Most impactful Husky ever | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Most impactful Husky ever

Earl Kelly
It was his arrest of weapon possession that finally got rid of Dom Perno and brought in Jim Calhoun
 
There's multiple ways to look at it...

It's Smitty if you are saying who changed the "culture" so to speak of players coming here.

It's Donyell/Emeka if you are saying a dominant player who would be essential to THIS team.

It's KEA if you are saying what player took us from a Sweet 16/Final 8 team to a national champion.

It's Kemba/Bazz/Caron if you are saying who would be a leader of all leaders to plug in.

And it's Johnnie Selvie if you are asking for a black-hole post up guy who barely knew the rules of basketball but is a legend just the same.
 
Scott Burell was very influential & his presence lead the way to a lot of top signings. He also threw the pass!
 
boog204 said:
There's multiple ways to look at it...

It's Smitty if you are saying who changed the "culture" so to speak of players coming here.

It's Donyell/Emeka if you are saying a dominant player who would be essential to THIS team.

It's KEA if you are saying what player took us from a Sweet 16/Final 8 team to a national champion.

It's Kemba/Bazz/Caron if you are saying who would be a leader of all leaders to plug in.

And it's Johnnie Selvie if you are asking for a black-hole post up guy who barely knew the rules of basketball but is a legend just the same.
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And Selvie would be the best big on this team.
 
Game- donyell over ray
Season-rip over Kemba
Tournament-Kemba over Ben
For the program- smith over Tate (the shot) and cliff.
 
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tentoes4rings said:
I’m not sure you can say a program that had been to the Final Four two years earlier was “dead in the water”. 09-10 was a miserable season but there was reason for hope going into 10-11.
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there was no hope going in to 10-11. NIT year before, Kemba and AO the only known names, APR looming over us, dragged through the mud during '09, Calhouns health. Kemba saved the program and then so did Shabazz
 
Richard Hamilton the first great player on our first NC. He had SWAG.
 
UConnDan97 said:
Cliff Robinson.

I don't know if you're able to get Chris Smith without him. Although an argument could be made for Gamble too for the same reason. Cliff also had a long career in the NBA (18 years), and was probably the most successful UConn professional until Ray Allen came along.

Tough question to answer, but I'll stick with Uncle Cliff...
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Uncle Cliffy, I agree
 
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My top 10 impact people on UConn's basketball program overall...

1) John Toner - As AD he got UConn into the Big East in 1979 and then hired Jim Calhoun in 1986 (he also hired Geno in 1985)

2) Jim Calhoun - Without him, UConn is playing basketball in the Atlantic 10 with UMass and URI and football is still in the Colonial (former Yankee) with U Maine, UNH, etc.

3) Chris Smith - First big-time recruit and when paired with Scott Burrell, gets UConn the NIT championship in 1988 with wins over West Virginia, BC and Ohio St, which was UConn's coming-out party and set future expectations.

4) Ray Allen & Donyell Marshall.- While they did not win the NCAA title, much to my own annoyance, the established UConn as a national player and it was more of a case of when UConn would win it all, not if. They were also also NBA lottery picks (see #7)

5) Rip Hamilton & Co. - Got UConn their first title in 1999

6) Mark Emmert - While not at UConn at the time, his vendetta against UConn and Calhoun, which had been brewing since he fled Storrs due to gross mismanagement of UConn 2000, his decision as NCAA President to suspend UConn basketball from post-season play in 2012/3 contributed to UConn being left behind when the original Big East Conference split impacting the basketball program for years to come

7) Cliff Robinson - First UConn basketball player in modern history to have a successful and lenghtly NBA career, showing future recruits what could happen should they go to UConn and play for Calhoun

8) Gordon & Okafor - Showed UConn was going to stay as a major power, beating Duke (again) and crushing just about everyone else, also lottery picks

9) Kembra & Co. - They did it again, title #3, ranking may go higher if Kembra eventually becomes a NBA hall of fame player. The downside is that by winning the title during a season that Calhoun was suspended for part of the season infuriated certain powers, especially Mark Emmert at the NCAA, resulting in #6

10) Shabazz & Co. - Basically won on willpower as Calhoun's last recruiting class led by Shabazz won title #4 showing that UConn was still a big-time programs, even with Calhoun retiring and UConn relegated to the American Conference, also gave a giant, second middle-finger to Mark Emmert (#6)

TBD) Kevin Ollie - Part of the critical 1990's establishment era for UConn basketball with Ray and Donyell and won title #4 in 2014 in the post-Calhoun and Big East eras, fell apart after though. May become ranked if the NCAA hits UConn with any penalties for alleged issues within the program before he was fired at the end of the 2018 season.
 
