Public Perception of the UConn Program

[Mots010]

Two things come to mind.

1) We haven't dominated the regular season since 2006.

I think you meant 2009?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

actually in 2009 we dominated quite a bit of the year until dyson goes down we were arguably the best team in the nation.

q

People quickly forgot...Dyson was getting hype as National Player of the year for the first two months of that season.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Agreed, and it all leads back to my original point. People look at UConn and see "cinderella" in many cases when in reality they are so far from that. So these same people cannot fathom how a prospect like Drummond is better than a pro prospect from the holy Kansas. A bad season for UConn = they are done, end of the run, time to come back to earth (and subsequently the players are looked at the same way). While a bad season for KU = simple issue with chemistry, these guys are all Top 20 recruits so they will excel in the league or next year when KU inevitably reloads, or something along those lines of BS.

Hate to break it to you but unless Uconn does something extraordinary like win 3 straight national titles we are going to take a back seat to UK,Duke,UNC and KU its just the way it is and it wont change. Lets just say it does change and the national media especially Bspn starts slurping all over us and we get a fab 5 level recruiting classes over then next couple years but we get bounced in the tourney for the next 5 years with no final four appearances what does that achieve? Would you be happy as a fan with the program? Would all the attention make you happy? I dont care how the media or the rest of the nation sees our program, we dont have 25-0 shirts or that we dont get the highest rated recruiting classes. Id rather keep winning national titles which is FAAAARRRRRR more satisfying than snagging the best recruiting class in the country.

 

[BUConn10]

Hate to break it to you but unless Uconn does something extraordinary like win 3 straight national titles we are going to take a back seat to UK,Duke,UNC and KU its just the way it is and it wont change. Lets just say it does change and the national media especially Bspn starts slurping all over us and we get a fab 5 level recruiting classes over then next couple years but we get bounced in the tourney for the next 5 years with no final four appearances what does that achieve? Would you be happy as a fan with the program? Would all the attention make you happy? I dont care how the media or the rest of the nation sees our program, we dont have 25-0 shirts or that we dont get the highest rated recruiting classes. Id rather keep winning national titles which is FAAAARRRRRR more satisfying than snagging the best recruiting class in the country.

I guess but this discussion seems to be overly focused with just "attention". Thats only one fraction of a whole that I was discussing earlier, one of several factors that tie into each other and influence one another. ESPN doesnt give us the credit that we are due, yet thats partially the fault of the University and the handlers of the program.

If people don't see your program making proactive efforts to stay with the times (i.e. a presence on the internet via social networking, YouTube, First Night, connecting with fans and viewers), sell up-to-date apparel, or even make the slightest effort to market and actually capitalize on all these accomplishments then how do you expect them to care? I recently was in a department store and there was a small section of clothing racks with UConn apparel, and the designs were so out-dated in terms of the current clothing trends that younger people wear (see anything Nike or UA has released recently and you will get the gist of what im talking about) that I was honestly embarrassed. Recently while watching the footage of students filling into Gampel on ESPNU's coverage of First Night I noticed something: despite the fact that every single student out of the several hundred pouring into the building was wearing UConn apparel/gear, an impartial viewer would have no idea, it was simply a sea of bland/overused navy blue t-shirts that looked like they were printed at the local Joann Fabrics, they lacked a sense of unity across the logos, lettering, fonts, styles, colors and general aesthetic (hell, I knew UConn had no idea what they were doing when during the home opener at XL my junior year they gave out free t-shirts to every fan with the new style lettering, yet the shirt was fluorescent red for some god forsaken reason - imagine if Duke or UK gave out shirts with the school logo on a red shirt, it would incite riots).

ESPN only airs what will target the interests of the masses (despite the agenda many think they have). The blue blood programs get attention because the invest heavily in their "brand" and image, and as a result it garners the attention of the nation, which will subsequently draw in ESPN because they are now talking ESPN's language ($$$). Like I said, these things are not black and white and its a combination of several intertwined factors, but I also believe part of this is the result of "coming up too fast" per se. UConn between its Men's and Women's programs bursting onto the scene in incredible fashion in an incredibly short period of time is in a sense still trying to catch up with its own success in a way. My point is that its now been over a quarter century of undeniable dominance, its time to put on our big boy pants and play in the big leagues like the rest of our peers on our level.

