The key with Ollie (and what made this season's finish all the more frustrating) is the talent factor. Sniping over just how good our recruiting actually is aside, last year's class would've been good for #2 in the B1G and B12, and #3 in the ACC. You're someone who's very keen on us competing with the blue bloods, the Dukes and Kentuckys of the world - despite what our frequent arguments may suggest, I'd really like that as well. The only way to do that is to stockpile as much talent as we can given the limitations we're dealing with (i.e. conference and having a 5th year HC recruiting against HOFers like K, Cal, Pitino, etc.). Even if you disagree with me in that you don't think KO's player development and strategic capabilities will improve over time, there's something to be said such that the more talented players you have, the easier it is to mitigate certain weaknesses on the staff.
In my mind, Ollie is pretty clearly the only guy who can recruit as well as he does at an AAC level. And I am quite frightened of what happens when we don't have a 15-year NBA veteran whose unique personal background makes him especially adept at building relationships with prospects and their parents. I've seen a couple of people mention King Rice, the Monmouth guy -- how many Top 100 kids would he be able to pull here? How many McD AAs? The guy can't even make it out of the MAAC tourney. When you say "coaching free market," that's where my mind wonders, and it scares the heck out of me.
I agree 100% with your first paragraph. Stockpiling talent is the way to ensure consistent winning without having so many peaks and valleys over each 5 year span.
But the second paragraph is where you lose me. I agree Ollie is a great recruiter on paper using the rankings, but there really may be something to getting the "right" guys. Out of all of KO's recruits, really Hamilton and Jalen have really
shown us greatness, the type of talent you need in at least multiple spots on the floor to be a contender in my opinion these days. I emphasize "shown" in the last paragraph because we have yet to see what guys like Larrier and Gilbert can bring, yet I
still feel they are a tier below what the contenders will be bringing into the season next year mainly because of how unpredictable our early games have been each year and the fact that these two guys still haven't really played much basketball yet, let alone with this roster.
I think you may be overstating how uncompetitive we'd be in the coaching market. I definitely see us as above having to poach a coach from Monmouth to be the next coach at UConn, I think that's crazy talk and insulting to the program. Despite the terrible conference situation one thing I think is understated is that we still have top notch facilities that most of the programs at this non-P5 tier can't even come close to competing with, and when you walk in and see huge murals of Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton I still think even in this day in 2017 that it means a whole lot to recruits.
Finally, I think one thing we are seeing with Syracuse and Pitt's woes since moving to the ACC is that "status quo" is a real thing and everyone has their place in their conference. What I mean is the Big 12 is all Kansas, other teams will compete some years but they dominate that league consistently. The ACC is all Duke and UNC. There isn't room for Cuse, Pitt and Louisville at the top for more than the odd season, they just won't allow it. We are in the unique position that the AAC is ours. A rising star coach can come in right away and be the big dog on his somewhat sizeable block without having to be in another blue bloods shadow.
Lastly, I wouldn't let things like Archie Miller spurning his alma mater at a P5 as bad news for us as a program. Quite the contrary, I actually think he strengthens my argument above. He has a really hot stock right now as a coach, why blow all that good value on the third wheel team in Tobacco Road. That job is literally impossible to please the fans and media at, it's a lose-lose for him, like I said before there just isn't more room at the top in that particular league, it's too saturated. I think we could easily lure away most any mid major coach except maybe a particular bunch, and dare I say even from most BE/P5 programs
without a basketball legacy or football first culture. I 100% believe conference affiliation influences a coaches success in a lot of ways, but I also think despite being non-P5 UConn has done a good job showing it plays differently, at least I hope.
