PF Mamadou Diarra (Signed LOI on 11/14)

[UconnFanNVa]

The thing is, they should be. For VCU, making the Final Four is beyond what they could ever realistically hope for. It's a really small list of schools in their position that have been that far.
The problem is, it got them thinking they were something they weren't. And now they have no fallback with their coach/savior gone.

Right i hear you! They'll learn to be happy with lessor recruits coming in and beating in town Rivals Richmond from time to time.

 

[pnow15]

En

We'll actually have a ton of scholarships open in 2016 and 2017, and aren't (as of now) recruiting any 2017 PFs particularly hard. So there's still a chance we could land Jones.

But yeah, he does seem like surplus goods given that we've now got Enoch & Diarra at that spot.

Enoch could move to center with any type of growth in his height or game.

 

[CallMeBruce]

En

Enoch could move to center with any type of growth in his height or game.

Enoch is coming in at 6'10, 220. He can definitely play center. I could definitely see Diarra ending up at the pivot as well.

 

[Inyatkin]

I actually think Wade is a really good coach, and certainly does better schooling his team's offense than Shaka. VCU will still be one of the A-10's best programs.

He won't be recruiting many top-100 kids, tho. We've probably seen the last of them on the recruiting trail.

Not saying they're going to fall off the map, but they fashioned themselves a national contender, which is not the same thing as a top A-10 program, most years.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I can only read this as Larrier to Uconn

Yeah, the skill sets are too similar. I don't see any way Kegler goes to the same school as Larrier, and I'm feeling pretty good on Larrier at the moment.

 

[Stinger92860]

But shouldn't the #1 priority be to get a player drafted and NOT championships? Oh right, we are UConn and NOT Squid U!!!!

UConn does both very well!

 

[CAHUSKY]

Here's the thing with VCU - I guess they'll always have the Pyrrhic victories with Larrier and Mack, but....

Pyrrhic. How did i make it through 47 years and not know that word? Just looked it up. Great word.

 

[DogMania]

Wow! What a h*ll of a recruiting run KO and his staff are in right now. I guess all the concerns folks here had about our recruiting can be put to bed. At least for now.

I guess we can't completely discount all the swings and misses in the 2015 class. I still think not being in a P5 conference is making our recruiting very difficult. If we were in a P5 coming of a recent NC, we would have had a very different 2015 recruiting class, though not necessarily better one. The fact that we didn't fill many of our 2015 ships early on, opened up the opportunity to land Miller and Gibbs, two talented players with so much more experience than any incoming freshman would have brought to the table.

Let's see how the 2016 class shapes up. One thing I've observed over the years is that you usually experience that NC bump in recruiting in the class two years removed from the championship. Many of the 2015 recruits had already established who they liked and relationships to recruiters before we won NC #4. It's the 2016, 17 and so forth that were more impressionable and influenced by our 2014 NC.

But I still can't discount how as a fan, I don't get nearly as excited about the bulk of our games that are against our fellow AAC programs, and can't imagine a recruit not taking that into account. In the past the thought of facing SU, UL, GU, STJ (in their hay day), Nova, Pitt, and other top 25 programs was something I looked forward to each year. Now it's so hard to get excited about facing any of our fellow AAC foes. I mean no disrespect since many of them have beaten us and some have legit top 25 talent, but it's a far cry from the old BE. So I'm sure the negative recruiting doesn't go unnoticed by our recruits when they hear things like, "If you come here, you'll get to play against, UNC, Dook, UL, SU, etc...Mich St, Wisconsin, Mich, Indiana...Kansas, UT, and on and on it goes. But in the AAC, you'll face...hum...Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Houston... Not being in a P5 conf simply has to make KO's and his staff's job all the harder. To discount that, you have your head in the sand. With all this said, props to KO and his staff for overcoming this. The two transfers, Adams, Enoch, Diarra, hopefully the other 2016s we're hearing about, proves they are able to overcome this issue enough to keep the cupboards filled.

 

[Dove]

@Dove I've now got Arrow in Pandora.

Soca music is a drug.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Wow! What a h*ll of a recruiting run KO and his staff are in right now. I guess all the concerns folks here had about our recruiting can be put to bed. At least for now.

I guess we can't completely discount all the swings and misses in the 2015 class. I still think not being in a P5 conference is making our recruiting very difficult. If we were in a P5 coming of a recent NC, we would have had a very different 2015 recruiting class, though not necessarily better one. The fact that we didn't fill many of our 2015 ships early on, opened up the opportunity to land Miller and Gibbs, two talented players with so much more experience than any incoming freshman would have brought to the table.

Let's see how the 2016 class shapes up. One thing I've observed over the years is that you usually experience that NC bump in recruiting in the class two years removed from the championship. Many of the 2015 recruits had already established who they liked and relationships to recruiters before we won NC #4. It's the 2016, 17 and so forth that were more impressionable and influenced by our 2014 NC.

