2024 Recruiting: Tyler Betsey down to 7 schools

[HuskyWarrior611]

I don’t have evidence of that. My point was we usually feel good about local recruits because they’re local, and in this case the staff went really hard on top of that.

If he was literally asking for a quote from Betsey that he knows doesn’t exist, whats the point? I thought the point of his original post was to ask why everyone was so confident he was coming here?

I’d say more often than not we don’t get our local recruits.

I can’t 100% vouch for basketball on this. But football programs go out there way to build relationships on their home turf. I don’t think UConn does that. Most kids in CT do not think all that highly of UConn from what I remember. Heck, they don’t think highly of CT period. Lol

Who in state have we received commitments from? Clingan and Drummond (all time unique recruitment)?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Thirty five years ago this would have been a far bigger issue than it is today. The reason JC make such a huge deal about landing Chris Smith was that there was a stretch where John Pinone, Harold Pressley, Charles Smith and Harold Jensen (not including guys like Bagley, and a handful of others, who we barely attempted, or didn't even attempt to recruit) who didn't consider staying home. Landing Chris Smith was exceptionally important as it would be impossible to build a program if a top recruit, who also happened to be a local kid would not even consider you.

We are no longer just trying to build a program. The program has been built to a level very few have ever gotten to and we appear to be in position to kick it up to an even higher level. This kid is a local and by all accounts a high level talent. For those reasons alone I would love to have him but, as incredible as it sounds, we could love out on both this kid and the kid who is the focus of another pair of threads yet still bring in one of the better classes we've ever landed.

I have extreme confidence that our staff will put the effort they believe is necessary for for every kid they feel should be targeted and I have no delusions that we can land whoever we want. That doesn't mean we won't do exceptionally well in recruiting for the foreseeable future and in all candor, I don't see a situation where there will be a make or break recruit as long as the current head coach remains here.

 

[Waquoit]

(not including guys like Bagley, and a handful of others, who we barely attempted, or didn't even attempt to recruit) who didn't consider staying home.

The story I always heard is that Bagley wanted to come to you come but couldn't get admitted. Which is even more embarrassing.for UConn.

 

[mauconnfan]

I’d say more often than not we don’t get our local recruits.

I can’t 100% vouch for basketball on this. But football programs go out there way to build relationships on their home turf. I don’t think UConn does that. Most kids in CT do not think all that highly of UConn from what I remember. Heck, they don’t think highly of CT period. Lol

Who in state have we received commitments from? Clingan and Drummond (all time unique recruitment)?

Biggest problem is we haven’t had that many high level recruits over the last few years. Go back to the 60-70-80s there were some great ones who we never had a chance of keeping. Only Corny stayed then JC caught Smitty but there hasn’t been a ton of great state players overall.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Biggest problem is we haven’t had that many high level recruits over the last few years. Go back to the 60-70-80s there were some great ones who we never had a chance of keeping. Only Corny stayed then JC caught Smitty but there hasn’t been a ton of great state players overall.

I definitely agree. That’s kind of the dilemma for the staff there.

How many resources should they devote to locking down the state for the possible UConn level player every 2-3 years?

 

[huskyblooz]

The story I always heard is that Bagley wanted to come to you come but couldn't get admitted. Which is even more embarrassing.for UConn.

I heard different. Mike McKay was a teammate of his at Harding and wasnt a fan of Perno.

 

[Kathy]

I heard different. Mike McKay was a teammate of his at Harding and wasnt a fan of Perno.

Could you blame him?

 

[wingsfan055]

Daniel Hurley runs a much different Program than Ollie ever did. If a recruit doesn't see this (or if he's getting misinformation about this from a mentor), then he's making a critical decision based on bad data!

 

[Drame]

No, you're entirely missing the point/his question. He's asking for evidence that Tyler Betsey specifically wanted to stay home and play for UConn over other schools. The vast majority of local recruits we have had an advantage with, but it's not 100%. There have been plenty of Tremont Waters who just had no interest

Waters got paid.... pre NIL.

 

[wingsfan055]

Biggest problem is we haven’t had that many high level recruits over the last few years. Go back to the 60-70-80s there were some great ones who we never had a chance of keeping. Only Corny stayed then JC caught Smitty but there hasn’t been a ton of great state players overall.

Don't forget about Early Kelly. Top CT recruit who came in just before JC. He was heavily recruited and chose UConn. Great UConn BB career. Should have had a chance to play in the NBA. The man never gets his due in UConn BB history.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Don't forget about Early Kelly. Top CT recruit who came in just before JC. He was heavily recruited and chose UConn. Great UConn BB career. Should have had a chance to play in the NBA. The man never gets his due in UConn BB history.

