How do we fix recruiting?

[Jimdish255]

Samuel and Omar are bench guys. Wings are being scared off by Purvis and Hamilton, PGs by Adams, centers by Brimah. By that, I mean the top guys who want starting jobs or big minutes as freshmen. PF's should not be scared off, but we have a ton already - Lubin, Facey, Enoch, Nolan - and can't afford to take anything but a top 25 guy who can step in and take the job on day 1.
I think Adams can succeed with this roster as a pass first PG who penetrates and shoots well enough to knock down open 3's. They need a rebounding monster of a 4 who can pass from the high post and hit a 15-17 ft jumper to let D Ham play outside against zones. It's not that he isn't good at the FT line taking that entry pass. It's just that he's not an offensive rebounder and neither is AB. They could also use John Gwynn.

Agree with part of this but we can't be putting most of the load on a young PG to dish and swish his way to the tourney. Even our better shooting PG's who were successful had guys they could kick out to or run off screens and drain jumpers. We had no one to consistently do that this year and along with pathetic rebounding it killed us. Anyone who suggests a do-it-all PG is the answer is wrong, wrong, wrong. Anyone who can step on the court and consistently hit an open three should be in contention for p/t next year and it doesn't matter who has to set screens to bust him open as long as there's 1 guy down low to fight for the rebound.

We'll still be young in some areas next year but we should expect a lot of improvement or at least more consistency from guys who were getting their feet wet this year And a good class coming in so far. I am a little more concerned about losing Boat's ballhandling and who picks up that slack without getting us turned over by pressure D.

 

[3rdbass]

Adams is supposedly legit, a Top 30 kid. Enoch is a late riser ranked around 100th overall, so really a low-end 4-star. I wouldn't expect too much out of him next year. Similar to Facey two years ago and Lubin this year.

Enoch is actually rated a little bit higher than you have him. I guess if you are just using ESPN he is bottom but his average is around 72. Which is better than Kelis Fisher. I have seen him play on TV and he is definitely has a bigger frame and more offensive tools than Kelis Fisher. Whether that translates to the college game next year is unknown but to assume he is going to be the same type of project as Kelis Fisher is probably a little too premature.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/steve-enoch

 

[businesslawyer]

We've got a lot of talent in Hamilton and Purvis.

Here's a controversial opinion. We need to recruit a real point guard. We haven't actually had one since Price. The NC teams couldn't even score that well (although last year's was better than most years.) What we've had was tiny shooting guards running the point. You want to score..you need a floor general and someone who can run an offense. We've got to get out of this midget shooting guard pattern. I know it worked with Shabazz and Kemba..but that's because they were great. In most cases it won't..and that experiment will never produce a lot of points.

Implying that Kemba and Shabazz weren't "real point guards" because they could score is absurd. However, I do think that Boatright is really a 2 guard in a 1 guard's body, and no offense to Boat but I think this team would have been much better if he was playing alongside a true lead point guard, like Shabazz, rather than a guy like Purvis who is not a passer at all.

 

[zymurg]

This thread has some thoughtful posts, but has often happens it has veered somewhat off course. In the immediate short term this spring
UCONN needs rotation players. I'd like a spot up shooter and another ball handler. Our current roster is inadequate, and where not inadequate is filled with entirely too many questions. A 5th year senior would be a blessing if he could play. I'm sure the staff is aware of these problems.

For the medium and longer term I have one thought that I haven't seen discussed. Is the staff recruiting for the best possible talent, or are they recruiting for players who fit into Ollie's concept of the type of team he wants to put on the floor? It helps in recruiting if you know what you are looking for. Know the desired end and it is easier to find the proper path. Calhoun was very good at explaining to recruits and their parents how he saw the recruit fitting in to the UConn system (Calhoun system). He was also flexible enough to change his system according to the available talent. He always had a plan.

