I generally don't do too many long posts, but here goes. Until this offseason I've been pretty even-keeled about the direction of the program (at least compared to some other BYers) - our days of being a blue blood are probably over but we were not turning into a mid-major anytime soon. I pictured fielding a team comprised of recruits ranked 50-150 and that makes the tourney /spends time in the Top 25 more years than not. So maybe like a Cincy but with hopefully more tourney success (a low bar). As part of my view, I have been supportive of Ollie - an apologista I guess, even after what I thought was a truly horrific coaching job in '15/16. But no more. To state the obvious, although some people on this board still somehow refuse to acknowledge it, things are bad, really bad.
It took 27 years of deposits in the bank of brand equity to get our program to where it was, and we've withdrawn a lot of our savings much faster than I thought was possible. To me the key evidence is this: we really had 3 out of 4 guys transfer. Not 3 out of 8, since 4 of the returning guys were really stuck here (the 3 injured guys + JA). So we can rationalize it all we want (this one wanted more playing time, the other one's father sucks, etc.) but common sense tells you that if 75% of realistic transfers leave, all of whom would've played significant minutes, something is truly rotten. Even if this is wrong, perception is reality in recruiting and it must be shooting fish in a barrel to recruit vs. UConn these days. So what can be done by AD David Benedict and KO?
1.) KO needs to call in every favor he can this summer. We need to see Ray, Caron, Bazz, Boat, Rudy, Nate Miles (scratch that one) and all the great ambassadors of our program spending time in Storrs and it needs to be blasted on social media. KO has all these admirers in the NBA that talk a great game about him - can you call in a favor and get KD to visit and play pickup for a day or have LBJ talk about how great KO was as a mentor? Having our alumni and maybe others around and demonstrating that they care about the program could help change the dysfunctional narrative that must be going around in recruiting circles.
2.) There is no excitement at the games anymore. Much of this is unavoidable given our conference situation, but I'd like to see more of the games at Gampel and a bigger student section there that rings the whole floor. Probably not possible to do this for all games given that we need every $ from playing at the XL Center due to the pittance we receive from the AAC contract, but every little bit helps. I also 100% agree with the posters who say we need to market our brand more to SW CT. There is a ton of money there in the hands of young families with kids and this program is not currently tapping into any of it. Inexcusable. It's not going to be an overnight game changer, but let's market there, have the team spend a day or two in some of the communities there and move a few marquee games from the XL Center to Bridgeport. If the kids get into it, the parents will.
3.) I like Kill and Chill as recruiters, but think we need someone else on the staff with prior head coaching experience. If Calhoun saw fit to keep a guy like George Blaney around, that's good enough for me.
4.) Only fire KO if next year is a debacle AND we don't have a good recruiting class in 2018. There are no better realistic options at this point who have the potential to recruit good players into this conference. Just the way it is. But he needs to ABC (always be closing) on the recruiting trail in 2018 - he's not here for his Xs and Os.
5.) Stay the course in the AAC until the next round of realignment. Given how fast we are blowing through our brand equity due to the lack of excitement in the AAC, this is not as much of a no-brainer as I used to think it was. It sounds like a long time, but 2021(?) is not that far away. If you were faced with the choice of A.) making $300,000 per year at your current job but with a 20% chance of making $5,000,000 per year in 2021 if you stayed or B.) jumping to a new job where you'd be guaranteed $500,000 but would forego any chances at getting the $5,000,000 job, you'd choose A every time. If we miss out on the next round of realignment, which I think is likely but who knows, then it's hello NBE. And don't believe the PC fans saying they wouldn't want us - Econ 101 tells you there is a spot waiting for us there anytime we want it.
I'll close my longest post ever by saying that if this is the end of our national prominence (I don't think it is), it has been an unbelievable ride. I started going to games with my old man when I was a kid in the mid-80s and Gtown would come in with Alonzo Mourning and win by 30 points. Hell, I was on top of the world when they won the NIT in 1988. To think of the success and memories they've given us since then is mind-blowing - I would've said its more likely we'd be living on Mars in 30 years than UConn winning 1 championship in that period, let alone 4...But no need to get sentimental as this is not the end, just a massive bump in the road.
