It has been worse before and UConn recovered

[UConnJim]

1982 to 1987 were dark time for UConn basketball:

1982/1983: 12-16
1983/1984: 13-15
1984/1985: 13-15
1985/1986: 12-16
1986/1987: 9-19 (Calhoun's first year)

In 82/83 season, we lost to Fairfield by 17. In 83/84 we lost by 27 to Syracuse, Georgetown by 25, and St. John's by 19. In 84/85, we lost to Fairfield by 7, St. John's by 33 and Georgetown by 21 and 29. In 85/86, we lost to Northeastern by 17 and Pitt by 28. In 86/87, we lost to Yale, Hartford, and St. Peter's by 25.

By 1986/1987, attendance had plummeted. UConn averaged 3,247 for home games at the Field House (capacity 4,604), 9,819 at the Civic Center (capacity 15,134), and 7,661 at the New Haven Coliseum (capacity 8,800). This included home games against #4 Purdue, Villanova, #7 Syracuse, #13 St. John's, Providence, #13 Georgetown, #8 Pitt, Bosotn College, UMass, URI, and Holy Cross.

1987/1988 started the turnaround as UConn went 21-14 and won the NIT and the fans started to come back. Attendance at the Field House increased to 3,877 and attendance at the Civic Center increased to 12,640.

The 1988/1989 season was somewhat disappointing with UConn going 18-13, but the fans continued to come back. Attendance increased to 4,604 at the Field House as all 5 games were sold out and increased to 15,006 at the Civic Center as 6 games sold out.

1989/1990 was the Dream Season and the season Gampel opened and the rest is history.

We will come back.

 

[Lefty2one]

Except everyone and their mother knows (since JC said it a thousand times) that the biggest tool Calhoun used to build up the program was selling the Big East. Come play in the Big East, come play against Syracuse and Georgetown. We don't have that, we don't have anything. We have the crappiest "sell" package of any great program of the last 25 years.

Come play in a great conference? Nope
Come play for a coach who produces lottery picks? Nope
Come play in a mediocre conference where you don't make a ton of 1k mile flights? Nope.
Come play before a rabid fanbase? Nope

 

[Horatio]

1982 to 1987 were dark time for UConn basketball:

1982/1983: 12-16
1983/1984: 13-15
1984/1985: 13-15
1985/1986: 12-16
1986/1987: 9-19 (Calhoun's first year)

In 82/83 season, we lost to Fairfield by 17. In 83/84 we lost by 27 to Syracuse, Georgetown by 25, and St. John's by 19. In 84/85, we lost to Fairfield by 7, St. John's by 33 and Georgetown by 21 and 29. In 85/86, we lost to Northeastern by 17 and Pitt by 28. In 86/87, we lost to Yale, Hartford, and St. Peter's by 25.

By 1986/1987, attendance had plummeted. UConn averaged 3,247 for home games at the Field House (capacity 4,604), 9,819 at the Civic Center (capacity 15,134), and 7,661 at the New Haven Coliseum (capacity 8,800). This included home games against #4 Purdue, Villanova, #7 Syracuse, #13 St. John's, Providence, #13 Georgetown, #8 Pitt, Bosotn College, UMass, URI, and Holy Cross.

1987/1988 started the turnaround as UConn went 21-14 and won the NIT and the fans started to come back. Attendance at the Field House increased to 3,877 and attendance at the Civic Center increased to 12,640.

The 1988/1989 season was somewhat disappointing with UConn going 18-13, but the fans continued to come back. Attendance increased to 4,604 at the Field House as all 5 games were sold out and increased to 15,006 at the Civic Center as 6 games sold out.

1989/1990 was the Dream Season and the season Gampel opened and the rest is history.

We will come back.

I appreciate you post but it's hard to "come
Back " when the governing body (NCAA) of your sport is against you.

 

[CL82]

Except everyone and their mother knows (since JC said it a thousand times) that the biggest tool Calhoun used to build up the program was selling the Big East. Come play in the Big East, come play against Syracuse and Georgetown.

Because we didn't have anything else to sell then. The facilities were horrible and we were a mediocre regional school. That's not the case anymore:

 

[Vancat]

true dat

 

[Guapo]

With the help of the Big East Conference.

#hinthint

 

[Banta55]

Except everyone and their mother knows (since JC said it a thousand times) that the biggest tool Calhoun used to build up the program was selling the Big East. Come play in the Big East, come play against Syracuse and Georgetown. We don't have that, we don't have anything. We have the crappiest "sell" package of any great program of the last 25 years.

Come play in a great conference? Nope
Come play for a coach who produces lottery picks? Nope
Come play in a mediocre conference where you don't make a ton of 1k mile flights? Nope.
Come play before a rabid fanbase? Nope

UConn is still a "brand" that a coach can sell...The whole conference situation is really overblown..For years the SEC was mediocre at best.. Didn't stop Florida and Kentucky from being elite, all about selling the brand...The fan base will come back.

