Traci Carter (Committed to Marquette)

[bmo22]

The only player capable of running a play, Ryan Boatright, is graduating. Have you watched any games this year? 99% of the time our offense is street ball because the players do not listen to KO's plays, or KO doesn't run plays for them.

Yes, I have watched every game this season, and I think you're making my point. However you're wrong when you say Samuel, Cassell, etc. "can't run a play." These guys aren't as talented as Boatright, yet they are trying to run the same offense that they do when Boatright is on the floor. Therefore, the staff needs to come up with something that better fits the team when Boatright is no longer on it (i.e. A passing based Flex offense as opposed to a dribble drive offense that they currently run). The combination of Adams and Samuel can do this.

Look at the talent of some of the teams that are in the tournament. Heck, look at SMU in our own conference. We have a bunch of star gazers on this board. Nic Moore: 2 stars, Sterling Brown: 3 stars, Manuel: 2 stars, Cunningham: 3 stars, Kennedy: 4 stars, Ben Moore: not ranked. These guys won the conference and have taken 3/4 from us with probably no NBA talent on the roster. They're in the tourney.

We have talent, not as much as we're used to, but enough that we should be in too. This year and next year.

 

[Stainmaster]

There was obvious reasons why KF was our best recruit a couple years ago with the probation and a new coach. Now that Ollie has established himself and the sanctions are a thing of the past we need to see better recruiting. I'm willing to give this year a pass due to the carryover of not being on the radar of some of those kids until we won the NCAA last year but if next year our recruiting is worst than we have a reason for real concern.

Like others have said we need a top notch recruiter with AAU connections to get us in better standing with recruits. I have faith in KO but 2 more years of this and my faith will be tested to it's limits.
Do you really think we will be better next year with the players we have and that are coming in? I think we have a great chance of being worst or at least the same as this year due to not enough talent on the team or at least parts that will work together(no inside post game and not enough ball handlers and no true point guard).

I don't think Ollie has fully established himself yet. He has a mere 5 years of recruiting experience, and that's a lot less than pretty much everyone else he's going against, whether it be the UK/Duke/UNC types or the VCUs and UNLVs of the world.

I agree that now that the sanctions are done there needs to be an uptick in recruitment. The difference between me and some people here is that I don't believe that we needed to bring in a Top 5/Top 10 class this year with Diamond Stone and multiple wings. Obviously that would have been phenomenal for the team and I would have gladly welcomed it, but I don't think the program is screwed because we didn't go from Hamilton/Lubin/SC2 to 1 5-star and 3 or 4 4-stars.

I will share your concern if recruiting stagnates or regresses next year. I am expecting and hoping that it will improve as Ollie gains more experience. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that given the improvement he has showed already (yes, this is an improvement).

Re. a top-notch recruiting assistant, I would welcome the addition of one to the staff. But I don't think it's going to be a cure-all, i.e. we can't say for sure that bringing our own version of Slice Rohrssen would have been the tipping point with Clarke, Mack, or Carter.

I can't say for sure whether or not we will be worse our better. I'll judge our incoming recruits once they step on the floor and show us what they can do.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Recruiting is fine. It's not great, but it's getting better every season.

Were you not around for all of Calhoun's misses? We regularly went into April without anything even approaching the class we have now.

Did we regularly go into April with the severe roster deficiencies that we have now?

In an average JC season with a loaded and promising roster, a class of Adams and Enoch would be fine (think 2008-09 when we just brought in Kemba and Haralson). In 2015-16, staring at a lineup that gives 110 mpg to the likes of Samuel, Cassell, Calhoun, Facey, Nolan, and Lubin, that class is not good enough.

Moreover, it's not like the staff wasn't interested in adding. We were desperate to add, and we failed to land any of the talent we badly need. JC never missed that badly on that many recruits to schools of that mediocre caliber at a time when our roster situation was that dire.

 

[3rdbass]

I don't think Ollie has fully established himself yet. He has a mere 5 years of recruiting experience, and that's a lot less than pretty much everyone else he's going against, whether it be the UK/Duke/UNC types or the VCUs and UNLVs of the world.

