No XRM Visit = No Good

[UConn2SF]

he just tweeted Oct. 18 is his announcement date which gives him 2 weeks to visit us

 

[aceboon]

he just tweeted Oct. 18 is his announcement date which gives him 2 weeks to visit us

it's still the 13th

 

[Tenspro2002]

Bynum may have been a bad example but my point is that if a top recruit doesn't choose us there is not much that can be done but regroup and move on to the next one. More importantly the disappointment and failure can have a positive effect in the long run if it causes a reaction that prevents further losses. Its like in sales, what did we do wrong, and what do we need to improve? If it was an easy sell then a by-product could be 'we don't need to change a thing' which can be detrimental in the long run.

I guess my view of recruiting is that it's more "out of our hands" than something we control. I see recruiting as mainly a byproduct of the perception of the program, and this perception is fed predominantly by the actions of other top recruits. It's a bandwagon effect. And if we see a whole string of guys like XRM turn us down, that leads later recruits to think that we're not a great destination. It snowballs.

Of course, there's some influence from the personal relationship between the recruit and the coaching staff, but for as much as a player might respect the coach of, say, Marquette, if Kentucky comes a-calling there's no way he turns them down.

 

[DogMania]

I guess my view of recruiting is that it's more "out of our hands" than something we control. I see recruiting as mainly a byproduct of the perception of the program, and this perception is fed predominantly by the actions of other top recruits. It's a bandwagon effect. And if we see a whole string of guys like XRM turn us down, that leads later recruits to think that we're not a great destination. It snowballs.

Of course, there's some influence from the personal relationship between the recruit and the coaching staff, but for as much as a player might respect the coach of, say, Marquette, if Kentucky comes a-calling there's no way he turns them down.

It doesn't always work that way. Many thought UK was going to land a few big time recruits this past spring, but most of them chose other programs. Granted the hot elite programs often do have a leg up. Sometimes they miss out on some very good players while holding out for better ones.

There is simply not enough to go on to figure out where XRM might be leaning. If he reschedules his visit, then that would mean we're still high on his list. If he doesn't reschedule, it won't necessarily mean we've lost ground since he's already visited before. Unless some big time inner circle news comes out somehow where he's said to someone where he's leaning toward or planning to announce, I'd say we're all still in the dark.

 

[freescooter]

I guess my view of recruiting is that it's more "out of our hands" than something we control. I see recruiting as mainly a byproduct of the perception of the program, and this perception is fed predominantly by the actions of other top recruits. It's a bandwagon effect. And if we see a whole string of guys like XRM turn us down, that leads later recruits to think that we're not a great destination. It snowballs.

Of course, there's some influence from the personal relationship between the recruit and the coaching staff, but for as much as a player might respect the coach of, say, Marquette, if Kentucky comes a-calling there's no way he turns them down.

This is an issue. The luxury of having Jim Calhoun as the head coach was he could make those guys pay, in a sense, buy taking a less highly regarded player and making him into an NBA level guy. Hilton is a good example but Emeka Okafor was something like our 3rd option when he arrived, you guys can list them as well as I can. He won a championship with a front court of Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriaki,and a cast of role players (Olander, Giffey, Combs-mcDaniel) for heaven sakes. Two very adequate but hardly dominating players and one slot held by committee. Even Jeremy Lamb, people forget, was something like a 75-80 ranked player, not a top 5 guy. The lamb who everyone was talking about durin gthe recruiting season went to Kentucky...who just happened to lose to UConn... So as I say, Calhoun had the ability to make guys who turned him down live to regret it. It really remains to be seen if we still have that luxury.

 

[upstater]

This is an issue. The luxury of having Jim Calhoun as the head coach was he could make those guys pay, in a sense, buy taking a less highly regarded player and making him into an NBA level guy. Hilton is a good example but Emeka Okafor was something like our 3rd option when he arrived, you guys can list them as well as I can. He won a championship with a front court of Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriaki,and a cast of role players (Olander, Giffey, Combs-mcDaniel) for heaven sakes. Two very adequate but hardly dominating players and one slot held by committee. Even Jeremy Lamb, people forget, was something like a 75-80 ranked player, not a top 5 guy. The lamb who everyone was talking about durin gthe recruiting season went to Kentucky...who just happened to lose to UConn... So as I say, Calhoun had the ability to make guys who turned him down live to regret it. It really remains to be seen if we still have that luxury.

Wow, such revisionist history. Calhoun and his assistants are excellent talent evaluators. It wasn't simply that Lamb turned out to be a stud once he got to UConn. It was that they thought he was a stud all along. His recruitment wasn't an afterthought (i.e. they didn't lose out on Doron and then they decided to offer Jeremy). some of the coaches, like Karl Hobbs were instrumental in the distant past, in scouting and recommending players who were not at the top of the list, but they knew those players were being underrated. Say what you will about Gavin Edwards, but it was an assistant coach who traveled to AZ, watched this kid who didn't even start for his high school team, and recommended he be given a scholarship. It's not like UConn coaches don't scout these players. They don't simply show up at UConn and become studs. It's the combination of talent evaluation and development that churns out so many pros.

 

[CTBasketball]

If we can squeek XRM in for a visit before his announcement, then I'd say Ollie locks it up. If not, he's a Nole.

 

[aceboon]

If we can squeek XRM in for a visit before his announcement, then I'd say Ollie locks it up. If not, he's a Nole.

He's made up his mind already

 

[CTBasketball]

He's made up his mind already

Oh what is it then?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Oh what is it then?

Writing on the wall seems to be Florida State.