 

[chapwilvaug72]

check this yr home sched.

it week

who wants to sit on edge or SRO for coppen, baby u, centl state, minus degree clg, billys store crew u et al

whoosa

i donts believes its

+ you dudes debate percepts

 

[BUConn10]

check this yr home sched.

it week

who wants to sit on edge or SRO for coppen, baby u, centl state, minus degree clg, billys store crew u et al

whoosa

i donts believes its

+ you dudes debate percepts

How do you function in society?

 

[JSB60]

I agree with OPs point, but my answer to any amount of hype about other programs is we have 4 NCs since 99 and they don't.

 

[chapwilvaug72]

buhusk:i knows youz aau down at bu but i guess youseez my mensa as denza

i dont function i shape

 

[DreamSeason]

buhusk:i knows youz aau down at bu but i guess youseez my mensa as denza

i dont function i shape

Jar jar binks.....is that you?

 

[donyell34]

Everyone is descending. Man do we need a Diamond and a big Mack.

 

[Palatine]

This is just a reflection of a university that until recently didn't care about public relations. Has great and good coaches which have hated the press (until Ollie) and in general have not been welcoming to the media. Even the columnists from the local press (who should be the biggest boosters because UConn is where their bread is made) have rocky relationship with the sports teams.

Connecticut as a state hates boosterism. If you say something good about Hartford or Connecticut prepare for huge backlash from the citizens. Propose a ball park or other new idea and you'll be lambasted. Nobody wants to get too high or too low. There is a definite negative vibe to the place.

Connecticut produces few journalists or PR types compared to Syracuse or other northeastern universities.

There is no discipline when it comes to messaging. Imagine if every time someone from associated with UConn basketball they repeated the phrase "best basketball program of the 21st century." Imagine if it said this on our press material and media guide. Or suppose every time someone associated with the university mentioned Storrs, Connecticut, they added "basketball capital of the world." It would become ingrained and it would be repeated.

I'm not suggesting those phrases just using them as an example.It's how Dallas became "America's Team" and how Boston became "Red Sox Nation" Those team had messaging discipline. It doesn't matter where the phrase comes from, what matters is embracing and repeating.

So to some extent, we are the ones responsible for our under evaluation.

 

[CL82]

Here's the thing, at least basketball-wise I think our public perception is better than many here think. 4 national championships in 15 years will do that. Our games on typically nationally broadcast. We have a young charismatic coach who took over for our HOF coach, who was one the best ever. Yeah we don't get the perennial hand job that Duke gets or the preseason adulation that Kentucky gets and it seems like our national championship run are portrayed as the other teams dropping the ball rather than us marching to victory, but in the end after all the Duke ranking banners and 'Cuse and Kentucky discarded tee-shirts, championships matter and I wouldn't trade ours for all the press adulation in the world.

 

[Goat]

AAC is part of the equation. I am not sure other schools would be as willing to play out of conference games with JC as they seem to be with KO. Georgetown needs a game with us because our level helps them be relevant. Similarly, that Florida regular season game last year was huge. Power 5 leagues are not above conspiring to play hard out off conference games with each other while playing midmajor and below cupcakes to prove they play lesser leagues. I'll gladly be the underdog with a chip on its shoulder ands trophies in the case.

 

[amory]

I don't want the media adulation that Kentucky or Duke gets. Flying just below the radar suits us and helps us maintain a blue collar, chip on our shoulder culture and mentality. I think it's a crucial component of our success

 

[David 76]

I agree with the OP but I think there are some rationale factors in the perception of us:
1) Our conference
2) Our last 2 championships were "upsets" where we did not have a dominating season
3) We are not far from a point where our entire relevance was in question. Save the lectures on if they were deserved but Nate Miles, APR, conference realignment and JC's health and retirement had us wondering if we would survive. Take away AB's 3 point play and many are still are wondering about our future and our coach.

In spite of the above we are underrated compared to the "blue bloods" even after UNC's recent lack of success and academic problems. Other schools that can't compare recent NCs with us. I don't get it.
I also don't get recently walking into the Footlocker (excuse me if it is not the wite store) in the Milford mall, and seeing walls of Giants, Jets, Pats, Yanks, Mets, Sox and 2 boring UCONN tee shirts. I think they had more Whalers merchandise than UCONN!

