Uconn # 8 in BE according to ESPNU

[TouchdownHusky]

Who would want to come play for an old man coach for a team that couldn't complete forward passes the last two years and is staring at playing in a ridiculously bad conference going forward in front of a half empty stadium?

There's the counter-recruiting pitch used by any coach who is looking at similar kids as Uconn.

Sad, but all too close to the truth. Ultimately UConn's breakthrough into becoming the program we all think it can become, will lie in getting a charasmatic coach who can sell big time recruits on the probably of getting on the field sooner, the better opportunity to build a legacy in their name (instead of someone who went before them) and the chance to play for an exciting program that has captured a region's attention. For UConn, it will not be about the conference (not right now anyway), it will not be about the facilities (stadium is cute, but oh so tiny), it will not be about multiple national TV exposures (although that can change quickly with wins), it will come about because of one primary variable - the head coach.

 

[NutmegState]

Just find a QB. Find a QB, and the rest will work itself out. See: UConn 2007. See : UConn w/ Orlovksy.

 

[metsfan2323]

Sad, but all too close to the truth. Ultimately UConn's breakthrough into becoming the program we all think it can become, will lie in getting a charasmatic coach who can sell big time recruits on the probably of getting on the field sooner, the better opportunity to build a legacy in their name and the chance to play for an exciting program that has capture a region's attention.

Or the breakthrough season could occur if one of our 4 young QB's steps up and produces in a meaningfull way next year.

 

[alexrgct]

Clearly, there will be players with lower star rankings who are successful in college and beyond. Victor Cruz is actually a poor example as he was an undrafted FA out of college- not like he set the world on fire at UMass. Better examples would be Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Sean Weatherspoon, Donald Brown, Kellen Moore, Nick Fairley, and yes, Matt Ryan, all three-star and below kids who had very successful college careers. Quantitatively speaking, there are so many three stars and below players that some will blossom into stars. It is, however, anecdotal. There is absolutely a correlation between star ratings and success at the collegiate level.

There are also indeed examples where a kid is underrated by recruiting services, commits to a name program, and subsequently experiences a jump in ratings. Yes, some of that is pandering to lucrative fan bases, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that maybe, just maybe, college coaching staffs get paid huge bucks to evaluate recruits and are ahead of the recruiting services sometimes in terms of evaluating kids. FWIW, I can't remember a whole lot of incidents where a kid jumped from 2* to 4* just because they committed to a big time school.

A lot of factors contribute to a kid's success at the next level. Many schools are able to out-perform what would be predicted based on their recruiting. At times, UConn has been of that number. Hopefully, that will continue to be the case going forward because the barriers to UConn bringing in four and five-star talent aren't going anywhere.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Its the guy's first recruiting class here, allow him to define a trend.

 

[Dann]

espns just hasn't updated our class at all. they have ppl as signed but alot of nr's and jc's. most of the guys that have yet to get stars have gotten 3* from someone else so we already know they can play. espn just hating on uconn while they love the acc...

 

[Sleepy]

Clearly, there will be players with lower star rankings who are successful in college and beyond. Victor Cruz is actually a poor example as he was an undrafted FA out of college- not like he set the world on fire at UMass. Better examples would be Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Sean Weatherspoon, Donald Brown, Kellen Moore, Nick Fairley, and yes, Matt Ryan, all three-star and below kids who had very successful college careers. Quantitatively speaking, there are so many three stars and below players that some will blossom into stars. It is, however, anecdotal. There is absolutely a correlation between star ratings and success at the collegiate level.

There are also indeed examples where a kid is underrated by recruiting services, commits to a name program, and subsequently experiences a jump in ratings. Yes, some of that is pandering to lucrative fan bases, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that maybe, just maybe, college coaching staffs get paid huge bucks to evaluate recruits and are ahead of the recruiting services sometimes in terms of evaluating kids. FWIW, I can't remember a whole lot of incidents where a kid jumped from 2* to 4* just because they committed to a big time school.

