Seton Hall signs two community college players

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[alexrgct]

Dumb question, but I didn't follow WBB recruiting until about four years ago: has UConn ever signed a JUCO player? Has Geno ever expressed a philosophical opposition to doing so?

 

[LesMis89]

Quick (and partial) answer is that UConn did sign one JUCO player a few years ago whose name totally escapes me. My recollection is that Geno subsequently said that he wouldn't go that route again.

I'm sure someone else will be able to give you more details.

 

[Blakeon18]

I think the most recent one was Sadiq....she subsequently transferred to Oklahoma State...I think.
There was a CC player quite a while ago....a Russian sounding name.
Neither made an impact on the court and I do recall Geno saying that it was a road he would rather not travel again.

 

[easttexastrash]

Danielle Adams from TAMU was a JUCO transfer. Texas Texh has done this multiple times.

 

[Cheddie]

I remember Anne Donovan saying on her hire that she was going to take dead aim at Geno because she was "sick of UConn beating up the league." I'm still waiting.

 

[Wonkster]

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In 1997 UConn signed Tihana Abrlic, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Zagreb, Croatia, who was playing JUCO basketball in Florida. Thus we had a Russian and a Croatian on the team at the same time.

Some wag suggested the team's mascot be changed to a Russian wolfhound.

Now that wag had swag!
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[Wonkster]

Danielle Adams from TAMU was a JUCO transfer. Texas Texh has done this multiple times.

The school that made a regular practice of using JUCO's was LaTech. Their head coach was wired into the community college world.
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[msf22b]

Seems to me that this is an individual matter based on special gifts or the lack thereof.
Can't imagine that Geno or anyone else would reject consideration for a special talent that had thusly emerged

 

[sarals24]

Tennessee has done this also. I think they are looking at some for next season, actually. Although it's certainly possible, I think it's much less likely that a player talented enough to play at UConn would slip through the recruiting cracks and land at a JuCo. And if academically they weren't ready for a four-year university, they might not be the type of player UConn wants.

Again, nothing against junior college players, and there are clearly some talented enough or circumstances dictate they start there or whatever. I just think it's much more likely in the men's side because there is more talent, and guys might develop physically later and be able to play at a higher level.

 

[zakalex]

Didn't Rita Williams transfer from (graduate from?) Mitchell College in New London?

 

[alexrgct]

Tennessee has done this also. I think they are looking at some for next season, actually.Although it's certainly possible, I think it's much less likely that a player talented enough to play at UConn would slip through the recruiting cracks and land at a JuCo. And if academically they weren't ready for a four-year university, they might not be the type of player UConn wants.

Again, nothing against junior college players, and there are clearly some talented enough or circumstances dictate they start there or whatever. I just think it's much more likely in the men's side because there is more talent, and guys might develop physically later and be able to play at a higher level.

Indeed, you also hear stories of men growing six inches in college and such in a fashion that's a lot less likely to happen with young women. Interestingly, the first five picks of the 1987 NBA draft featured two such guys: David Robinson and Scottie Pippen. Both played at D1 schools, but were not big-time recruits out of high school.

I think you hit the nail on the head as far as why a school might shy away from a JUCO in general, and Geno specifically might feel that, by the time you're three years out of high school, you've picked up too many bad habits to learn "his way" of doing things. I do believe in second chances and exceptions but imagine that it would take an exceptional amount of initiative on the young woman's part to get a look from UConn.

 

[Blakeon18]

My recollection on Rita: she qualified for UConn by NCAA standards coming out of high school. Geno had some doubts and asked her to go to Mitchell. She did...did fine....and was able to transfer to UConn after only one year due to her NCAA qualifying during her senior year in high school. She wound up playing 3 years at UConn and improving on and off the court in a simply fabulous manner.

Geno did leave her home during her soph year on an early season trip to play a couple of games on the mid-Atlantic coast due to academic concerns. No concerns after that disciplinary move. Years later I do remember Geno saying that he wished he had recommended that she come to UConn right out of high school and he had offered her a redshirt academic year.
It would have allowed her to play all 4 years not three and probably gotten her up to speed more quickly on the court than a year at Mitchell.

