Most Important UConn Recruit All Time

[AZHuskiePop]

Chris Smith
It wasn't just about opening a CT floodgate it was opening national gates. You have to remember back to when the perception of UConn was an in-state safety school, a suitcase school that large portions left on weekends and a 2nd class citizen in the Big East. So smart and talented kids from Connecticut who had the opportunity to go elsewhere would take it. That sent a message to the rest of the country, if UConn wasn't good enough for its own state's best, how could it possibly be good enough for them!? Chris Smith choosing UConn changed that perception and reality and that is why he is the most important recruit.

We did get a lot of in state talent before Smith. Many with offers from more famous schools.
In fact one could say that Connecticut was a hotbed of High school basketball .
Until the.cocaine wars of the late 80's and early 90's almost killed city ball.
Those same wars actually made recruiting at UConn easier.
Phil Gambles mom couldn't wait to get him out of DC.
My wife worked with a guy from Hill section of New Haven whose family actually slept on the floor to avoid stray bullets from drive by's. Hard to produce basketball pla

You wouldn't unless you were a young girl under 16.!!

She was actually 17 but ,teacher/ coach is held to a higher standard.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Reggie Lewis is the most important Husky recruit of all time, he just played for Northeastern.

Lol! I sh#t you not! I was thinking the same thing.

Let me also add that Stone could be Ollies most important recruit. If he signs here and wins big and goes on to be a top 3 or even #1 pick itll send ollie into the stratusphere recruiting wise.

 

[huskyrob1]

Agree - No Corny ( and Mike McKay) No Big East so think URI basketball. Corny was a 5 Star type recruit and could have gone anywhere. Had he not come UConn would not have looked so good to the Big East at the time. UConn needed to look competitive at the time and without Corny maybe not.

Corny was Parades National Player of the Year. Dean Smith recruited him heavily to go to UNC, but hey...Corny stayed home. The rest is history.

 

[huskyrob1]

Corny was Parades National Player of the Year. Dean Smith recruited him heavily to go to UNC, but hey...Corny stayed home. The rest is history.

A couple of big howevers...With all the names thrown about in this thread, I'm shocked that no one in this thread mentioned Ben Gordon. The other thing, yeah say Corny goes to UNC. OK, NO BIG EAST at least right away, and no Jim Calhoun, but a lot of things could have happened to fill that vacuum. Say Calipari takes the UCONN job instead of signing with UMESS. Camby comes to UCONN, along with whoever else Calipari recruits to come to Storrs. So even if Corny and Calhoun never come to UCONN, I think UCONN's later success was inevitable, the state wanted it and the fan base (us) wanted it. UCONN as another URI or UNIV OF VERMONT was never in the cards.

 

[Waquoit]

I think UCONN's later success was inevitable, the state wanted it and the fan base (us) wanted it. UCONN as another URI or UNIV OF VERMONT was never in the cards.

I don't buy that for a second. If we don't get into the Big East, we don't get Calhoun and go nowhere. UConn in the Big East pre-Calhoun was basically Rutgers. Our athletic department was content to cash the checks the BE made possible without doing what it took to compete. We were only competitive for as long as Corny was here, after that, nothing. UConn won our first BET game and didn't win another for 8 years, JC's 2nd year. The Big East saved us from being another URI but JC saved us from being Seton Hall. None of this was "inevitable".

 

[huskyrob1]

I don't buy that for a second. If we don't get into the Big East, we don't get Calhoun and go nowhere. UConn in the Big East pre-Calhoun was basically Rutgers. Our athletic department was content to cash the checks the BE made possible without doing what it took to compete. We were only competitive for as long as Corny was here, after that, nothing. UConn won our first BET game and didn't win another for 8 years, JC's 2nd year. The Big East saved us from being another URI but JC saved us from being Seton Hall. None of this was "inevitable".

Not saying not getting Corny, the Big East invite, or Calhoun wouldn't have been a setback, but am saying UCONN was destined to eventually do great things in athletics. Toner wanted it, Gov's O'Neil, Weicker, and Rowland, all wanted it big time, and who's to say that UCONN gets a big east invite or Calhoun even if we don't get Corny? If we don't get Calhoun in 84/85, I would bet that Toner signs either Calipari or Pitino, both were begging for jobs at the time. Pitino would have left Boston Univ in a second to take the UCONN job in the early 80's. I continue to say that UCONN's later success was due in large part to the fan base, the State, and Toner & company wanting a winner.

