Our Future

[UC990411]

Let me just say I was born in the mid 80's so I dont remember the dark days that many of you sat through before Calhoun turned us into a National Powerhouse. What I do remember is the Dream Season of 1990. I remember Donyell's missed free throws against Florida in the Sweet 16. I remember losing to a stacked UCLA team 102-96 and Ray Allen scoring 36 points. I remember a heartbreaking loss to Miss St the next year in the Sweet 16. In 97 I remember watching kids grow up and bringing us to a 3rd place NIT finish, and being excited about it. I remember RIPs buzzer beater against Washington and thinking we had a shot against a stacked UNC team in the Elite 8. I remember beating Duke in the championship the next year and thinking it would never get any better than that night. I remember losing to Tennessee in 2000 with KEA playing with a bummed ankle. In 2002 we again watched young kids grow up despite losing to Maryland in the Elite 8. I remember the 2003 loss to Texas in the Sweet 16 and running through to the '04 National Championship. After '04 I thought it was our right to win championships every few years. I thought we were going to win in '05 until we ran into Julius Hodge and NC St. I remember how frustrated I was after '06 and sitting through '07 thinking things would never get better. I remember that afternoon game against Indiana in '08 when we officially announced we were back on the map. Despite losing to Mich St in the 2009 final four I was ecstatic with the season. 2010 was another disappointment and I remember thinking Calhouns best days were behind him, that is until Kemba put us on his back and did something none of us could have even imagined, 2011 for me became the real dream season. I was so frustrated all year that the 2012 team never had the chance to gel - between Calhoun's health, Oriakhi's demeanor, the NCAA holding Boat out - 2012 for me was probably the most frustrated I've been as a fan. That is until today. I remember telling friends all year that Calhoun needed to hang 'em up and let us move on without him, say what you want about what he did in the past, I truly believed we would be better off without him. Now with all the transfers and next year's ban I think we need him to stick around for two years. He needs to announce it now otherwise we will be rolling out a lineup of Evans, Omar, Niels, Wolf and Olander because I feel like Roscoe won't be the last to leave. How can any one player commit to this program when the coach doesn't know what he's going to be doing in three days.

My message to Jim would be this - Announce you're sticking through this, you're not turning your back on the players, the coaches, potential recruits and your fan base. Own up to your mistakes, right or wrong, and tell the world you're in this for the long haul. To those of you who say you have trust in Jim I want to ask you a few questions - Would you commit to your company if your boss / CEO / etc wouldn't commit for the long haul? Would you go work for a company if senior management was in turmoil? Well we're in turmoil right now and our leader is sitting in the background not announcing plans on his future. As far as I see it, at this moment we have no future.

I will never forget 1990 - 2012, let's just hope we don't have to live in those 22 years for the next 22 years as we suffer through mediocre season after mediocre season.

 

[UConniki]

Let me just say I was born in the mid 80's so I dont remember the dark days that many of you sat through before Calhoun turned us into a National Powerhouse. What I do remember is the Dream Season of 1990. I remember Donyell's missed free throws against Florida in the Sweet 16. I remember losing to a stacked UCLA team 102-96 and Ray Allen scoring 36 points. I remember a heartbreaking loss to Miss St the next year in the Sweet 16. In 97 I remember watching kids grow up and bringing us to a 3rd place NIT finish, and being excited about it. I remember RIPs buzzer beater against Washington and thinking we had a shot against a stacked UNC team in the Elite 8. I remember beating Duke in the championship the next year and thinking it would never get any better than that night. I remember losing to Tennessee in 2000 with KEA playing with a bummed ankle. In 2002 we again watched young kids grow up despite losing to Maryland in the Elite 8. I remember the 2003 loss to Texas in the Sweet 16 and running through to the '04 National Championship. After '04 I thought it was our right to win championships every few years. I thought we were going to win in '05 until we ran into Julius Hodge and NC St. I remember how frustrated I was after '06 and sitting through '07 thinking things would never get better. I remember that afternoon game against Indiana in '08 when we officially announced we were back on the map. Despite losing to Mich St in the 2009 final four I was ecstatic with the season. 2010 was another disappointment and I remember thinking Calhouns best days were behind him, that is until Kemba put us on his back and did something none of us could have even imagined, 2011 for me became the real dream season. I was so frustrated all year that the 2012 team never had the chance to gel - between Calhoun's health, Oriakhi's demeanor, the NCAA holding Boat out - 2012 for me was probably the most frustrated I've been as a fan. That is until today. I remember telling friends all year that Calhoun needed to hang 'em up and let us move on without him, say what you want about what he did in the past, I truly believed we would be better off without him. Now with all the transfers and next year's ban I think we need him to stick around for two years. He needs to announce it now otherwise we will be rolling out a lineup of Evans, Omar, Niels, Wolf and Olander because I feel like Roscoe won't be the last to leave. How can any one player commit to this program when the coach doesn't know what he's going to be doing in three days.

My message to Jim would be this - Announce you're sticking through this, you're not turning your back on the players, the coaches, potential recruits and your fan base. Own up to your mistakes, right or wrong, and tell the world you're in this for the long haul. To those of you who say you have trust in Jim I want to ask you a few questions - Would you commit to your company if your boss / CEO / etc wouldn't commit for the long haul? Would you go work for a company if senior management was in turmoil? Well we're in turmoil right now and our leader is sitting in the background not announcing plans on his future. As far as I see it, at this moment we have no future.

I will never forget 1990 - 2012, let's just hope we don't have to live in those 22 years for the next 22 years as we suffer through mediocre season after mediocre season.

