Transfer Trey Lewis

[aceboon]

We can't compete with a school like Louisville and Ohio State at this point. I'm going to take heat for this but I don't care.

They were able to compete with Louisville for Jalen Adams. But oh let me guess, that was the past, huh?

 

[RipCity]

We can't compete with a school like Louisville and Ohio State at this point. I'm going to take heat for this but I don't care.

We can and do, just not as often as we'd like.
The kid is from OH and has played Louisville and had his first transfer visit there. Just because we were mentioned in the same tweet as these guys, doesn't mean the odds were even equal to begin with. There's other fish in the sea still. Not the time to cry.

 

[FartMan69]

They were able to compete with Louisville for Jalen Adams. But oh let me guess, that was the past, huh?

Well technically yes. If you don't think we're at a severe disadvantage due to being in CUSA, good for you.

 

[aceboon]

Well technically yes.

All you had to say big dawg, the miserable schtick you got going for yourself could have been kept in your back pocket for another time.

 

[Gurleyman]

It feels like the days of Pat Sellers and was it Lafleur when plan z guys like Jamaal trice and Darius smith were the caliber kids we were getting. Very disappointed with this staff, need new blood is needed it feels like. Is Ricky Moore getting it done? Hobbs and Miller are graybeards I don't expect much but x and o's from them.

It's a bit knee jerk to demand changes to a staff that just won a title. Ricky Moore is a bottom rung assistant coach who I would like to think had a lot to do with Boat's improvement as a defensive player (Purvis too in a shorter time frame). He seems like he's brought a lot of value. You're not going to jettison him and find a recruiting difference maker wanting an entry level coaching position.

Hobbs is in a chief recruiter role and perhaps isn't what he was in his younger days. But at the same time, perhaps he's done a great job with the early leg work, gotten us on the final lists of a lot of guys and we haven't gotten them to sign, which is really what the head coach needs to do. Maybe it's more that our head coach still needs a little growth in that area and that you won't find a better person than Hobbs as a set up man willing to come to Storrs.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Howie retire, Hobbs take over there, and us with a chance to shake things up and find some new blood. But I'm not sure what we'd find. I'd like to get Kevin McHale with tons of AAU connections, so he could coach up our bigs and be an ace recruiter, but that's a fictional character. Maybe we don't find anyone and just promote Freeman, who could help more with bigs at least in a coaching role. But assuming someone doesn't take another job, I'm not ready to recommend changes until I at least see what happens in the 2016 class.

 

[noeynox]

I wonder how much of the recruting doldrums are this league were in. Yes were UConn, yes we win titles and put players in the NBA, but everyone we were PREVIOUSLY in a conference with has to be playing up the fact that we are currently in a conference with the likes of ECU and Tulane, on the recruiting trail.

Some of the other schools in this league have to make a little noise in March for this conference to be taking seriously on the trail. I mean its nice that the other schools in our league can say were in a league with UConn, but.....

 

[johnhuskies95]

It feels like the days of Pat Sellers and was it Lafleur when plan z guys like Jamaal trice and Darius smith were the caliber kids we were getting.

Very disappointed with this staff, need new blood is needed it feels like. Is Ricky Moore getting it done? Hobbs and Miller are graybeards I don't expect much but x and o's from them.

Pat Sellers would be the best recruiter on the staff if he were here now. Trice was a total reach but Smith was a top 75 recruit with a lot of good offers who committed literally days after the Nate Miles thing blew up. Poor evaluation, but good salesmanship there.

 

[Fishy]

I wonder how much of the recruting doldrums are this league were in.

If we're in the ACC, this thread doesn't exist.

Coming off a title, with Ollie and a new facility to show off, no way are we scraping in April.

 

[superjohn]

It's a bit knee jerk to demand changes to a staff that just won a title. Ricky Moore is a bottom rung assistant coach who I would like to think had a lot to do with Boat's improvement as a defensive player (Purvis too in a shorter time frame). He seems like he's brought a lot of value. You're not going to jettison him and find a recruiting difference maker wanting an entry level coaching position.

