OT: Kevin Ollie's speech....impression

[Blakeon18]

I tuned in to see what's what yesterday at 2:00. I had never heard KO say so much as a word.
I have always heard nothing but go0d things about Kevin and after his presentation yesterday I am going to double-down on that opinion. I thought he came across great.

He certainly is not the most polished orator in the land but he spoke with great emotion [toss in a few tears and laughter] about his family, about Jim Calhoun, about the players, about the university and about his 100% commitment to the very tough job at hand. His style may not win him debates but his earnestness and
passion will serve him well in home visits winning over some hearts and minds. IMO....he hit a home run.

I've been a fan of the UConn men ever since 'Dom Perno stole the ball' [from no less than Bill Bradley].
Lots of thrills over that time with occasional rooting difficulties due to off-court stuff. Regardless
of the number of wins and losses this year, it will be very easy to root for KO and the team. A 7 month audition for Warde Manuel? I hope he gets a fair chance to do what he says he wants to do....retire after years and years at UConn.

I confess I got a kick out of his mention of Springfield's Travis Best. I had mentioned a long ago conversation with JC about the relative merits of KO and Travis in a different thread. Kevin said that he was on his recruiting visit and the coach who was showing him around said something like Travis Best is' around the corner'. I think KO took that to mean that if he didn't accept the scholarship offer, UConn would offer Best. BTW: in my 40 some years in the area Travis is the best to come out of western Massachusetts...he went to Georgia Tech and had a solid career in the NBA.

 

[EricLA]

I agree with you. KO is an easy guy to like and I"m rooting for him. There's a rather large debate on the men's board (understandably) as to whether they agree or disagree with Manuel's decision to give KO basically a 1 year contract. Very little is expected of the team this year and anything KO can do to exceed expectations, or bring in recruits, will certainly weigh heavily in the decision to keep him on.

I'm one of those who feels a full nationwide search is in order. I think if Ollie exceeds expectations, both in recruiting during the next 7 months, and on the court, he has a very high chance to get the permanent gig. But I think the AD would be doing a disservice to the school if he did not conduct an exhaustive search. There are several coaches from mid major programs (Gonzaga, VCU, and Butler to name a few off the top of my head) who have outstanding young coaches. These guys have proven then can recruit, and coach, and lead their teams to at least the elite 8.

 

[FairView]

A year or two ago, I was on a flight out of Bradley that included Geno, Shea one of the Valley sisters and Kevin O. Kevin was sitting in the waiting area and we exchanged hellos and some polite conversation. You know how you can tell a lot about someone by the way the engage with you and share eye contact? He came across to me as a genuine, real person. When we got off the plane, he was rushing for a connection, but he took a second to say hi again and ask if I was changing planes or at my final destination. I told hime I was changing for a meeting in Atlanta. He gave me a sincere "good luck, with your meeting and have a good trip" and he was on his way. Seemed like a real nice person.

Geno, Shea and Valley sister were less accessible, since they showed up literally minutes before boarding and were more towards the front of the plane. (I am not insinuating they were in first class -- in fact, I saw Shea towards the front of the main cabin. Although, I would assume Geno flies first class.) Apparently they needed to tell KO about hanging out in the Admiral's Club until the last minute.