Rizzotti, coaching, and UConn

[Vowelguy]

We may have known this, but confirmation that Rizz turned down the BC job.
And that she clearly wants the UConn job.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-women/hc-jacobs-column-1223-20121222,0,4695524.column

 

[MilfordHusky]

Bedsides having the UConn connection, national championship, POY award, WNBA experience, college head coaching experience, USA basketball experience, and intensity on the Shea Ralph/Mel Thomas/Maya Moore/Kelly Faris level, Jen is an extremely intelligent person. Extremely.

 

[Bestiarius]

Bedsides having the UConn connection, national championship, POY award, WNBA experience, college head coaching experience, USA basketball experience, and intensity on the Shea Ralph/Mel Thomas/Maya Moore/Kelly Faris level, Jen is an extremely intelligent person. Extremely.

You forgot the most important factor, The Boneyard likes her!!

 

[vtcwbuff]

Considering the job she's done at Hartford, Rizotti has to be the front runner (by several lengths) in the who's gonna' replace Geno derby but I wonder if she's feeling a bit like Prince Charles waiting in the wings.

It's too bad that she's coaching a program that will never attract the top recruits. I can only imagine what she could do with a few elite players.

 

[speedoo]

Considering the job she's done at Hartford, Rizotti has to be the front runner (by several lengths) in the who's gonna' replace Geno derby but I wonder if she's feeling a bit like Prince Charles waiting in the wings.

It's too bad that she's coaching a program that will never attract the top recruits. I can only imagine what she could do with a few elite players.

I think Shea is at least close behind Jen. If Shea gets a significant head coaching opportunity somewhere in the next couple of years, she might become the favorite.. And IMO there are plenty of competitive programs that would do well with Shea as HC.

 

[pppggg]

how long will she wait to coach uconn? isn't Geno getting a 5 year contract?

 

[rjuconn]

how long will she wait to coach uconn? isn't Geno getting a 5 year contract?

And that just might be the only factor that keeps Rizzotti from ever coaching at UConn...the overlap between the end of Geno's career and the start of her career is just too many years.

 

[EricLA]

The thing about Jen is that I don't believe she's ever recruited ANY top 25 kids to Hartford (someone please correct me if i'm wrong). She's been there for 13 years now and certainly has enjoyed success in her league. I don't doubt she could step it up at UCONN, but it would be nice if she'd had ANY experience getting even a single top 50 kid to come to Hartford.

it's not like she's never coached top level players before - she's been a Team USA coach for one of the U-whatever teams (19? 18? 17?) but she's never successfully recruited one.

It will be interesting to watch what Tonya and Jamelle do as well as Shea over the next 5-10 years. Seeing as we know Geno will at least be here till 2018, it's a long way off. I'd feel better if Jen landed a gig at a higher profile school in one of the bigger conferences. I know she wants to stay close to Connecticut which is maybe the reason she's not looked at programs like Illinois or PSU when it became available several years back.

Also it's possible that at some of the "power conference" schools, WCBB is way on the back burner which would make it unattractive and difficult to recruit kids there. I guess time will tell. But she certainly has the pedigree, that's for sure!

 

[Husky68]

Hartford seems like a hard school to recruit to, no religious affiliations that lot of small schools have, not particularly high rated academics, in a state and a region with a lot of choices for schools. How hard has it been for Providence and BCU to recruit, even old Yankee Conference schools. Like SDS, Marist and such will just have to make it with the "Nicole Wolf's best high school team mate" type players.
I'm enjoying the Geno years as no matter who is up next, it won't be Geno II.

 

[LesMis89]

The UHart campus itself isn't going to be much of a draw either. I don't see any top 25-50 high schooler going there, no matter how good the coach is. I don't see that as a negative about Jen.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Geno will probably have significant influence on who is replacement will be and because of that Jen will be near the top of the list, if not the Top. However, if for any reason Geno doesn't have a lot of influence then IMHO if Jen stays at Hartford then that will hurt her chances at getting the job. She needs to go to a bigger school to prove that she can recruit and win at the next level and in the tournament.

If Shea and/or Marisa Moseley are still on the staff, then they will get a lot of consideration for the head coach position. They will be familiar with the players on the roster and the recruits that they are recruiting. Some would say it would make sense to promote from within to keep the program going in the same direction.

If will be an interesting discussion when the time comes. However, fortunately the discussion shouldn't happen for at least 5 years.

 

[doggydaddy]

The thing about Jen is that I don't believe she's ever recruited ANY top 25 kids to Hartford (someone please correct me if i'm wrong). She's been there for 13 years now and certainly has enjoyed success in her league. I don't doubt she could step it up at UCONN, but it would be nice if she'd had ANY experience getting even a single top 50 kid to come to Hartford.

In 2012 and 2013, not ONE team outside a power conference recruited a top 50 kid to come to their school. It's very rare, I would bet, over the time she's been at Hartford. I don't see how not having this experience impacts Rizzoti at all.

