Sierra Moore(G) to Transfer from Duke

[Wbbfan1]

Might be more to the story about Sierra's transfer & release from Duke. Mike Flynn is tweeting today about going after a program if they don't grant a full unconditional release to one of his former Philly Belle player. Sierra did play for the Philly Belles AAU program and tweets from others have associated her name with Mike Flynn's tweets. MikeFlynn - Link

As a side note, during the tournament, Mike was critical on Geno's handling of Breanna. More or less said Breanna wasn't having a confidence issue during the year, it was how Geno was using her that was the problem.

Now Mike has sent a tweet to Coach McCallie to do the right think and if she doesn't could get ugly. Right or Wrong Mike does have influence in recruiting circles. Philly Belles are one of the Top AAU Programs. Breanna played for them.

Went to the Duke board and apparently Sierra wanted to go to Louisville and Coach P refused and was personal about it. Louisville is a future ACC team.

 

[pap49cba]

Wow. Just read all of his tweets. He is one TICKED OFF hombre. Will be interesting to see how Coach P. responds to this. Flynn is pretty well connected with a lot of big time recruits.

 

[Vowelguy]

Dunno. If JPM has reason to believe there was tampering AND its to a future conference member, I can understand.

Heck, the nc st men's coach wouldn't let one of his players going to any school on his schedule next year.

 

[UConnCat]

Flynn must have one massive ego, too. It wasn't enough that Stewart turned it around during the BET and NCAAs, Flynn had to make it about Geno not playing her, or using her the wrong way, or playing head games with her, or running poor offense, or the problem was the upperclassmen vs the underclassmen at UConn. He's tweeting all of this while the guy he's criticizing was on his way to national championship #8.

McCallie doesn't seem the type to back down.

 

[pap49cba]

Flynn must have one massive ego, too.

+++

 

[Vowelguy]

A bit obnoxious that he would threaten "I have your recruits' phone numbers."

 

[UConnCat]

A bit obnoxious that he would threaten "I have your recruits' phone numbers."

No more recruits for you Coach P!!!

He's like the soup guy on Seinfeld.

 

[EricLA]

Mike Flynn - what a blow hard.

 

[Icebear]

Mike Flynn has an EGO? No way.

 

[Tonyc]

Well I guess if she didn't play and it looks like she wont get much playtime why not let her go? If she cant play for Duke then how could she hurt Duke elsewhere even in the ACC. I really don't understand. I do understand few things. I bad attitude can ruin a team. I also understand the trickleing down effect this could have on incoming recruits if they aren't let go and are just gonna sit the bench. Maybe the answer to why UConn has a roster of 9 next season with no one who wont play. As far as difference of opinon on how Breanna should've been coach. Maybe Mike is right but in the end it worked out and Breanna lead UConn to another NC. Its are to argue with Geno who has won 8 NC and looks to win a few more over the next few years. Theres only one UConn and no other team is close. There are other teams with talent but from there is where Geno makes the difference, and UConns 35 pt margin of victory proves it. I look at other great players and wonder how much better and how much further they could've gone if they had Geno coach them. Not ment to be mean or disrespectful to other coaches but the Geno results show it. If Im a kid with a Dream a Big Dream and I see how UConn plays I want to be part of it.

 

[pap49cba]

If Flynn thinks he knows how Breanna and Uconn should have been coached he needs to get in line behind a few Boneyarders.

I do hope Geno consults with him before the start of next season so we have a decent chance of winning #9.

 

[Icebear]

If Flynn thinks he knows how Breanna and Uconn should have been coached he needs to get in line behind a few Boneyarders.

I do hope Geno consults with him before the start of next season so we have a decent chance of winning #9.

Rolling on the floor, sides aching, eyes running with tears.

 

[triaddukefan]

Well the off season is sure off to a rousing start

 

[HuskyMJ]

Dunno. If JPM has reason to believe there was tampering AND its to a future conference member, I can understand.

Heck, the nc st men's coach wouldn't let one of his players going to any school on his schedule next year.

Yep and now Rodney is coming to UCONN.

Duke coach thinks Louisville is tampering which is a major no-no and Louisville is entering the ACC. I have no problem blocking that transfer, there are over 340 Division 1 schools, I'm sure Moore can find a suitable one for her liking. Someone said Penn State was an option, I'm not going to feel bad for a girl who may have to settle for a hometown school ranked high in basketball and has much better academics than Louisville. She went to Duke for academics most likely, and when Louisville enters the ACC, they will be the lowest rated school by a good deal. Going to Penn State, what a great "consolation" prize if I ever saw one. Her coach comes off poorly too, these girls are going to Duke likely for academics and winning. If a guy they don't know tells them don't go to Duke are they really going to care? Maybe he can prevent girls from HIS team from going to Duke, but Duke has players from California, Texas, and all over the place that likely don't know who Moore is and don't care that she is transferring. Thing is you can say the Duke coach is mean she won't let you transfer, but what kid thinks they are going to transfer when they commit to a school? No one will even worry.

 

[WNBARookFan]

Mike Flynn, although he has a gigantic ego, has quite a bit of influence on the girls basketball scene. He's the director of Blue Star Basketball and USJN, as well as being a consultant for Gatorade and part of the McDonald's All-American selection committee. He has clout and he is NOT happy.

Well I guess we won't be bored this off-season.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

That's why I'd like to see someone like Breanna who' been doing it since she was 14, take a summer off of USA basketball, and work at school on her game. They need to let the players have an opportunity to just be kids for a time.