I agree that now that the sanctions are done there needs to be an uptick in recruitment. The difference between me and some people here is that I don't believe that we needed to bring in a Top 5/Top 10 class this year with Diamond Stone and multiple wings. Obviously that would have been phenomenal for the team and I would have gladly welcomed it, but I don't think the program is screwed because we didn't go from Hamilton/Lubin/SC2 to 1 5-star and 3 or 4 4-stars.

I will share your concern if recruiting stagnates or regresses next year. I am expecting and hoping that it will improve as Ollie gains more experience. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that given the improvement he has showed already (yes, this is an improvement).

Re. a top-notch recruiting assistant, I would welcome the addition of one to the staff. But I don't think it's going to be a cure-all, i.e. we can't say for sure that bringing our own version of Slice Rohrssen would have been the tipping point with Clarke, Mack, or Carter.

I can't say for sure whether or not we will be worse our better. I'll judge our incoming recruits once they step on the floor and show us what they can do.

I will agree that our recruiting is still open and KO hasn't been recruiting for long. Though isn't that even more reason to have a top notch assistant on the staff that can recruit. I'm hopeful but right now we seem to be missing more than getting players.

We need at least one more guy next year either a legitimate big or a ball handler to feel comfortable going into next year. I know you don't want to envision a team like this year with TSAM getting 20 plus minutes again. I'm scared by this prospect.

 

[Stainmaster]

Did we regularly go into April with the severe roster deficiencies that we have now?

In an average JC season with a loaded and promising roster, a class of Adams and Enoch would be fine (think 2008-09 when we just brought in Kemba and Haralson). In 2015-16, staring at a lineup that gives 110 mpg to the likes of Samuel, Cassell, Calhoun, Facey, Nolan, and Lubin, that class is not good enough.

Moreover, it's not like the staff wasn't interested in adding. We were desperate to add, and we failed to land any of the talent we badly need. JC never missed that badly on that many recruits to schools of that mediocre caliber at a time when our roster situation was that dire.

We don't have JC anymore. KO is not JC. Sorry if it upsets you.

JC was perhaps the best coach of all time. KO is in his third year after being thrust into the HC spot at a blue-blood program with minimal experience on the bench.

I know we're UCONN and excellence is what we're supposed to embody year in and year out, but you can't hold KO to the exact same standard and think there won't be a dropoff. If that doesn't suit you, then I apologize but this is the coach we are stuck with. You can write Warde a letter asking him to fire KO and hire someone who's more experienced and a better recruiter if you want. I'd be interested in hearing how that goes.

 

[Stainmaster]

I will agree that our recruiting is still open and KO hasn't been recruiting for long. Though isn't that even more reason to have a top notch assistant on the staff that can recruit. I'm hopeful but right now we seem to be missing more than getting players.

We need at least one more guy next year either a legitimate big or a ball handler to feel comfortable going into next year. I know you don't want to envision a team like this year with TSAM getting 20 plus minutes again. I'm scared by this prospect.

Of course I don't think T-Sam should be getting that many minutes at this juncture in his career. However, I'm not going to spend the offseason freaking out. We will see how many of our players are working on their games in the offseason. AB and KF could conceivably improve their games at big man camps. Rodney should be playing a ton of pickup ball this offseason to get more comfortable in a game setting and hopefully cut down on the plays that are brought about by poor instincts. T-Sam could work one-on-one on his shooting with a renowned coach, put up 1000 jumpers a day with better form and potentially be serviceable.

It's equally likely that none of the above happens, all of our players regress from last year, and the BY erupts in flames. But I have no way of knowing for sure, so I won't stress about it.

 

[sammydabiz]

Let's not forget, Brimah never had a true offseason yet, due to rehabbing from surgery. Amida has the skillset, he just needs to increase his bball IQ and strength. I'm a lot higher on Brimah than most. Fairly confident he'll get better, he just has the proper mindset & attitude.

Purvis also had a shortened offseason due to surgery. This does make a difference in a players progress. But I'm less optimistic with him, but would not be surprised if he proves me wrong..... I guess I just assumed he'd be more "refined" 3 years out of high school.