BTW: I remember some member of The Horde comparing Rita in her first year at UConn and her last. He said she was incredibly shy at first....and wound up her senior year by going up and down press row high fiving folks and bantering with the best of 'em.

MVP....I think...of the BE tourney at Rutgers in her senior year....wtih Nykesha out with that season ending injury.

Anyone know what she is doing now?

 

[alexrgct]

Not sure what Rita is up to these days, but she was at the Baylor game in 2010. Sat with Sue and Swin.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno signed Rashidat Sadiq about 6 years ago. She had been the JUCO NPOY in Arizona and a member of the Nigerian national team. But she didn't learn the UConn system very well and left after one year. I think she may have been the final JUCO recruit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidat_Sadiq

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Rutgers has also had some disappointing results with several juco recruits.

The closest to success was a player named Karlita? Washington, who was around during our 2000 Final Four (I think). She had some off-court issues, however, IIRC. The other jucos either rarely played, or contributed, or had eligability issues.

 

[EricLA]

Aside from aTm's success with Adams on the JUCO kids, and Bobbitt for Tennessee, i'm not sure that JUCO's generally make big impacts at top level WCBB teams. Have there been a lot of others? i have to imagine middle of the pack schools in the power conferences have a better chance at landing talented JUCO's and also would have more room and PT to offer them. as Milford pointed out, Rash Sadiq was the JUCO POY and aside from one game where she had 16 points, struggled to make an impact at UCONN. i thought she was a good mover and had very soft hands, but it just didn't work out.

 

[MarieM]

Rita Williams was a juco i think

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Aside from aTm's success with Adams on the JUCO kids, and Bobbitt for Tennessee, i'm not sure that JUCO's generally make big impacts at top level WCBB teams.

*coughs* Sheryl Swoopes *coughs*

 

[Vowelguy]

Seems to me that this is an individual matter based on special gifts or the lack thereof.
Can't imagine that Geno or anyone else would reject consideration for a special talent that had thusly emerged

The problem, from Geno's perspective, is that you've only got 2 years to work with this player.

 

[ThisJustIn]

JUCOs are a way to fill an immediate hole or jump start a program. I expect that Wiggins bringing along the Landers duo from Trinity Valley is a way to do just that. TVCC just one the National Championship and had a pretty good track record.

Marquette brought in some JUCOs... but they're primarily a stop gap.

Flashback:

If asked, Lady Vols assistant coach Dean Lockwood can offer a “Reader’s Digest” version of how the 5’2” Bobbitt became Tennessee’s starting point guard: “Necessity,” he quoted, “is the mother of invention.”​

​

The slightly longer version of the story starts with the UT program engaging is some pre-season self-reflection in the face of injuries and a player’s unexpected transfer. “We didn’t have the type of point guard play that we felt we needed to go all the way,” explained Lockwood. True, they had been able to camouflage it in the past, ask other players to step up, but they were all aware they needed to solve the problem of that missing piece. “One of the things we talked about was the immediate help that could come in from the junior college ranks.”​

​

This was new territory for the program but Lockwood, who had worked with several JUCOs on the men’s side, had experienced what he called “both the bitter and the sweet” of the process. There was much discussion about the risks, of chemistry issues, pressure, timing and expectations. Most junior college players only have two years of eligibility, so in all honesty they should enter a program where they’re expected to — and can — start. They also have to “get it” right away, said Lockwood.​

 

[Wonkster]

Geno signed Rashidat Sadiq about 6 years ago. She had been the JUCO NPOY in Arizona and a member of the Nigerian national team. But she didn't learn the UConn system very well and left after one year. I think she may have been the final JUCO recruit.

She also was the anti-Samarie. Put Samarie in the middle of a scrum for a loose ball and she usually comes up with it. Rashidat usually came up with air.
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