SF/PF Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky Commit)

[B1GEast]

We're fans. We don't have to convince ourselves to go to UConn instead of Duke. You don't see the difference?

The difference is that like KO, I believe it as well. Are you suggesting that KO is lying to recruits?

 

[Dynasty]

The difference is that like KO, I believe it as well. Are you suggesting that KO is lying to recruits?

How do you know that is what KO is telling recruits?

 

[B1GEast]

How do you know that is what KO is telling recruits?

In several articles, he's mentioned that Uconn offers every bit as much as the so called blue blood schools, a good education, a path to the nba, etc.

 

[Laxman77]

Article on Mr. Gabriel

http://nypost.com/2015/08/21/wenyen-gabriel-from-africa-war-to-doorstep-of-ncaa-hoops-elites/

 

[huskiesNhoos]

The 2010 Duke Championship Team had 6 High School All Americans on it.
Lance Thomas – 2006 High School All American
John Scheyer – 2006 High School All American
Kyle Singler – 2007 High School All American
Nolan Smith –2007 High School All American (Son of former NBA player)
Mason Plumlee – 2009 High School All American
Ryan Kelly – 2009 High School All American

Brian Zoubek - 2006 – Considered a 4/5 star recruit
Miles Plumlee – 2008 Fringe Top 100 player (recruited to get younger brother Mason)
Andre Dawkins – 2009 - Considered 4/5 start recruit. Graduated 1 year early. Would have been HS All American in all likelihood.

High school talent. Most of those guys werent contributors until they're Sr year if at all.

I'm just saying, that was probably the worst NC team of the expanded bracket era, but they still got a trophy...and lots of hugs

 

[B1GEast]

High school talent. Most of those guys werent contributors until they're Sr year if at all.

I'm just saying, that was probably the worst NC team of the expanded bracket era, but they still got a trophy...and lots of hugs

The perception really is interesting, they beat Butler by 2 points, the following year we beat Butler by 12 and most fan bases claim we were lucky because we only had to face Butler.

And that 2011 team is commonly referred to as the kemba walkers. When dook wins, they're great, when we win we're lucky. We have a great program,and I stand by my statement that coach k needs a lot of talent to win,and he usually gets that talent.

 

[B1GEast]

I'd take JC over coach k any day, JC would take a bunch of hard nosed kids and coach them up.

Can't stand dook or k.

 

[BUConn10]

The perception really is interesting, they beat Butler by 2 points, the following year we beat Butler by 12 and most fan bases claim we were lucky because we only had to face Butler.

And that 2011 team is commonly referred to as the kemba walkers. When dook wins, they're great, when we win we're lucky. We have a great program,and I stand by my statement that coach k needs a lot of talent to win,and he usually gets that talent.

Which is why public perception is so important to the success of a program in all areas.

 

[Walker11]

High school talent. Most of those guys werent contributors until they're Sr year if at all.

I'm just saying, that was probably the worst NC team of the expanded bracket era, but they still got a trophy...and lots of hugs

I certainly don't think of that team being exceptionally talented but six of those dudes are in the league currently.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

I certainly don't think of that team being exceptionally talented but six of those dudes are in the league currently.

again, I'm not saying they weren't hs superstars, or even now making bank in the league. Point is at that point in time, they were basically scrubs. After Scheyer, singler and smith their next leading scorer was at 5ppg...

 

[uconNYC]

Think you have to look at more than just NC when comparing programs. Duke dominates during the regular season, ACC tournament, gets to FF consistently and they do it pretty much getting everyone's A game. As much as I hate them they deserve the hype and I would say are on a level slightly higher than UConn.

 

[BearJWS]

again, I'm not saying they weren't hs superstars, or even now making bank in the league. Point is at that point in time, they were basically scrubs. After Scheyer, singler and smith their next leading scorer was at 5ppg...