I'm hoping Omar rediscovers his explosiveness.... That could be from the hip surgeries, but as a freshman (and in his h.s. Mixtapes) he drove to the rim with power and had "hops"..... When he does so now, he barely gets the ball above the rim to dunk it. For him, it's all about regaining his explosiveness, because he can't just rely on the 3 pt shot, he's no Rashad Anderson. For some reason, he's still one of my favorites (probably bc of his loyalty after JC stepped down)

 

[Brochacho]

For once I am happy to see a thread with that little recruiting icon thingie that Nomar hates.

If Brochacho is wrong and he's not ours, I am going to kill him.

Well, now your life depends on it, so perhaps you should have put a little more thought into it.

Good luck.

Oops.

 

[FartMan69]

How many more strikeouts do we need for some of you cheerleaders to admit there is something missing in our recruiting? Strike out on Plan A and B, okay that happens, Strike out on Plans C and D? I don't know how you can't admit there is a problem. You can come up with excuses until Rosie O'donell explodes but that doesn't change the fact we're batting .100 on the recruiting trail. Ollie is inexperienced? True, but we still don't have a second ball handler, We scored three 4* recruits over the last 2 seasons? Gnarly, but we still don't have a second ball handler or post threat. Will are current players will improve? You bet, but we will still be eating 2 more scholarships (again) unless JA's cousin decides to reclassify. I'm not saying Ollie wont improve but as of RIGHT NOW, this very second, losing handfuls of recruiting battles to programs who couldn't hold our balls in terms of success there is a problem.

Also to the people telling posters to root for another program because they're disappointed in recruiting, Go kick rocks

 

[Matrim55]

How many more strikeouts do we need for some of you cheerleaders to admit there is something missing in our recruiting? Strike out on Plan A and B, okay that happens...

Because Jalen Adams was plan A.

 

[FartMan69]

Because Jalen Adams was plan A.

Hopefully he can pose as two ball handlers.

 

[Stainmaster]

How many more strikeouts do we need for some of you cheerleaders to admit there is something missing in our recruiting? Strike out on Plan A and B, okay that happens, Strike out on Plans C and D? I don't know how you can't admit there is a problem. You can come up with excuses until Rosie O'donell explodes but that doesn't change the fact we're batting .100 on the recruiting trail. Ollie is inexperienced? True, but we still don't have a second ball handler, We scored three 4* recruits over the last 2 seasons? Gnarly, but we still don't have a second ball handler or post threat. Will are current players will improve? You bet, but we will still be eating 2 more scholarships (again) unless JA's cousin decides to reclassify. I'm not saying Ollie wont improve but as of RIGHT NOW, this very second, losing handfuls of recruiting battles to programs who couldn't hold our balls in terms of success there is a problem.

Also to the people telling posters to root for another program because they're disappointed in recruiting, Go kick rocks

If you thought we were going to magically get everyone because we happened to win a title last year, your expectations were too high. That just doesn't happen to any program. We don't have Calhoun anymore, so no our recruiting isn't at the level it once was. I'm pretty sure we're a lot better off with recruiting than we were at this point last year, so I don't know why everyone is choosing now to have a temper tantrum on a message board. I would be one of you naysayers crying about the impending extinction of the program if we weren't getting Top 100 guys this year and having Nolan/Samuel type guys instead of JA and Enoch. I don't care who we miss out on - there are roughly 20something 5-stars and 70something 4-stars each year, and a much smaller number of open spots on our roster.

For all we know, this class may not be finalized until August. Wait until then before sentencing Ollie.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

If you thought we were going to magically get everyone because we happened to win a title last year, your expectations were too high.

Has anyone expressed this sentiment, ever?

Do those of you bending over backwards to say that recruiting is A-Ok really think that those people who are expressing concern are doing so because UConn isn't "magically getting everyone"? Do you not accept the premise that UConn is, with increasing frequency, losing out to programs that in the not so distant past weren't even considered a threat?

And the response is that Daniel Hamilton had an Arizona offer. Well, so did Stanley Johnson.

