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I had thought that the 2011 NC would help counter some of the negatives caused by the Nate Miles, APR, all the Big East defections, and JC uncertain future factors and help UConn transition to the Post-JC era without much if any downturn. But the 2013 NCAA tournament ban just might be that straw the breaks the camel's back.
If the NCAA hadn't set the APR thresholds to what they did and applied them to this upcoming season using data that goes back 2 to 5 years so that UConn is ineligible for the 2013 tourney the future might not be looking quite so bleak. If the NCAA wasn't putting the screws to UConn, how much of the following would have happened:
Lamb leaving early - Probably still would be leaving early, his NBA stock might be at its highest.
Drummond one-and-done - I think he still leaves. Hard to pass on the daft when you're likely the 2nd pick in the draft.
Bradley leaving - I don't know. It seems there is a lot of PT he could have earned.
Oriakhi leaving - No! He'd have to sit out a year.
Scoe leaving - Unlikely.
Adding more than just Omar - I think many of the 2012 recruits that dropped us, would still be in play or have committed to UConn.
Impact on the 2013 class is yet to be determined.
I just find this amazing that just 2 years ago, we won the NC and had the majority of what was an extremely young roster returning (lost only Kemba, Bev, Chuck and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel) that most thought we'd be in position to have a nice multi-year run, but instead we barely make the tourney last season, will miss the entire post season unless something unforeseen happens, and are losing more players than we're bringing in. Of that big 2011 class and the 2-player 2010 class, we're now down to just Bazz, Olander, Giffey and Wolf. Gone from the 2011 NC team are Kemba, Lamb, Bev, Chuck, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex, Scoe, Bradley and replacing them so far is Boat, Daniels, AD (here and gone), Omar and Evans.
I mentioned this before, programs usually experience a nice NC bump 2 and 3 years afterwards. Due to the NCAA kick in the ass and JC's uncertain future, all we have to show for our 2011 NC so far is Omar & Daniels. I don't count AD since he was the home state hero. Wasn't Boatright a fall commitment or did we land him in the spring after we won the NC. If it was afterwards, you can add him to the list. The 2011 NC had the makings of countering the impact of JC nearing the end of his coaching career, but the NCAA did their best to counter it's impact by docking the program all those ships and banning us from the 2013 tourney. They were nice enough to give us back those 2 ships for 2012/13 but what good are they when they did all they could to make UConn as unattractive as possible.
Each time I begin to believe that the program can't overcome something, JC and his staff find a way to bring talented recruits to the program. Just not sure if the mountain is finally too high to climb. Maybe the program only hits a small speed bump this coming season and gets right back to the summit before or just after JC hangs 'em up. I find myself on the fence between hope and despair.
If the NCAA hadn't set the APR thresholds to what they did and applied them to this upcoming season using data that goes back 2 to 5 years so that UConn is ineligible for the 2013 tourney the future might not be looking quite so bleak. If the NCAA wasn't putting the screws to UConn, how much of the following would have happened:
Lamb leaving early - Probably still would be leaving early, his NBA stock might be at its highest.
Drummond one-and-done - I think he still leaves. Hard to pass on the daft when you're likely the 2nd pick in the draft.
Bradley leaving - I don't know. It seems there is a lot of PT he could have earned.
Oriakhi leaving - No! He'd have to sit out a year.
Scoe leaving - Unlikely.
Adding more than just Omar - I think many of the 2012 recruits that dropped us, would still be in play or have committed to UConn.
Impact on the 2013 class is yet to be determined.
I just find this amazing that just 2 years ago, we won the NC and had the majority of what was an extremely young roster returning (lost only Kemba, Bev, Chuck and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel) that most thought we'd be in position to have a nice multi-year run, but instead we barely make the tourney last season, will miss the entire post season unless something unforeseen happens, and are losing more players than we're bringing in. Of that big 2011 class and the 2-player 2010 class, we're now down to just Bazz, Olander, Giffey and Wolf. Gone from the 2011 NC team are Kemba, Lamb, Bev, Chuck, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex, Scoe, Bradley and replacing them so far is Boat, Daniels, AD (here and gone), Omar and Evans.
I mentioned this before, programs usually experience a nice NC bump 2 and 3 years afterwards. Due to the NCAA kick in the ass and JC's uncertain future, all we have to show for our 2011 NC so far is Omar & Daniels. I don't count AD since he was the home state hero. Wasn't Boatright a fall commitment or did we land him in the spring after we won the NC. If it was afterwards, you can add him to the list. The 2011 NC had the makings of countering the impact of JC nearing the end of his coaching career, but the NCAA did their best to counter it's impact by docking the program all those ships and banning us from the 2013 tourney. They were nice enough to give us back those 2 ships for 2012/13 but what good are they when they did all they could to make UConn as unattractive as possible.
Each time I begin to believe that the program can't overcome something, JC and his staff find a way to bring talented recruits to the program. Just not sure if the mountain is finally too high to climb. Maybe the program only hits a small speed bump this coming season and gets right back to the summit before or just after JC hangs 'em up. I find myself on the fence between hope and despair.