Breanna needs a summer to work on her game/conditioning and eat plenty of ice cream from you know where. No US or other teams. I'd say ditto for the whole bunch.

 

[Raoul]

I don't agree with Mike Flynn on this issue, but even if he were completely justified in his unhappiness with Duke, is publicly tweeting about it really the best way to handle this?

On Twitter, I follow Flynn and a number of other figures in the girls/women's basketball AAU/recruiting scene, and I've been amazed by the amount of public sniping that goes on within that circle. It gets quite ugly at times, and it almost always appears to me to involve something that would be best handled privately.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Rolling on the floor, sides aching, eyes running with tears.

you need to see Rosemary

 

[Scotter]

As a side note, during the tournament, Mike was critical on Geno's handling of Breanna. More or less said Breanna wasn't having a confidence issue during the year, it was how Geno was using her that was the problem.

If Geno's job is to cater to how she is now then yes he wasn't using her in a way that maximized her current abilities. But if Geno's job is to develop Breanna to her full potential then his job is to make Breanna conform to the fundamental changes that need to be made, rather than the other way around. If UConn loses a couple of games during the regular season so be it, and when the national championship was truly at stake he accepted and catered to where she was currently at it. When next season begins Geno will go right back to trying to get to develop the fundamental foundation she needs to reach her full potential. Breanna played more aggressively and made shots, but her breakout wasn't a case of correcting the fundamental deficits that Geno was working on all season. That work is largely still to be done.

It's a very similar situation to Tina Charles in some ways. Mike's comments about confidence issues being a media creation and her not being used correctly could have fit a young Tina as well. Geno had a different end goal in mind for Tina, and the same applies to Breanna.

 

[baggerbob]

Anyone who read any of the comments made by Breanna, and Geno after she signed her Letter of Intent, would disagree with Mike. Breanna chose UConn to become the best player she could be, because she knew Geno would get the best out of her. Geno said he would have to get used to Breanna, and she would have to get used to him. It appears to me all those things are exactly what is happening, between Breanna and Geno, so people who haven't won anything in their lives should be ignored.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Her performance in NC competition speaks for the success of whatever went on with her personally and whatever went on with UCONN coaches, not just Geno.

 

[msf22b]

No more recruits for you Coach P!!!

If Flynn thinks he knows how Breanna and Uconn should have been coached he needs to get in line behind a few Boneyarders.

Two Hilarious posts, the boneyard literati at their best…still I wouldn't underestimate out of hand the potential ability of these types to create mayhem; if he can harness the other principal coaches in the AAU, life could be made complicated for whomever they wish to harass. I've seen this happen in the music biz, consider the power of agents in professional baseball and football; goes on everywhere. Even happened in the West Point Band (too long a story).

Absolutely delighted how things turned out, doesn't mean I had to love the process, which I seem to remember posting about on a few occasions.

I think that when the history of this season is completely understood, Geno's mea culpa's will be accepted as truth-telling and that the season will be understood as he discovering the correct path rather than the youngsters.

 

[UcMiami]

Couple of things -
1. Geno has in the past complained about the influence of AAU coaches not just with players but with their parents (and parents may be even more important than the players.) I think generally they are very even handed, but sometimes it may get out of hand. It is part of the landscape and something all coaches have to deal with. A l0t of communication can occur between recruiters and the coaches of prospects at times when player and family contact is not allowed. It is a way to keep your school in the forefront. (As I remember their was a certain player that ended up at Rutgers when things with the players coach and family broke down.)
2. I seem to remember that MD and Frese are not exactly lily-white in recruiting rumors - not sure if I have that right. But this seems like a fairly serious allegation and if she has any reason to believe improper contact (and I certainly hope so since she has brought it up) then contacting the NCAA and refusing the player release to the school in question is the proper response. A public outing of the situation does not seem appropriate. By the way has Jeff hired an assistant from MD in the recent past?
3. Geno has a history of being very critical of players during the regular season and pushing them to improve and change their play. And he also has a history of throwing that all out the window in the post-season tournaments. He realizes that the time for improvement is over and the time to build confidence and momentum is NOW. It has served him very well over the years, and I doubt he changes anything. The apology while seriously meant, will not change a thing.
4. If you look at the early games for Stewart you can see that she was 'taking the easy way' by drifting out to the 3 point line and away from the banging down low. She is a great 3pt shooter, but to be great she has to do both and that was what Geno was pushing her to do. While he took the pressure off in the NCAA, you could also see the results as she was playing inside and out and became impossible to defend.
5. You could also see the same issues with Tuck and Jeff for different parts of their games. I loved the comment about Geno asking Jefferson what was missing from her game at the end of the year - and the answer was speed. When she came in she tried going too fast, outrunning her team. By midyear she had dialed it way down. Finally she added the speed back in, but in a limited way and only when it made sense to use it.
6. Finally - I do think there are issues with the LOI agreement that all players have to sign to receive a scholarship. I do not question the value of what they are getting but I do feel the field is too heavily tilted to the school and away from the player. I would like to see some changes to the agreement.

On Edit - no idea why I went MD/Frese in #2 - total brain fart.

 

[msf22b]

Couple of things -


4. If you look at the early games for Stewart you can see that she was 'taking the easy way' by drifting out to the 3 point line and away from the banging down low. She is a great 3pt shooter, but to be great she has to do both and that was what Geno was pushing her to do. While he took the pressure off in the NCAA, you could also see the results as she was playing inside and out and became impossible to defend.



Best explanation I've seen for the problems referred to.

 

[pap49cba]

We should not underestimate the influence of The Den Mother in Breanna's tournament renaissance.