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Message: [QUOTE="Fairfield Fan, post: 3735469, member: 6911"] Wait a minute. Having followed Coach Geno and UConn WBB for nearly a quarter century, I know that recruiting has not been consistent, year in and year out. We've had some great years, some great consecutive years. But we've also gone through years when recruiting has fallen behind. Coach Geno himself has said repeatedly that before last year (?), he's "missed" with more than one recruiting class in a row. We had about four years after Diana Taurasl's recruitment when recruiting was thin on talent. The year after she graduated, we lost seven games in one season! Indeed, Diana carried her team almost single-handedly for the final two years to national championships. That recruiting drought ended when Tina Charles signed on. Then we got Maya, and we were off to the races. Then we got Breanna Stewart & Co. But no one "questioned" Coach Geno's recruiting abilities. Having said that, recruiting has changed over the years. It used to be Coach Geno and Pat who dominated the recruiting classes. Then ND came out of mediocrity to become a consistent force. Then Maryland became a destination. Then Louisville began to take top talent consistently. Then Maryland. Recently, the Pac-12 has become a significant draw for national talent. And no one can deny that Dawn Staley and South Carolina are now a major draw for some of the most talented players in the country. Indeed, in the recruiting class in which we landed Azzi Fudd, Dawn Staley has taken the next three ranked players, according to ESPN, and four of the top 15. So the recruiting landscape has changed. It's more competitive than it was a decade ago, or even two decades ago. The Pac-12. The rest of the SEC, sans Tennessee. And it seems as though each year brings in more international talent. And Coach Geno has rarely cleaned up in terms of getting "all the top players." For whatever reasons, lots of talented kids have decided to go elsewhere. A familiar refrain on this site is that "UConn is not for everyone." We all recall our single-player classes. And we know full well that those single-player classes weren't by design. So no one questions Coach Geno's recruiting abilities. He does manage to land some of the greatest players in the world. Just look at the women's national team and the preponderance to this day of Connecticut alumnae. And it's great to land the top players in consecutive classes. But the truth is that doesn't happen every year. Indeed, we've suffered through tough years. But the thing that is so great about UConn and Coach Geno, and what makes us UConn fans, is that regardless of a particular year's recruiting success, Coach Geno always molds the players he has into "teams" that perform magnificently, that always play with panache and intensity, that never "take a possession off," that almost always beat teams that are supposed to beat us, that come through when they need to. And that's what makes him and Connecticut great. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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