Newest Commit…...

[husky91]

This is on that fat &@%# Manuel. Is he still "monitoring the situation?" Does he attempt to take credit for the UConn basketball success?

Will people say he's doing a great job when UCOnn has 12-15k at its November -Dec games? What do we give him credit for exactly, UConn basketball?

You would love to beat out ND, Michigan, Miami and other big guns for players but he and hid staff have just started. They have goals on players and what they want from size, ability, potential and such. We've seen plenty of success from players in basketball we scratched our heads on so patience will be a must for Diaco and crew. I think it's a great start that he's already sold kids on UConn very well.

 

[husky91]

Ok, Alabama has something like 15 early commits, 12 from ESPN top 300. Guessing they care about skill a little.

You sound like all the naysayers on the football board. Most all of the kids that have been drafted in the NFL from Uconn in recent years were very similar coming out of HS. They all have projectable frames, smart, athletic and very driven to make the team better. I am happy with the 7 commits on board thus far. Who cares who else has offered them? There are plenty of kids that go to P5 schools that will never sniff the NFL. Come to Uconn with a chance to actually see the field, develop (by all accounts the new S&C guy/program has transformed the kids currently on the roster already). Recruiting is a crap shoot mostly. Coaches evaluate, project, and look for potential. You can't teach size and all these kids have that. Have some faith people!

 

[Dynasty]

Ok, Alabama has something like 15 early commits, 12 from ESPN top 300. Guessing they care about skill a little.

You are comparing Alabama football to UConn football?

 

[intlzncster]

I think Diaco will be very good, but this recruiting group is a depressing status on UConn's position. Did we beat out any P5 schools or any that aren't the bottom 20% P5?

I read we beat out Bucknell and Hofstra for the QB. Awesome.

You don't go from 0 to 100 in a few months, unless you are Nick Saban. It's called 'building a program' for a reason.

As we've learned on the basketball side, recruits' rankings doesn't mean much. Talent evaluation is everything.

 

[husky91]

No, I'm not, other people seem to be raving about recruits who wouldn't make the team at Wesleyan.

You are comparing Alabama football to UConn football?

 

[intlzncster]

No, I'm not, other people seem to be raving about recruits who wouldn't make the team at Wesleyan.

Well I'm not sure that could be more over the top, but OK.

 

[husky91]

As we've learned on the basketball side, recruits' rankings doesn't mean much. Talent evaluation is everything.

Oh really? Please list all the 10ppg scorers in the last 20 years @ UConn that were ranked outside the top 100. Have fun

 

[Fishy]

No, I'm not, other people seem to be raving about recruits who wouldn't make the team at Wesleyan.

You just had to know that this wouldn't be happy.

 

[husky91]

Hey Fish hack, the next time you post something insightful will be the first time. Your prattle and blabber is such noise. Go post Tour De France preview stories on Tumblr. That's something you'd actually be good at.

You just had to know that this wouldn't be happy.

 

[KennyD]

Didn't John Crisp play two sports until he got booted out of school because of the vending machine incident?

Keith Kraham played football and baseball and he was two years behind John. He was a solid wide receiver and I think he held the career home run record when he graduated. I played football and was fraternity brothers with both. Great guys!!! Tom Penders also played football & baseball.

 

[caw]

Oh really? Please list all the 10ppg scorers in the last 20 years @ UConn that were ranked outside the top 100. Have fun

Okafor was around 100, depended on the ranking I believe.

Armstrong wasn't ranked, he averaged a shade under 10, I think that's close enough.

Edwards wasn't ranked and averaged over 10.

That's off the top of my head.

 

[intlzncster]

Oh really? Please list all the 10ppg scorers in the last 20 years @ UConn that were ranked outside the top 100. Have fun

Shabazz, Lamb and others were ranked outside of the top 30. Kemba was like 25. Okafor was ranked about 100! Thabeet outside of 100. Those are 2 of the top 5 players ever, another of the top 10, and another 2 of the top 20 to ever play at UCONN. Top 25 is like top 100-150 in football.

Ranking doesn't matter.

