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

[djct1999]

But, uh, did Kemba Walker get heat from you for his first two years? Kemba was a main player in that disaster called 2010.

I don't criticize players and their efforts. I do think that was one of Coach Calhoun's weaker seasons.

 

[djct1999]

People on this board had a tremendous impact in the game of life. Just look at the +40k raised on this message board by the various Boneyard team leaders. That was an incredible accomplishment giving this message board a ton a street cred. from a real life perspective. Don't sell short some of the key players on this very board. They bleed husky blue and should be respected.

from a real life perspective, that should be applauded.....this is the boneyard and we are here to debate sport. the only thing in common, is that this platform through the organization and efforts by some, was able to make a real life difference. that is awesome but that doesnt mean we have to agree on the impact of a recruiting class.

 

[caw]

We lost out on another recruit who is beneath are storied program... whats going on with our recruiting?

Huh? Which recruit are you referring to? UConn never recruited Johnson because they are pretty stocked at the 2-3 assuming Hamilton signs. Johnson's was choosing between UNC, UVA and IU. UConn never went after him because there was zero interest on either side once Hamilton verballed and still close to zero before then, bc Johnson blewup after Hamilton verballed.

Robinson is friends with Johnson, but IU is pretty crowded at the 1-3 and is likely targeting Goodluck next. I imagine they would love a class of Johnson, Robinson and Goodluck.

UConn is probably still the favorite or Robinson but needs that OV to happen and go well.

 

[upstater]

no. what i will do is argue simply for the sake of arguing. i will break down how many times uconn will be on tv. i will pretend to get into the psyche of each recruit and tell this board why they will come to uconn. when they don't, i will move on the next recruit. rinse. repeat. until finally, we land our fourth or fifth option and i will applaud the staff for a job well done and believe that this said recruit is worthy simply because our coach signed him, even though we offered him very late in the process.

this is uconn basketball. kevin ollie inherited an elite program. to maintain that, he will have to recruit and will have to land some of his top targets. i still hold much hope for robinson and even hamilton to sign. somehow, if neither come, uconn can still be okay, if players like dd come back, with guys like kasongo and graham. but, over the long term, an elite program cannot sustain multiple years of missing out on top targets. stop pretending and arguing otherwise.

Well excuse me for pointing out that UConn will be on ESPN a lot, and for realizing this program has won with players who were not the #1 target. I should be like you: crying and whining!

 

[upstater]

Jesus Shuttlesworth ‏@_drobbbb 6m
I can't wait for this steak doeeee

Sorry for cyber-stalking and posting, but how riveting can the dinner conversation be if the kid is texting after ordering?

I'm generally surprised at the level of narration going on in the culture today. Bob Graham and Terence Malick absolutely love this turn of events.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

from a real life perspective, that should be applauded.....this is the boneyard and we are here to debate sport. the only thing in common, is that this platform through the organization and efforts by some, was able to make a real life difference. that is awesome but that doesnt mean we have to agree on the impact of a recruiting class.

Did I ever tell you the story when I bought Magic Johnson a lap dance at a club named Omar's in Lansing?

 

[Matrim55]

Jesus Shuttlesworth ‏@_drobbbb 6m
I can't wait for this steak doeeee

Oh shit, he likes steak! Indiana kicks the ever-loving hell out of Connecticut when it comes to steak. We're doomed!

Unless... maybe this kid like wings? Time to mobilize! #OperationBidwell

 

[pj]

under coach calhoun, uconn has developed a certain standard. if players are being brought in as a last resort that fall below that standard, fans have every right to vocalize their discontent(off the court). i am not one that will criticize a kid on the floor giving his maximum effort(regardless of talent), but i do hold the current staff, as much as i love coach ollie, to maintain the uconn standard that has been established. if they do, i will applaud them. if they dont, i will not stand quiet.

Calhoun brought in a lot of players that fell below "uconn standard," whatever it is. Tell me which of these players are above your standard:
- Class of 2010: Michael Bradley, Tyler Olander, Enosch Wolf
- Class of 2009: Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice
- Class of 2008: Scott Haralson
- Class of 2007: Donnell Beverly
- Class of 2006: Ben Eaves, Jonathan Mandeldove
- Class of 2005: Craig Austrie, Robert Garrison

Then tell me one recruit Kevin Ollie has brought in who is worse than any of these. Tell me one guy we've offered that you know is worse than these.

Why so eager to bash our coach and our recruits?

 

[upstater]

Oh , he likes steak! Indiana kicks the ever-loving hell out of Connecticut when it comes to steak. We're doomed!

Unless... maybe this kid like wings? Time to mobilize! #OperationBidwell

Waiting for his next tweet. I wonder if they overcooked it.

 

[Jaybo]

Bet everyone's crystal ball predicts Change to IU.

