It's Kentucky!

[Tenspro2002]

So Daniel Hamilton doesn't count?

Or last year's class?

2014 - Hamilton
2015 - Adams
2016 - Gilbert
2017 - MAL

Those are all #20-40 guys, which is exactly my point.

KO's recruiting has been:
- a single highly-rated, but not elite, guard
- transfers
- project bigs

Not nearly good enough, to say nothing of the lack of development among the latter two categories.

 

[UCfor3]

Biggest joke is Adam Finklestein posting on twitter that Kentucky really "needed" Diallo. What a farce. The team with 10 5 stars does not "need" anyone unless they plan on playing Golden State in the final 4 next year. If anything Uconn needed him a lot more.

 

[upstater]

2014 - Hamilton
2015 - Adams
2016 - Gilbert
2017 - MAL

Those are all #20-40 guys, which is exactly my point.

KO's recruiting has been:
- a single highly-rated, but not elite, guard
- transfers
- project bigs

Not nearly good enough, to say nothing of the lack of development among the latter two categories.

Adams is highly rated. Gilbert is a McDs. Hamilton was top 20 (#17). These are elite recruits. Just like a Kemba, Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, AJ Price, or Ray Allen (ratings-wise). You can make a good living recruiting kids between 15-45.

The only kids UConn has grabbed that were higher are Donyell Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, and Rudy Gay. 3 kids in the 40 years since Corny Thompson committed to UConn under Perno. Andre Drummond should be considered there but he was a one-off oddball who wasn't even in that year's rankings.

As for transfers, he has 2. Purvis and Larrier. Larrier looked like a helluva player.

 

[BUConn10]

Player development and in-game coaching are the reasons why we are where we are right now.

Finally having you on record saying this, will bookmark for future.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Adams is highly rated. Gilbert is a McDs. Hamilton was top 20 (#17). These are elite recruits. Just like a Kemba, Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, AJ Price, or Ray Allen (ratings-wise). You can make a good living recruiting kids between 15-45.

The only kids UConn has grabbed that were higher are Donyell Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, and Rudy Gay. 3 kids in the 40 years since Corny Thompson committed to UConn under Perno. Andre Drummond should be considered there but he was a one-off oddball who wasn't even in that year's rankings.

As for transfers, he has 2. Purvis and Larrier. Larrier looked like a helluva player.

I'm not discounting those 15-45 ranked guys, and I agree completely that they have been the backbone of our success.

My point is we need more than that, and more than just one of those guys per year all at the same position.

We couldn't recruit over Brimah and Facey in 3 years?

And yes, the injection of a truly elite, Top 5-10 guys could paper over some of those deficiencies, but KO just demonstrated that even under the most favorable of circumstances, he can't land that kind of guy (not that we shouldn't try).

 

[HuskyHawk]

My only comment comes from Robert Frost, a worthy read for any HS recruit.

The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

[Paesano]

Haven't we been reading posts about how Ollie needs to be getting one-and-done burger boys and competing with the blue bloods instead of settling for guys in the Top 100 for years?

All we learned today is that Ollie can't land those guys. Yeah, he can land Top 20-100 kids but, even then, is he getting the right ones? People are always quick to point out that even the blue chippers sometimes turn out to be duds. If we have to make due with kids in the Top25-50 range, they need to be the studs, not the duds. Hamilton v2 was no Hamilton v1. The jury is still out on Adams and Gilbert but, at this point, the sophomore version of Adams doesn't look like the sophomore version of Kemba, Ray or any of the other guys people are trying to compare him to.

 

[noeynox]

What the he'll is that from?

 

[upstater]

I'm not discounting those 15-45 ranked guys, and I agree completely that they have been the backbone of our success.

My point is we need more than that, and more than just one of those guys per year all at the same position.

We couldn't recruit over Brimah and Facey in 3 years?

And yes, the injection of a truly elite, Top 5-10 guys could paper over some of those deficiencies, but KO just demonstrated that even under the most favorable of circumstances, he can't land that kind of guy (not that we shouldn't try).

You're painting this in a dire way. As much as I love Gay, Villanueva, and Drummond, they never became the central cogs to lead UConn to a championship. In fact, Calhoun was pretty cool when he advised Gay to go, knowing we could have surely used him. I just think grabbing the top 10s has been incredibly rare at UConn, even when UConn was in the BE, even when the coach was Calhoun and he had a track record of putting guys in the NBA. It is asking way way too much to expect Ollie to do it in the AAC. But that's OK.

Look at Villanova:
2012: Ochefu #49
2013: no top 50
2014: no top 50
2015: Brunson #22

That's 4 classes, a fringe top 50, and a freshman.

National champions.

 

[upstater]

The jury is still out on Adams and Gilbert but, at this point, the sophomore version of Adams doesn't look like the sophomore version of Kemba, Ray or any of the other guys people are trying to compare him to.

Agreed. Jalen looks better than Kemba and Napier as a soph.

 

[Tenspro2002]

You're painting this in a dire way. As much as I love Gay, Villanueva, and Drummond, they never became the central cogs to lead UConn to a championship. In fact, Calhoun was pretty cool when he advised Gay to go, knowing we could have surely used him. I just think grabbing the top 10s has been incredibly rare at UConn, even when UConn was in the BE, even when the coach was Calhoun and he had a track record of putting guys in the NBA. It is asking way way too much to expect Ollie to do it in the AAC. But that's OK.

Look at Villanova:
2012: Ochefu #49
2013: no top 50
2014: no top 50
2015: Brunson #22

That's 4 classes, a fringe top 50, and a freshman.

National champions.

Then there's a problem with KO's being able to identify the right Top 100 guys (Facey? Enoch?) or being able to develop those guys.

