Kenya Hunter Potential Replacement

[The Viking]

If freeman can recruit the way he played, you at least know no one will outwork him.

 

[UCPharma11]

I can’t tell if this is serious or tongue in cheek but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s sarcasm

LOL, Do you know anything of the great Emeka? Im sure a more qualified coach will be selected but he would be no slouch over time. If he was coaching for some period of time already then he would be a suitable candidate.

 

[UCPharma11]

This is the same attitude the Ollie fans had, believing in Hurley is generally good, but blindly supporting everything he does doesn't make sense.

Lets not compare Hurley to Ollie!!! When our team was in the dumps (in the years after our last championship) Ollie didn't have a positive bone in his body to turn things around. His body language on TV was NEGATIVE and he had so many hands up the air moments as to say "Come on man" to the refs. Hurley is a different coach, best coach to lead us into battle day in and day out.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Lets not compare Hurley to Ollie!!! When our team was in the dumps (in the years after our last championship) Ollie didn't have a positive bone in his body to turn things around. His body language on TV was NEGATIVE and he had so many hands up the air moments as to say "Come on man" to the refs. Hurley is a different coach, best coach to lead us into battle day in and day out.

Love Hurley, critical thinking is important.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Only trust a carpenter who measures twice and cuts once.

As the old saying goes...measure twice, cut once...and when that doesn't work, go buy more wood

OR

woodworking without patience leads to expensive firewood

 

[HuskyHawk]

If Kevin Freeman didn’t play for UConn would he even be in consideration? If the answer is no, then it’s a ridiculously terrible hire.

Maybe. I made that point about Ollie and I think it was correct. But we are talking about the 4th guy on the staff. Is it terrible? No. Because there is a vast difference between current ability and future potential.

Ollie always had that potential. We knew it. But we thrust him into a HC role. Now Kevin is put in a role as the least important assistant coach. I’m ok with that. That’s the job where you take a chance.

 

[Fishy]

or it’s because we couldn’t get our first choice Webster.

Or...because he never cared what your first choice was.

 

[Deuce]

LOL, Do you know anything of the great Emeka? Im sure a more qualified coach will be selected but he would be no slouch over time. If he was coaching for some period of time already then he would be a suitable candidate.

You’re ‘lol’ing’ and arguing for a guy WHO IS NOT IN COACHING. I’m sure eventually EO could go to med school and become a surgeon but I don’t want him currently being a candidate to slice into me at the moment. Look I get it man you thought of the best academic big man former player we had but it just doesn’t necessarily translate into coaching whosoever. EO Smith JV yes I agree with you but again when looking for potential coaches at UConn one requirement is that they atleast are coaches.

 

[husky99]

Looks like webster is out... joy of following recruiting and coaching

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

Let’s hire bob Hurley...

But seriously, it’s really impressive we had hired the 3 assistants when Hurley first came on board.

 

[Watchdog]

I didn’t leave it out, it’s in the article. That I linked. In that post.

Can’t speak to the factual accuracy of the Daily Nebraskan, but there‘s probably a email address or phone number in the link I provided so maybe you can investigate. I’ve heard so many rumors going back years about the Daily Nebraskan trying to prop up Kenya Hunter and make him look good, so they probably did make most of it up.

What struck me was the large percentage of very low rated recruits.
Taking out the three that were unranked, here's the numbers for the 14 that were ranked on 247 in five years:
-9 of the 14 were over 161;
-6 of the 14 were over 263;
and 4 of the 14 were 335 and higher.
In the last class he may have had a hand in (2019) the four high school kids were 168, 192, 326 and 473.
Not exactly great, but some might argue it was the location or head coach who impacted recruiting.

 

[Watchdog]

One of the insiders said 90% of the people here would be happy with the hire..seems to me that 90% of the people here think we could have done better. So who is wrong here..?

No one. Only the bully and the horse have diminished themselves.

 

[NJHusky]

Since our 21 class is filled and we have several new bigs on the roster, maybe a coach that will help with bigs this season is a better fit....and he has time to get out there and make contacts for 22 recruiting.

 

[superjohn]

Well beyond almost insinuating that Hurley could be happy Kenya left for underperforming, it appears this person believes the D in DMV stands for Delaware. So, yeah...

He/she still thinks the D is for Delaware. Must be a huge fan of Donte DiVincenzo.

 

[7774]

What struck me was the large percentage of very low rated recruits.
Taking out the three that were unranked, here's the numbers for the 14 that were ranked on 247 in five years:
-9 of the 14 were over 161;
-6 of the 14 were over 263;
and 4 of the 14 were 335 and higher.
In the last class he may have had a hand in (2019) the four high school kids were 168, 192, 326 and 473.
Not exactly great, but some might argue it was the location or head coach who impacted recruiting.

