John A. on Wilson

[doggydaddy]

CLE802A has an axe to grind, I fear.

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Care to elaborate?

 

[JS]

Care to elaborate?

Am putting together the glowing (indeed over the top, as Cat points out) comments about South Carolina/Staley, the fact that the topic is A'ja Wilson's choice, and the geographic origin of the posts.

We welcome and value our Boneyarders who are primarily fans of teams other than UConn. But when one gets the feeling our board is being used to tout a rival for a specific recruit, not so much.

 

[Icebear]

I'll check with my NSA friends, JS.

 

[hjoerring]

Since South Carolina has beaten just 1 top 10 team all year so I would slow down a little on thoughts of a Final Four or National Championship.

Is this a reply to Cleo's fine assessment? Last year I wrote here that in my view a possible candidate to replace Geno- should we have the guts to go outside the family (and I have never been a big fan of the Boneyard favorite-- although I would look hard at our current assistants- if Daly stays as mentor) would be Stacey. If she gets to coach the national team with Geno the golden key would be hers. As of now she can go anywhere. She is also not so disconnected to UConn from her days at Temple. She and Tanya are friends and I believe she is well respected by the UConn people. But that day is not upon us, though we should keep her no.

 

[sawxfan23]

Is this a reply to Cleo's fine assessment? Last year I wrote here that in my view a possible candidate to replace Geno- should we have the guts to go outside the family (and I have never been a big fan of the Boneyard favorite-- although I would look hard at our current assistants- if Daly stays as mentor) would be Stacey. If she gets to coach the national team with Geno the golden key would be hers. As of now she can go anywhere. She is also not so disconnected to UConn from her days at Temple. She and Tanya are friends and I believe she is well respected by the UConn people. But that day is not upon us, though we should keep her no.

IMHO Dawn Staley has a snowballs chance in hell of ever being the Head Coach at UCONN. When Geno retires the next HC will be either CD{I think she will leave with Geno}, Rizzotti, or Shea if she decides to go get Head Coaching experience before then.

 

[hjoerring]

I am surprised by the number of writers who simply want to cut down Dawn, when we should be celebrating that a young coach hired to re/build a program is doing a very good job. Why should we have to wait for her to win a conf. title, a national champ.? There must be incremental steps in between. With or without Aja she is a national player when it comes to recruiting top players. I do not think Geno is coach to use when evaluating her. Find her own generation and see how she is doing compare to others in similar situation. What resources were given by USC, what traditions were in place, recruitment-- local and national, and game planning, etc. She is one of a couple of young women coaches in interesting places that are worth following. I have serious doubts about Tanya and Jammelle at Temple and Cinn. not because of their coaching abilities (for now) but it is hard to see how one can win in these places. Of course it can be done (it was done at Storrs-- even though that was then), but it will be hard. And given the situation today with football, I suspect that these ADs have no ears for additional resources.
As for Aja, if ND is not in the equation I am happy. Tenn should find it harder to convinced her about being the missing link to regain dominance alongside the big MercedesB. But I would hate to be in her shoes and thinking about saying no to USC given their current situation with the health of the asst. coach. That must wear on a 16 y.o kid. But I have moved on a long time ago with satisfaction. Greed is sinful.

 

[Sonny44]

I'm thinking she may announce at one of the All American games. McDs or WBCA.

Here's an idea. If we don't get A'ja let's lure MJ back into the fold. She'd hit the ground running. I could make her a yard -long for her welcome back party.

 

[TRest]

I have serious doubts about Tanya and Jammelle at Temple and Cinn. not because of their coaching abilities (for now) but it is hard to see how one can win in these places. Of course it can be done (it was done at Storrs-- even though that was then), but it will be hard. And given the situation today with football, I suspect that these ADs have no ears for additional resources.

Umm, I'm pretty sure Staley's success at Temple was how she ended up at USC. Temple had no resources then, that won't change much.

 

[cferraro04]

Wow. Dawn Staley as the next face of women's basketball. Those are some mighty leaps. First things first: win a conference championship. Then win several more. Throw in some national championships. Even if all that were to happen, I don't think Staley has the personality or presence to be the face of women's college basketball.

We all know that Dawn Staley is the "mouth (as in potty) of Women's College Basketball" but, the face of WCBB? Not so much.....