Earl Kelley was a fantastic basketball player. But he was his own worst enemy. And that’s why there was no NBA career.

 

[superjohn]

Earl Kelley was a fantastic basketball player. But he was his own worst enemy. And that’s why there was no NBA career.

Before my time but what I've been told about him is he was destined for stardom but was straight up criminal back then.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The story I always heard is that Bagley wanted to come to you come but couldn't get admitted. Which is even more embarrassing.for UConn.

The 'couldn't get admitted' part, from what I've been told from my college days (the same as Corny & McKay) was spin after the fact when the colossal error Perno made became apparant.

McKay (a year ahead of Bagley and a friend/teammate since childhood) begged Perno to offer Bagley a scholarship. Perno saw Bagley a short, overweight PG who was only a guard who tried to score a lot. I don't see how anyone could believe that at that time our academic standards were higher than BC's for scholarship athletes.

To further compound the error, Bagley's success led to Perno bringing in Giscombe and Hobbs (two nice but far from great players) the following year, only to make it impossible to go after Michael Adams a year later.

 

[TheHorde]

The 'couldn't get admitted' part, from what I've been told from my college days (the same as Corny & McKay) was spin after the fact when the colossal error Perno made became apparant.

McKay (a year ahead of Bagley and a friend/teammate since childhood) begged Perno to offer Bagley a scholarship. Perno saw Bagley a short, overweight PG who was only a guard who tried to score a lot. I don't see how anyone could believe that at that time our academic standards were higher than BC's for scholarship athletes.

To further compound the error, Bagley's success led to Perno bringing in Giscombe and Hobbs (two nice but far from great players) the following year, only to make it impossible to go after Michael Adams a year later.

Mistakes like that happen to the best of coaches. Calhoun liked to remark that he didn’t give Ryan Gomes a scholarship offer, but gave 2 other players scholarship offers that worked out really well and didn’t have room. The problem is that those three players didn’t all play the same position. It’s a bit of a straw man argument in that instance. The issue wasn’t offering those 2 particular players scholarships…it was the rest of the roster and other decisions that were questionable that caused them to run out of scholarships.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Mistakes like that happen to the best of coaches. Calhoun liked to remark that he didn’t give Ryan Gomes a scholarship offer, but gave 2 other players scholarship offers that worked out really well and didn’t have room. The problem is that those three players didn’t all play the same position. It’s a bit of a straw man argument in that instance. The issue wasn’t offering those 2 particular players scholarships…it was the rest of the roster and other decisions that were questionable that caused them to run out of scholarships.

Perno's miss on Bagley and JC not offering Gomes is an incompatible analogy. Perno spent a ton of time chasing Rod Foster, who made it clear from day one he was going somewhere much bigger than UConn, and when Bagley accepted an offer from (then D2) Central, Perno assumed he wasn't D1 material. Tom Davis brought John Garris (another Bridgeport kid) in as a transfer from Michigan, Garris asked Davis to give Bagley a look and Davis felt he was worth a scholarship.

And for the record, it wasn't that we had no room for Bagley, Perno just didn't want him.

 

[TheHorde]

Perno's miss on Bagley and JC not offering Gomes is an incompatible analogy. Perno spent a ton of time chasing Rod Foster, who made it clear from day one he was going somewhere much bigger than UConn, and when Bagley accepted an offer from (then D2) Central, Perno assumed he wasn't D1 material. Tom Davis brought John Garris (another Bridgeport kid) in as a transfer from Michigan, Garris asked Davis to give Bagley a look and Davis felt he was worth a scholarship.

And for the record, it wasn't that we had no room for Bagley, Perno just didn't want him.

All I was saying was that coaches can evaluate talent incorrectly. Perno brought in Hobbs and Giscombe, who were nice players. The roster ran out of room as a result. Calhoun had Okafor and Butler, who played the 5 and the 3. Gomes could have slotted in at power forward. It wasn’t that Calhoun made a mistake offering them—-far from it. Swain, Wise, and Tooles were misses. And that doesn’t even touch on Hazleton. He ran out of scholarships.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

All I was saying was that coaches can evaluate talent incorrectly. Perno brought in Hobbs and Giscombe, who were nice players. The roster ran out of room as a result. Calhoun had Okafor and Butler, who played the 5 and the 3. Gomes could have slotted in at power forward. It wasn’t that Calhoun made a mistake offering them—-far from it. Swain, Wise, and Tooles were misses. And that doesn’t even touch on Hazleton. He ran out of scholarships.