What struck me is how hard you're trying to make Kenya Hunter seem like something other than a great assistant and recruiter for some odd reason. His body of work at Xavier, Georgetown, Nebraska, and UConn speaks for itself.

 

[Watchdog]

Well, you'd expect an employee to grow over a two year period and be able to handle tasks now they weren't fully able to do 2 years prior.

I'd feel much differently if KFree was a 55 year old assistant with 25 years coaching two years.

Some don't seem to understand that when Kevin was here before he was not in a coaching position and was prohibited from recruiting. Hurley liked what he saw of Kevin's work and offered high praise when he left, but he could not afford to hire someone with no track record as a coach (and as a recruiter) for a staff facing a critical turnaround project.

Kevin did what he had to do. Got a coaching job. Gained two years coaching and recruiting experience, including recruiting a guy who the knowledgeable people here believe has great upside.

Now with the program stabilized and on a rapidly rising trajectory, does anyone believe Hurley wants to be recruiting for one third of his staff every other year? He said when he hired them that all have what it takes to be head coaches and while it's great to have that level of staff, he now also has to think about stability and continuity and not have to repeatedly integrate new people into the culture.

Kevin fits the mold.

 

[Ajs120102]

What struck me is how hard you're trying to make Kenya Hunter seem like something other than a great assistant and recruiter for some odd reason. His body of work at Xavier, Georgetown, Nebraska, and UConn speaks for itself.

Can we all admit we lost a great assistant? It happens. We have an amazing crop of talent for 2-3 years which doesn’t require an immediate star recruiter. Give Kevin some experience. He would absolutely rave to recruits how much the Big East meant to him and playing for Jim Calhoun. Less turnover in future years as Tom Moore and he wouldn’t go anywhere. Give Kimani a raise because he’s put the most work in, pay Kevin 140-150 k. It all makes sense.

 

[Watchdog]

What struck me is how hard you're trying to make Kenya Hunter seem like something other than a great assistant and recruiter for some odd reason. His body of work at Xavier, Georgetown, Nebraska, and UConn speaks for itself.

I'm just being objective and suggesting that all the weeping and gnashing of teeth about how will we ever replace him for recruiting may not be as troubling as some make it out to be.
Look at the ratings of the Nebraska recruits. Maybe he was in a slump, maybe Nebraska isn't an appealing place, maybe they didn't like the head coach, maybe this, maybe that. But the ratings speak for themselves. And to give him sole credit for the 4 players in the top 150 requires believing that all the low rated players were recruited by the other coaches.
If he gets Sallis to go to Indiana it'll prove we lost a great recruiter. Till then, the results of the past seven years don't bear it out.

 

[Watchdog]

He/she still thinks the D is for Delaware. Must be a huge fan of Donte DiVincenzo.

More so than Gillespie.
And at least I didn't think it was the Dept of Motor Vehicles.

 

[Hoophound]

An important thing to remember here is that Tom and Kimani remain. That gives us 3 excellent recruiters plus Kevin. We have some leeway to train him and nurture him with this staff.

We aren’t one of these schools with one bag man guy that the whole thing hinges on.

 

[Waquoit]

We have some leeway to train him and nurture him with this staff.

C'mon, it's not like we're dealing with Baby Tenderlove here. I'm not sure he needs all that much care and feeding. He knows and loves the place. He went elsewhere for a couple of years, had success and made new contacts outside the one's they have now. He fits this staff like a glove. And remember, he wasn't just a warrior he has a high BB IQ and displayed it in the heat of battle here in one of UConn's most famous plays (skip to 1:00):


Both announcers called out Freeman for grabbing the ball before it went out. After the game, Kevin said he knew they had a better chance to score it they didn't let Pitt set up. He was right!

 

[Fatroony5]

This thread is peak BY, the program is in great hands under Hurley. Tons of talent on the current team and in the pipeline for 2021. Reading this thread makes it seem like the sky is falling. Assistants come and go, but what matters is having Hurley steer the ship, so sit back and enjoy! Whoever ends up being the next assistant, I fully expect them to do a great job, they have Hurley to show them the way.

 

[uconnfan68]

He/she still thinks the D is for Delaware.

Isn't it "Department" (of Motor Vehicles)?

 

[Huskybass]

KFree was an absolute warrior as a player. He can learn so much under Hurley in terms of coaching. I would welcome him back to the staff without and hesitation.

 

[UCPharma11]

You’re ‘lol’ing’ and arguing for a guy WHO IS NOT IN COACHING. I’m sure eventually EO could go to med school and become a surgeon but I don’t want him currently being a candidate to slice into me at the moment. Look I get it man you thought of the best academic big man former player we had but it just doesn’t necessarily translate into coaching whosoever. EO Smith JV yes I agree with you but again when looking for potential coaches at UConn one requirement is that they atleast are coaches.

Pseudo-sarcasm, I can stand behind KF for sure.