 

[Icebear]

In 2012 and 2013, not ONE team outside a power conference recruited a top 50 kid to come to their school. It's very rare, I would bet, over the time she's been at Hartford. I don't see how not having this experience impacts Rizzoti at all.

It is extremely rare. That does not mean that experience doing it might not be helpful in preparing for the possibility of coaching at UConn. It is something Jen might have had a chance to do at a program like Boston College vs trying to do it at UConn.

 

[EricLA]

In 2012 and 2013, not ONE team outside a power conference recruited a top 50 kid to come to their school. It's very rare, I would bet, over the time she's been at Hartford. I don't see how not having this experience impacts Rizzoti at all.

Ah good point. Did not realize that. I guess I was thinking her lack of experience in recruiting and landing any type of top kid might hamper her if she were the HC at UCONN, but maybe not.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I actually looked at that as a plus when you consider what she has accomplished without a top tier recruit. In any case I don't see UConn choosing an assistant over an experienced head coach.

Personally, I'm pulling for Perretta or Bruno. I really miss the sideline dramatics of the old (young) Geno.

 

[Georgestarr7]

Another possible scenerio would be for CD to get a head coaching job somewhere else in a couple of years and Jen moving into her place. It would be a very intersting situation.

 

[Goodgood]

Shea or Jen. Look at what Shea accomplished at Pitt while she was there. Look at Pitt now, after she left. Jen is a younger female version of Geno. It is a long way from now but I would be really really really happy with either.

 

[MilfordHusky]

USA Basketball seems to be grooming Jen. I think she has a real chance at being an Olympics assistant in 2016 and an assistant or head coach in 2020. That will add to her resume considerably.

Yes, Jen has not recruited top talent, but I have total confidence that with the right product--say Virginia or Cal--she would be one of the very top recruiters. She is intense, articulate, and persuasive.

 

[Kibitzer]

I disagree with those posters who feel that Jen would need a bigger head coaching job or that Shea would need a head coaching job before taking on the UConn job. Such experience is not vital in my view.

Once there was a football coach whose total head coaching experience was five years at St. Cecilia Catholic High School in Englewood, N.J. After a few assistant coaching jobs, the Green Bay Packers hired him as their head coach. Vince Lombardi, arguably the greatest football coach ever. We all know how that turned out.

Then there was that assistant wcbb coach at the University of Virginia. Fellow named Auriemma.

And once upon a time President Theodore Roosevelt promoted a captain (over hundreds of senior officers) to brigadier general, an unprecedented advancement (and unmatched since). The officer's name was Pershing.

So much for the experience factor.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Kib is talking about exceptional individuals, and Jen is clearly one. Experience may be desirable, but it's not always needed.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I think that HC experience is needed at the UConn level. There is a world of difference between UConn WBB in 199o and now. The head coach didn't need to schmooze with the boosters or spar with the horde because there wasn't any. There was no interference from the AD because they didn't care. That's a good place for a new head coach to start. But it ain't that way any more.

For me it's pretty simple. If I were the AD and Geno quit today who would I pick to succeed him. If the choices were limited to Rizotti and Ralph it's not a contest. Rizotti is Auriemma in a skirt, maybe a bit less profanity and a little more tact.

 

[Goodgood]

Rizotti is Auriemma in a skirt, maybe a bit less profanity and a little more tact.

And Ralph is Auriemma in red stilettos, maybe a little less profanity and a little more tact.

 

[dtbtbtb]

In 5-8 years when Geno decides that 13 NC are enough both Rizotti and Ralph would be great choices. I would prefer Rizzoti only for the reason that she has the US International experience and success. The big question for Rizotti will be her ability to recruit top level and high school AA which so far she didn’t show at Hartford. She sure is a great coach!

 

[pap49cba]

I've got to believe that, like Calhoun, Geno will have a lot to say about his replacement. He will have earned that consideration.

 

[chrissaran]

Geno will probably have significant influence on who is replacement will be and because of that Jen will be near the top of the list, if not the Top. However, if for any reason Geno doesn't have a lot of influence then IMHO if Jen stays at Hartford then that will hurt her chances at getting the job. She needs to go to a bigger school to prove that she can recruit and win at the next level and in the tournament.

If Shea and/or Marisa Moseley are still on the staff, then they will get a lot of consideration for the head coach position. They will be familiar with the players on the roster and the recruits that they are recruiting. Some would say it would make sense to promote from within to keep the program going in the same direction.

If will be an interesting discussion when the time comes. However, fortunately the discussion shouldn't happen for at least 5 years.

Keep the program going in the same direction? Maybe you missed what Stef, Bria, Kaleena, Breanna, and Morgan had to say. Jen is just like Geno only she doesn't do the hair swipe. You can't keep the program going in the same direction anymore than that. Jen will be next in line when Geno steps aside, unless some incredible offer comes her way, and I just don't see that happening.