 

[husky91]

I said top 100. Thabeet and Okafor were ranked top 100. Shabazz would have been top 35 if he was properly classified. Again, if rankings mean nothing go list the players outside top 100 that averaged 10ppg in any season in last 20 years.

Shabazz, Lamb and others were ranked outside of the top 30. Kemba was like 25. Okafor was ranked about 100! Thabeet outside of 100. Those are 2 of the top 5 players ever, another of the top 10, and another 2 of the top 20 to ever play at UCONN. Top 25 is like top 100-150 in football.

Ranking doesn't matter.

 

[Gurleyman]

I said top 100. Thabeet and Okafor were ranked top 100. Shabazz would have been top 35 if he was properly classified. Again, if rankings mean nothing go list the players outside top 100 that averaged 10ppg in any season in last 20 years.

Okafor was 99 in the final consensus rankings, but only after playing well in a senior year all star game in April. He was outside the top 100 in the whole process until then.

Voskuhl, Boone, Austrie, Okwandu, Edwards, Giffey, Brimah, Kromah and Nolan have all been key contributors on Final Four teams from outside the top 100, if not 10 ppg scorers. But if you went back to 1990, which is a more fair comparison to where the football program is in its stage of development (10 years into the Big East vs 10 years into FBS), Smith was the only top 100 guy on the team. And even that parallel isn't fair, since hoops was in the top conference in the country around then, and football is outside the BCS.

 

[intlzncster]

Okafor was 99 in the final consensus rankings, but only after playing well in a senior year all star game in April. He was outside the top 100 in the whole process until then.

Voskuhl, Boone, Austrie, Okwandu, Edwards, Giffey, Brimah, Kromah and Nolan have all been key contributors on Final Four teams from outside the top 100, if not 10 pig scorers. But if you went back to 1990, which is a more fair comparison to where the football program is in its stage of development (10 years into the Big East vs 10 years into FBS), Smith was the only top 100 guy on the team. And even that parallel isn't fair, since hoops was in the top conference in the country around then, and football is outside the BCS.

Yeah, you really have to be working hard to try to make that comparison. Real hard.

 

[intlzncster]

I said top 100. Thabeet and Okafor were ranked top 100. Shabazz would have been top 35 if he was properly classified. Again, if rankings mean nothing go list the players outside top 100 that averaged 10ppg in any season in last 20 years.

Yes, but you are not taking into account top 100 in football vs top 100 in basketball. There's 10 times as many football recruits as basketball.

 

[husky91]

Okafor was 99 in the final consensus rankings, but only after playing well in a senior year all star game in April. He was outside the top 100 in the whole process until then.

Voskuhl, Boone, Austrie, Okwandu, Edwards, Giffey, Brimah, Kromah and Nolan have all been key contributors on Final Four teams from outside the top 100, if not 10 ppg scorers. But if you went back to 1990, which is a more fair comparison to where the football program is in its stage of development (10 years into the Big East vs 10 years into FBS), Smith was the only top 100 guy on the team. And even that parallel isn't fair, since hoops was in the top conference in the country around then, and football is outside the BCS.

Voskul and Boone were top 100. None of these other guys except Edwards' 10.6 ppg one year on a lousy team averaged 10 ppg. Again, I didn't make the irresponsible statement that "rankings don't matter."

Lebron was ranked #1 coming out of HS. I guess the analysts got that one wrong too.

 

[dsturdy5]

Lebron was ranked #1 coming out of HS. I guess the analysts got that one wrong too.

Just wow...

Let's compare apples to apples here...What were the rankings of Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Donald Thomas, Dan Orlovsky, Alfred Fincher, Deon Anderson, Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Jordan Todman, Tyvon Branch, Marcus Easley, etc? You know, football players who played football at UConn and went on to NFL careers.

 

[BNich]

No, I'm not, other people seem to be raving about recruits who wouldn't make the team at Wesleyan.

Most of these kids haven't been evaluated yet by the big recruiting sites. They haven't been to nation wide camps or camped at p5 schools or been talked to by p5 programs because no one has heard of them yet. How does one first get noticed? You've got me. There are far too many HS football players for them all to be ranked adequately. As I mentioned, it's all a crap shoot. Who is to say one prospect going to Alabama is going to be better college player than a prospect going to Uconn. So much can happen in the summer leading up to their freshman year and the 5 years that follow. I don't believe a coach can recruit on talent alone. Sure it's a big part of it, but coaches must try to project/predict what a HS athlete COULD become.