 

[Guapo]

UConn is still a "brand" that a coach can sell...The whole conference situation is really overblown..For years the SEC was mediocre at best.. Didn't stop Florida and Kentucky from being elite, all about selling the brand...The fan base will come back.

Not to start a whole new thread on the subject, as we all know it has been beat to death, but the argument (at least for me) is not that the conference situation has been THE cause of our current predicament, but rather that it would be easier to rebuild the program in the NBE and that, just generally, the program would be more "fun" to follow.

I realize there are multiple opinions about this and you are entitled to yours, but that is mine and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UConn is still a "brand" that a coach can sell...The whole conference situation is really overblown..For years the SEC was mediocre at best.. Didn't stop Florida and Kentucky from being elite, all about selling the brand...The fan base will come back.

The current AAC recruiting pitch: "Come to _____________, and beat UConn."
Sorry.

 

[BUConn10]

Counter: The Big East was king, and we were in it. Media frenzy and people outside of CT actually GIVING A FK make improving a basketball program much, much easier.

/thread, no more of these lobs please.

 

[UConnJim]

Except everyone and their mother knows (since JC said it a thousand times) that the biggest tool Calhoun used to build up the program was selling the Big East. Come play in the Big East, come play against Syracuse and Georgetown. We don't have that, we don't have anything. We have the crappiest "sell" package of any great program of the last 25 years.

Come play in a great conference? Nope
Come play for a coach who produces lottery picks? Nope
Come play in a mediocre conference where you don't make a ton of 1k mile flights? Nope.
Come play before a rabid fanbase? Nope

I disagree. The schedule this year was great:

Oregon, Michigan St., Arkansas, Syracuse, Auburn, Arizona, Wichita St. 2x, Cincinnati 2x, Villanova, Temple 2x, SMU, Houston.

Unfortunately, we did not have the team this year to compete against that schedule.

Lottery picks? That is all about one and dones in this era. In the last 4 drafts, there have been 8 upperclassmen out of 56 lottery picks selected as lottery picks. And, it's hard to win the NCAA tournament with one and done. In fact, the last 5 teams that have won the NCAA championship, only one team, Duke in 2015, had a lottery pick.

Fanbase? Win and they will come. Lose, and lose ugly, and fans will not come.

What do we have to sell? Facilities are great. School is a very good public university. Alumni come back. We have 4 NCAA titles. We schedule great out of conference opponents and get invited to great tournaments. When we start winning again, fans will be there. And, hopefully, great coaching (may not be Ollie) to prepare kids for the next level.

 

[8893]

Counter: The Big East was king, and we were in it. Media frenzy and people outside of CT actually GIVING A FK make improving a basketball program much, much easier.

/thread, no more of these lobs please.

Were you even alive then, i.e., before 1987?

 

[PAHusky]

I think we as fans sometimes have a difficult time imagining what actually matters to kids when they commit to a school. Four national championships are an amazing achievement for us that follow the program, but I don't think it really moves the dial as much as we assume it does for recruits. I think the exposure the team gets after winning one is great, but even after the last one we won our recruiting didn't take off that noticeably. I think the priority for kids is simply 1. NBA or 2. big games/big stage and 3. fit and comfort. Simple as that. Practice facilities are cool, but most of the big schools we compete with in recruiting will have that.

 

[Travelman6]

Oregon, Michigan St., Arkansas, Syracuse, Auburn, Arizona, Wichita St. 2x, Cincinnati 2x, Villanova, Temple 2x, SMU, Houston.
.

I agree, that is a great schedule almost any year. All of those teams are either easily in March or at worst a bubble team (cuse, oregon who are both having down years).

Now if Temple and Memphis, like Uconn, could get their act together and performed better OVERALL and according to history, it would be an incredible slate of games. Plus UCF has not lived up to pre season expectations.

For a good solid Uconn team, that would be a perfectly fine OOC, maybe with a few tougher "cupcake" type games.

 

[Waquoit]

This is much worse than 82-87. The recruiting was much better back then. Who has Ollie recruited that will get drafted in the first round? Who will play in the league for over a decade?

 

[Tenspro2002]

Because we didn't have anything else to sell then. The facilities were horrible and we were a mediocre regional school. That's not the case anymore:

Winning is its own sales pitch, which KO completely squandered.

 

[PAHusky]

I agree, that is a great schedule almost any year. All of those teams are either easily in March or at worst a bubble team (cuse, oregon who are both having down years).

Now if Temple and Memphis, like Uconn, could get their act together and performed better OVERALL and according to history, it would be an incredible slate of games. Plus UCF has not lived up to pre season expectations.

For a good solid Uconn team, that would be a perfectly fine OOC, maybe with a few tougher "cupcake" type games.