But I still can't discount how as a fan, I don't get nearly as excited about the bulk of our games that are against our fellow AAC programs, and can't imagine a recruit not taking that into account. In the past the thought of facing SU, UL, GU, STJ (in their hay day), Nova, Pitt, and other top 25 programs was something I looked forward to each year. Now it's so hard to get excited about facing any of our fellow AAC foes. I mean no disrespect since many of them have beaten us and some have legit top 25 talent, but it's a far cry from the old BE. So I'm sure the negative recruiting doesn't go unnoticed by our recruits when they hear things like, "If you come here, you'll get to play against, UNC, Dook, UL, SU, etc...Mich St, Wisconsin, Mich, Indiana...Kansas, UT, and on and on it goes. But in the AAC, you'll face...hum...Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Houston... Not being in a P5 conf simply has to make KO's and his staff's job all the harder. To discount that, you have your head in the sand. With all this said, props to KO and his staff for overcoming this. The two transfers, Adams, Enoch, Diarra, hopefully the other 2016s we're hearing about, proves they are able to overcome this issue enough to keep the cupboards filled.

Actually, that's not crazy. The 2001 and 2006 recruiting classes were both absolutely loaded, and those were the classes where the guys started really looking when we were coming off a title. Maybe 2016 is going to be like that.

 

[huskiesnyc]

This is one of the best comments you could ever ask from a new recruit

 

[deedougie]

Revealing quote in the New Haven article about Diarra:

Funny story Diarra told about playing with Amida Brimah during a recent visit to UConn:

“I was trying to figure out why Daniel Hamilton was leading the team in rebounding, and not Brimah. I was on (Brimah's) team, he blocked a shot, the ball was right next to him. He’s looking at me, waiting for me to get the ball, and I was like, ‘That’s your rebond, man.’

Ugghhhh Brimah!!

 

[jibsey]

Wow! What a h*ll of a recruiting run KO and his staff are in right now. I guess all the concerns folks here had about our recruiting can be put to bed. At least for now.

I guess we can't completely discount all the swings and misses in the 2015 class. I still think not being in a P5 conference is making our recruiting very difficult. If we were in a P5 coming of a recent NC, we would have had a very different 2015 recruiting class, though not necessarily better one. The fact that we didn't fill many of our 2015 ships early on, opened up the opportunity to land Miller and Gibbs, two talented players with so much more experience than any incoming freshman would have brought to the table.

Let's see how the 2016 class shapes up. One thing I've observed over the years is that you usually experience that NC bump in recruiting in the class two years removed from the championship. Many of the 2015 recruits had already established who they liked and relationships to recruiters before we won NC #4. It's the 2016, 17 and so forth that were more impressionable and influenced by our 2014 NC.

But I still can't discount how as a fan, I don't get nearly as excited about the bulk of our games that are against our fellow AAC programs, and can't imagine a recruit not taking that into account. In the past the thought of facing SU, UL, GU, STJ (in their hay day), Nova, Pitt, and other top 25 programs was something I looked forward to each year. Now it's so hard to get excited about facing any of our fellow AAC foes. I mean no disrespect since many of them have beaten us and some have legit top 25 talent, but it's a far cry from the old BE. So I'm sure the negative recruiting doesn't go unnoticed by our recruits when they hear things like, "If you come here, you'll get to play against, UNC, Dook, UL, SU, etc...Mich St, Wisconsin, Mich, Indiana...Kansas, UT, and on and on it goes. But in the AAC, you'll face...hum...Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Houston... Not being in a P5 conf simply has to make KO's and his staff's job all the harder. To discount that, you have your head in the sand. With all this said, props to KO and his staff for overcoming this. The two transfers, Adams, Enoch, Diarra, hopefully the other 2016s we're hearing about, proves they are able to overcome this issue enough to keep the cupboards filled.

KO is doing great in the face of the conference thing, better than I expected. I too believe I can hear the opposing teams telling the recruits just what you said but lately there was an article about how our conference is strengthening. Can it get to the point that it becomes enough of a power in hoops and we don't have to or want to leave?

 

[CAHUSKY]

KO is doing great in the face of the conference thing, better than I expected. I too believe I can hear the opposing teams telling the recruits just what you said but lately there was an article about how our conference is strengthening. Can it get to the point that it becomes enough of a power in hoops and we don't have to or want to leave?

1. We won a National Championship while in this conference and put kids in the NBA so that's a pretty good response to recruits concerns.
2. Regardless of how good the basketball is in this conference the pay check will never be anywhere close to big enough to keep us from leaving if an opportunity presents itself.

 

[Stainmaster]

KO is doing great in the face of the conference thing, better than I expected. I too believe I can hear the opposing teams telling the recruits just what you said but lately there was an article about how our conference is strengthening. Can it get to the point that it becomes enough of a power in hoops and we don't have to or want to leave?

This is blasphemous. Not only will it never happen, but the idea of being content with staying in the same conference as ECU/UCF/Tulsa/Tulane makes me want to vomit.

 

[djct1999]

KO is doing great in the face of the conference thing, better than I expected. I too believe I can hear the opposing teams telling the recruits just what you said but lately there was an article about how our conference is strengthening. Can it get to the point that it becomes enough of a power in hoops and we don't have to or want to leave?