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[/quote]

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The kind of prognostication we indulge on recruiting can be more than a little wacky at times. On one Tenn board under a Ms. Wilson recruiting topic one poster posited that she has friends on the Tenn team which could help them. Another poster then posted that she has more friends on the UConn team. Whereupon a poster chimed in that it can be a disadvantage to have friends on a team, 'cuz they may fall out of friendship and that would be ackward!

 

[meyers7]

Whereupon a poster chimed in that it can be a disadvantage to have friends on a team, 'cuz they may fall out of friendship and that would be ackward!

Oh boy. (or girl)

 

[joemontes]

Aja Wilson's recruiting situation is somewhat similar to Skylar Diggins'. Both being HS heroes literally growing up in the backyard of a university that has a Top 25 WCBB team (ND in Skylar's case, and USC in Aja's case).

Back in the fall of 2009, Diggins was down to ND (which was barely a top 25 team at that time) and an already re-established national power Stanford (which was coming off the heels of back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2008-2009). She finally chose her hometown school and we now know how she eventually led ND to 3 consecutive Final Fours/ 2 consecutive national runner-up finishes. Had Stanford gotten her, she would have fortified the Cardinal backcourt (alongside Jeannette Pohlen for 2 years, then Amber Orrange for 2 years) and probably helped them win 3 more national championships instead of just 3 more Final Four appearances from 2010-2012, and last season would have been a 6th consecutive Final Four appearance instead of a Sweet 16 exit.

Fast forward to the current timeframe, and we see Aja choosing between her hometown university USC (which has vastly improved under coach Staley to become a current Top 10 team, but has yet to win a conference title or go past the Elite 8 in 30+ years) and perennial established powers UConn and Tennessee who both have 8 national titles apiece. Will she re-establish herself as a hometown darling this time at the collegiate level and potentially help them go over the hump and lead them to multiple SEC conference titles and NCAA Final Four appearances, just as Skylar did for ND from 2010-2013, or will she be lured by the established regime that is all-powerful UConn or by resurrecting the once all-powerful Tennessee?

 

[triaddukefan]

CLE802A definitely get his/her money's worth with each post

 

[semper]

Am putting together the glowing (indeed over the top, as Cat points out) comments about South Carolina/Staley, the fact that the topic is A'ja Wilson's choice, and the geographic origin of the posts.

We welcome and value our Boneyarders who are primarily fans of teams other than UConn. But when one gets the feeling our board is being used to tout a rival for a specific recruit, not so much.

I'm so glad you wrote this, as it seemed a kind of shout out, on our fan board. Strange...

 

[Icebear]

We all know that Dawn Staley is the "mouth (as in potty) of Women's College Basketball" but, the face of WCBB? Not so much.....

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[/quote]

Yeah, I have heard the need to keep over coating the peeling paint in the basketball facilities.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I think I can help with this. It is a well-known fact that A'ja's closest friend (and confidant) at school is the prettiest and most popular girl there, a girl named Ma'Arva. In fact, Ma'Arva was homecoming queen last fall. Ma'Arva has a younger sister named Sha'Aron, who is dating a classmate of A'ja's named Lawrence. Lawrence's mother is a dental hygienist who works in the office of a distant cousin of mine in Beaufort, SC. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but my cousin (Melvin) shared with me that Lawrence's mother (Sadie) shared with him (Melvin) the fact that A'ja told Ma'Arva (who then shared it with Sha'ron who, in turn, told Lawrence) that she (A'ja) had kind of a crush on a freshman football player at South Carolina named Henry. Anyway, Henry putatively doesn't care for Steve Spurrier and is thinking of transferring out, but, for the moment, remains put. Hope this clarifies matters.

 

[Icebear]

I heard from my cousin's ex-wife that her new sister in law says he is transferring to CT.

 

[UConnCat]

Why not? Look at both coach's records early in their careers at both UConn and USC:

1st Year:
GA: 12-15 (4-12)
DS: 10-18 (2-12)

2nd Year:
GA: 14-13 (9-7)
DS: 14-15 (7-9)

3rd Year:
GA: 17-11 (9-7)
DS: 18-15 (8-8) (WNIT 2nd Rd)

4th Year:
GA: 24-6 (13-2) (NCAA 1st Rd)
DS: 25-10 (10-6) (NCAA Sweet Sixteen)

5th Year:
GA: 25-6 (14-2)(NCAA 2nd Rd)
DS: 25-8 (11-5)(NCAA 2nd Rd)

6th Year:
GA: 29-5 (14-2)(NCAA Final Four)
DS: 19-2 (7-1)(??)

