PG Tremont Waters (UConn Offer)

[JesusAllen11]

Duke is his real dream school it seems. I think he see's that Uconn is more likely for his future , thats why he gave that answer. His bias is obv towards Duke if he was comparing who produces more PGs and said Duke. Hope he comes here though, love his game.

 

[Gurleyman]

Duke is hot and ranked. They have only of the all time best coaches and has a insane basketball culture. Give the kid a break he is only what 16. There is time

Can't imagine K is going to coach through 2020. However, Waters is reportedly a bright kid, who may not have an NBA career at 5-9. The appeal of a a Duke degree could be a factor.

But we have some time before we need to fret.

 

[Kitaman]

Sometimes I wish on topics like these posting was restricted to teenagers replying. The kid what, 15 years old, Some of us posting are 2 and 3xs that.

Its kinda funny actually, the things we say or the way we react to a 15 year old's words. Just saying there is no story here, it just a piece of information.

 

[upstater]

If UConn lands Dorsey and next year Jaylen Fisher, then of course Waters is going to consider the fact that he's coming in behind 2 point guards, and so he has to keep options open. He'll have similar logjams at other big schools, but when you look at Kansas for instance and their perennial problems with point guards, it's smart for a kid to signal he is very open to landing anywhere.

That being said, UConn needs point guards, and if it only lands one in the next year or two, then Waters becomes a top priority.

 

[UCweCONN]

Coach K. will not be there when this kid gets to school. Coach K. turns 68 in February and has had back issues in the past. Rumor is next year will be his last. Not many 70 year old coaches in college hoops. What more does he have left to proove? I can tell you one thing, as much as I love college basketball, coaching is still a job. No way I'd want to be doing a job at 70.

 

[nomar]

I still don't get it. We win 4 titles in 15 years, beating Duke and Kentucky each twice en route -- what more is it going to take for UConn to be thought of with these schools? I really just don't understand it. Whatever. Rhetorical question.

 

[BUConn10]

I still don't get it. We win 4 titles in 15 years, beating Duke and Kentucky each twice en route -- what more is it going to take for UConn to be thought of with these schools? I really just don't understand it. Whatever. Rhetorical question.

Serious answer: Winning over the media by building up a brand that is large, and profitable enough for the likes of ESPN, SI, etc to push your "product". Duke, and UK get the most love from them because they have the largest, and most profitable brands and fanbases. Without the $$$, the coverage wont follow, and the average sports viewer is unable to form opinions on their own and largely form their opinions on what sports media feeds them. Therefore if you dont have the support of the media, you wont have the support of the "undecided" fans and guys like Waters in our case.

 

[intlzncster]

Serious answer: Winning over the media by building up a brand that is large, and profitable enough for the likes of ESPN, SI, etc to push your "product". Duke, and UK get the most love from them because they have the largest, and most profitable brands and fanbases. Without the $$$, the coverage wont follow, and the average sports viewer is unable to form opinions on their own and largely form their opinions on what sports media feeds them. Therefore if you dont have the support of the media, you wont have the support of the "undecided" fans and guys like Waters in our case.

Don't underestimate JC's 'colorful' personality either. That did UCONN few favors (leaving aside all the winning) as far as perception goes. Especially in the media.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I still don't get it. We win 4 titles in 15 years, beating Duke and Kentucky each twice en route -- what more is it going to take for UConn to be thought of with these schools? I really just don't understand it. Whatever. Rhetorical question.

This is nothing more than my own anecdotal opinion but it seems to me that - despite the consensus among some here that UConn has always won with cast-offs and kids that no one else wanted - UConn's "brand" in terms of visibility in the national consciousness is at a low point relative to where it was 10 years ago or so. There was a time when UConn was routinely mentioned in the same breath as those schools. It is funny that as the number of national championships increases, the profile seems to be diminishing.

 

[upstater]

And the reason the profile diminishes is because UConn was passed over in realignment.

 

[AfgHusky15]

And the reason the profile diminishes is because UConn was passed over in realignment.

I think it has more to do with the fact that UCONN was consistently ranked really high from 2000-2006 for most of the regular season. From 2011-2014 even though we won the ship twice we were unranked quite a bit and had strong March runs to win it all so we were not in the spotlight for most of the year.

Its similar to Arizona now. They have not won a championship in so long but for the past 5 years they have been ranked very high through their regular seasons, hence they always seem to get a lot of media love, and Zona is no Duke or Kentucky.

 

[AfgHusky15]

I remember an article on tremont when he was in 8th grade when he was in New Haven where he basically said he wasn't even considering UCONN and that Duke was his dream school.

I think we have caught up a lot in the past 3 years to the point where we are either surpassing Duke as his dream school or at the very worst on par with Duke.

By the start of his senior year I think he will be a lock for UCONN but it all depends on the guards UCONN has for 2017.

