OT/Throwback - Did we recruit Brooks Sales?

[Lefty2one]

A buddy & I were discussing in-state talent that didn't go to UConn. We couldn't remember the deal with Sales. Did we recruit him at all or was there no interest?

Looking back, we only had one scholarship freshman when he was coming out of HS and that was Justin Brown.

He had a decent career at Nova though he wasn't an explosive athlete.

 

[Inyatkin]

I don't know if we recruited him but the story was he had no interest in us, because he didn't want to be in his sister's shadow.
A reasonable concern, because his sister was a great player.

 

[Fishy]

Nope.

He ended up picking Nova over URI, UMass and Seton Hall.

 

[Lefty2one]

Thanks, Fishy. That's a pretty gross list but that looks about right from what I remember. He wasn't that coveted for a 6'10 guy.

 

[Fishy]

Remember, back in 1997 or so, that was not an awful list.

URI was an NCAA-caliber team, Seton Hall had just hired Amaker and UMass still thought they were good....

 

[superjohn]

Mustapha Heron giving a verbal to Pitt as a soph seems like a dumb decision, I'm guessing he will reconsider that in the future.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

Marcus Camby with to UMass. Still the biggest instate talent we lost out on and should have had. I hate Calipari

 

[superjohn]

If we had Camby the 1999 team wouldn't have been our first championship.

 

[Fishy]

No s---

After everything we know about what happened with Camby, someone is still pissed he went to UMass?! Jeebus...our "first championship" banner would be in a box in an NCAA storage closet.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I believe Sales was one of those kids that grew several inches late. I think he was a 6'5 PF when Calhoun looked at him, and if I recall correctly, Sales was interested but Calhoun wasn't. All things being equal, I imagine UConn would have liked to have him, but he wasn't a dominant college player by any means.

 

[Waquoit]

If we had Camby the 1999 team wouldn't have been our first championship.

The one that truly got away was Bill Curley. That would have been our 1st title. He would have fit our team like a glove.

 

[nomar]

I forget--did Calhoun recruit that guy out of Waterbury, Bryan Gomez?

 

[mauconnfan]

Marcus Camby with to UMass. Still the biggest instate talent we lost out on and should have had. I hate Calipari

But Marcus wouldn't have received a #21 diamond chain either…….it was in his best interest to go with the squid. Where else could you get diamond necklaces and still able to play with less than a 1.5 GPA?

 

[mauconnfan]

Lost Phil Lott to the Rainbows too…...

 

[superjohn]

The one that truly got away was Bill Curley. That would have been our 1st title. He would have fit our team like a glove.

Curley wasn't in-state and while he was a good player he wasn't in the same league as Camby who was the best player in the country. Camby and Ray Allen together would have been ridiculous, you're talking multiple championships. The one we lucked out on is Donyell Marshall, Syracuse thought they had him wrapped up.

 

[Fishy]

The one we lucked out on is Donyell Marshall, Syracuse thought they had him wrapped up.

No luck involved.

Syracuse was never as close as they thought with Donnyell - real competition there was Maryland.

 

[RichZ]

Harold Jensen from Trumbull went to Nova. He burned us a few times, and as a sophmore reserve, went 5 for 5 from the floor (plus 4 for 4 from the line in winning time) against G'town in the NCAA Championship.

The one guy I really wanted that we didn't get was John Garris. Don't recall whether we were involved recruiting him or not. That would have been back in the pre-dream season stone age, so maybe not.

 

[mauconnfan]

Harold Jensen from Trumbull went to Nova. He burned us a few times, and as a sophmore reserve, went 5 for 5 from the floor (plus 4 for 4 from the line in winning time) against G'town in the NCAA Championship.

The one guy I really wanted that we didn't get was John Garris. Don't recall whether we were involved recruiting him or not. That would have been back in the pre-dream season stone age, so maybe not.

Didn't Garris go west and then come back to play at BC? Pressley also………..

 

[Cheddie]

The one that truly got away was Bill Curley. That would have been our 1st title. He would have fit our team like a glove.

If Calhoun could design a ball player, he'd be Curley. Must have really hurt to lose him to BC.

 

[Waquoit]

Curley wasn't in-state and while he was a good player he wasn't in the same league as Camby who was the best player in the country. Camby and Ray Allen together would have been ridiculous, you're talking multiple championships. The one we lucked out on is Donyell Marshall, Syracuse thought they had him wrapped up.

I know he wasn't actually in-state, just virtually, but we had Curley until a last minute full-court press. We never had Camby. And besides any games we would have won would have been stricken from the books.

 

[Waquoit]

If Calhoun could design a ball player, he'd be Curley. Must have really hurt to lose him to BC.

He would have been the perfect inside compliment to Yell. I still remember Bob Ryan writing a column the Sunday before he announced that if Curley didn't choose BCU, they should disband the program. Too bad, Curley's a forgotten player from a forgettable program. If he went to UConn he would on the wall.

 

[Yonick]

If Calhoun could design a ball player, he'd be Curley. Must have really hurt to lose him to BC.

The hilarious thing about losing Curley to bcu is he never beat us in at least 8 games over his 4 years. He also had a brother who followed him at bcu, and he too, never beat us. Finally, a 3rd Curley brother attended a mid major (can't remember which one) and he too, lost, in his only game against us.
Wonder if there are more Curleys out there?

 

[superjohn]

Umass was the first school on Camby, they were recruiting him since he was a freshman. Camby has said he wanted to play for UConn but they just didn't show much interest, Calhoun says otherwise. Who knows if games would have ever been forfeited if he did come to UConn, Calhoun wouldn't have bought him jewelry and hookers like coach Slimeball. It's fun to look back and wonder what if, all in all I would say things have worked out for us pretty darn well in these situations.

 

[superjohn]

Some other obvious misses who went to BC and were stars, Michael Adams and John Bagley, also Curley's teammate Malcolm Huckaby. Charles Smith at Pitt was one of the best players in the country, Rick Mahorn ended up at Hampton.

 

[RichZ]

Didn't Garris go west and then come back to play at BC? Pressley also………..

To my recollection, Garris went directly to BC.