Mr. Conehead said:
My top 10 impact people on UConn's basketball program overall...

3) Chris Smith - First big-time recruit and when paired with Scott Burrell, gets UConn the NIT championship in 1988 with wins over West Virginia, BC and Ohio St, which was UConn's coming-out party and set future expectations.
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Smitty and Burrell were not on the NIT team... That was Cliff, Phil Gamble, Tate, Jeff King, etc... Smitty came in 89 and Burrell in 90.
 
The first time I got excited about UConn hoops was Corny's signing. The player who in one game most impacted the program on a national stage. Ricky Moore shutting down the Duke point guard in the FF. His cry after opening the game with a layup, "You can't stop me. You never could stop me!" Changed a game no one thought we could win and moved UConn into the elite status. Most impactful career had to be the first truly great, Cliff.
 
Even Calhoun admits that Chris Smith was the most important player he ever had. Without him, the other worthy players would not even looked at Uconn, let alone play here.
 
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I think the original question is directed toward which one player could help this team the most on the floor right now, not which one in the past jump started the program, or ended up with the most amazing final act in his career.

We've got decent guards, although none Smith- or Kemba-like. So I'll take Marshall. 6-9, great timing on blocks, voracious rebounder, can shoot from 3, drive, postup depending on what you needed, handle the ball on the break. Yeah, that guy. Next up would be Allen or Butler as the lethal swingman with guts of a gambler, then Walker.

Of course, if you think cutting off the head of the snake is what this team really needs, there's no one to match Ricky Moore.

Addendum: Oops, wrong topic, thought this was "one former Husky you'd want on this team" thread. I'll escort myself to the door.
 
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I get all the kemba’s, kea’s, Ray, Yell, Caron etc etc they all meant a ton to the program.

The only answer(s) come from JC and Smitty. It’s possible you can grab someone from the 89-90 team which threw the Huskies on the map but the truth is not many of those guys were coming here without the dream season starting the success. Potentially Cliffy, Phil and the NIT but reality is The Dream Season is the catapult to getting any others mentioned. And the guy closing all those deals to me has by far the largest impact period.
 
WlfdHusky said:
Nadav Henefeld.
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So my uncle and I are sitting in Providence watching Huskies v Friars. He turns to me and says, “Jim, this is not going to be a fair game. Why not? Because God (Shamgod) is guarding a Jew.” Greatest quip ever.
 
JamesinGR said:
So my uncle and I are sitting in Providence watching Huskies v Friars. He turns to me and says, “Jim, this is not going to be a fair game. Why not? Because God (Shamgod) is guarding a Jew.” Greatest quip ever.
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I think he meant Sheffer!
 
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Donyell in 93-94 was awesome...29.1pts per 40 min...driven by regular season results. But, when I remember what Kemba did in Maui and then the tournament - still sets him apart to me. Would simply take over in big games. Regardless, I'm glad that there are so many potential answers to this question - makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
 
tcf15 said:
Donyell...just going over his game logs from that 93/94 season...holy sh man.

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Have we ever topped that 130 points we put up against Tennessee Tech? 130 points in 40 minutes is, a lot
 
boog204 said:
Smitty and Burrell were not on the NIT team... That was Cliff, Phil Gamble, Tate, Jeff King, etc... Smitty came in 89 and Burrell in 90.
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Apologizes, the NIT Chanmpionship game was the first UConn game I can remember watching and I was at an 8th Grade Dance and had a lot on my mid such as learning how to dance, use hair gel at a non-concrete level, and trying to undestand why girls were more interesting than they were in 6th and 7th grades. Getting that all straight and remembering UConn's roster at the time was a bit much for a 13 year old. LOL.
 
boog204 said:
There's multiple ways to look at it...

It's Smitty if you are saying who changed the "culture" so to speak of players coming here.

It's Donyell/Emeka if you are saying a dominant player who would be essential to THIS team.

It's KEA if you are saying what player took us from a Sweet 16/Final 8 team to a national champion.

It's Kemba/Bazz/Caron if you are saying who would be a leader of all leaders to plug in.

And it's Johnnie Selvie if you are asking for a black-hole post up guy who barely knew the rules of basketball but is a legend just the same.
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Selvie is the best juco player we ever had. I don’t know if he was the first but maybe that was Calhoun’s first alternative recruit in regards to The grad transfer/ juco route. IDK. Those that love him are people that usually root for the underdog/ oddball, defiant ones. He was different and it was noticeable. Greatness
 
Maybe I read the original post wrong. He doesn't mean the most "constipated" player of all time??
 
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