 

[JesusAllen11]

As crazy as it seems , media attention and consistent rankings mean more in recruiting right now than championships to recruits. Our conference really hurts us too. Our championships would be even more intriguing to recruits if we could package it with playing the in best conference.

 

[superjohn]

I think it has more to do with the fact that UCONN was consistently ranked really high from 2000-2006 for most of the regular season. From 2011-2014 even though we won the ship twice we were unranked quite a bit and had strong March runs to win it all so we were not in the spotlight for most of the year.

Its similar to Arizona now. They have not won a championship in so long but for the past 5 years they have been ranked very high through their regular seasons, hence they always seem to get a lot of media love, and Zona is no Duke or Kentucky.

Exactly

 

[Walker11]

This is nothing more than my own anecdotal opinion but it seems to me that - despite the consensus among some here that UConn has always won with cast-offs and kids that no one else wanted - UConn's "brand" in terms of visibility in the national consciousness is at a low point relative to where it was 10 years ago or so. There was a time when UConn was routinely mentioned in the same breath as those schools. It is funny that as the number of national championships increases, the profile seems to be diminishing.

It's due to our inconsistency IMO. Even in our 2 recent championships, we have been ranked 15-30 through out the most part of the seasons. I hate to give tenspro respect, but he had a stat recently where UCONN was a 1 or 2 seed 9 out of 12 years in stretch spanning from the mid 90's to mid 2000's.

 

[upstater]

I seem to remember UConn having really good rankings in 2011. We were top 10 before the NCAA tourney.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I seem to remember UConn having really good rankings in 2011. We were top 10 before the NCAA tourney.

The 2011 team started out unranked. But after we won Maui in late November, we were ranked in the top 10 pretty much until February. We were 17-2 and then lost to Louisville in double OT. Then we spiraled out of control for the next month.

 

[Inyatkin]

I think it has more to do with the fact that UCONN was consistently ranked really high from 2000-2006 for most of the regular season. From 2011-2014 even though we won the ship twice we were unranked quite a bit and had strong March runs to win it all so we were not in the spotlight for most of the year.

This is revisionist history. In the 2011 season, we were the talk of the sport after Maui. At one point we were 17-2. We had a lull, then the Big East tournament again made us the biggest thing going. Why people forget all this is beyond me.

 

[CTBasketball]

I don't know, I wouldn't label Waters a top priority if he doesn't grow. Being 5'9" (that's shorter than Boat), creates problems at the college level.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

This is revisionist history. In the 2011 season, we were the talk of the sport after Maui. At one point we were 17-2. We had a lull, then the Big East tournament again made us the biggest thing going. Why people forget all this is beyond me.

Yup. Our detractors like to say that we were a mediocre team that just got hot in the month of March. Another way to look at it is if you exclude the month of February, we were (I believe) 29-3 and the best team in the country.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I don't know, I wouldn't label Waters a top priority if he doesn't grow. Being 5'9" (that's shorter than Boat), creates problems at the college level.

Are you nuts? He's one of the best 2017 point guards in the country and is almost certainly a 4-year player because of his size.

Not to mention, we just won a national championship with a 5'11'' shooting guard.

 

[tcf15]

I don't know, I wouldn't label Waters a top priority if he doesn't grow. Being 5'9" (that's shorter than Boat), creates problems at the college level.

Not sure if they are comparable, but Tyler Ulis was a McDonald's All-American at 5'9" and playing for Kentucky right now.

 

[upstater]

The 2011 team started out unranked. But after we won Maui in late November, we were ranked in the top 10 pretty much until February. We were 17-2 and then lost to Louisville in double OT. Then we spiraled out of control for the next month.

February didn't work out but UConn was top 20 before the BET and top 10 after. Of 10m+ ESPN brackets, UConn was the fourth most popular pick. UConn was also highly regarded in 2009.

The falloff in national attention happened with the sanctions, APR issues, etc. I still think this has everything to do with UConn being passed over in realignment. If you read the perspective of other fans, they think the conference judgements reinforce the worse perspectives about UConn as a school that is not quite worthy.

It's also why people tout schools that are 4th in their market as having a great market, while they think of Conn. as a tiny state without much of a market.

 

[BUConn10]

Yup. Our detractors like to say that we were a mediocre team that just got hot in the month of March. Another way to look at it is if you exclude the month of February, we were (I believe) 29-3 and the best team in the country.

I've noticed this to be a VERY common sentiment amongst those who want to downplay UConn's dominance over the past two decades, interestingly I have noticed it the most amongst Kansas fans (maybe they dont like being passed in 15 years what took them almost 100 haha!). Regardless, I agree it is a BS comment but people have short memories and it seems to be more common than the handful of those who think otherwise, which is unfortunate.

 

[Jluc]

2009 was the last time we were consistently in the top 10...maybe even the top 5 all season.