Geno was 30-31 when he became UConn's HC, Dawn was only 7-8 years older her 1st yr. at USC, but she had a long WNBA career and then was HC at Temple for 8 seasons, taking them to 6 NCAAs. Both had to build up their programs from the bottom up: UConn didn't win their 1st NC until Auriemma's 10th year heading the program. As far as resources, Staley's program is in one of the top 2-3 conferences in the nation for her sport, and plays in a 18,000 seat arena that was considered "state of the art" when it first opened 10 yrs ago. She turned down job offers in recent off-seasons at Ohio State and her alma mater UVA to stay at USC, and wants to take the program as far as it can go...

Please stop comparing Staley's early years at SC to Geno's start at Connecticut in 1985. Both had to build their programs from the "bottom up?" Not even close. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Cheddie]

I was struck watching UNC vs. Syracuse by the lack of support for the team in Chapel Hill. Attendance was listed as 3,000 but a lot of people must have been hiding out of camera sight.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Is there SC WBB Forum? If so, frankly, I could never see myself posting there, hijacking forum threads to extol the virtues of UCONN, Geno, the team talent, and all the NC's. Just saying...

Unless a poster has a subterranean agenda…

 

[Icebear]

Is there SC WBB Forum? If so, frankly, I could never see myself posting there, hijacking forum threads to extol the virtues of UCONN, Geno, the team talent, and all the NC's. Just saying...

Unless a poster has a subterranean agenda…

That fact and approach to posting is what bothers me about many of our guests.

 

[hjoerring]

Why not? Look at both coach's records early in their careers at both UConn and USC:

1st Year:
GA: 12-15 (4-12)
DS: 10-18 (2-12)

2nd Year:
GA: 14-13 (9-7)
DS: 14-15 (7-9)

3rd Year:
GA: 17-11 (9-7)
DS: 18-15 (8-8) (WNIT 2nd Rd)

4th Year:
GA: 24-6 (13-2) (NCAA 1st Rd)
DS: 25-10 (10-6) (NCAA Sweet Sixteen)

5th Year:
GA: 25-6 (14-2)(NCAA 2nd Rd)
DS: 25-8 (11-5)(NCAA 2nd Rd)

6th Year:
GA: 29-5 (14-2)(NCAA Final Four)
DS: 19-2 (7-1)(??)

Geno was 30-31 when he became UConn's HC, Dawn was only 7-8 years older her 1st yr. at USC, but she had a long WNBA career and then was HC at Temple for 8 seasons, taking them to 6 NCAAs. Both had to build up their programs from the bottom up: UConn didn't win their 1st NC until Auriemma's 10th year heading the program. As far as resources, Staley's program is in one of the top 2-3 conferences in the nation for her sport, and plays in a 18,000 seat arena that was considered "state of the art" when it first opened 10 yrs ago. She turned down job offers in recent off-seasons at Ohio State and her alma mater UVA to stay at USC, and wants to take the program as far as it can go...

This is precisely what I would avoid. As someone who is well acquainted with statistics I find it troubling when people pull data (or assemble info into data) from different times. It's useless. At best it is what we sometimes call monday morning quarterbacking: if only he had ... Could Chris Everett beat Williams .... What I will say is that the talent level has improved vastly and there are many more skilled players to go around, and coaching has gotten better (notwithstanding the continuous criticisms). Today athletes have many more programs to sift through and the majority are good enough to get them a 1st round draft pick. Uconn does an excellent job at developing talent, but I am not willing to preach about Geno being better than some of his peers at doing so. Players do have, individually, their own limits-- beyond which you can't get much more.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

While searching back for Brittany Hunter injury articles (another thread topic) I came upon a 2011 JA interview with Brittany that rather thoughtfully touches on what it means to come to Connecticut.

http://blogs.courant.com/uconn_womens_basketball/2011/01/former-uconn-player-brittany-h.html

Former player viewpoints are always interesting. Putting this together with Engeln's recent perspective on UConn's unique difference being Geno, gives a fairly good look at what it means to come to UConn.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

No. This is the best WBB forum anywhere...

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

"Is there SC WBB Forum? If so, frankly, I could never see myself posting there, hijacking forum threads to extol the virtues of UCONN, Geno, the team talent, and all the NC's. Just saying...
Unless a poster has a subterranean agenda…"

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