Recruits overwhelmingly like Ollie as next UConn coach

[mauconnfan]

I will say this, Manual reaches out of the "family" to a Smart or alike and how much of the history can be lost. How would a Smart keep the family together and create the atmosphere that so many of the recruits talk about so consistently?

It's JC's program and it needs to continue with a choice that keeps the momentum and continue to have the family hanging around the campus, playing at Mohegan every year etc etc.. Can anyone but Ollie do that? KO will have a great staff I'm sure......he is the choice eventually!!!

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Boatright, Daniels, Drummond, and Omar Calhoun were sort of high rated recruits, no? 4 top 50 recruits right there that have committed the past 2 seasons

and things have progressively gotten worse with the program since they committed on all fronts (1 in which Ollie was a coach on). Highlighted by our temperamental self centered Evel Knievel head coach who has lost all touch with reality (what a difference 1 year makes).

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Where is the evidence of that? I think you answered your own question when you said, "Calhoun is a complete liability from a recruiting perspective at the moment." we are UConn and would be an obvious destination for any top coaching candidates, the only guy I see out there that I could think of taking instead of Ollie is Shaka Smart but the more I learn about Ollie the more I like him taking over. Getting great players is pretty much the most importan part of having great teams in college ball and I have no doubt Ollie will be a big time recruiter.

Where is the evidence of that? I think you answered your own question when you said, "Calhoun is a complete liability from a recruiting perspective at the moment." we are UConn and would be an obvious destination for any top coaching candidates, the only guy I see out there that I could think of taking instead of Ollie is Shaka Smart but the more I learn about Ollie the more I like him taking over. Getting great players is pretty much the most importan part of having great teams in college ball and I have no doubt Ollie will be a big time recruiter.

If you reread my post hopefully you will draw a different conclusion and come the realization of what I meant by mitigating when looking at the totality of the circumstances.

 

[champs99and04]

The best play for the UConn program at the moment would be to announce Ollie as interim head coach. And to help matters further, it would also be nice if JC would come out and announce that he'll retire at the end of his contract. Under this scenario, the current players are happy because they get to make one more run with their feisty head coach, JC gets to have his fairwell tour, the program has some stability, and recruits have somebody they can relate to. Huskyfandan made a good point earlier when he spoke of the racial dynamic, so I'll take it a step further and say the religious aspect will also be crucial to Ollie's appeal. Anybody who follows him on twitter knows he's a Christian man, and let's face it, a good portion of the families he will be reaching out to will be Christian-based as well. A man in his early 40's just years removed from playing in the NBA will require the attention of young men with NBA aspirations.

Don't get me wrong, Shaka Smart is a major temptation, especially if the rumors are true that he's interested in UConn. Many of the Ollie skepticists on here have pointed out the fact that Smart has proven to be a very good coach, while Ollie just shows potential. But the more I think about it, I believe the aforementioned scenario would be the best situation for this program to be in right now given where we are. My one reserve with Ollie is that I think he's a guy NBA teams would be extremely interested in if he had some success with UConn, and obviously we can't match the dollar signs they'll be able to throw his way.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I completely agree with HuskyfanDan so BLIEDOGHOUSE I would love to know what those counter arguments are.

The counter arguments are all about logical fallacies based on how Ollie has been implemented into the system and his level of competence or lack thereof.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

The best play for the UConn program at the moment would be to announce Ollie as interim head coach. And to help matters further, it would also be nice if JC would come out and announce that he'll retire at the end of his contract. Under this scenario, the current players are happy because they get to make one more run with their feisty head coach, JC gets to have his fairwell tour, the program has some stability, and recruits have somebody they can relate to. Huskyfandan made a good point earlier when he spoke of the racial dynamic, so I'll take it a step further and say the religious aspect will also be crucial to Ollie's appeal. Anybody who follows him on twitter knows he's a Christian man, and let's face it, a good portion of the families he will be reaching out to will be Christian-based as well. A man in his early 40's just years removed from playing in the NBA will require the attention of young men with NBA aspirations.