The rationale part of this will get better. The irrational part will be tougher. The investigations at SU and UNC might help. Better marketing would help. Ollie's personality will continue to help. Another NC w/in a few years would make it real hard not to take us seriously.The retirement of old guard pundits and announcers who can't think beyond 20 years ago (Vitale and others) will help

 

[gars44]

First off, let me start by saying nothing pleases me more than watching the UConn men prove doubters wrong and make deep runs that make every other fan base jealous and bitter. Yet this program of our, despite having won 4 national championships in the last 15 years, a feat that can be rivaled only by the likes of Wooden+UCLA and Duke in the early 90's, is seriously lacking in an important department. Despite all this massive success, the program has a massive gap between actual performance on the court, and the perception of the program in the eyes of the impartial national viewer of the game. Despite showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down on a national level, UConn is still continually slept on, and at some point this disparity must be shown to originate internally from the program's directors itself.

.......

Please discuss and tell me why you think I hate UConn (which I genuinely dont, in fact its one of my greatest joys and source of pride).

You're absolutely right about the marketing. All New England land grant schools are basically the same. The New England state governments ignored them forever because there were excellent private schools around that the state leaders - the movers and the shakers - all attended. The state land grant was effectively a part of the public assistance system, where the lower classes could go to college and get a "good" education, become teachers, enter the work force, etc. This is not the approach of the states where you don't have such a proliferation of high quality private schools. Michigan, for example, put their resources into U of Mich, and it shows and it paid off.
Of all the New England land grants, Connecticut has gone the farthest to reverse this trend and undo the damage. Still, the "up in Storrs" mentality continues to this day. That is the mentality that Storrs is so far from Hartford, and so far from Fairfield County, New Haven County, that you just kind of hope and trust it will run itself responsibly and intelligently without having to give it too much on hands attention. The first guy that tried to make a change was none other than John Rowland, a Villanova grad, who recognized that a lot of money had to be spent on taking the campus and community out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century. Unfortunately, we have continued to appoint political hacks and non-management types in key leadership positions, people without energy or vision, and the organization suffered as a result. Up until Susan Herbst, that is. She is really the first "management" type of president I can remember having at Uconn. Malloy also continues the Rowland tradition of spending on higher education faculty and facilities. One of the main reasons I support Malloy. It will be very easy for a Republican governor who wants to cut taxes and spending to target Uconn. But I digress . . . .

 

[gars44]

That's why it's called the "land of steady habits." Very New England. In fact, so New England that Fairfield County doesn't want to be part of the state. They want to be part of New York, and who can blame them.
Uconn is afraid of boosterism. Afraid to be laughed at if they fail. Afraid of those "looks" you get when you show off, the snickers and the comments. I say just go for it. Nothing to lose now. I don't know who runs marketing at Uconn. I suspect it's someone who's been a state employee for the last 19 years and you can't fire him. They should just hire whoever markets the Dallas Cowboys and let them run it . . .

This is just a reflection of a university that until recently didn't care about public relations. Has great and good coaches which have hated the press (until Ollie) and in general have not been welcoming to the media. Even the columnists from the local press (who should be the biggest boosters because UConn is where their bread is made) have rocky relationship with the sports teams.

Connecticut as a state hates boosterism. If you say something good about Hartford or Connecticut prepare for huge backlash from the citizens. Propose a ball park or other new idea and you'll be lambasted. Nobody wants to get too high or too low. There is a definite negative vibe to the place.

Connecticut produces few journalists or PR types compared to Syracuse or other northeastern universities.

There is no discipline when it comes to messaging. Imagine if every time someone from associated with UConn basketball they repeated the phrase "best basketball program of the 21st century." Imagine if it said this on our press material and media guide. Or suppose every time someone associated with the university mentioned Storrs, Connecticut, they added "basketball capital of the world." It would become ingrained and it would be repeated.

I'm not suggesting those phrases just using them as an example.It's how Dallas became "America's Team" and how Boston became "Red Sox Nation" Those team had messaging discipline. It doesn't matter where the phrase comes from, what matters is embracing and repeating.

So to some extent, we are the ones responsible for our under evaluation.

 

[David 76]

Gars, You are very kind to Gov. twice convicted. He received kick-backs from construction projects and appoined some of those hacks. But his efforts were a huge help

 

[BUConn10]