Hobbs is in a chief recruiter role and perhaps isn't what he was in his younger days. But at the same time, perhaps he's done a great job with the early leg work, gotten us on the final lists of a lot of guys and we haven't gotten them to sign, which is really what the head coach needs to do. Maybe it's more that our head coach still needs a little growth in that area and that you won't find a better person than Hobbs as a set up man willing to come to Storrs.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Howie retire, Hobbs take over there, and us with a chance to shake things up and find some new blood. But I'm not sure what we'd find. I'd like to get Kevin McHale with tons of AAU connections, so he could coach up our bigs and be an ace recruiter, but that's a fictional character. Maybe we don't find anyone and just promote Freeman, who could help more with bigs at least in a coaching role. But assuming someone doesn't take another job, I'm not ready to recommend changes until I at least see what happens in the 2016 class.

Who is Howie?

 

[noeynox]

If we're in the ACC, this thread doesn't exist.

Coming off a title, with Ollie and a new facility to show off, no way are we scraping in April.

I feel like it's the elephant in the room that no one wants to mention in this thread. Instead we have people suggesting we replace coaches off a staff that as of this writing is still national champs.

I think Ollie is the best possible type of coach to combat our current predicament, but it is a major impediment to our recruiting.

 

[3uconn]

@GoodmanESPN: Louisville has picked up fifth-year Cleveland State transfer Trey Lewis, source told ESPN. Averaged 16.3 points this past season.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Now it's official, so says Goodman.

 

[Gurleyman]

Who is Howie?

Dickenman - CCSU coach. Long time UConn assistant for both Perno and Calhoun.

 

[superjohn]

I feel like it's the elephant in the room that no one wants to mention in this thread. Instead we have people suggesting we replace coaches off a staff that as of this writing is still national champs.

I think Ollie is the best possible type of coach to combat our current predicament, but it is a major impediment to our recruiting.

It's not discussed because it's a given but we still shouldn't be continually losing recruits to UNLV and VCU.

 

[boog204]

It feels like the days of Pat Sellers and was it Lafleur when plan z guys like Jamaal trice and Darius smith were the caliber kids we were getting.

Very disappointed with this staff, need new blood is needed it feels like. Is Ricky Moore getting it done? Hobbs and Miller are graybeards I don't expect much but x and o's from them.

Darius Smith was a 4 star recruit, ranked as high as #71, when he committed and was considered one of the best if not the best uncommitted guards in the country. We beat out amongst others Indiana, UCLA, Kentucky, and Duke for him. I know he flamed out and wasn't anywhere near as good as we hoped, but he was not a "reach" in the least. The Boneyard was ecstatic when he committed. Constantly lumping him with Trice, Kellogg, and other "reaches" is simply not fair. If we secured a commitment from the #71 player in the country right now this place would be jumpin'.

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/3x215h...--marshalls-darius-smith-verbals-to-uconn.htm

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-1642/0

 

[rip7774]

My point is we had struck out a lot that year to need to go after him so late. Whatever it was it was the first time I felt like we needed a staff shakeup.

I'm starting to feel the same now. Whomever posted about A graybeard moving on and getting a HC gig would be optimal. I think that would be best case.

My comments on Moore, more asking is he doing much, what is the feel of those closer to it than me saying jettison him. I have three young kids so I don't have much time to clarify thoughts or opine too deep so may have been lost in translation.

Clearly staff can coach, I'm asking re recruiting. VCU & UNLV are in similar conferences but do fine so something seems amiss.

And it really feels like Ollie is doing most of the heavy lifting where when Tom Moore was here, u always heard recruits rave about him.

 

[Stainmaster]

And it really feels like Ollie is doing most of the heavy lifting where when Tom Moore was here, u always heard recruits rave about him.