Fair enough.

My basic point was Perno missing on Bagley was blatant malfeasance. The inability to even attempt to recruit Adams was due to overcompensation after the malfeasance.

 

[superjohn]

The 'couldn't get admitted' part, from what I've been told from my college days (the same as Corny & McKay) was spin after the fact when the colossal error Perno made became apparant.

McKay (a year ahead of Bagley and a friend/teammate since childhood) begged Perno to offer Bagley a scholarship. Perno saw Bagley a short, overweight PG who was only a guard who tried to score a lot. I don't see how anyone could believe that at that time our academic standards were higher than BC's for scholarship athletes.

To further compound the error, Bagley's success led to Perno bringing in Giscombe and Hobbs (two nice but far from great players) the following year, only to make it impossible to go after Michael Adams a year later.

It's insane he didn't recognize Bagley and Adams. There were so many great CT players back then and most of them went somewhere else.

 

[gtcam]

Olender does have two NC rings...........................................
Just sayin

 

[gtcam]

Earl Kelley was a fantastic basketball player. But he was his own worst enemy. And that’s why there was no NBA career.

But he got rid of Perno for his gun arrest led to the firing of Perno
Some feel he should have a statue in Storrs

 

[karstenkibbe]

But he got rid of Perno for his gun arrest led to the firing of Perno
Some feel he should have a statue in Storrs

I get it. That’s funny. Well, not really. Kelley’s rap sheet screams career criminal. For those, who need a refresher, here you go….

A lesson Kelley never learned

I'm shocked beyond words. Earl Kelley could be sent back to jail.

www.middletownpress.com

 

[businesslawyer]

Fair enough.

My basic point was Perno missing on Bagley was blatant malfeasance. The inability to even attempt to recruit Adams was due to overcompensation after the malfeasance.

I don’t know how good Bagley was in high school, but I’ll tell you this — by the time Bagley left BC, there was a case that he was as good a guard as there was in the country. Not as good a pro prospect, but as good a college player.

 

[LIUCHusky]

I heard different. Mike McKay was a teammate of his at Harding and wasnt a fan of Perno.

I know first hand that is not true.

The 'couldn't get admitted' part, from what I've been told from my college days (the same as Corny & McKay) was spin after the fact when the colossal error Perno made became apparant.

McKay (a year ahead of Bagley and a friend/teammate since childhood) begged Perno to offer Bagley a scholarship. Perno saw Bagley a short, overweight PG who was only a guard who tried to score a lot. I don't see how anyone could believe that at that time our academic standards were higher than BC's for scholarship athletes.

To further compound the error, Bagley's success led to Perno bringing in Giscombe and Hobbs (two nice but far from great players) the following year, only to make it impossible to go after Michael Adams a year later.

Of all the things I have read on the Boneyard your second paragraph is the furthest from the truth. Dom Perno heavily recruited Bagley. Dom Perno knew how good Bagley was. They could not get him admitted, nor could they get Adams admitted.

 

[Northbound]

Biggest problem is we haven’t had that many high level recruits over the last few years. Go back to the 60-70-80s there were some great ones who we never had a chance of keeping. Only Corny stayed then JC caught Smitty but there hasn’t been a ton of great state players overall.

Earl Kelley has entered the chat

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Of all the things I have read on the Boneyard your second paragraph is the furthest from the truth. Dom Perno heavily recruited Bagley. Dom Perno knew how good Bagley was. They could not get him admitted, nor could they get Adams admitted.

Please explain how BC was able to get Bagley admitted?

I knew a couple of players from Central back then (they were a perennial preseason top five D2 team that would flame out late in the year) who were convinced Bagley (who was committed there) would win them a national title or two. When I asked if he could play at UConn, I was told he'd be UConn's best player from day one (we had Corny & McKay with Aleksinas transferring in). I then asked why he wasn't going to UConn and was told Perno didn't want him. He spent a year chasing his tail, trying to get Rod Foster, who had zero interest, and overlooked every other PG out there, even McKay's HS teammate. Very late in the process (I believe more than a month after the Magic/Bird title game) it was announced he was going to BC.

If you can provide some plausible reasoning as to how he got into BC but couldn't get into UConn, four and a half decades ago (we weren't in the same galaxy academically back then), I'll take your word for it. Until then I'll take the word of my source from my very early college days.