No White, No Larrier ... Robinson is a must get | Page 4 | The Boneyard

No White, No Larrier ... Robinson is a must get

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pj

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Ouch (if true). Don't understand this. You have to maintain a consistent courtship. If this is a false impression then I hope it gets corrected pronto. I hope KO does a thorough post-mortem on this recruiting year, talks to players and family and coaches about why we missed on them, and thoroughly examines and corrects any flaws in the recruiting process.
 
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Thanks for agreeing with me. For those who had trouble following the thread, I didn't say any player was worse than"uconn standard", djct1999 did. He declared a standard and I declared his standard unreasonable, as we can recruit below his standard and win national championships. If he thinks Ollie is recruiting worse than Calhoun he's just wrong.

first, i didnt create the standard, uconn and coach calhoun did with sustained success. second, obviously it is premature to evaluate ollie and recruiting. the discussion has been why/if has uconn been missing out on their primary targets. finally, it is extremely rare(which is why what brad stevens accomplished was remarkable) to win a national championship without a core of top 100 recruits. rather than post judgement, take the time and look on key contributors on past national champions. i will do one for you: the box score of the 2011 championship game.

alex oriachi 25 mins
roscoe smith 22 mins
kemba walker 37 mins
jeremy lamb 31 mins
shabazz napier 27 mins
niels giffery 24 mins

tyler olander 7 mins
jamal coombs-mcdaniel 6 mins
donell beverly 8 mins
charles okuandu 13 mins

it is obvious that the major minutes minutes were played(outside of niels) by top 100 guys. in fact, outside of shabazz, they were all top 75 guys. we can debate all you want how marginal the likes of berverly and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel are to a program. point is, there are a ton of guys like that. guys that can fill out scholarships 12-15. you will not win championships that way. jim calhoun did not win championships that way.
 

Jaybo

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Pretty sure we can count are selves out with Robinson. Are coaches arent doing something right with theses kids,they don't seem like very good closers.
 
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We have very little insight into what is going on. Everyone has interests. We don't know what motivates people to say things. We don't know what UConn's plan and strategy is. We know that UConn is still searching for a 3/4 based on the Larrier recruitment, so we can dismiss the idea that Ollie feels set there. He clearly doesn't.

But, PJ, if you're concerned that this is a repeat of Abu, where Abu overtly told one of the journalists that UConn had stopped contacting him, then yes, this kind of statement repeats that. Then again, we heard the same exact thing about Ahmed Hill, that UConn stopped recruiting him, and in Hill's case--as opposed to Abu's--the lack of communication seems deliberate rather than forced by sanctions. we don't even know who Robinson's coach is and what connections he has to other schools. I can't remember UConn ever recruiting the tidewater region before, so it seems UConn doesn't even have connections in this area, which is a heavily ACC region.

Ouch (if true). Don't understand this. You have to maintain a consistent courtship. If this is a false impression then I hope it gets corrected pronto. I hope KO does a thorough post-mortem on this recruiting year, talks to players and family and coaches about why we missed on them, and thoroughly examines and corrects any flaws in the recruiting process.
 

pj

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first, i didnt create the standard, uconn and coach calhoun did with sustained success. second, obviously it is premature to evaluate ollie and recruiting. the discussion has been why/if has uconn been missing out on their primary targets. finally, it is extremely rare(which is why what brad stevens accomplished was remarkable) to win a national championship without a core of top 100 recruits. rather than post judgement, take the time and look on key contributors on past national champions. i will do one for you: the box score of the 2011 championship game.

alex oriachi 25 mins
roscoe smith 22 mins
kemba walker 37 mins
jeremy lamb 31 mins
shabazz napier 27 mins
niels giffery 24 mins

tyler olander 7 mins
jamal coombs-mcdaniel 6 mins
donell beverly 8 mins
charles okuandu 13 mins

it is obvious that the major minutes minutes were played(outside of niels) by top 100 guys. in fact, outside of shabazz, they were all top 75 guys. we can debate all you want how marginal the likes of berverly and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel are to a program. point is, there are a ton of guys like that. guys that can fill out scholarships 12-15. you will not win championships that way. jim calhoun did not win championships that way.

As your own example proves, Jim Calhoun relied on "guys like that" for roster spots 8-15 (or 8-13 after scholarships were reduced), not just 12-15.

And Kevin Ollie isn't relying on "guys like that." He's relying on guys like Rodney Purvis and Daniel Hamilton.
 

Skies17

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If we really have cooled off on DRob it's such a dagger. Not only does he look like the real deal, but he would be another miss in that wing/stretch four spot that needs to be addressed in with this class. Can't rely on DD coming back, and even with Hamilton at the 3 our only depth is Tolksdorf who is at best a question mark. Hopefully this is just a rumor because consecutive big misses is a little worrying.
 