A lot of factors contribute to a kid's success at the next level. Many schools are able to out-perform what would be predicted based on their recruiting. At times, UConn has been of that number. Hopefully, that will continue to be the case going forward because the barriers to UConn bringing in four and five-star talent aren't going anywhere.

I can think of one of the top of my head; Akeem Dent, a LB out of Georgia that UConn was recruiting a few years back. When UConn was his only major offer, he was only a 2-star, but when UGA jumped in with a late offer, he was suddenly a 4-star player. There have been many others that gained a star when someone other than UConn came in late with an offer (after being unranked or only 2-star when UConn was his "best" offer), but that one stands out because it was so glaringly obvious.

 

[Dann]

this year the TE we got who switched to OK. his stars jumped big time.

 

[freescooter]

I think really the star system probably works best for skill positions, and not even perfectly there. And it probably works worst for interior linemen on both sides of the ball but particularly offfense. For the interior lines in most cases you are taking a kid, projecting what he will do 2-3 years out carrying 20-30 additonal pounds. There are to be sure certain things you look for, but trying to project how a guy will handle the additonal size and strength is very tricky business. Case in point is Levy who is listed at 6-6,280. My guess is that he bulks up to at least 305 by the time he sees the field. How does he handle that extra weight? Does it impact his speed? agility? Quickness? On the other hand, quarterbacks, recievers, running backs there are more specific measurables you can evaluate. they aren't perfect, but they are easier than projecting aperformance under very different physical conditions.

 

[MattMang23]

I would wholeheartedly agree with you except we weren't first.....nowhere near actually

So this year RU won the battle in Feb AND Dec.....not a good trend

?

RU was 3rd (?) in the standings this year. They didn't win anything in December (including their game against us, although that was November)

And we have finished first in the standings twice in December after recruiting the "worst" class in the BE the February prior...

 

[whaler11]

I wonder if the basketball board would be content with 2 and 3 star student athletes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL the basketball board that had Calhoun dead and buried and said he couldn't recruit anymore the season before they won a National Championship. Yeah, they weren't content 2 years ago - they can't be wrong!

Quite possibly the funniest thing about message boards, including this one, are the posters who think that somehow if the fans demand a better team they get it.

 

[businesslawyer]

LOL the basketball board that had Calhoun dead and buried and said he couldn't recruit anymore the season before they won a National Championship. Yeah, they weren't content 2 years ago - they can't be wrong!

Quite possibly the funniest thing about message boards, including this one, are the posters who think that somehow if the fans demand a better team they get it.

You could not be more right sir! The "chest thumpers" run rampant.

 

[FDNY99]

I can think of one of the top of my head; Akeem Dent, a LB out of Georgia that UConn was recruiting a few years back. When UConn was his only major offer, he was only a 2-star, but when UGA jumped in with a late offer, he was suddenly a 4-star player. There have been many others that gained a star when someone other than UConn came in late with an offer (after being unranked or only 2-star when UConn was his "best" offer), but that one stands out because it was so glaringly obvious.

I forgot about Dent just looked him up...his senior year at UGA here are his stats
Lead team in tackles with 126
6.5 tackles for Loss
2.5 Sacks
2nd in SEC in tackles per game 9.7
2011 NFL Draft
Atlanta Falcons
3rd Round (91st Pick Overall)

 

[FDNY99]

I think really the star system probably works best for skill positions, and not even perfectly there. And it probably works worst for interior linemen on both sides of the ball but particularly offfense. For the interior lines in most cases you are taking a kid, projecting what he will do 2-3 years out carrying 20-30 additonal pounds. There are to be sure certain things you look for, but trying to project how a guy will handle the additonal size and strength is very tricky business. Case in point is Levy who is listed at 6-6,280. My guess is that he bulks up to at least 305 by the time he sees the field. How does he handle that extra weight? Does it impact his speed? agility? Quickness? On the other hand, quarterbacks, recievers, running backs there are more specific measurables you can evaluate. they aren't perfect, but they are easier than projecting aperformance under very different physical conditions.