 

[upstater]

Then there's a problem with KO's being able to identify the right Top 100 guys (Facey? Enoch?) or being able to develop those guys.

Our bigs are big disappointments. I am mostly concerned about Enoch on this team. I have great faith in all the other kids.

I am very concerned Enoch will not learn to play defense.

But this is surely a problem with our situation.

Look at the losses: Jesse Govan, Diamond Stone, Zach Brown.

These were the targets. All 3 were ticketed for UConn, and preferred UConn in the summer. All 3 were swept away. Hard as it is to believe, Brimah scared Govan away, Stone was Under Armour, and we know about Brown.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Our bigs are big disappointments. I am mostly concerned about Enoch on this team. I have great faith in all the other kids.

I am very concerned Enoch will not learn to play defense.

But this is surely a problem with our situation.

Look at the losses: Jesse Govan, Diamond Stone, Zach Brown.

These were the targets. All 3 were ticketed for UConn, and preferred UConn in the summer. All 3 were swept away. Hard as it is to believe, Brimah scared Govan away, Stone was Under Armour, and we know about Brown.

Not to derail this thread, but Brimah was pretty much a worst-case scenario over the last 3 years.

Bad enough that you can't win with him, but entrenched enough that we couldn't recruit over him.

 

[uchusky32]

If KO was there it will be a Lon drive back to Storrs. Hope hr looks Diallo in the eyes like WTF?

 

[Paesano]

Agreed. Jalen looks better than Kemba and Napier as a soph.

Oh please, you really are delusional or obtuse or both. Jalen today is nowhere near what Kemba was as a sophomore. And no one mentioned Napier because he was a much lower rated recruit. Adams should be way ahead of the sophomore version of Napier. Facey has underperformed relative to his recruiting rank and the expectations that go with and, so far, so has Enoch. Does Purvis look like what you would expect from a 5th year senior McD all-american? Does he even look as good as he did in high school? Do you really think everything looks fine with this program?

 

[upstater]

Oh please, you really are delusional or obtuse or both. Jalen today is nowhere near what Kemba was as a sophomore. And no one mentioned Napier because he was a much lower rated recruit. Adams should be way ahead of the sophomore version of Napier. Facey has underperformed relative to his recruiting rank and the expectations that go with and, so far, so has Enoch. Does Purvis look like what you would expect from a 5th year senior McD all-american? Does he even look as good as he did in high school? Do you really think everything looks fine with this program?

LOL, you mentioned Jalen. Yes, I think Jalen is ahead. I expect Jalen will come out of UConn as one of the greats.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Look, Diallo decided that the spotlight on Kentucky would look better on his NBA resume, so be it. I have no problem with a kid making a decision with that outlook. I would have thought that the question would be who does he think will make him a better player. Maybe he does think that's Calipari. I happen to disagree. YMMV, and so may his.

As for recruiting, Ollie is getting kids in the top 100 with regularity - and if they are the right kids in the top 100 you can build a helluva team. I'm optimistic on MAL, Polley and Carlton from what I've seen on video, particularly with Polley. He has a very nice stroke out to the three point line, and can handle a bit in the open court with both hands.

As I wrote in another thread, every recruit needs to be able to catch and knock down from 12-15 feet consistently when open, and half of the recruits need to be able to shoot from 3. That opens the floor for everyone.

 

[tzznandrew]

My only comment comes from Robert Frost, a worthy read for any HS recruit.

The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Just to be clear, this is a poem about how most choices don't actually make a difference, but in retrospect we impart meaning to them to justify our own actions.

 

[Kitaman]

So what, the kid picked a blue blood P5 school with national exposure, huge devoted fanbase, media darling coach, plenty of current NBA players and tons of nationwide TV time. Oh and scouts coming to every game (even preseason practice), playing along side the best prospects in the country as well as practicing against them.

When you compare that to what other schools had to offer including ours, what a stupid decision, I tell you.

 

[jibsey]

We need a knock down shooter.

Bingo. And it really doesn't matter if he can touch the sky.

 

[Deepster]

So what, the kid picked a blue blood P5 school with national exposure, huge devoted fanbase, media darling coach, plenty of current NBA players and tons of nationwide TV time. Oh and scouts coming to every game (even preseason practice), playing along side the best prospects in the country as well as practicing against them.

When you compare that to what other schools had to offer including ours, what a stupid decision, I tell you.

This.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just to be clear, this is a poem about how most choices don't actually make a difference, but in retrospect we impart meaning to them to justify our own actions.

And so perhaps my commentary was that recruits should not believe that such choices will define their future. Nor should we.
The Most Misread Poem in America

But in this case, one road truly is less traveled. Would it then make a difference?

 

[uconnfan68]

So what, the kid picked a blue blood P5 school with national exposure, huge devoted fanbase, media darling coach, plenty of current NBA players and tons of nationwide TV time. Oh and scouts coming to every game (even preseason practice), playing along side the best prospects in the country as well as practicing against them.

When you compare that to what other schools had to offer including ours, what a stupid decision, I tell you.

Yeah, . Hope the kid flames out down there, and UK gets sanctions for APR.

 

[tzznandrew]

And so perhaps my commentary was that recruits should not believe that such choices will define their future. Nor should we.
The Most Misread Poem in America

But in this case, one road truly is less traveled. Would it then make a difference?

Not trying to be a ****, I'm an lit teacher, so while I love this poem I see it misread so often it sort of triggers me.

I have no idea how or why you were reading it that way--though I suspect you were using the poem to suggest the "road less travelled" is better as most people do at odds with the poem. It was mostly an ironic clarification, especially given that in either case, for Diallo, each path almost certainly leads to being an NBA lottery pick. So, yeah, not much of a difference.

 

[sledog]

Equally relevant Robert Frost: miles to go:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.