 

[intlzncster]

Voskul and Boone were top 100. None of these other guys except Edwards' 10.6 ppg one year on a lousy team averaged 10 ppg. Again, I didn't make the irresponsible statement that "rankings don't matter."

Lebron was ranked #1 coming out of HS. I guess the analysts got that one wrong too.

So was Andrew Bynum. How did that work out? Kwame Brown? You can cherry pick data all you want, but grabbing the best player in the world as your example of rankings is silly at best.

 

[husky91]

I know we beat out Bucknell and Hofstra for the QB, so somehow their teams were following him.

Most of these kids haven't been evaluated yet by the big recruiting sites. They haven't been to nation wide camps or camped at p5 schools or been talked to by p5 programs because no one has heard of them yet. How does one first get noticed? You've got me. There are far too many HS football players for them all to be ranked adequately. As I mentioned, it's all a crap shoot. Who is to say one prospect going to Alabama is going to be better college player than a prospect going to Uconn. So much can happen in the summer leading up to their freshman year and the 5 years that follow. I don't believe a coach can recruit on talent alone. Sure it's a big part of it, but coaches must try to project/predict what a HS athlete COULD become.

 

[intlzncster]

Just wow...

Let's compare apples to apples here...What were the rankings of Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Donald Thomas, Dan Orlovsky, Alfred Fincher, Deon Anderson, Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Jordan Todman, Tyvon Branch, Marcus Easley, etc? You know, football players who played football at UConn and went on to NFL careers.

Add to that: as compared to Lebron James. Only the 2nd best basketball player to ever play the game. Very fair and natural comparison.

 

[Gurleyman]

Voskul and Boone were top 100. None of these other guys except Edwards' 10.6 ppg one year on a lousy team averaged 10 ppg. Again, I didn't make the irresponsible statement that "rankings don't matter." Lebron was ranked #1 coming out of HS. I guess the analysts got that one wrong too.

Voskuhl was nowhere near the top 100 when he committed. His high school teammate Mike LeBlanc was. Most people thought we took Voskuhl as a throw in to try to get LeBlanc. He was as lightly regarded as they come. Boone it depends on who you look at, but he was outside the top 100 in the consensus rankings before going to prep.

I'm sure you were one of those people mad that we signed Brimah because of the rankings, and we don't win a national title without him. You need some high level talent, yes, but the complementary pieces around them are significant as well. And with the right mix of under appreciated and overlooked talent, you can do great things as an up and coming team. Butler being exhibit A. That's where our football program is now - trying to find the right overlooked talent and leaving the 5 stars to the big fish.

 

[husky91]

What year did Voskuhl average 10 ppg? Why is he even listed here?

Not too easy is it. I'm not the one who makes irresponsible statements like "rankings don't matter."

Voskuhl was nowhere near the top 100 when he committed. His high school teammate Mike LeBlanc was. Most people thought we took Voskuhl as a throw in to try to get LeBlanc. He was as lightly regarded as they come. Boone it depends on who you look at, but he was outside the top 100 in the consensus rankings before going to prep.

I'm sure you were one of those people mad that we signed Brimah because of the rankings, and we don't win a national title without him. You need some high level talent, yes, but the complementary pieces around them are significant as well. And with the right mix of under appreciated and overlooked talent, you can do great things as an up and coming team. Butler being exhibit A. That's where our football program is now - trying to find the right overlooked talent and leaving the 5 stars to the big fish.

 

[Yonick]

What year did Voskuhl average 10 ppg? Why is he even listed here?

Not too easy is it. I'm not the one who makes irresponsible statements like "rankings don't matter."

Time will be the true evaluator of this recruiting class. From what I see, at this point, is It's a typical Edsall type recruiting class.
5 bowls, 3 wins. 2 BE titles, 1 BCS bowl appearance in UConn's 1st 10 years. Not Alabama, but it's pretty good for a northeastern FB program not named Penn State.