Key thing about Levy from recruiting bio put out by UConn today...he wrestles in High School. If he wrestles at 6-6 280, and he has a year in Jerry Martin's strength and conditioning program...he will be interesting to watch at 300+ .
The one thing we are EXTREMELY LUCKY to have in our program is Jerry Martin. He is one of the most highly regarded strength and conditioning coaches in the country.

 

[Husky68]

I'd rather never finish 5-7 again. But if I go 5-7, I could care less how many stars my players had coming out of high school. Ratings are, if useful at all, useful to predict the future. Once the future occurs, why would anyone care how it was predicted to have gone?

"Once the future occurs, why would anyone care how it was predicted to have gone?" Boy is that a dumb comment. (Please differentiate from your tirades on other posters, I didn't say you were dumb) So Miami Heat projected to win it all this season and they lose in 1st round of playoffs. Cleveland predicted to not make the playoffs wins a series. So your saying just take that result as it is and why discuss "how it was predicted to have gone". You predicted a winning season for Uconn football, you spent a lot of time explaining "what happened that you didn't expect" in the JMc lead 5-7 results? Why?

 

[businesslawyer]

"Once the future occurs, why would anyone care how it was predicted to have gone?" Boy is that a dumb comment. (Please differentiate from your tirades on other posters, I didn't say you were dumb) So Miami Heat projected to win it all this season and they lose in 1st round of playoffs. Cleveland predicted to not make the playoffs wins a series. So your saying just take that result as it is and why discuss "how it was predicted to have gone". You predicted a winning season for Uconn football, you spent a lot of time explaining "what happened that you didn't expect" in the JMc lead 5-7 results? Why?

You're right. I do care not how good are players actually are but how good internet salesmen projected them to be years earlier. Thank you for clearing up my thinking.

 

[huskysupporter]

Nothing new here. When Coach Edsall recruited we knew there were solid players in the class because he consistently found talented players. This is Coach P's first real class, I will be interested to see how well his talent evaluation is when dealing with 2 and 3 stars. Won't find out for 3 years, though.

I do enjoy talking about recruiting because really, what else is there to talk about in the offseason? But in the end, stars mean nothing, it's all about how they play in games.

 

[rw005]

Good, now we can prove people wrong again.

this season I do see us going 6-6 or 7-5, and going to a decent bowl game, that's how confident I am as always. (Hey I'm a homer)

P needs to *wait for it* EXECUTE!

 

[Srqhusky]

Wonder who the lyle(kyle) Mccombs will be out of this bunch? Im guessing John Green

 

[BNich]

Wonder who the lyle(kyle) Mccombs will be out of this bunch? Im guessing John Green

Good a good feeling you may be correct. He seems to be a great all around athlete. Averaged 32 yards per punt as a senior according UConnHuskies.com, which was linked from ESPN. One name I continue to hear and read about as being a possible gem in this class is Elijah (EJ) Norris. 6'4" 225, supposed to be a very good versatile athlete.

 

[2Infinity]

this year the TE we got who switched to OK. his stars jumped big time.

Interestingly, he supposedly went to OK because ...well..it's Oklahoma... AND also because they had an opening at TE. Well it looks as if they gave the same story to multiple recruits. They ended up bringing 4 TEs aboard in this class. Good luck with the PT Brannon!

 

[MattMang23]

32 yards per punt? After seeing that number, I am thankful we still have Cole Wagner for that and can use John more productively...

 

[Dann]

Interestingly, he supposedly went to OK because ...well..it's Oklahoma... AND also because they had an opening at TE. Well it looks as if they gave the same story to multiple recruits. They ended up bringing 4 TEs aboard in this class. Good luck with the PT Brannon!

they also had atleast 2 te's the last 2 classes. its not even worth a laugh.

 

[BNich]

32 yards per punt? After seeing that number, I am thankful we still have Cole Wagner for that and can use John more productively...

Aren't you funny. I'm talking about being all around athlete that he was able to play WR, return kicks and punts as well as punt for his team. Kind of cool. Do it all athlete.


John Green: Had 13 receptions for 186 yards and three TDs in 2011... had a 32.3 yards punting average as a senior... also runs track in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter events... born November 12, 1993.
This is the article I was referring to: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020112aaa.html