I'm not sure if Ollie has a plan in the same sense. He has a work ethic plan; he has a team building plan once the players arrive. Would UConn press more if UConn had a deeper team? Last season he figured out how to get the best out of what he had. My feeling is that Ollie
would like to play at a much faster pace; is he recruiting to fill holes on the current roster, or is he looking to restructure the roster so that he can play a different style? My feeling is that he is caught in the middle, and that is an uncomfortable place to be.

 

[Vuce]

2013: Purvis, Facey, Brimah, Samuel
2014: Hamilton, Cassell, Lubin
2015: Adams. Enoch

He's doing alright.

"allright" is the right word I think. He is not killing it and he is not falling flat. He is getting 1 player per class that is an immediate difference maker. At Uconn, it maintain the standard we are used to, that's not enough though. We need multiple impact players in every class. The recruiting is good but it's not good enough for Uconn. As someone else wrote in another thread - what should be "role players" for us are getting starter minutes. That won't lend itself to winning 23-25 regular season games per year which is what we need to get to the Tourney.

 

[Hugo]

Zy, your comment re: our recruiting plan or strategy is an interesting one. One specific issue that has bothered me, as it bothers a lot of us, is our lack of a secondary ball handler this year. Somehow we absolutely needed to land a good backup PG this season to help Boat. We didn't and IMO this became a major recruiting failure. I know there may be valid reasons that we missed out on PG's we offered, but I can't believe the staff thought that SC jr or TSam could fill this need. We had a need, but couldn't fill it and that need still exists for next year. Was this an isolated recruiting failure or a strategic recruiting failure ?

We can live with an isolated failure as teams always have these, but much harder to live with a strategic failure. We lost too many good players to replace them all in one year, but having no viable backup PG was and still is a major problem. We have used the 2 PG system (Bazz/Boat or KEA/Ricky) very successfully in the past and this is a major selling point to any potential PG recruit. Why are we still without another PG ?

KO is new at this recruiting game and is still learning, but I sense that he may be in that uncomfortable middle ground you mention.

 

[UCweCONN]

A year removed from winning the national championship, so far, we have offered scholarships to 33 Class of 2015 recruits and gotten commitments from 2. This is a 6% success rate. By comparison, Kentucky has offered 18 and signed 3 (I'm surprised they offered this many and it's still half of us), and Duke has offered 5 and signed 3 (60%) There lies the problem. Do we make recruits feel special? It's hard to believe that's possible with that many offers.

 

[mauconnfan]

How do we fix recruiting? We get really lucky right now, between now and the summer!

 

[UCweCONN]

How do we fix recruiting? We get really lucky right now, between now and the summer!

And hope for some firings and we can swoop in pick over the carcasses. Vulture analogy.....

 

[caw]

A year removed from winning the national championship, so far, we have offered scholarships to 33 Class of 2015 recruits and gotten commitments from 2. This is a 6% success rate. By comparison, Kentucky has offered 18 and signed 3 (I'm surprised they offered this many and it's still half of us), and Duke has offered 5 and signed 3 (60%) There lies the problem. Do we make recruits feel special? It's hard to believe that's possible with that many offers.

Possibly but I'm not sure thats accurate, in terms of showing love (or whatever). I mean UConn did show two kids love, they committed, then UConn lost them for various reasons. That has precipitated going after other players late in the game and not being able to make up ground and get them in many cases.

Duke got their first choices to stick and UK is still waiting on their first choices to choose. You don't think UK will offer other kids if Newman/Maker/etc fall through?

 

[UCweCONN]

Possibly but I'm not sure thats accurate, in terms of showing love (or whatever). I mean UConn did show two kids love, they committed, then UConn lost them for various reasons. That has precipitated going after other players late in the game and not being able to make up ground and get them in many cases.

Duke got their first choices to stick and UK is still waiting on their first choices to choose. You don't think UK will offer other kids if Newman/Maker/etc fall through?

Why haven't we offered Maker? He's a game changer.

 

[Stainmaster]

Why haven't we offered Maker? He's a game changer.