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At this point I think it's hard to sell storrs to an uninformed recruit, that's why I doubt a dham disaster; he was bought in from the jump. Like Hamilton, if you really believe what Ollie could bring to the table for your future, you don't ditch him for vcu. Gotta be ten toes in, maybe that's why KO doesn't exert too much effort with guys on the fence. I predict our next commit to come out of left field
 
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If we really have cooled off on DRob it's such a dagger. Not only does he look like the real deal, but he would be another miss in that wing/stretch four spot that needs to be addressed in with this class. Can't rely on DD coming back, and even with Hamilton at the 3 our only depth is Tolksdorf who is at best a question mark. Hopefully this is just a rumor because consecutive big misses is a little worrying.

Can we really call it a miss? If the rumor is true, it's not a miss. That's a big IF though. He has an official visit coming up. They wouldn't burn one of those if they were cool on the kid. The word from that coach is perplexing to say the least.
 
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caw

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I had heard there was more focus on Larrier, but not that UConn stopped recruiting Robinson. Still haven't heard that.
 

pj

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We have very little insight into what is going on. Everyone has interests. We don't know what motivates people to say things. We don't know what UConn's plan and strategy is. We know that UConn is still searching for a 3/4 based on the Larrier recruitment, so we can dismiss the idea that Ollie feels set there. He clearly doesn't.

But, PJ, if you're concerned that this is a repeat of Abu, where Abu overtly told one of the journalists that UConn had stopped contacting him, then yes, this kind of statement repeats that. Then again, we heard the same exact thing about Ahmed Hill, that UConn stopped recruiting him, and in Hill's case--as opposed to Abu's--the lack of communication seems deliberate rather than forced by sanctions. we don't even know who Robinson's coach is and what connections he has to other schools. I can't remember UConn ever recruiting the tidewater region before, so it seems UConn doesn't even have connections in this area, which is a heavily ACC region.

Yes.

Like I said, I can't imagine why UConn would de-emphasize Devin Robinson, and I doubt it's true that we ever did. The only possible reason I can think of is this: I wonder if Daniel Hamilton might have told KO he might reconsider if we brought in a similar player. It seemed through the summer KO really wanted versatile tall, skilled players who could play on the wing, a la D Ham, Devin Robinson, Kelly Oubre, Larrier, etc. Then recently it seems like the focus has shifted to power forwards, Abu became top priority, a slew of offers went out late to PFs like Ray Kasongo and Jabari Craig, and the wing recruits might have been de-emphasized, and we're hosting PGs and big men, not wings. This is just impressions based on internet chatter but it seems like we haven't followed a consistent recruiting plan.

I'm confident KO will figure the recruiting game out. But the 2015 recruiting class now becomes hugely important, especially as it's not out of the question that D Ham could be a one and done, or two and done; Omar Calhoun and Rodney Purvis would be seniors in 2015-6 and if things go well both could conceivably go pro after their junior years. Heading into 2015-16, it's possible all of our really strong players could be freshmen.
 
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this rumor makes no sense to me..Ollie just had an in home w/D Rob..now granted, there hasn't been much feedback from that meeting, but D Rob is still scheduled to come to the midnight madness event, or whatever it is called this year..if we can get to October 18 without a commitment we should be in good shape. I don't like that these visits are a month away though...wish we had some other guys come on campus before they signed elsewhere..staff always needed some bigs, particularly a PF - shouldn't impact us going after D Rob given the number of schollies we have. Also, can't imagine D Ham told Ollie to stop recruiting wings. D Ham will start from Day 1 regardless and has to know that we've been going after wings like Larrier, D Rob, etc...we shall see though..would suck if he goes to Indiana or Florida.
 
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with a recent in-home, and an upcoming OV - how exactly how we cooled?
 
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My only guess on this is, this is purely a misunderstanding. At one point Ollie was going HARD after AMA and was at every event he was playing. I remember a few on this board were wondering why we didn't seem to be attending events Robinson was featured in. Robinson wasn't playing in some of the bigger events that the the staff seem focused on and that might have been interpreted as a lack of interest.

I don't think at any point the staff lost interest. I know Ollie is a new coach, but we have to give him a chance and not get caught up speculating about every rumor. Some of these rumors might be Negative Recruiting by other coaches/program/websites. I am sure in the end we will end up with a solid core of recruits with or without Robinson.
 

Matrim55

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As long as we keep the two guys we've already inked, and add a true 4 and a PG, I'm happy. Don't really care about Robinson too much - thrilled if we get him, but if we don't, we'll be fine anyway.
 
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As long as we keep the two guys we've already inked, and add a true 4 and a PG, I'm happy. Don't really care about Robinson too much - thrilled if we get him, but if we don't, we'll be fine anyway.