Scheyer, Singler were first team All ACC & Nolan was 2nd team All ACC in 2010. Duke was ranked in the Top 10 pretty much all season long & preseason Top 10 (or close). You make it sound like because not all 6 HS All Americans were all ACC or All American they weren't "stacked", well maybe not stacked for Duke? Back to the original point, Coach K pretty much has top talent on his team every year. Imagine what Ollie or Calhoun would achieve/achieved with 4-8 HS All Americans on their teams every year? Heck, many coaches would be successful with that kind of talent (minus Kentucky since I think they had 9 last year & couldn't pull it off).

This past year Duke had 8.5 HS All Americans & Coach K needed to chew the refs out at half time in the Championship game in order to suddenly make Wisconsin a team of hackers (after leading the NCAA in least fouls all year).

Here's the break out of the 2015 Duke team & their HS All Americans. Were they not "stacked" either?
2014 – J. Okafor, T. Jones, J. Winslow, G. Allen. 3 First round draft choices. Poor Allen was a role player.
2013 – M. Jones. J. Parker left, so he doesn’t count (oops).
2012 – A. Jefferson, R. Sulaimon (though kicked off late January)
2011 – Q. Cook, Marshall Plumlee (joke)
Nice to go to your bench & have another 3 HS All Americans off the bench, no?

 

[Matrim55]

Dukes big thing is going to be the transition to their next coach after K leaves

Yup. Calhoun sealed his legacy for good by pushing for Ollie and getting the succession plan he wanted. He is arguably the only truly great, flagship coach of the last 50 years to get it right:

Wooden at UCLA? Nope.
Knight at Indiana? It's been 15 years and they still can't right the ship.
Smith at UNC? Roy had a nice 5-year run, but they're not the program they were two decades ago for obvious reasons
Olsen at Arizona? That was a mess.
Crum at Louisville? He was forced out.

Duke is, no doubt about it, the biggest name in college hoops these days and for the last 25 years. But how they transition to the next era is key, because as the programs above showed, nothing is guaranteed. Get the wrong coach in and you're Notre Dame's football program.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The perception really is interesting, they beat Butler by 2 points, the following year we beat Butler by 12 and most fan bases claim we were lucky because we only had to face Butler.

And that 2011 team is commonly referred to as the kemba walkers. When dook wins, they're great, when we win we're lucky. We have a great program,and I stand by my statement that coach k needs a lot of talent to win,and he usually gets that talent.

Do you not understand what public perception means? Kids generally see duke as the more glamorous destination, there's not argument there.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Do you not understand what public perception means? Kids generally see duke as the more glamorous destination, there's not argument there.

True. However, it's interesting that absolutely nobody, including recruits, view UCONN as negatively as our own fans. It's really impressive; or sad.

 

[Huskyforlife]

True. However, it's interesting that absolutely nobody, including recruits, view UCONN as negatively as our own fans. It's really impressive; or sad.

You can never be satisfied with the product you get on the field or court. That's when they get complacent and start losing. There's always room for improvement.

 

[David 76]

Duke has a better basketball resume, better college, better conference, better climate. Kentucky is even hotter than Duke. I just wish we were treated as close to them by recruits. Hopefully,that will change as Ollie's reputation grows.

 

[Hoophound]

K is a phenomenal coach. He plays a very smart but simple-to-run motion offense and recruits the right guys to run it. He learned his halfcourt offense from Knight, whom I consider the architect of the modern motion, read-and-react offense. His pressure defense is almost always on point. Duke is the flagship men's BB program, clearly. It may be close, but it's not in doubt. Now, if KO somehow stays at UConn for a couple decades...

KO will bring us into the very top spot in the next 10-15 years if he can get a crack at it while in the ACC/B1G/SEC. That's the key. He can coach, recruit and motivate and the New England Prep scene has become a gold mine. He might even pull it off from the AAC given recent recruiting. I think he becomes a juggernaut with us back in an elite conference.