 

[FartMan69]

If you thought we were going to magically get everyone because we happened to win a title last year, your expectations were too high. That just doesn't happen to any program. We don't have Calhoun anymore, so no our recruiting isn't at the level it once was. I'm pretty sure we're a lot better off with recruiting than we were at this point last year, so I don't know why everyone is choosing now to have a temper tantrum on a message board. I would be one of you naysayers crying about the impending extinction of the program if we weren't getting Top 100 guys this year and having Nolan/Samuel type guys instead of JA and Enoch. I don't care who we miss out on - there are roughly 20something 5-stars and 70something 4-stars each year, and a much smaller number of open spots on our roster.

For all we know, this class may not be finalized until August. Wait until then before sentencing Ollie.

I didn't mention one time our National Championship nor the "extinction of our program" you did and a you keep putting that in people's mouth to try and persuade us to believing everything is peachy. I did mention however how disappointing it is to lose out on recruits we desperately need to fill out a roster next season that won't be at the bottom of CUSA. You will not convince me that there isn't a problem, which was my point. You're not disappointed in our strikeouts? Cool. i don't care because I am.

 

[Stainmaster]

I didn't mention one time our National Championship nor the "extinction of our program" you did and a you keep putting that in people's mouth to try and persuade us to believing everything is peachy. I did mention however how disappointing it is to lose out on recruits we desperately need to fill out a roster next season that won't be at the bottom of CUSA. You will not convince me that there isn't a problem, which was my point. You're not disappointed in our strikeouts? Cool. i don't care because I am.

You're disappointed? Good for you. I guess you've earned your "fan badge" and I haven't!

I don't think everything is peachy. I think things will be peachy.

I am disappointed that we didn't land any 4-star wings, and I'm disappointed that we didn't get Carter. Would they have made our team better? Yes. Would they have been historically in line with the caliber of UCONN basketball recruits we expected under JC? Yes.

The problem is, you're painting this class as a failure because of who we didn't get. In terms of who we did get, this is Ollie's most successful class. UCONN has always missed out on prospects, even when JC was coaching. Yes, we do have a higher need for instant impact players given the composition of our roster, but the notion that UCONN should land a commit from every prospect in the land we're in on just isn't realistic given a multitude of factors.

Also, in comparison to this conference, we are one of two schools with multiple Top 100 prospects (Memphis being the other). Temple and UCF have one each, but those kids are ranked 93 and 94 respectively.

I think that what we have now is preferable to the alternative of canning our coach, losing Adams and Enoch, and being left scrambling for guys.

 

[pnow15]

Everyone has got this wrong. Ollie needs find guys that allow him to build a team. Our need is not a star; its a competent point. We need a stretch shooter, and I mean a shooter. We don't need some guy who can jump over a building, run faster than a deer, and slam dunk from the locker room. We need a guy who can nail an open three. If he fill out the roster, we will be fine. Oh, and hit your f.....g free throws because that is generating a lot of this angst.

 

[Danzz]

Yes, I have watched every game this season, and I think you're making my point. However you're wrong when you say Samuel, Cassell, etc. "can't run a play." These guys aren't as talented as Boatright, yet they are trying to run the same offense that they do when Boatright is on the floor. Therefore, the staff needs to come up with something that better fits the team when Boatright is no longer on it (i.e. A passing based Flex offense as opposed to a dribble drive offense that they currently run). The combination of Adams and Samuel can do this.

Look at the talent of some of the teams that are in the tournament. Heck, look at SMU in our own conference. We have a bunch of star gazers on this board. Nic Moore: 2 stars, Sterling Brown: 3 stars, Manuel: 2 stars, Cunningham: 3 stars, Kennedy: 4 stars, Ben Moore: not ranked. These guys won the conference and have taken 3/4 from us with probably no NBA talent on the roster. They're in the tourney.

We have talent, not as much as we're used to, but enough that we should be in too. This year and next year.

I don't think Samuel brings anything other than intensity. He can't shoot, is a below average passer and his defense is average at best. We aren't winning if he has to play major minutes. I'd much prefer going with Sam Jr. and his poorer than average D. He is a better ball handler, shooter and passer than TSam. It is really up to Sam Jr. to learn to move his feet better on D. If he can do that he can become our backup PG unless the staff can bring someone in.
As far as our recruiting goes, we went right to the end with a lot of top recruits but we couldn't close the deal. Props to the staff for getting us there but I believe in the end our conference kills us. Everything being close to equal , conference affiliation becomes the deciding factor and I think we will lose or have lost Stone because of it.