Kasongo and Sam Jr and we're in real good shape.........Robinson would be a bonus.........I'm afraid Robinson sees a potential in DD staying and Dham at the same position as well as Omar to a point.........

Next year is more important as long as we fill in the blanks this year........
 

Matrim55

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Kasongo and Sam Jr and we're in real good shape.........Robinson would be a bonus.........I'm afraid Robinson sees a potential in DD staying and Dham at the same position as well as Omar to a point.........
Yup. I mean, we'll have Purvis and Omar for the 2 and the 3, both of whom are proven starters in high-level leagues. Add DHam on top of it, and in all honesty, it's a logjam even if DD doesn't come back. If he does, there will be no playing time to be found.

I can't blame anyone like Robinson or Larrier for looking at a school with more playing time to offer (not that Indiana fits that bill at all, given their recruits the last couple of years).

Next year is more important as long as we fill in the blanks this year........

I agree, though that depends (more than I'd like to admit) upon Samuel's proclivities and development as well as Facey's eligibility.

Another thing to note about next year: Ollie was on three local kids - Donovan Mitchell, Jaylan Adams and Josh Sharma - very, very early. And another kid with local ties - Prince Ali, now in Florida but who grew up in NYC - raves about UConn every time he opens his mouth.

All four of those are top 100 kids, with Adams and Ali both top 40.

Look, if we don't have a home run recruiting class, we'll still be fine. It might take Ollie a little bit to establish himself as a bigtime coach/recruiter, but in the meantime I'm perfectly confident that the team he puts on the floor will go out there and play entertaining, winning, hard-nosed basketball every single game.
 
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Yes.

Like I said, I can't imagine why UConn would de-emphasize Devin Robinson, and I doubt it's true that we ever did. The only possible reason I can think of is this: I wonder if Daniel Hamilton might have told KO he might reconsider if we brought in a similar player. It seemed through the summer KO really wanted versatile tall, skilled players who could play on the wing, a la D Ham, Devin Robinson, Kelly Oubre, Larrier, etc. Then recently it seems like the focus has shifted to power forwards, Abu became top priority, a slew of offers went out late to PFs like Ray Kasongo and Jabari Craig, and the wing recruits might have been de-emphasized, and we're hosting PGs and big men, not wings. This is just impressions based on internet chatter but it seems like we haven't followed a consistent recruiting plan.

I'm confident KO will figure the recruiting game out. But the 2015 recruiting class now becomes hugely important, especially as it's not out of the question that D Ham could be a one and done, or two and done; Omar Calhoun and Rodney Purvis would be seniors in 2015-6 and if things go well both could conceivably go pro after their junior years. Heading into 2015-16, it's possible all of our really strong players could be freshmen.

As a UConn fan, it doesn't bother me at all if we become a program that cycles and makes a run every 3 years. That's basically where we've been. Plus, it is fun watching young freshman play after a successful year of juniors leading the team. It never bothers me to see that. One of the teams I like best was when Freeman and Hamilton came in as freshman.

I have much higher hopes for this 2014 class than next season. I'd like to see UConn add another scorer. But the 2015 class will be looking at Hamilton, Purvis, Calhoun and 2 PGs ahead of them. The class will also be stocked with a PF (hopefully) plus Nolan, Facey, Brimah filling out their bodies. Can't imagine that will look good to incoming kids.
 

pj

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I really want Robinson because DHam/Robinson would be a fantastic combination on the perimeter. As fans you couldn't ask for better. And I'm a fan.
 
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It appears we have "cooled down" on Robinson for some reason. May be Indi bound.
 
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Yeah, I'm calling bull on this rumor that we "cooled down" on Robinson. All it takes is one anonymous, third-hand source to get you guys worked up.
 
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I'm just having a hard time buying it when UConn has been on D-Rob for a while and clearly he continues to shoot up the rankings. I've always preferred him to Abu and Larrier, and IMO, it's a mistake by KO if what you're selling his true.
 
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I'm just having a hard time buying it when UConn has been on D-Rob for a while and clearly he continues to shoot up the rankings. I've always preferred him to Abu and Larrier, and IMO, it's a mistake by KO if what you're selling his true.

I don't blame D$ for posting the info, but worth noting that D-Rob's high school coach also supplied numerous quotes to a Michigan blog saying that D-Rob was very high on them and that they were very likely to get a visit. That blog post was August 21. On August 23 D-Rob cut Michigan. So...let's let this one play out.
 

caw

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I don't blame D$ for posting the info, but worth noting that D-Rob's high school coach also supplied numerous quotes to a Michigan blog saying that D-Rob was very high on them and that they were very likely to get a visit. That blog post was August 21. On August 23 D-Rob cut Michigan. So...let's let this one play out.

I'd be more worried if it was his AAU coach. Though I think Indiana is probably picking up a lot of steam.
 
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