Great post! ( Me and my daughter endured a 32hr each way bus trip to Tampa in 99 to see Uconn beat Duke, lots of great memories, and here's hope for many more.

 

[husky99]

Good overview since 1990

 

[sportsjunky1]

I think we can be something like the rosters we has before we got to the final four in 2009. 06-07 didn't make the tournament, 07-08 got bounce out the first round, then 08-09 we had veteran guys with a mix a young contributors and then we make a move to the final 4. i can see that happening if everyone on the current roster stays and we get some good recruits that can make a impact early. It may take a season or 2 before we get the team to gel and make a run. but who knows with Coach C on his last legs. With a new coaching staff it may be longer. Lets all cross our fingers and hope its not a long time!

 

[UConnDad]

The glass is half full.

 

[61cygni]

 

[djct1999]

its quite simple really.....look at our roster. we need size and talent. i really hope that the staff takes a hard look at the 300+ transfer list and find a few kids who could have an immediate impact in 2013-14. rather they go that route than to take a flyer on some 6'10 kid who is a project. i do believe that uconn can bounce back rather quickly but we have zero margin for error. we cannot miss on kids and have 1 or 2 bad years quickly spiral downward. over the past few years, this staff has reached and missed on way to many.

 

[mauconnfan]

its quite simple really.....look at our roster. we need size and talent. i really hope that the staff takes a hard look at the 300+ transfer list and find a few kids who could have an immediate impact in 2013-14. rather they go that route than to take a flyer on some 6'10 kid who is a project. i do believe that uconn can bounce back rather quickly but we have zero margin for error. we cannot miss on kids and have 1 or 2 bad years quickly spiral downward. over the past few years, this staff has reached and missed on way to many.

They have won 3 national championships, one a year ago basically and went to a FF a couple prior to that with another NC a few prior to that.....how many flyers have they been wrong on??? You can't have 9 great players on the roster so there's always going to be "flyers"....Garrison, Kellogg, Wolf and Bradley (it's not over for either) and a few others. Some work out - Harrison, Beverly, Olander, Giffey.........they need to make very god decisions I agree and that isn't necessarily on transfers (academics is an issue too). I mean look at who is leaving, wouldn't be all that excited of I were Mizzou yet I bet the fans are!!!

 

[sportsjunky1]

its quite simple really.....look at our roster. we need size and talent. i really hope that the staff takes a hard look at the 300+ transfer list and find a few kids who could have an immediate impact in 2013-14. rather they go that route than to take a flyer on some 6'10 kid who is a project. i do believe that uconn can bounce back rather quickly but we have zero margin for error. we cannot miss on kids and have 1 or 2 bad years quickly spiral downward. over the past few years, this staff has reached and missed on way to many.

That's a good point. there are so many transfers this year. we really need to try something new and bring in a transfer or 2. Because like you said we have messed up on alot of guys that never panned out.

 

[pj]

You need a transfer who can play next year. How many of those are there?

 

[sportsjunky1]

You need a transfer who can play next year. How many of those are there?

Who cares about next year. It is a waste of a year! we are only playing for pride next year. we need transfers for 2013-2014. If we get them now they can sit this wasted year and come in next year and contribute. The coaching staff should be more concerned about the future.

 

[djct1999]

They have won 3 national championships, one a year ago basically and went to a FF a couple prior to that with another NC a few prior to that.....how many flyers have they been wrong on??? You can't have 9 great players on the roster so there's always going to be "flyers"....Garrison, Kellogg, Wolf and Bradley (it's not over for either) and a few others. Some work out - Harrison, Beverly, Olander, Giffey.........they need to make very god decisions I agree and that isn't necessarily on transfers (academics is an issue too). I mean look at who is leaving, wouldn't be all that excited of I were Mizzou yet I bet the fans are!!!

stop using the 2011 championship as a crutch. i get it was a magical run, a run fueled by an exceptional talent(kemba). do you really think we will see another run like that again? the last great uconn team was 2009. if anything, this past year proved not only how exceptional kemba was or what great heart that team had, but it also proved that runs like that happen very infrequently.

so if we go back two years, guys who are gone from that roster( who would still be elligible, excluding guys who left for the nba)....
1.coombs mcdaniel
2. ater majok
3. darius smith
4. jamaal trice

from last years roster(potentially)
1. alex oriakhi
2.roscoe smith
3. michael bradley

throw in wolf, who is going to be a junior and has contributed absolutely nothing and i would argue we missed on a number of people. what makes matters worse, is not only did this hurt us on the court, but more importantly, off it as well. but, back to your point since we won in 2011, everything is ok now.

 

[sportsjunky1]

stop using the 2011 championship as a crutch. i get it was a magical run, a run fueled by an exceptional talent(kemba). do you really think we will see another run like that again? the last great uconn team was 2009. if anything, this past year proved not only how exceptional kemba was or what great heart that team had, but it also proved that runs like that happen very infrequently.

so if we go back two years, guys who are gone from that roster( who would still be elligible, excluding guys who left for the nba)....
1.coombs mcdaniel
2. ater majok
3. darius smith
4. jamaal trice

from last years roster(potentially)
1. alex oriakhi
2.roscoe smith
3. michael bradley

throw in wolf, who is going to be a junior and has contributed absolutely nothing and i would argue we missed on a number of people. what makes matters worse, is not only did this hurt us on the court, but more importantly, off it as well. but, back to your point since we won in 2011, everything is ok now.

Darius Smith and Jamaal Trice was awful recruiting.I knew those 2 were gone by the time we got to Big East play that year.