Shea --Missing The Big Picture.

[CTrefugee]

Carla Berube Carla Berube Carla Berube Carla Berube Carla Berube say it again Carla Berube

Hopefully it will be possible to lure her away from Princeton. She is the only ex-player who has been really successful at coaching. Success is hard to ignore.

She was also a favorite of Geno. He once said, if he had to pick one player to take a game deciding free throw, it would be Carla. "She has no heart beat." I have watched her coach and she also exudes CD-like class, which hopefully would maintain standards both on and off the court. One of the reasons UCONN WBB is so popular among senior citizens is the all-around quality women who have been recruited. They are much more than athletes.

 

[NY Fan]

She was also a favorite of Geno. He once said, if he had to pick one player to take a game deciding free throw, it would be Carla. "She has no heart beat." I have watched her coach and she also exudes CD-like class, which hopefully would maintain standards both on and off the court. One of the reasons UCONN WBB is so popular among senior citizens is the all-around quality women who have been recruited. They are much more than athletes.

With the caveat that I know little about Carla Berube other than seeing her in the SNY 95 Undefeated feature, I totally agree with your post, especially about the comparison with CD and UCONN players being more than athletes. However her situation reminds me of Tommy Ammeter at Harvard. He was/is a good recruiter and has had occasional highly ranked teams. In 2007 it was thought Harvard would be a way station to a major program, but he's still there and thriving. Even if the Duke (his alma mater) position opens up when Coach K retires, the cost/benefit for him to take it wouldn't make sense.

Notwithstanding her predecessor moving to HC to rebuild North Carolina, it's a less high wire act than Berube moving to UCONN for multiple reasons. Besides, she's recruiting top 100 players and her program is #1 in the Ivies. Unless Princeton opts to discontinue WBB, my bet is she's there indefinitely.

 

[boontonbomber]

Nothing to back this up just a gut feeling but if either Marisa Moseley at Wisconsin or Shea at Vanderbilt prove that they can recruit effectively and win consistently at a high level either one would have a chance of following Geno once he retires. Marisa has shown she can win at a lower level at BU but if Shea is successful at Vanderbilt I think she has an edge due to her long history as a player and coach at UConn. I don't think UConn would hire someone with little or no coaching experience i.e. Sue Bird and I can't see a well established big name coach coming to UConn with nothing to gain and everything to lose following a legend.

apparently you didn't see Sue coaching Seattle last season.

 

[UcMiami]

Neither Sue nor DT have any interest in living in central CT - never going to happen.

Didn't mean to 'dis' Jamelle, but really neither she nor Tonya have been very successful as HC for whatever reason. Everybody crossed Jen off their list because she only got 7 NCAA bids as a HC with two different schools (yes she took GW to an NCAA.) Well Jamelle has 9 seasons and never got above 10th in the old BE and fourth in the (thank god we escaped that conference) AAC. Tonya took over a very successful Temple program (launched the current SC/USA NT coach) in the A10 with five straight and 6 of seven NCAA appearances. She maintained that for 3 more years, and has only made it back once since in the (thank god we escaped that conference) AAC.

Personally I would take Jen over Jamelle or Tonya as I think she is a better HC, but none of the three appear to have the resume to succeed Geno.

 

[jazz]

Neither Sue nor DT have any interest in living in central CT - never going to happen.

Didn't mean to 'dis' Jamelle, but really neither she nor Tonya have been very successful as HC for whatever reason. Everybody crossed Jen off their list because she only got 7 NCAA bids as a HC with two different schools (yes she took GW to an NCAA.) Well Jamelle has 9 seasons and never got above 10th in the old BE and fourth in the (thank god we escaped that conference) AAC. Tonya took over a very successful Temple program (launched the current SC/USA NT coach) in the A10 with five straight and 6 of seven NCAA appearances. She maintained that for 3 more years, and has only made it back once since in the (thank god we escaped that conference) AAC.

Personally I would take Jen over Jamelle or Tonya as I think she is a better HC, but none of the three appear to have the resume to succeed Geno.

objectively, none of them are suitable. GA's successor may be 5-10 years out yet so things could change and/or evolve but it is more likely that somebody from outside the programme is the successor..

 

[Alydar]

Evidently people on this board don't really think that UCONN is a truly special program unmatched by anything ever seen in college sports.
Evidently a decent city in a good league with a program that gets little to national pub is more attractive than the most dominant women's program in history with an entire state hanging on nearly your every word where you are immediately one of the most famous and known people.
An entire state that almost lives and breaths women's basketball and you get the publicity and star status only dreamed about anywhere else cannot match Vandy? NO, not buying it. Frankly, I'm a bit pissed that people here don't think that we're all that great. Must be the general misguided thinking in CT.

UConn is great because of their coach. That's the case in men's basketball and even more so in the women's game. I'll guess that the list of head coaches who resigned from a P-5 program to take a mid-major job is very short.

 

[veryolddog]

Shea Ralph sounds good. But she has to revive a dead program and make it convincingly successful before she becomes the heir apparent to a man that took a dead program and made it the program that everyone competes to be the same as today.

Hopefully, the assistant coach may have that accomplishment to his or her career. But to replace Geno and Chris, UConn needs to hire a coach with a proven track record of success. If it does not and just goes for a former name with no track record, this program could end up like the men's program. They are nowhere near where they were under Calhoun. Imagine if they hired a Patino. And, football, well that's another story: 70's years of whatever.