His handler is the same guy who screwed us over with Ater Majok.

 

[David 76]

This is going to be real important year in the KO reign. There are no more JC players left in the fold. Everyone on the club are KO's recruits. We will see how next years team stacks up.

Not Calhoun & Nolan. So if KO has a good year next year people can still say he didn't do it on his own.

 

[David 76]

Zy, your comment re: our recruiting plan or strategy is an interesting one. One specific issue that has bothered me, as it bothers a lot of us, is our lack of a secondary ball handler this year. Somehow we absolutely needed to land a good backup PG this season to help Boat. We didn't and IMO this became a major recruiting failure. I know there may be valid reasons that we missed out on PG's we offered, but I can't believe the staff thought that SC jr or TSam could fill this need. We had a need, but couldn't fill it and that need still exists for next year. Was this an isolated recruiting failure or a strategic recruiting failure ?

I think they thought TS and SCJr, would be better than they were. KO also talked in the summer about RP playing some point. I'm not down on the team or KO but it is scarey that the coaches mis-evaluated their ball handling skills. Especially seeing most of the coaches were primarily ball handlers. I just hope it was a learning lesson.

 

[carlos]

Jalen adams will be the most talented guard on the team next year along with hamilton. Adams is a difference maker in all aspects and has won every place he's been along with every MVP award possible. I think with him on the team the future is bright.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Not Calhoun & Nolan. So if KO has a good year next year people can still say he didn't do it on his own.

KO was on the staff with the "Calhoun" players.

It's not like he came from the outside and inherited players.

He developed last years players and this years too.

The "Calhoun" players are his players too.

 

[pnow15]

This is mainly about a backup point. We need one. We need a big man coach. We need Brimah to be used correctly on offense.
Our recruiting under Ollie has been fine. Except for the backup point. Their was no officiating in the game against SMU.
I thought the Nolan- Brimah showed promise. Would have like to see Nolan set interior picks for Brimah setting up the little jumper.
We need a point guard disparately. Adams could be a transcendent player and may not be with us long.
We need another point guard. Oh did I mention the need for another point guard.

 

[UCweCONN]

His handler is the same guy who screwed us over with Ater Majok.

I say let bygones be bygones.

 

[Stainmaster]

I say let bygones be bygones.

He's bad news, bottom line. I have no confirmation of this (just my own suspicions), but I have a feeling that he could be shopping the kid out to schools. Dirty stuff. That kind of shenanigans gives me a bad vibe re. possible recruiting violations again.

 

[tennmike]

I agree with you 76. I think KO and staff missed all over the place this year.

• I believe that they thought TS would be a competent back up point guard...he wasn't. The coaches continued to show confidence in him all year despite his shortcomings. Can't dribble, shoot, pass effectively, put us playing 4 on 5 or 3 on 5 if you discount our PF position as well. Why he ever was the guy chosen to inbound the ball under our own basket is mind boggling. Can't pass and gets frazzled.
  
• Why was SC allowed to come in slow or out of shape? Was it not apparent before he stepped on campus?
  
• ...they thought AB's development would be greater. For all the effort and shot blocking, his negatives were pronounced. KO should not have awarded captaincy to a guy with so little hoops knowledge, regardless of his team cheer leading attitude. Even his posture in the paint is bad...hunched over stick legs. That's not in the best position to move. I'm not a D1 coach, but get the guy in a reasonably athletic position.
  
• ...they thought that Kelis Fisher, PN and AB would handle themselves adequately on the boards and chip in a few points. Wrong again. Neither Kelis Fisher nor PN would start on a decent team.
• Hamilton's rebounding and ability to pass the ball was a complete surprise. If he was the gunner the 'experts" said he was, we would have been royally screwed. Hell, AB can thank him for nearly half of his points.