Don't get me wrong, Shaka Smart is a major temptation, especially if the rumors are true that he's interested in UConn. Many of the Ollie skepticists on here have pointed out the fact that Smart has proven to be a very good coach, while Ollie just shows potential. But the more I think about it, I believe the aforementioned scenario would be the best situation for this program to be in right now given where we are. My one reserve with Ollie is that I think he's a guy NBA teams would be extremely interested in if he had some success with UConn, and obviously we can't match the dollar signs they'll be able to throw his way.

It is the equivalent of investing in a cheap penny stock and hoping it makes the big boards. Who said Ollie shows potential? What has he done to even deserve that status?

 

[Danzz]

my only question is can he X and O coach

NBA PG for what 12 years. I'm guessing X's and O's won't be a problem.

 

[husky99]

NBA PG for what 12 years. I'm guessing X's and O's won't be a problem.

i am not trying to be a dick with what i said. there aeew many coaches that can recruit but are not great at game time coaching. some of that is experience and some nature. texas coach and ucla coach comes to mind as great recruiter and so so game coaches....
just because you play does not mean you can coach

 

[HuskyBballFan]

and things have progressively gotten worse with the program since they committed on all fronts (1 in which Ollie was a coach on).

Not sure what your point is here. Are you saying it was a mistake to recruit Boatright, Drummond, and Daniels? Pretty much every school not named Kentucky would have killed to have that class - and that's still true even after the fact.

 

[champs99and04]

It is the equivalent of investing in a cheap penny stock and hoping it makes the big boards. Who said Ollie shows potential? What has he done to even deserve that status?

He's shown that potential through the body of work of his career. Four years at UConn under Jim Calhoun, 12 years in the NBA, and coming up on his third year on the sidelines at UConn. Plus, he's helped haul in his fair share of recruits, granted, not to play for him, but he's certainly shown a knack for it. At the very least, you can see why Ollie would be a desireable canidate, right?

 

[caw]

i am not trying to be a dick with what i said. there aeew many coaches that can recruit but are not great at game time coaching. some of that is experience and some nature. texas coach and ucla coach comes to mind as great recruiter and so so game coaches....
just because you play does not mean you can coach

Just for the sake of argument, neither of those examples played in the NBA for any length of time. Heck neither of those (I assume you are talking Barnes and Lavin) played major D1 ball.

I have no idea if KO will actually be a good X and O's coach or have good game management, feel, etc.

I do know he stayed in the league for the last two years of his career because he was liked as a mentor to a young/talented group of guys. I know he seems like a genuine, likable guy.

I know others in the NBA like him for his basketball IQ and he could likely walk into an NBA coaching job easily. I know JC likes him as a recruiter and assistant. I know he is getting a ton of good press from recruits.

Is he ready to be head coach at UConn? I have no idea, but I think he gets a good shot at it.

There are examples of guys like Shaka Smart moving onto bigger schools and failing. There are examples of guys like KO failing when being promoted. Then of course there are successes on both counts.

I feel that if it comes down to KO versus Smart, UConn is in a win-win situation. If it comes down to KO versus "Rick Barnes" (someone like him, not him) then KO should be the choice.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I would not want Stevens or smart as the coach. Don't like their style of play and the players they recruit

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I would not want Stevens or smart as the coach. Don't like their style of play and the players they recruit

Forget about Stevens - that's never going to happen.

But do you ever think that maybe Shaka Smart recruits the players he does and plays the style that he does because he coaches at Virginia Commonwealth University? Do you expect Anthony Davis or Kemba Walker to commit to VCU?

 

[UConnSwag11]

Forget about Stevens - that's never going to happen.

But do you ever think that maybe Shaka Smart recruits the players he does and plays the style that he does because he coaches at Virginia Commonwealth University? Do you expect Anthony Davis or Kemba Walker to commit to VCU?

