OT: BC vs. UHart-- Can Jen Recover?

[HardHatGuy#2]

Just fer funsies...Tyler Summitt?

 

[Wbbfan1]

Jen has to start winning the recruiting wars for Mass/NH & CT HS players ranked in the 75-200 range. Then get an occasional lower ranked player out of New York. The problem is these are the same players that BU,BC and others are recruiting.

 

[ThisJustIn]

.

Xavier used to be a great mid major, now they are down.

Marist is having a down year.

George Washington has been good then bad and now good again.

Maine was a strong mid major in the 90s and early 2000s then was terrible for about 7-8 years but made the WNIT last year.

Xavier - never replaced the coach that grew'em with someone of quality
GW - see above, though that may have changed (adding a super player like Jones has helped)
Maine - don't know if the AD changed, but they made a couple of good young coaching finds, then made the alumni mistake with Blodgett. International players and a new coach have revived the program.

Marist has been amazing for a long time - something odd happened with transfers and injuries this year. Still wondering what....

So, mid-majors can grow - it's about the coaching.

 

[hjoerring]

Jen Rizzotti has been unable to recruit sufficiently to make U of H consistently competitive in its own league. Without a record of success as a coach, how can she possibly be considered to succeed Geno?

In reality no. She is a construction of the -boneyard. Only here is she spoken about as a possible this and that. Had she D1 ambitions she would have been long gone from U of H- even to another prominent D2. Her only fame is having won with USA bb. That's nothing to barb at, but look at the players and the assistants surrounding her. But listen, there are people here on this Bord who are hoping that DT quit playing and replace Geno. I would love to see DT on the bench as an assistant learning the trade. In my opinion, Jenn R is not waiting around for Geno to retire. Her ego is not that big, Geno knows that it will be the end of a project and, like all other projects the next one seems to have its own dynamics (even if Geno turns it over to Daly it would be different), and the AD cannot afford to have a stellar marketing program like Uconn WBB swings freely in the winds of Storrs.

 

[ChicagoGG]

Honestly, would she want to be the one that follows Geno? There is an old saw that you never want to be the guy that follows THE GUY. You want to be the one after that....because whoever follows immediately after Geno will be under an atomic microscope....and have no wriggle room.

 

[WestCoastFan]

Ya'll have waaaaaaay too much time on your hands. Talking about this is like talking about 2018 (and beyond) recruiting.

Only two days that mean nothing in our lives: Yesterday and Tomorrow. Carpe Diem, Baby!

 

[Blakeon18]

Just for the record: I do believe that Jen turned down an offer to coach BC. As far as mentoring talent: she has done very well
coaching elite players on age-group USABasketball teams.

 

[trb123]

Just for the record: I do believe that Jen turned down an offer to coach BC. As far as mentoring talent: she has done very well
coaching elite players on age-group USABasketball teams.

Coaching players for 4 yrs is not the same thing as coaching them for 3-4 wks to win a championship. I agree there is some overlap.

I can see a parallel coaching students in math clubs. I get a bunch of top kids and I work (with others) to prepare them for AMC 8, 10, 12 and mathcounts.
That is quite different from coaching them at middle school for 3 yrs.
First you have to convince the parents (often stupid) that the kid should not waste any time on prealgebra in 6th grade. That is somewhat equivalent to recruiting.
You have to make sure that he studies algebra 1-2, geometry and then algebra 3-4.
This is not easy. Sometimes the student cannot cope up with pressure and does badly. At other times he (less frequently she) loses interest working with the lesser talented kids.
The teacher has to make sure that all the students in the class are on the same wavelength. At the same time he/she has to keep the brighter students interested.
Geno has the ability to make all the players on the team see the same same thing.
Finally after three yrs, the student is ready to start AP calculus in 9th grade. That is equivalent to your kid getting drafted for WNBA.

 

[chrissaran]

Those of you criticizing Jen don't have a clue. Maybe you forgot how she played at UConn or how she coached USA Basketball. To say she doesn't have the fire in her belly is total ********. She would be an incredible coach if UConn selected her, as would Shea or Marissa.

 

[trb123]

Those of you criticizing Jen don't have a clue. Maybe you forgot how she played at UConn or how she coached USA Basketball. To say she doesn't have the fire in her belly is total ********. She would be an incredible coach if UConn selected her, as would Shea or Marissa.

I can see Shea is well on her way to become a successful coach at a top program. Perhaps Marissa too although I know very little about her.
I am yet to see Rizzotti mentor top talent at Hartford. I do not know if she can do this as a head coach.
I am not saying that she cannot do this. I am saying that she has not done this.
I believe that the coach selected to replace Geno should have proven ability to mentor top talent as a coach (good assistants are welcome) in a 4 yr program.

 

[EricLA]

Honestly, would she want to be the one that follows Geno? There is an old saw that you never want to be the guy that follows THE GUY. You want to be the one after that....because whoever follows immediately after Geno will be under an atomic microscope....and have no wriggle room.

Just look at Holly Warlick. Look at the plethora of top 10 recruits she's landed in her 3+ years there and look at her teams making the sweet 16 and elite 8. And the fans are calling for her firing right now, if not sooner!

 

[WestCoastFan]

Just look at Holly Warlick. Look at the plethora of top 10 recruits she's landed in her 3+ years there and look at her teams making the sweet 16 and elite 8. And the fans are calling for her firing right now, if not sooner!

Hopefully, when it happens, UConn will be smarter in their choice. A really tough job to follow a legend when you're a lousy coach.

 

[BroadwayVa]

What I was saying, more accurately, is that I wouldn't get involved in predicting how she would do, because I will not become involved in discussing the next head coach of a program which I don't have a rooting interest. Other folks seem to be divided as to whether they think she could have success at a better school than UHart or not. I'm not commenting, hence what I was trying to say.

I don't disagree now, no did I disagree then--I was sure this is what you were saying--you gave, what in my opinion, was an intelligent posting of could, would, should, or anything with Jen. My feelings exactly--why predict or make judgments about what may never be.