Unless they pay us $25million a year, no.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Can it get to the point that it becomes enough of a power in hoops and we don't have to or want to leave?

The only way we wouldn't want to leave is if it got to the point where a television network is willing to pay the AAC as much as it pays the B1G or ACC. And that will never, ever happen.

 

[James]

So we aren't really looking at bruce brown anymore...who are the other new england prospects/targets? Gabriel + tyrique jones?

1. We won a National Championship while in this conference and put kids in the NBA so that's a pretty good response to recruits concerns.
2. Regardless of how good the basketball is in this conference the pay check will never be anywhere close to big enough to keep us from leaving if an opportunity presents itself.

Yeah I think Bazz and DD in the league is huge, there is a very small % of college players that get a chance at the next level like that. Hopefully DD gets a chance next season to replace landry fields in toronto for the regular season

 

[Marty Jackson]

Wow! What a h*ll of a recruiting run KO and his staff are in right now. I guess all the concerns folks here had about our recruiting can be put to bed. At least for now.

I guess we can't completely discount all the swings and misses in the 2015 class. I still think not being in a P5 conference is making our recruiting very difficult. If we were in a P5 coming of a recent NC, we would have had a very different 2015 recruiting class, though not necessarily better one. The fact that we didn't fill many of our 2015 ships early on, opened up the opportunity to land Miller and Gibbs, two talented players with so much more experience than any incoming freshman would have brought to the table.

Let's see how the 2016 class shapes up. One thing I've observed over the years is that you usually experience that NC bump in recruiting in the class two years removed from the championship. Many of the 2015 recruits had already established who they liked and relationships to recruiters before we won NC #4. It's the 2016, 17 and so forth that were more impressionable and influenced by our 2014 NC.

But I still can't discount how as a fan, I don't get nearly as excited about the bulk of our games that are against our fellow AAC programs, and can't imagine a recruit not taking that into account. In the past the thought of facing SU, UL, GU, STJ (in their hay day), Nova, Pitt, and other top 25 programs was something I looked forward to each year. Now it's so hard to get excited about facing any of our fellow AAC foes. I mean no disrespect since many of them have beaten us and some have legit top 25 talent, but it's a far cry from the old BE. So I'm sure the negative recruiting doesn't go unnoticed by our recruits when they hear things like, "If you come here, you'll get to play against, UNC, Dook, UL, SU, etc...Mich St, Wisconsin, Mich, Indiana...Kansas, UT, and on and on it goes. But in the AAC, you'll face...hum...Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Houston... Not being in a P5 conf simply has to make KO's and his staff's job all the harder. To discount that, you have your head in the sand. With all this said, props to KO and his staff for overcoming this. The two transfers, Adams, Enoch, Diarra, hopefully the other 2016s we're hearing about, proves they are able to overcome this issue enough to keep the cupboards filled.

Uconn has proven they'll play anyone anywhere... Pretty decent schedule the past couple years.

 

[B1GEast]

An Enoch, Diarra front court in 2017 would be on the shorter side but would be explosive. Veryexcitingstartforthe2016class.giffff

i'm sure they are both still growing, so they're not that short for their positions 6'10 C and 6'9 PF in shoes is about right

 

[Walker11]

This is blasphemous. Not only will it never happen, but the idea of being content with staying in the same conference as ECU/UCF/Tulsa/Tulane makes me want to vomit.

The second part is true, regardless of your sarcasm. You seem like a smart dude who is very informed about the college hoops landscape. But be creative, don't stay on the same easy, cheap sarcastic note. Just IMO.

 

[Stainmaster]

The second part is true, regardless of your sarcasm. You seem like a smart dude who is very informed about the college hoops landscape. But be creative, don't stay on the same easy, cheap sarcastic note. Just IMO.

I know. But as a supporter of this program, I want us in the best possible situation. We need to be playing in a top conference getting top exposure, which puts us in position to get the top recruits, thereby continuing the cycle. That's why the AAC is so frustrating for me and many others. It's the only road into a P5 conference, yet it just flat-out sucks. The day we get that invite to the ACC/B1G will be a celebration for the ages, because even though it's our lifeline, the longer it takes the more it kills our program. Which is why it's easy to overreact and speak in a less-than-cordial tone when someone suggests that we should stay here.

 

[TigerJ]

What the story behind the venom for VCU lol

 

[TigerJ]

I know. But as a supporter of this program, I want us in the best possible situation. We need to be playing in a top conference getting top exposure, which puts us in position to get the top recruits, thereby continuing the cycle. That's why the AAC is so frustrating for me and many others. It's the only road into a P5 conference, yet it just flat-out sucks. The day we get that invite to the ACC/B1G will be a celebration for the ages, because even though it's our lifeline, the longer it takes the more it kills our program. Which is why it's easy to overreact and speak in a less-than-cordial tone when someone suggests that we should stay here.

Memphis got top recruits being in CUSA. Really no excuse. Your program sells itself regardless of conference affiliation

 

[CallMeBruce]

What the story behind the venom for VCU lol

They're weird creepers who talk a lot of junk and pretend that they're on our level because they beat us for a couple of recruits.