 

[8893]

Somewhere between "our recruiting is a huge problem" and "our recruiting is not a problem" lies the truth. Like, "the recent trend in our recruiting is concerning and definitely needs to be addressed, but let's wait and see what the people whose jobs it is to fix it do before declaring end times for UConn basketball as we know it."

I believe that the (mostly) silent majority of our fanbase understands this, and that the nonsense going on in this thread (and repeated by each side in every single recruiting thread/discussion) is the product of a (very) vocal minority who seem to believe that repeating their respective positions with increasing intensity and venom is going to somehow resolve the issue. It's not.

 

[CTBasketball]

The point isn't stars - the point is we're losing recruits to A10 and Big East schools and we're not addressing our needs; mainly a dependable ball handler and consistent outside shooter.

 

[ctchamps]

Somewhere between "our recruiting is a huge problem" and "our recruiting is not a problem" lies the truth. Like, "the recent trend in our recruiting is concerning and definitely needs to be addressed, but let's wait and see what the people whose jobs it is to fix it do before declaring end times for UConn basketball as we know it."

I believe that the (mostly) silent majority of our fanbase understands this, and that the nonsense going on in this thread (and repeated by each side in every single recruiting thread/discussion) is the product of a (very) vocal minority who seem to believe that repeating their respective positions with increasing intensity and venom is going to somehow resolve the issue. It's not.

Three years from now half of us will be admitting we were wrong. One half will be able to gloat if they turn out to be right. The other half won't get that option.

 

[UConn990411]

Somewhere between "our recruiting is a huge problem" and "our recruiting is not a problem" lies the truth. Like, "the recent trend in our recruiting is concerning and definitely needs to be addressed, but let's wait and see what the people whose jobs it is to fix it do before declaring end times for UConn basketball as we know it."

I believe that the (mostly) silent majority of our fanbase understands this, and that the nonsense going on in this thread (and repeated by each side in every single recruiting thread/discussion) is the product of a (very) vocal minority who seem to believe that repeating their respective positions with increasing intensity and venom is going to somehow resolve the issue. It's not.

Textbook strawman argument there. Nicely done.

A lot of people think a change in the staff is in order; haven't seen many people predicting the end of UConn bball, though.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Textbook strawman argument there. Nicely done.

A lot of people think a change in the staff is in order; haven't seen many people predicting the end of UConn bball, though.

If the "recruiting is fine" people didn't have strawmen to fall back on, they wouldn't have much to say in this thread.

 

[Matrim55]

Somewhere between "our recruiting is a huge problem" and "our recruiting is not a problem" lies the truth. Like, "the recent trend in our recruiting is concerning and definitely needs to be addressed, but let's wait and see what the people whose jobs it is to fix it do before declaring end times for UConn basketball as we know it."

Or "each of the last three classes is better than the one before it, which is a positive trend coming off of several years of recruiting sanctions, reduced scholarships and the APR ban."

The disconnect is that one group sees the guys who we've landed and says "We're getting better." The other side sees the guys we haven't been able to close on, and shouts "It's getting worse!"

Bottom line: the roster will have more four- and five-star guys next year than we did when we won the title.

Recruiting isn't the concern. Season-to-season improvement of the guys already in the fold is, followed closely by free throws.

 

[8893]

Textbook strawman argument there. Nicely done.

A lot of people think a change in the staff is in order; haven't seen many people predicting the end of UConn bball, though.

It's not an argument. I think this is what you're looking for:

 

[FartMan69]

The problem is, you're painting this class as a failure because of who we didn't get. In terms of who we did get, this is Ollie's most successful class. UCONN has always missed out on prospects, even when JC was coaching. Yes, we do have a higher need for instant impact players given the composition of our roster, but the notion that UCONN should land a commit from every prospect in the land we're in on just isn't realistic given a multitude of factors.

Right now we're going into next season with Samuel as our second ball handler. Him and a freshman in the back court. That kind of concerns me.