Remember: Connecticut is a cheap state and buys only the bare necessities. Geno is paid good money, because he is only one that keeps Connecticut relevant. If they are not prepared to be competitive financially and after big talent, the program will probably become mediocre. Sue Bird and DT are big names and would help in recruiting, but their track record is winning basketball games, not coaching a program to victory.

 

[Blakeon18]

I was under the impression that Sue recently purchased a house in Greenwich.

True or not?

 

[RedStickHusky]

Evidently people on this board don't really think that UCONN is a truly special program unmatched by anything ever seen in college sports.
Evidently a decent city in a good league with a program that gets little to national pub is more attractive than the most dominant women's program in history with an entire state hanging on nearly your every word where you are immediately one of the most famous and known people.
An entire state that almost lives and breaths women's basketball and you get the publicity and star status only dreamed about anywhere else cannot match Vandy? NO, not buying it. Frankly, I'm a bit pissed that people here don't think that we're all that great. Must be the general misguided thinking in CT.

The odds are stacked against UConn remaining "UConn" after Geno.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Interesting to note that the Geno UConn hired in '85 would not come close to being a candidate for the same job today. Of course, it's really nothing like the 'same job'.

 

[UcMiami]

I was under the impression that Sue recently purchased a house in Greenwich.

True or not?

Greenwich is not central CT, it is suburban NYC. Not sure of her real estate purchase, but no one commutes to Uconn from the western CT coast.

 

[RedStickHusky]

When John Toner hired Geno in '85, he could only do so because he was under zero pressure to get it right. Nobody cared. Geno got them good in a couple of years but took 10 years to reach the top, where he's kept them for 25 years. Whoever is next will not get a honeymoon or grace period. The pressure on whoever hires his replacement and the pressure on that replacement will be unimaginable. We'll most likely get the safest choice, least subject to critique - and it won't go well. Look at the heat Geno catches here for a run of semi-final loses. Do you think Toner ever imagined him coaching UConn in a final four? It's a year one expectation for his replacement.

 

[LoboDays]

The next head coach will not be a current head coach from a Power 5 Conference. Nothing to gain. Everything to lose.

 

[AYusef]

Shea has to do well at Vanderbilt to be a plausible candidate to be Geno's successor. That will be a challenge. Her big problem is that she is not a "household name" among high school prospects. That will make it difficult for her to recruit competitively with other SEC coaches.

That is why Sue Bird tops my list of potential next UConn coaches. Her celebrity status in the WBB world trumps her lack of coaching experience in my mind.

From what I have read and heard, J has little interest in coaching and it seems she might have only took the Uconn job to work with GA, which I assumes she find enjoyable.

Does anybody think Shea left, in part due to some issues she and GA had with her departure from the team during the tournament? I vaguely remember GA said something that made it seem like he was not happy with that situation. Maybe, I got it wrong, just asking...

I think that was all out of Shea's hand, there was protocol in place that she had no control over. I highly doubt Geno had any issue with her.

 

[MooseJaw]

Shea has to do well at Vanderbilt to be a plausible candidate to be Geno's successor. That will be a challenge. Her big problem is that she is not a "household name" among high school prospects. That will make it difficult for her to recruit competitively with other SEC coaches.

That is why Sue Bird tops my list of potential next UConn coaches. Her celebrity status in the WBB world trumps her lack of coaching experience in my mind.

I would love to see Sue as the next coach, however I don't see it happening. I think that at this time she would find the job to restrictive. She has been a player and recently an on air tv personality, The WNBA season is no longer that WCBB she has the ability to travel and pick her jobs outside of playing. Coaching at UCONN would be a full time job, I'm not sure she is ready for that much commitment at this time.

 

[CTrefugee]

I think that was all out of Shea's hand, there was protocol in place that she had no control over. I highly doubt Geno had any issue with her.

I don't know of any protocol that lasts for 3 weeks.

 

[BRS24]

I think that was all out of Shea's hand, there was protocol in place that she had no control over. I highly doubt Geno had any issue with her.

I don't know of any protocol that lasts for 3 weeks.

It was the NCAA policy that prevented her from reentering the bubble. Once you left, you were not allowed back in.

 

[Magruber]

Notre Dame people think a possible future UCONN HC could be Meghan Duffy who is at Marquette. She's a builder, good, young, feisty, energetic coach who can do great things with UCONN type brand and resources.
I tend to agree.
Anyways, I hope this is something that we need to address 10+ years from now.

 

[CTrefugee]

time to end the thread.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Notre Dame people think a possible future UCONN HC could be Meghan Duffy who is at Marquette. She's a builder, good, young, feisty, energetic coach who can do great things with UCONN type brand and resources.
I tend to agree.
Anyways, I hope this is something that we need to address 10+ years from now.

Yes, I think UConn should hire the best coach available, whether they have
former UConn connections or not.

 

[connboy77]

The new asst. coach must be able to recruit which is in my opinion the most important ingredient! I really don't care if she is a former UCONN player or not.

 

[jazz]

I think that was all out of Shea's hand, there was protocol in place that she had no control over. I highly doubt Geno had any issue with her.

That is what I originally thought as well, but then I heard there might have been a rift with her and GA over it.

 

[AYusef]

That is what I originally thought as well, but then I heard there might have been a rift with her and GA over it.

Hmmmm.....

 

[HopJim]

The odds are stacked against UConn remaining "UConn" after Geno.

Geno is one of the all time great coaches but UConn Women's Basketball is a brand.

 

[Zanzman]

That is what I originally thought as well, but then I heard there might have been a rift with her and GA over it.

Heard from where. The honey please