 

[caw]

Calhoun brought in a lot of players that fell below "uconn standard," whatever it is. Tell me which of these players are above your standard:
- Class of 2010: Michael Bradley, Tyler Olander, Enosch Wolf
- Class of 2009: Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice
- Class of 2008: Scott Haralson
- Class of 2007: Donnell Beverly
- Class of 2006: Ben Eaves, Jonathan Mandeldove
- Class of 2005: Craig Austrie, Robert Garrison

Then tell me one recruit Kevin Ollie has brought in who is worse than any of these. Tell me one guy we've offered that you know is worse than these.

Why so eager to bash our coach and our recruits?

Brimah might be ranked lower than some of them. Same may be said about Tolksdorf. Not saying he is worse or better, just talking about ranking.

Other than that he has brought in:
Facey - top 100
Samuel - top 150
Purvis - top 20
Hamilton - top 20

You may count, as they may have committed to Calhoun but they stuck with Ollie.
Calhoun - top 40
Nolan - top 150

Overall that's two top 20, one top 40, one top 100, two top 150, and two lower ranked. That is all with massive recruiting impairments. I'd say that is darn impressive. That doesn't include Kromah or Evans (who helped a ton for depth).

Of course the other 5 players on the roster right now were all top 100 kids.

Napier - top 75ish
Boatright - top 50ish
Giffey - if US likely top 100
Daniels - top 10
Olander - top 100 in initial class

Looking at it, it shows how much the NCAA impaired recruiting last year and the year before. If Ollie can land one more top 100 kid this class will be better than most Calhoun classes. If they can land Robinson, they may have the first class with three McDAA ever at UConn. I think UConn still leads for Robinson, but Indiana will be tough. I wish everyone would wait to see how this class ends up before they pile on.

There is still the initial signing period, the coaching vacancy kids, the fifth year transfers and all the late signing period kids. I don't know who might not sign, or who might but I do know having Purvis puts UConn above every other team right now, until kids sign in the early signing period.

Recruiting is fun, and it's nice to get early verbals and not have to worry about late signings, but there is a ton o f time

 

[Gurleyman]

Brimah to me is one of those recruits where the recruiting ranking is sort of irrelevant. It was clear when we were getting outrebounded by 30 some nights that we needed a little bit of interior help right away for this coming season. Finding help in the spring can be slim pickins - yeah, sometimes you catch a break with an Okafor, or a decommit like Villanueva, but usually all the top talent is off the table. Brimah might have been the best big still available last year, so even though he was ranked low, he was still a key recruit because he was the closest thing we could find to fill an immediate need. It could turn out he may not help this year after all, but he has a better chance than an empty chair.

Same holds true for a Garrison, who was an emergency recruit that we plucked from prep school when we were suddenly without non-suspended point guards in July. Circumstances dictated that we needed someone off the scrap heap.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Calhoun brought in a lot of players that fell below "uconn standard," whatever it is. Tell me which of these players are above your standard:
- Class of 2010: Michael Bradley, Tyler Olander, Enosch Wolf
- Class of 2009: Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice
- Class of 2008: Scott Haralson
- Class of 2007: Donnell Beverly
- Class of 2006: Ben Eaves, Jonathan Mandeldove
- Class of 2005: Craig Austrie, Robert Garrison

Then tell me one recruit Kevin Ollie has brought in who is worse than any of these. Tell me one guy we've offered that you know is worse than these.

Why so eager to bash our coach and our recruits?

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Donnell and Austrie really contributed -IMO don't think the phrase "worse than " should apply to them

 

[pj]

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Donnell and Austrie really contributed -IMO don't think the phrase "worse than " should apply to them

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.

 

[D$]

Don't shoot the messenger, but I have a good source in the Richmond basketball scene and Robinson's coach told him that UCONN cooled on his recruitment. Not sure why, but now with Johnson committing to IU, looks like our odds are not good.

 

[pj]

Don't shoot the messenger, but I have a good source in the Richmond basketball scene and Robinson's coach told him that UCONN cooled on his recruitment. Not sure why, but now with Johnson committing to IU, looks like our odds are not good.

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.

 

[djct1999]

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]

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.

 

[upstater]

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]

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]

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.

 

[James]

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

 

[upstater]

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.

 

[caw]

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

 

[pj]

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.

 

[azescobar]

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.

 

[Zionn]

with a recent in-home, and an upcoming OV - how exactly how we cooled?

 

[qdog87]

Don't shoot the messenger, but I have a good source in the Richmond basketball scene and Robinson's coach told him that UCONN cooled on his recruitment. Not sure why, but now with Johnson committing to IU, looks like our odds are not good.

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]

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.

 

[D$]

with a recent in-home, and an upcoming OV - how exactly how we cooled?

His coach told that directly to my source and maybe that was just his perception but let's hope that Robinson feels differently about it or that he received an explanation as to why. My source also spent some time with Larrier when he was visiting VCU and said that Larrier loves Shaka.