Our OOC schedule is great, but the difference between that and the old Big East schedule is that we got the great match ups in the Big East later on in the year. Ollie's teams seem to consistently take awhile to gel, and when we front load the schedule with our toughest games that's a recipe for disaster. It's a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation - you want to schedule these marquee games, which our athletic department is doing a good job of, but it can also sink a season like this one where we're getting smoked early in the season and then we don't have many opportunities at all for signature wins later on.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think we as fans sometimes have a difficult time imagining what actually matters to kids when they commit to a school. Four national championships are an amazing achievement for us that follow the program, but I don't think it really moves the dial as much as we assume it does for recruits. I think the exposure the team gets after winning one is great, but even after the last one we won our recruiting didn't take off that noticeably. I think the priority for kids is simply 1. NBA or 2. big games/big stage and 3. fit and comfort. Simple as that. Practice facilities are cool, but most of the big schools we compete with in recruiting will have that.

If you develop players, they can get to the NBA, and recruits see that this program is a destination for NBA talent.
If you win enough games, you get to play on the big stage.

Failures in those two areas are not inherent to the program or what conference we play in. They are on the head coach.

 

[Stainmaster]

If you develop players, they can get to the NBA, and recruits see that this program is a destination for NBA talent.
If you win enough games, you get to play on the big stage.

Failures in those two areas are not inherent to the program or what conference we play in. They are on the head coach.

This isn't reductive at all...

 

[UConnJim]

This is much worse than 82-87. The recruiting was much better back then. Who has Ollie recruited that will get drafted in the first round? Who will play in the league for over a decade?

Recruiting was better? No, UConn was not getting top recruits although we did get a few kids who could play basketball like Cliff Robinson (2nd round draft pick), Phil Gamble (not drafted), and Earl Kelly (5th round draft pick). But the roster depth was nonexistent in those days. From 1982 to 1987 the highest a UConn kid was drafted was 3rd round, which in today's draft would be late 2nd round.

 

[UConn990411]

Trying to compare the 1980s to today’s landscape is absurd.

 

[Danzz]

Recruiting was better? No, UConn was not getting top recruits although we did get a few kids who could play basketball like Cliff Robinson (2nd round draft pick), Phil Gamble (not drafted), and Earl Kelly (5th round draft pick). But the roster depth was nonexistent in those days. From 1982 to 1987 the highest a UConn kid was drafted was 3rd round, which in today's draft would be late 2nd round.

As an aside, all 3 of those players were Perno recruits. You can add Corny Thompson to that list. Most of the players in those days came from the Northeast.
One of the great things JC did was to expand our recruiting coast to coast.

 

[Connrack]

I think we as fans sometimes have a difficult time imagining what actually matters to kids when they commit to a school. Four national championships are an amazing achievement for us that follow the program, but I don't think it really moves the dial as much as we assume it does for recruits. I think the exposure the team gets after winning one is great, but even after the last one we won our recruiting didn't take off that noticeably. I think the priority for kids is simply 1. NBA or 2. big games/big stage and 3. fit and comfort. Simple as that. Practice facilities are cool, but most of the big schools we compete with in recruiting will have that.

A coach who is a perennial winner and has a strong reputation for developing players presents a strong draw for recruits.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

1982 to 1987 were dark time for UConn basketball:

1982/1983: 12-16
1983/1984: 13-15
1984/1985: 13-15
1985/1986: 12-16
1986/1987: 9-19 (Calhoun's first year)

In 82/83 season, we lost to Fairfield by 17. In 83/84 we lost by 27 to Syracuse, Georgetown by 25, and St. John's by 19. In 84/85, we lost to Fairfield by 7, St. John's by 33 and Georgetown by 21 and 29. In 85/86, we lost to Northeastern by 17 and Pitt by 28. In 86/87, we lost to Yale, Hartford, and St. Peter's by 25.

By 1986/1987, attendance had plummeted. UConn averaged 3,247 for home games at the Field House (capacity 4,604), 9,819 at the Civic Center (capacity 15,134), and 7,661 at the New Haven Coliseum (capacity 8,800). This included home games against #4 Purdue, Villanova, #7 Syracuse, #13 St. John's, Providence, #13 Georgetown, #8 Pitt, Bosotn College, UMass, URI, and Holy Cross.

1987/1988 started the turnaround as UConn went 21-14 and won the NIT and the fans started to come back. Attendance at the Field House increased to 3,877 and attendance at the Civic Center increased to 12,640.

The 1988/1989 season was somewhat disappointing with UConn going 18-13, but the fans continued to come back. Attendance increased to 4,604 at the Field House as all 5 games were sold out and increased to 15,006 at the Civic Center as 6 games sold out.

1989/1990 was the Dream Season and the season Gampel opened and the rest is history.

We will come back.

I remember the point shaving scandal that probably took a few years off Hugh Greer life
That might have been the all time low. I think your team captain facing possible criminal charges for cheating during an actual game is pretty serious.
The destruction of the Big East as we faced suspension was also pretty low.

 

[AdamaNation]

Not to start a whole new thread on the subject, as we all know it has been beat to death, but the argument (at least for me) is not that the conference situation has been THE cause of our current predicament, but rather that it would be easier to rebuild the program in the NBE and that, just generally, the program would be more "fun" to follow.

I realize there are multiple opinions about this and you are entitled to yours, but that is mine and I'm stickin' to it.

Rocky vs Apollo, drago ,and clubber Lang was waaay better than glass joe, pizza pasta, and Steve Larry.