I'd give home a few more years to see where he takes his school and if he can recruit better players.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I'd give home a few more years to see where he takes his school and if he can recruit better players.

He has virtually his whole team back so he's going to win another 25+ games this year.

And no matter how many deep tournament runs he has, it doesn't change the fact that he coaches at a CAA school. I doubt he even tries to recruit the top 50 or so kids in each class unless they are local. When you're coaching at a mid-major level, the recruiting strategy is completely different. You're looking for 4 year guys who you think will develop into solid players in the second half of their career. Once he gets a high major job, his recruiting strategy instantly changes.

 

[husky99]

Hey i am not anti ollie. Just scared of the unknown ..

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

He has virtually his whole team back so he's going to win another 25+ games this year.

And no matter how many deep tournament runs he has, it doesn't change the fact that he coaches at a CAA school. I doubt he even tries to recruit the top 50 or so kids in each class unless they are local. When you're coaching at a mid-major level, the recruiting strategy is completely different. You're looking for 4 year guys who you think will develop into solid players in the second half of their career. Once he gets a high major job, his recruiting strategy instantly changes.

A-10 as of July 1, 2012 for VCU bro.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

A-10 as of July 1, 2012 for VCU bro.

Very silly oversight by me, but I don't think it changes my point all that much.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Not sure what your point is here. Are you saying it was a mistake to recruit Boatright, Drummond, and Daniels? Pretty much every school not named Kentucky would have killed to have that class - and that's still true even after the fact.

No that wasn't my point at all.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

He's shown that potential through the body of work of his career. Four years at UConn under Jim Calhoun, 12 years in the NBA, and coming up on his third year on the sidelines at UConn. Plus, he's helped haul in his fair share of recruits, granted, not to play for him, but he's certainly shown a knack for it. At the very least, you can see why Ollie would be a desireable canidate, right?

Yes he deserves candidacy standing. There isn't anyone else in house besides Ollie that would be a viable candidate. That alone should grant him consideration.

It depends on what kind of car you want Ollie to drive for you. I feel comfortable giving him the keys to the best economy car money can buy. Practically speaking there is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand I would not ever give him the keys to the Bugatti Veyran Super Sports car right now. I believe the Bugatti would crash and burn killing all occupants. The question becomes as a UConn fan what kind of car do you want to drive and who can get you there safely and the fastest.

JMHO of course...

 

[upstater]

It is the equivalent of investing in a cheap penny stock and hoping it makes the big boards. Who said Ollie shows potential? What has he done to even deserve that status?

Calhoun evaluated him. Someone who knows 1000x more than you about this stuff.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Calhoun evaluated him. Someone who knows 1000x more than you about this stuff.

Thats all speculation. You don't know me personally. Haters are gonna hate though. LOL

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Calhoun evaluated him. Someone who knows 1000x more than you about this stuff.

It will also be interesting evaluating the 2013-14 bubble NIT team that UConn appears to be headed for due to Calhoun holding the program hostage. When that happens the sentiment may be a little different. I am 1000x sure of that.

 

[CL82]

I will say this, Manual reaches out of the "family" to a Smart or alike and how much of the history can be lost. How would a Smart keep the family together and create the atmosphere that so many of the recruits talk about so consistently?

It's JC's program and it needs to continue with a choice that keeps the momentum and continue to have the family hanging around the campus, playing at Mohegan every year etc etc.. Can anyone but Ollie do that? KO will have a great staff I'm sure......he is the choice eventually!!!

Um, by winning and building his own group of players? You can still hold the Calhoun charity events. You canstill have JC involved with the university. I don't see a change as that big of a problem, though it certainly would be smoother with KO from a former player perspective.

 

[CL82]

Yes he deserves candidacy standing. There isn't anyone else in house besides Ollie that would be a viable candidate

Hobbs?