The weak side rebounding plagued us all year - that's technique, awareness and coaching.
The total lack of out of bounds plays...coaching. Just chuck the ball down the other end of the court so the bad guys can't get it is not a productive plan.
When the shot clock was under 15 seconds, everyone with any sense knew that the ball would be in Boat's hands and he would have to do something brilliant, which he often did. You can't be a complete team without keeping the other team guessing every once in a while.

KO seems a terrifically solid person and mentor to these young athletes, but I do not see great assessment or development from his coaches. The shotgun approach to recruiting hasn't worked thus far. I can only hope that there is a plan for a few players that are unknown to us right now.

The scary part is that we all hope for development this off season, but we lose our best player and other teams are going to get better as well. We aren't developing in a vacuum. We have some serious needs that development of existing players will not completely fill.

 

[David 76]

KO was on the staff with the "Calhoun" players.

It's not like he came from the outside and inherited players.

He developed last years players and this years too.

The "Calhoun" players are his players too.

I think you missed what I was responding too

 

[Stainmaster]

KO should not have awarded captaincy to a guy with so little hoops knowledge, regardless of his team cheer leading attitude.

This highlights one huge deficit on this year's team: leadership. Boat is great, but one man can't shoulder the load. Last year, Bazz had Giffey as a fellow senior who was extremely gritty, competitive, and articulate. Kromah as a grad transfer had an outstanding work ethic, and even Olander was mentioned as dabbling in a little mentorship of the younger bigs. Nobody was there to play those roles this year, and the burden for leadership fell solely on Boat's shoulders. Case in point: I agree with what you wrote here, but I have no idea who else should've been a captain in Brimah's place. Hopefully Purvis as an upperclassman can replace Boat in terms of those intangibles.

 

[Towney007]

1.) No true point guard. Boat off the ball compared to Boat with it were two different people.

2.) Need a banger. Big teams chewed this team up. Brimah's perfectly fine and I was pleased with this development - but the lack of a second, genuine physical presence down low slaughtered this team. As soon as Brimah got into foul trouble - which was a lot - you could pretty much bank on 8-10 points in the paint fast.

3.) I'm going to get OBLITERATED here for saying this - but Ryan Boatright felt like a problem. Not him doing anything wrong, but when he was on the floor it felt like the team spent more time trying to get out of his way than attempting to create anything. There were a few times where this team looked completely different when it fell on their shoulders to create. That falls on them a lot, too; I mean Boatright you'd think would make this stuff easier - but as lot of the time, it felt like Boat's teammates were as caught up about him being on the floor as the other team was. If I saw them run one more listless iso play with the ball in his hands...

4.) Inability to create their own energy. Saw it countless times on the road. Saw it in Houston. Saw it in Tulsa. Even saw it at Tulane. Team couldn't get up and create energy and life for itself on the road.

Enoch and Adams should help a ton. Stone would be a total coup but i'm not counting on that happening.

 

[Matrim55]

Why was SC allowed to come in slow or out of shape?

Or with a broken leg...

Was it not apparent before he stepped on campus?

Because it wasn't broken then.

 

[MDHusky]

Right now the Huskies have the 20th rated recruit class. There's still time to improve. I kind of remember some very late additions that UConn was able to get in recent seasons: Kromah, Deandre Daniels, and Andre Drummond.

And, I do think KO will get 1 more player who will be a key contributor for next season.

Let's see what happens in the next couple of months, and then evaluate our roster additions for 2015/2016.

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

Can someone tell me why we didnt get Kris Dunn? There had to be a reason why a CT star like him went to Providence. I really did think he was a star when i saw him in high school and he is just starting to reach his potential.

 

[caw]

Can someone tell me why we didnt get Kris Dunn? There had to be a reason why a CT star like him went to Providence. I really did think he was a star when i saw him in high school and he is just starting to reach his potential.

Limited recruiting because of penalties.
Had Boat and Napier on the roster already.
No scholarship available after Omar Calhoun accepted.

 

[Pudge]

Go ALL-Hoiberg

Hoiberg proved something. We do well getting kids to believe in our UConn Husky family & tradition. But ... We have holes. We aren't getting the broader wide class we once found. Hoiberg found transfers that were eager to upgrade. And like Giffey ... We can plug some with Euro. We are in a different world than Calhoun faced in the BE.