 

[Dogdeacon]

We did get a lot of in state talent before Smith. Many with offers from more famous schools.
In fact one could say that Connecticut was a hotbed of High school basketball .
Until the.cocaine wars of the late 80's and early 90's almost killed city ball.
Those same wars actually made recruiting at UConn easier.
Phil Gambles mom couldn't wait to get him out of DC.
My wife worked with a guy from Hill section of New Haven whose family actually slept on the floor to avoid stray bullets from drive by's. Hard to produce basketball pla

She was actually 17 but ,teacher/ coach is held to a higher standard.

We (UConn) did get some in-state recruits, but my frame of reference is strictly 79-86 or once UConn was in the Big East. That's when the program spiraled downward and we lost out on the 'national' type of in-state or northeast stars that garnered offers from big time schools. Post 1979 Bird-Magic college basketball was taking off and UConn was left in the prior era. So a Murray Williams type was achievable, but a guy like Smith that seemed like a superstar would typically choose Villanova, Cuse or some where else in top-20 landscape. Not a hard and fast rule as UConn over-time got the best in-state guys, but especially at that time UConn was operating as a 2nd choice not the default location for the best in-state as it became and continues.
Examples;
Mike Gminski - Duke
Harold Jensen - Nova
John Pinone - Nova
John Bagley - BC
Harold Pressley - Nova
Charles Smith - Pitt
Chris Watts - Providence

Then beginning with Smitty UConn got 3 straight CT players of the year as Burrell and the ill-fated Shawn Ellison chose UConn.

 

[Waquoit]

Not saying not getting Corny, the Big East invite, or Calhoun wouldn't have been a setback, but am saying UCONN was destined to eventually do great things in athletics. Toner wanted it, Gov's O'Neil, Weicker, and Rowland, all wanted it big time...

Wanting something isn't the same as taking the steps necessary to make something happen. UConn was not "destined to eventually do great things in athletics." That's complete nonsense. While the BB team was cratering, Toner said he "could see UConn being one of the top 5 teams in the Big East in five years." Top 5 in a 9 team league! Can you imagine if Warde said something like that? He wasn't even going to fire Perno until Earl Kelley went off the deep end and the powers that be forced him out.

UConn became the UConn we know because of Jim Calhoun. Period. He changed the culture of the entire university. "Destiny" had nothing to do with it.

 

[guyergym]

And the absentee AD along with him. UConn wasn't going anywhere until they both were out of the picture.

All the "absentee AD," John toner, did was get UConn into the Big East, hire Jim Calhoun (and Geno Auriemma) and get Gampel approved.

 

[husky8273]

Bobby Dulin, there's a guy I haven't thought of in years.

here's an update on Bobby - http://www.nhregister.com/general-n...ail-on-probation-violation-read-the-warrant-5

 

[huskyrob1]

Wanting something isn't the same as taking the steps necessary to make something happen. UConn was not "destined to eventually do great things in athletics." That's complete nonsense. While the BB team was cratering, Toner said he "could see UConn being one of the top 5 teams in the Big East in five years." Top 5 in a 9 team league! Can you imagine if Warde said something like that? He wasn't even going to fire Perno until Earl Kelley went off the deep end and the powers that be forced him out.

UConn became the UConn we know because of Jim Calhoun. Period. He changed the culture of the entire university. "Destiny" had nothing to do with it.

Just Jim Calhoun? What about Geno Auriemma? Chris Daily? What about Lew Perkins? Toner? Dave Letaio? Howie Dickenman?

 

[gmc1055]

Chris Smith that one got the whole thing started

 

[mauconnfan]

If we want to save lives on the Boneyard the answer is Diamond Stone.

 

[hoophuskee]

I'm with Waquoit -- Without Corny - no Big East invite - that means no Chris Smith - no KEA, no KO -- nada - nothing. As Waquoit said it was more than just geography in which you got an invite.

You had to show you can win - which is why I believe that there was a time that the Big East was considering dumping UCONN because being competetive is of a high value.

Thus the point of the invite - Corny was the man. After that as Waquoit brings up - it was about Jim Calhoun. His recruitment allowed us to open up a style of play that allowed us to get guys like Smith/Donyell/KEA/Ray/Rip etc.