You're absolutely right about the marketing. All New England land grant schools are basically the same. The New England state governments ignored them forever because there were excellent private schools around that the state leaders - the movers and the shakers - all attended. The state land grant was effectively a part of the public assistance system, where the lower classes could go to college and get a "good" education, become teachers, enter the work force, etc. This is not the approach of the states where you don't have such a proliferation of high quality private schools. Michigan, for example, put their resources into U of Mich, and it shows and it paid off.
Of all the New England land grants, Connecticut has gone the farthest to reverse this trend and undo the damage. Still, the "up in Storrs" mentality continues to this day. That is the mentality that Storrs is so far from Hartford, and so far from Fairfield County, New Haven County, that you just kind of hope and trust it will run itself responsibly and intelligently without having to give it too much on hands attention. The first guy that tried to make a change was none other than John Rowland, a Villanova grad, who recognized that a lot of money had to be spent on taking the campus and community out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century. Unfortunately, we have continued to appoint political hacks and non-management types in key leadership positions, people without energy or vision, and the organization suffered as a result. Up until Susan Herbst, that is. She is really the first "management" type of president I can remember having at Uconn. Malloy also continues the Rowland tradition of spending on higher education faculty and facilities. One of the main reasons I support Malloy. It will be very easy for a Republican governor who wants to cut taxes and spending to target Uconn. But I digress . . . .

Good post, I definitely see this sentiment among UConn fans and the administration when I was a student. UConn has built the tradition of a quaint, school out in the country, yet the truth of the matter is that UConn has far outgrown this. My main point in all of this is that UConn simply cant "just keep winning and proving everyone wrong" forever, which seems to be the sentiment of a few posters on this board. Our success in the last 25 years has been incredible, but all great things do not last forever. Once we slip out of the limelight for a few years (especially in this conference where if you aren't amazing, you are quickly forgotten) we could find ourselves in a sticky situation. A stretch of down years will put a bind on recruiting, and in 10 years recruits wont be tweeting about those great UConn championships from over a dozen years ago, they will be attracted to the "prestige" or "perception" of a program, because honestly that can go a long way on its own for a recruit who desires attention to prove his worth for the NBA draft.

Look at UK. They were hot during the '90s then fell off during the Tubby Smith/Billie Gillespie years until Cal came to town. Nothing really changed in Lawrence during the offseason transition from Gillespie to Cal, but the way the program was marketed and "sold" to viewers was changed dramatically, and recruits have responded overwhelmingly. Despite what many of you may think about all this being "too showy/classless" or you thinking its just a "fad", this is the future of sports and media in general in the internet age, and its not changing any time soon. Many people like that UConn, especially under Calhoun, had this "duck* what people think, we are going to do it the UConn way and win regardless" which believe me is incredibly satisfying as a fan, but again this attitude has nearly harmed our program irreparably. Look at how schools viewed UConn during conference realignment due to all the bridges that Calhoun burned with this mindset, and how we were treated during the APR ban days. UConn is in dire need of a master of PR and marketing to maximize this program to its potential, we are not a magical, cinderella story anymore.

 

[Kitaman]

All I know is being a fan for a few decades and winning 4 ships, makes everything else petty. I won't feed in to being a victim, snubbed, overlooked, etc.. because we have something other programs would kill for. We can't compete with uk, dook and perhaps UCLA in the 'blue blood' category but folks who really know about this are in senior housing and cemeteries.

I appreciate the OP's in depth discussion, but for me I could care less about the media's bias or uk/dook obsession. In the title game at halftime the reporter asked Ollie about uk being a 2nd half team, and Ollie slap her with the message that UConn is too. So I'll let our capable Coach handle the media,

I am happy as a pig in shiout, because when I rock my UConn gear in public (and out of state), everyone know who we are and what we are capable of.

The reality is that UConn is the best team in the land.

 

[Husky999]

As stated endless times… the marketing / merchandising dept at Uconn is pathetic. How is it that we can't get a Shabazz Napier jersey last year?? How is that possible?? In state? at the Co-Op? As mentioned here… i can go into any Champs and find UNC, Duke, Kentucky gear… and we can't even get a jersey of our 1st team all-American. Disgrace.

 

[dogfan96]

check this yr home sched.

it week

who wants to sit on edge or SRO for coppen, baby u, centl state, minus degree clg, billys store crew u et al

whoosa

i donts believes its

+ you dudes debate percepts

SEC basketball on the whole is pretty crappy (and has been for a while) so why doesn't it hurt UK?

 

[Palatine]

SEC basketball on the whole is pretty crappy (and has been for a while) so why doesn't it hurt UK?

This is absolutely true. Our basketball conference is better than the SEC.

 

[Inyatkin]

Because we lost three of our four best players (arguably 4 of 6) and, save for 2000, we've always sucked defending a title.

Small point, but save for the very end of the year, 2000 was pretty bad, too.

 

[CL82]

Gars, You are very kind to Gov. twice convicted. He received kick-backs from construction projects and appoined some of those hacks. But his efforts were a huge help

Ironically, your former government might well have been the most honest politician in New Jersey. Those are pretty much "no calls" in the Garden State.