 

[djct1999]

I certainly don't think of that team being exceptionally talented but six of those dudes are in the league currently.

Collectively, those six will earn this season roughly the same(slightly less) as Kemba Walker. Come to think of it, that may be your point. UConn develops stars, Duke marginalizes talent.

 

[boog204]

Scheyer, Singler were first team All ACC & Nolan was 2nd team All ACC in 2010. Duke was ranked in the Top 10 pretty much all season long & preseason Top 10 (or close). You make it sound like because not all 6 HS All Americans were all ACC or All American they weren't "stacked", well maybe not stacked for Duke? Back to the original point, Coach K pretty much has top talent on his team every year. Imagine what Ollie or Calhoun would achieve/achieved with 4-8 HS All Americans on their teams every year? Heck, many coaches would be successful with that kind of talent (minus Kentucky since I think they had 9 last year & couldn't pull it off).

Is the implication that Coach K is not a great coach b/c he has so much talent? Silly. Our 2011-2012 team started a McDAA at PF (AO), a top 5 player at C (AD), take your pick of Roscoe (#31) or Deandre (#16) at the 3, a lottery pick at 2G (JLamb) and a 1st round pick at PG (Bazz). Off the bench we brought Boatright (#49) and that team went 20-14 and for the most part, sucked. So that's 3 HS All Americans, three first round picks, a total of 5 guys who were drafted, and all 7 who are or will be playing professionally this year and it was just an awful team who was embarrassed in the tourney.

It's strange how a lot of UConn fans look back on our great teams and forget that they were very, very talented. 1999 we started two McDAA (Rip and KEA), two top 50 guys in Ricky and KFree, and Jake. Off the bench we had four top 50 guys in Antric, Rash, Edmund, and Mouring. That's 9 top 50 players. Not exactly a bunch of diamonds in the rough that were coached up.

2004 we started a McDAA at PG (Taliek), #41 at 2G (Ben), Rashad (top 30, but #17 by ESPN), a future 1st rounder in Josh Boone, and the national player of the year in Emeka. Off the bench, we brought in a top 10 player in Charlie V, top 50 player in Denham, and a future lottery pick in Hilton.

2011 is basically the same as 2012 with the substitution of Kemba (McDAA) and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (#40) for AD and DD.

So moral of the story... Great talent + great coaching = championships. In this century UConn has 3 and Duke has had 3. Our talent (by rankings) has not been on the same level as Duke's, however, our championship teams have been pretty talented in their own right with veteran talent to Duke's new one and done fetish.

 

[Com'rGordon]

So just to be clear... we are getting him?

 

[tcf15]

So just to be clear... we are getting him?

Are you talking about Diallo or Gabriel?

 

[Com'rGordon]

Gabriel

 

[Stainmaster]

So just to be clear... we are getting him?

It's not quite that simple.

 

[FriarJ]

Cox Sports does a pretty good job covering the Friars, here is a podcast with Gabriel interview and some quotes:

http://www.coxhub.com/articles/the-upside-podcast-summer-breakouts-wenyen-gabriel-interview

On Providence/UCONN "I've seen the schools twice, so that's why I don't have an official date set up yet - I just have great relationships with the coaches so they're always going to be there. If anything, UCONN is a comfortable place for me. Providence, Cooley has done a great job recruiting me, hes a people person, players coach. I just feel like if I ended up at either school I'd feel comfortable no matter what. I'll probably see both sometime in October, it depends but probably do official visits"

Maryland: I like their style of play, they've been recruiting me hard, been on me for awhile. They've made me a priority - that's what I like about MD.

Kentucky: Calipari is recruiting me the hardest out of all the schools, he has high expectations and high hopes for me. I want to go check it out, I wouldnt "x" them out too early.

Duke: Coach K going to come visit my school before I go down there, he's showing a lot of interest. It's just really special with Duke, Idk who wouldn't want to go play for Coach K.