 

[hoophuskee]

Cliff didn't carry us anywhere. That NIT was a team effort. We don't get past VCU if Jeff King didn't kick ass, for one. The time for Cliff to lead was the next year when he layed egg after egg in the big spot. That's why he didn't get drafted in the 1st round. It's no accident we had a Dream Season the year after he left. Calling Cliff a leader or "incredible player" for UConn is what the fanboys call "ret-conning." If Cliff could have found a way to motivate himself before that draft humiliation, you might have a point.

I do believe Clifyf got an extremely bad wrap. He was a finesse palyer in a power league. I think Calhoun said something to the effect "they looked at all his negatives and disregarded his positives." The Big East was a beast back then with Seton Hall going to finals and I believe the top tier teams were ridiculously good and CLiffy's teammates weren't much good. But I'm with you- no way Cliffy was that much of an impact.

Sometimes I think Earl Kelly gets more praise yet imo he was one of the most overrated players in UCONN History.

 

[Waquoit]

Just Jim Calhoun? What about Geno Auriemma? Chris Daily? What about Lew Perkins? Toner? Dave Letaio? Howie Dickenman?

Before Calhoun, the attitude that pervaded the athletic department and UConn as a whole was "good enough". He changed all that.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Like a couple folks have mentioned, the answer is Corny Thompson. No Corny, No Big East. UConn would be just another A-10 school, known primarily for soccer.

There is quite a bit of truth to this (and Corny, who was a freshman when I was a freshman is the main reason UConn men's hoops, all UConn sports for that matter, has run through my veins for about 36 years) but to take this a step further, Toby and then Wes, a dozen plus years before Corny's recruitment were also necessary.

While it predates my following the program, from everything I had heard over the years, the love of the men's team, primarily in the middle of the state, was cemented (and grew to something well beyond the earlier versions of support) during the few years from when Toby started his UConn career through to when Wes ended his. If not for this a) there may not have been the draw to remain home for Corny that there was and b) we easily could have been viewed as an insignificant program with temporarily one top recruit at the time the BE began forming even if he did come here.

The only correct answer is that there is no one correct answer.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Corny Thompson. Without him, Mike McKay doesn't sign the same year. Nor does Chuck Aleksinas transfer in from Kentucky. All that leads to the BE invite, without which J Calhoun doesn't come and, as someone said, we're URI, not UConn 4-time national champions.

Corny, a top 5 recruit nationally, chose UConn over North Carolina! That's the equivalent of Diamond Stone choosing UW-Green Bay over UConn.

That was likely the greatest 2 years of CT high school basketball products with Mike McKay, Corny Thompson, John Garris followed the next year by Rod Foster, John Bagley, and John Pinone. If UConn had gotten even 2 of those other four CT players they'd have been final 4 back then.

Garris was a year ahead of Corny & McKay. He ended up in the same graduating class as them because after transferring from Michigan to BC he had to sit one year.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Yes, Chris Smith is the first recruit, JC has said, who chose UConn over other big name schools..... he is the most important.....

and the lists of in state players who went to other schools...... add jay murphy...... who did well at BC

I also agree with a couple of the posters..... our entrance to the BEast was a geography thing, and less contingent on quality of our team at the time...... most important was Dee Rowe and his kinship with Gavitt and other big names in NE hoop circles

 

[hoophuskee]

There is quite a bit of truth to this (and Corny, who was a freshman when I was a freshman is the main reason UConn men's hoops, all UConn sports for that matter, has run through my veins for about 36 years) but to take this a step further, Toby and then Wes, a dozen plus years before Corny's recruitment were also necessary.

While it predates my following the program, from everything I had heard over the years, the love of the men's team, primarily in the middle of the state, was cemented (and grew to something well beyond the earlier versions of support) during the few years from when Toby started his UConn career through to when Wes ended his. If not for this a) there may not have been the draw to remain home for Corny that there was and b) we easily could have been viewed as an insignificant program with temporarily one top recruit at the time the BE began forming even if he did come here.

The only correct answer is that there is no one correct answer.

The thing is- for me - I don't know why Corny chose UCONN. I believe I do know why the Big East chose UCONN and it was more than just geography. It was because primalrliy of Corny. He was a beast his freshman year and led his team to the NCAA's.

So for me the answer is easily Corny - and then Calhoun.