 

[UCfor3]

We obviously have glaring specific needs for a competent ball handler, a shooter, and someone that can rebound against the SMU's of the world. The rebounder doesn't have to be built like a Lubin , but he needs to just not be a string bean. He also most importantly needs to be an athletic, quick leaper that could react quick to the ball and rebound out of his area. The reason Hamilton led us this year and Napier almost led us last year is our big men need the ball to come off the rim directly to them for them to snatch it. With all that said, what this team needs most is talent regardless of position. I'll take a shooting guard/wing in a heartbeat that has talent even if he doesn't fit the need criteria. Perhaps Bruce Brown will be that guy. When DHam gets pushed to the 4 next year in certain situations, we will still be rotating Samuel, Cassell Jr and Omar at the empty wing spot. Too often this year that became a choice of who hurts us the least and not who helps us the most. This team just simply needs more Uconn level players. I am done being picky about the position they play because 2015 is too picked over. We could worry about that for 2016 and hope it doesn't hurt us too much next year. If we grab one of these ball handlers left and they are not good enough then there is another scholly tied up for 4 years. Obviously if something shakes loose from another program that is a different story....I remember all the great posts from 3 over the summer documenting who Ollie was watching at all the camps and tourneys. It seemed so optimistic like he was the talk of the recruiting trail. I completely get trying to capitalize on the championship by courting top 40 studs but at this point unless the prospect is an east coast kid or we have some sort of "in" does it make sense to recruit more of the 50 to 100 kids hard right off the bat rather than going for broke and risk coming up empty and then playing come from behind with the 2nd tier guys who are also very talented.

 

[caw]

I agree with you 76. I think KO and staff missed all over the place this year.

• I believe that they thought TS would be a competent back up point guard...he wasn't. The coaches continued to show confidence in him all year despite his shortcomings. Can't dribble, shoot, pass effectively, put us playing 4 on 5 or 3 on 5 if you discount our PF position as well. Why he ever was the guy chosen to inbound the ball under our own basket is mind boggling. Can't pass and gets frazzled.
  
• Why was SC allowed to come in slow or out of shape? Was it not apparent before he stepped on campus?
  
• ...they thought AB's development would be greater. For all the effort and shot blocking, his negatives were pronounced. KO should not have awarded captaincy to a guy with so little hoops knowledge, regardless of his team cheer leading attitude. Even his posture in the paint is bad...hunched over stick legs. That's not in the best position to move. I'm not a D1 coach, but get the guy in a reasonably athletic position.
  
• ...they thought that Kelis Fisher, PN and AB would handle themselves adequately on the boards and chip in a few points. Wrong again. Neither Kelis Fisher nor PN would start on a decent team.
• Hamilton's rebounding and ability to pass the ball was a complete surprise. If he was the gunner the 'experts" said he was, we would have been royally screwed. Hell, AB can thank him for nearly half of his points.

The weak side rebounding plagued us all year - that's technique, awareness and coaching.
The total lack of out of bounds plays...coaching. Just chuck the ball down the other end of the court so the bad guys can't get it is not a productive plan.
When the shot clock was under 15 seconds, everyone with any sense knew that the ball would be in Boat's hands and he would have to do something brilliant, which he often did. You can't be a complete team without keeping the other team guessing every once in a while.

KO seems a terrifically solid person and mentor to these young athletes, but I do not see great assessment or development from his coaches. The shotgun approach to recruiting hasn't worked thus far. I can only hope that there is a plan for a few players that are unknown to us right now.

The scary part is that we all hope for development this off season, but we lose our best player and other teams are going to get better as well. We aren't developing in a vacuum. We have some serious needs that development of existing players will not completely fill.

Part of it was also that the freshman class as a whole wasn't very impressive if you take out Okafor and the UK guys.