Moore left for Quinnipiac in 2007 and Ollie joined the staff in 2010. How does that work?

 

[CallMeBruce]

Moore left for Quinnipiac in 2007 and Ollie joined the staff in 2010. How does that work?

What do you mean? When Tom Moore was on staff, he seemed to be an effective recruiting weapon. Now, we don't have an assistant who is providing that value, so it seems like Ollie has to do all of that work. That their careers at UConn didn't overlap seems irrelevant to me.

 

[Kitaman]

What are our Coaches reactions (i.e. actions) when this news pops up? Are we aggressive, passive, over-evaluating, etc.? Is there a sense of urgency?

I mean I see so many transfer names come up and many fans have stated our needs. For guards is Purvis and Adams (TSam to a lesser extent) scaring them away?

I am trying to remain positive about our recruiting but its waning recruit by recruit.

 

[Stainmaster]

What do you mean? When Tom Moore was on staff, he seemed to be an effective recruiting weapon. Now, we don't have an assistant who is providing that value, so it seems like Ollie has to do all of that work. That their careers at UConn didn't overlap seems irrelevant to me.

Misread the post - didn't see the "where" before "when Tom Moore was here".

 

[Stainmaster]

What are our Coaches reactions (i.e. actions) when this news pops up? Are we aggressive, passive, over-evaluating, etc.? Is there a sense of urgency?

I mean I see so many transfer names come up and many fans have stated our needs. For guards is Purvis and Adams (TSam to a lesser extent) scaring them away?

I am trying to remain positive about our recruiting but its waning recruit by recruit.

We have no way of knowing, so speculating on how our coaches react only adds to our own self-induced anxiety.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Misread the post - didn't see the "where" before "when Tom Moore was here".

Ain't that always the way.

 

[BUConn10]

Recruiting, not coaching despite what many think, is the lifeblood of TODAYS college landscape. The greatest active coaches in the country today dont win without the sufficient talent. We need to bring in someone who knows his way around the recruiting/AAU landscape so that the job of coaching and developing can be Ollie's main focus.

On an unrelated note, take this for what its worth, but a friend of mine on the team (bench player, wont say who publicly) said the divorce had a big effect on Ollie this past year. He said he didnt have the same "fire" he did the year before. He said Ollie's wife was simply fed up with him never being around during his 13 year journeyman career and now as a head coach. Maybe that can be attributed partially to our recruiting woes, hopefully it gets better.

 

[boog204]

The truth is that we have no idea who is an effective recruiter and who isn't. We always hear how players love KO, but for the most part (as far as we know) the only guy who was totally swayed by that fact alone was DHam. We held onto this belief that after he got an in-home with Jabari Parker that KO will be a recruiting savant. But it takes more than that. I'm all for bringing in a true "recruiter," a guy with legit AAU connections, as that is what really matters in today's game. You can be the best coach in the world, but without talent, you will not win anything.

 

[3rdbass]

Recruiting, not coaching despite what many think, is the lifeblood of TODAYS college landscape. The greatest active coaches in the country today dont win without the sufficient talent. We need to bring in someone who knows his way around the recruiting/AAU landscape so that the job of coaching and developing can be Ollie's main focus.

On an unrelated note, take this for what its worth, but a friend of mine on the team (bench player, wont say who publicly) said the divorce had a big effect on Ollie this past year. He said he didnt have the same "fire" he did the year before. He said Ollie's wife was simply fed up with him never being around during his 13 year journeyman career and now as a head coach. Maybe that can be attributed partially to our recruiting woes, hopefully it gets better.

Like many of us mentioned in other threads it was obvious that the fire wasn't there on the sidelines this past year. It was the obvious the divorce was having some effect on him. Did you friend say if he seems to have regained any emotion or is he still in the doldrums? Ollie is a decent, respected, good father from all accounts so the divorce must have been like getting hit with a time bomb. Hopefully he has his zest back now as we need him and his staff to start recruiting a lot better.