 

[Clockshop]

should we do a poll and see what the board thinks?

 

[CTBasketball]

should we do a poll and see what the board thinks?

A lot of the irrational fans are going to say he's a Husky. Rational fans are going to say he won't be. There are a lot more irrational fans than rational fans.

 

[freescooter]

Wow, such revisionist history. Calhoun and his assistants are excellent talent evaluators. It wasn't simply that Lamb turned out to be a stud once he got to UConn. It was that they thought he was a stud all along. His recruitment wasn't an afterthought (i.e. they didn't lose out on Doron and then they decided to offer Jeremy). some of the coaches, like Karl Hobbs were instrumental in the distant past, in scouting and recommending players who were not at the top of the list, but they knew those players were being underrated. Say what you will about Gavin Edwards, but it was an assistant coach who traveled to AZ, watched this kid who didn't even start for his high school team, and recommended he be given a scholarship. It's not like UConn coaches don't scout these players. They don't simply show up at UConn and become studs. It's the combination of talent evaluation and development that churns out so many pros.

Don't disagree with any of that and I don't say Calhoun wasn't an excellent talent evaluator. Not even close. And maybe Lamb was a bad example in the sense that he was a kid they did want. But the point I was making is that just because the best basketball coach in the college game, probably one of the top 5 of all time, could win with players others thought were lesser talents, that doesn't automatically mean that any other coach can do the same. It amazes me that some of you guys don't understand just how good the guy was as a basketball coach. You throw out things like Hall of fame coach without, it seems, any concept of what that means. He was one of those coaches as they said of Bear Bryant, who "could take hisn and beat yourn or take yourn and beat hisn." Assuming Ollie or anyone but a very few others could do the same shows a complete lack of understanding of just how incredible Jim Calhoun was. As a matter of fact I've heard Jim Calhoun talk about the issue of recruiting a few times and he always said that he looked for players with the ability to get better. Sometimes highly rated guys were already at their max while lower rated guys had potential to get better and ultimately exceed the guy ranked above him. He thought Okafor was one of those guys who would eventually be a stud. He thought Hilton had the potential to be very good, too. So no, it isn't revisonist history. But to assume that another coach can be equally adept at it just becaus eone of th ebest to ever coach college basketball did it is pretty crazy and I think shows little appreciation or understanding of just how good Jim Calhoun was.

 

[huskiesnyc]

XRM has visited campus several times, and I think we should wait for his announcement before making assumptions. A lot of quitters on this board

 

[CTBasketball]

XRM has visited campus several times, and I think we should wait for his announcement before making assumptions. A lot of quitters on this board

I'm with ye. Maybe we should have someone slip him a 100.

 

[upstater]

Don't disagree with any of that and I don't say Calhoun wasn't an excellent talent evaluator. Not even close. And maybe Lamb was a bad example in the sense that he was a kid they did want. But the point I was making is that just because the best basketball coach in the college game, probably one of the top 5 of all time, could win with players others thought were lesser talents, that doesn't automatically mean that any other coach can do the same. It amazes me that some of you guys don't understand just how good the guy was as a basketball coach. You throw out things like Hall of fame coach without, it seems, any concept of what that means. He was one of those coaches as they said of Bear Bryant, who "could take hisn and beat yourn or take yourn and beat hisn." Assuming Ollie or anyone but a very few others could do the same shows a complete lack of understanding of just how incredible Jim Calhoun was. As a matter of fact I've heard Jim Calhoun talk about the issue of recruiting a few times and he always said that he looked for players with the ability to get better. Sometimes highly rated guys were already at their max while lower rated guys had potential to get better and ultimately exceed the guy ranked above him. He thought Okafor was one of those guys who would eventually be a stud. He thought Hilton had the potential to be very good, too. So no, it isn't revisonist history. But to assume that another coach can be equally adept at it just becaus eone of th ebest to ever coach college basketball did it is pretty crazy and I think shows little appreciation or understanding of just how good Jim Calhoun was.

No one said anything about Calhoun being easy to replace.

What people object to is that the pet favorites of some other posters are better equipped to keep the ball rolling.

 

[Brochacho]

Obviously XRM told Ollie he was coming and that he wanted the staff to save the limited officials for guys like Parker and Vonleh so we could win the NCAAs his freshman year. Only possible scenario.

 

[CTBasketball]

Obviously XRM told Ollie he was coming and that he wanted the staff to save the limited officials for guys like Parker and Vonleh so we could win the NCAAs his freshman year. Only possible scenario.

Your optimistic thinking makes me happy. Here are my 3 scenarios:

1. XRM told Ollie to save the visit, I'm Husky blue through and true. Then we win the championship in 2013.

2. XRM told Ollie to save the visit, I'm a Seminole/Illini (sounds weird).

3. XRM told Ollie to save the visit. Even if we don't get him, we can spend visits on Vonleh/Parker/TBD and win championship in 2013.


The odds say we're in good shape.

 

[Dove]

Your optimistic thinking makes me happy. Here are my 3 scenarios:

1. XRM told Ollie to save the visit, I'm Husky blue through and true. Then we win the championship in 2013.

2. XRM told Ollie to save the visit, I'm a Seminole/Illini (sounds weird).

3. XRM told Ollie to save the visit. Even if we don't get him, we can spend visits on Vonleh/Parker/TBD and win championship in 2013.


The odds say we're in good shape.

Yeah, the pro-Ollie vibe with the X-Man was just too strong. I'm going to stay positive despite Fishy writing that the ship done sailed.

 

[Dove]

Alright...I officially say "NEXT!!"