with some top 75-100 kids, I don't see how adding kids who are outside the top 100 would be a problem if the staff is high on them. It would basically be duplicating the same formula that JC built and maintained the program on.

Ding, ding. Exactly my thoughts. Basically you have to trust your staff is bringing in the right kids. If a recruit isn't ranked in the top 100 you shouldn't automatically kill the staff for taking the kid.

 

[imno1]

Plus add at least on star to their ratings after KO coaches them.

 

[Pudge]

You simply have to get it out of your head that the Recruiting Services (Rivals, Scout, 247) know all that much. There is a consensus that builds around 20-30 kids; OK ... that's a clear sign. But, very quickly, you enter a PROJECTION mode and certainly (Jim Calhoun is one very good example) you see wide variation in play. Emeka Okafor to all the Higher Rated kids UConn took; sometimes you just have to see it play out.

 

[djct1999]

For the people here who think we need a bunch of 5 star recruits to win. There are plenty of unheralded recruits who can play.

Florida Gulf Coast, other Sweet 16 teams thriving without highly touted recruits

Correction, you need a bunch of highly quality recruits to consistently win......like 4 final fours and 3 nc's in 12 years!!!!! Stop with the comparison's of UConn with mid-majors or 15 seeds. UConn is a top 5 program. Compare us to Kentucky, Duke, UNC, or Kansas.....not Gonzaga or Butler and certainly not Florida Gulf Coast. I am not saying we need to go all-Calipari and recruit only top 20 kids, but we need to sustain what Coach Calhoun was always able to do.......a balance of a few top 100 guys who developed, a few top 50 guys, and always 1 or 2 top 2o guys.

 

[HooperScooper]

Correction, you need a bunch of highly quality recruits to consistently win......like 4 final fours and 3 nc's in 12 years!!!!! Stop with the comparison's of UConn with mid-majors or 15 seeds. UConn is a top 5 program. Compare us to Kentucky, Duke, UNC, or Kansas.....not Gonzaga or Butler and certainly not Florida Gulf Coast. I am not saying we need to go all-Calipari and recruit only top 20 kids, but we need to sustain what Coach Calhoun was always able to do.......a balance of a few top 100 guys who developed, a few top 50 guys, and always 1 or 2 top 2o guys.

Well, yes. I didn't say we should recruit like FGCU. I was just saying there are plenty of kids outside the top 100 who star in college basketball. That is all. Mixing in a couple sure fire players who were top recruits is always good.

 

[seanmc94]

It takes good recruits to have a good season. If you think a team can go 25-5 in a power conference with 1 star/2 star recruits you are delusional. Look at Providence, they get like 2-4 star recruits and a couple McD's All-Americans and they're still garbage.

The tournament is a different story, anything can happen.

by "garbage" you mean finishing one game behind UCONN? by "garbage" you mean a team that you had 2 OT games this year? That kind of garbage? Just curioous...who were our 4 star recruits?

 

[HooperScooper]

by "garbage" you mean finishing one game behind UCONN? by "garbage" you mean a team that you had 2 OT games this year? That kind of garbage? Just curioous...who were our 4 star recruits?

Dude, you spend a lot of time on our board. It seems you respond to every PC mention buried in any thread. I don't mean this in a demeaning way but I have to ask, is the PC board boring?

 

[seanmc94]

I like to multitask. Better question...why does PC come up so much on this board?

 

[HooperScooper]

I like to multitask. Better question...why does PC come up so much on this board?

That's a good question. I expect starting next year they will almost never come up. They'll be like UMass to us.

 

[seanmc94]

so your HC is going to be to *t to play us now?

 

[CTBasketball]

by "garbage" you mean finishing one game behind UCONN? by "garbage" you mean a team that you had 2 OT games this year? That kind of garbage? Just curioous...who were our 4 star recruits?

By garbage I meant Providence and the entire metropolitan area of Providence, RI. Congratulations, you played the least-skilled and gifted UConn team in recent memory and couldn't even beat them on your own floor. This UConn team would have made the tournament if eligible, while Providence made the NIT when eligible.

You should only really talk trash if you are the best. Talking trash when you go 19-15 and lose in the NIT does not mean you have bragging rights. Talking trash when you are bad is like white noise. It's annoying as hell to listen to, but you can't get rid of it because there will always be bottom-dwelling white noise. Have fun with brain-dead Ledo and the rest of your scally-wagon players. The only one I feel bad for is Dunn, because he's a CT kid and should've went to the U.

 

[HooperScooper]

so your HC is going to be to *t to play us now?

I think UConn will need to play better programs out of conference than PC. Like I've said about UMass, if UConn replaces some low major they play (they'll still have to play some of those games) with PC or UMass that's good because it's an upgrade. But don't use either for marquee out of conference games, which UConn will have to play more of while they're in this new conference. Sorry but PC or UMass don't carry much cache on the national scene. CBS won't be lining up to show those games. Just a fact of life.

 

[seanmc94]

By garbage I meant Providence and the entire metropolitan area of Providence, RI. Congratulations, you played the least-skilled and gifted UConn team in recent memory and couldn't even beat them on your own floor. This UConn team would have made the tournament if eligible, while Providence made the NIT when eligible.

You should only really talk trash if you are the best. Talking trash when you go 19-15 and lose in the NIT does not mean you have bragging rights. Talking trash when you are bad is like white noise. It's annoying as hell to listen to, but you can't get rid of it because there will always be bottom-dwelling white noise. Have fun with brain-dead Ledo and the rest of your scally-wagon players. The only one I feel bad for is Dunn, because he's a CT kid and should've went to the U.

What's a scally-wagon? Why did you want Dunn to go to Miami?

 

[RS9999X]

Factor in transfer outs, illness, legal problems, attitude issues, early entry, etc. Some kids are prima donnas not role players. Much more complex dynamic than the article gets into. Coachable is a huge asset.

 

[Kitaman]

Better question...why does PC come up so much on this board?

This was a great zinger. It would have been a classic if you left this on us and never posted again. But you couldn't stop yourself could you? Thus ruining your best post ever.