UCONN emerging as "heavy favorite" for Samuelson

[sawxfan23]

Unfortunately there are going to be injuries and transfers. These things almost always have a way of working themselves out.

 

[Geno-ista]

Doris Burke commented during the championship game that every game UConn plays is their opponent's Super Bowl, and thus UConn takes everyone's best shot.

Just watched that game again- and that line was a classic. She is a great announcer and a great fan of Geno and our program.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Unfortunately there are going to be injuries and transfers. These things almost always have a way of working themselves out.

Bingo!!!

 

[LesMis89]

Yes Orangutan, even though i know you are not taking me to task on my point..... vanderbilt and duke last year.... good for them, but what is the last year they showed anything? Wash State went to Rose Bowl in the 90s once i think..... even UConn could cite the BCS bowl in 2010. it is just these programs in big conferences who have shown NOTHING..... come to think of it..... what about Illinois... i can remember a Rose Bowl and a final 4 in hoops 20 years ago... but what else athletically.... Rutgers is really trying if you gauge by how much money they put into athletics.....

The thing is..... all these programs who have nothing to show..... nothing..... I think it is great that Virginia is good in lacrosse and BC is good in hockey..... but if that is their argument to float their athletic boat..... it is innately fraught with holes.

Since you asked -

Illinois football -
Most recent Rose Bowl - 2008
Went 'Bowling' - 2010 and 2011

Zook was canned, left the team with almost nothing and Beckman is currently re-building

Illinois basketball -
'a FF in hoops 20 years ago'
How quickly they forget.
Played NC for the championship in '05
Usually in the NCAA's - 2013 came within 2 buckets of making the Sweet 16, lost to #2 seed Miami on a call so controversial that what is now called the 'Illini rule' was implemented

I have high hopes for the John Groce era.

 

[UcMiami]

Now y'all DO realize, don't you, that for 2014-15 we already have ten blue-chip players; two seniors, two juniors, two sophs (assuming Morgan;s red shirt app is approved), and four frosh. The following year, we will lose KML and BB, and already have two top-ten players signed, to bring us back up to 10. IF it were to happen that we signed all the additional players people are wishing for, i.e. Samuelson, Brown, Butler and Durr, that woul mean that in 2015-16 we will have fourteen players, any one of whom could probably start for just about any other team in the country. I doubt that that is actually going to happen, but two out of the four would probably not be a bad guess, creating a situation that seems likely to tax even Geno's ingenuity. What are we going to do with all those blue-chip players?

Do you think maybe we could get an NCAA rules change so that the Huskies could field not one but two teams? Team Blue and Team White, perhaps? Hey, they might even end up playing each other in the NC game!

Seriously, while it is a nice kind of problem to have, it is, nevertheless, a problem, especially given Geno's penchant for whittling the actual core team down to no more than seven or eight players. Could all those players be kept happy and enrolled under those circumstances? Would he go with upper-classmen and let the others wait their turns? Will they go for that? Whaddya think?

I think the answer is Yes. While for some players, playing time is everything, Geno and the coaching staff do a very good job of defining roles and expectations and the players they recruit are very team oriented. I know people complain about a player only getting 12 minutes or 15 minutes, but ... that is certainly enough time to break a sweat and to show the coaches enough. If all those players were actually on the team and playing well, the starters would probably be getting about 22 minutes a game most games and the bench would be splitting the rest - the juniors and seniors would be getting their minutes and the freshman and sophomores would be learning. And they all would be busting in practice.
The biggest problem would be that 2016 recruiting would probably be really tough and might be another 1 player class.

 

[Buzzyboy]

There are the giants of the P5 ranks and then there are a lot of schools that look like Uconn. Heck - most of the ACC looks like Uconn or Uconn light. And half of the Big 10 and most of the Pac10. Even the SEC and Big 12 while top heavy have a bunch of pretty small potato schools.

You are so right. There are so many schools in these 5 conferences that really offer nothing insofar as athletics are concerned and it doesn't seem to both the remaining teams that they are carrying the brunt of the TV audience interest. If they were looking for a good fit, UConn would be a sufficient upgrade over many, many schools, both on the athletic field and also in the classroom. It's a shame we are hanging by our toenails in a conference without any TV support. It may come in time but for the moment, we are somewhat lost.

 

[UcMiami]

A hell of a lot more money coming in from their conference than UCONN does from the AAC. You don't have to be good, just be in one of the big conferences.

Mo money, mo money, mo money. It's all about the Benjamins. Money talks and BS walks. Show me the money. You're only as good as the money you make.

And yet ... most of the P5 conference athletic departments lose significant money year after year. I know the TV money keeps going up, but so too do all the expenses of competing and only about 20 departments a year break even or make money, and in a three year period the number is closer to 10.
And there is actually no research showing a significant correlation between athletic department success and alumni giving to general school endowments - to the athletic department, yes, but to the school, no.

 

[Zorro]

elzorrogris......don't forget about Kiah! Our vacuum cleaner on the boards/shot blocker extraordinaire! Kiah's going to have a great senior season in 2014-'15. Mark that down.

Oh, I absolutely positively certainly agree, but, since (sigh) she will be moving on after next season, she doesn't figure into the potential crunch. I am one of the charter members (along with Kibs) of the "Kiah is gonna kick some serious butt this season" club. As I said in another post, she will get 10-12 points on put=backs alone, not to mention the devastation she will wreak on defense.

 

[reno tony]

volfan
<<Looks like the "weak conference" pitch isn't working quite well yet...>>

I don't understand how people can get off calling the AAC a "weak conference"...
doesn't it have two NCAA basketball Championship teams in it? (And at the same time!!)

And Field Hockey, I think.

 

[reno tony]

Now y'all DO realize, don't you, that for 2014-15 we already have ten blue-chip players; two seniors, two juniors, two sophs (assuming Morgan;s red shirt app is approved), and four frosh. The following year, we will lose KML and BB, and already have two top-ten players signed, to bring us back up to 10. IF it were to happen that we signed all the additional players people are wishing for, i.e. Samuelson, Brown, Butler and Durr, that woul mean that in 2015-16 we will have fourteen players, any one of whom could probably start for just about any other team in the country. I doubt that that is actually going to happen, but two out of the four would probably not be a bad guess, creating a situation that seems likely to tax even Geno's ingenuity. What are we going to do with all those blue-chip players?

Do you think maybe we could get an NCAA rules change so that the Huskies could field not one but two teams? Team Blue and Team White, perhaps? Hey, they might even end up playing each other in the NC game!

Seriously, while it is a nice kind of problem to have, it is, nevertheless, a problem, especially given Geno's penchant for whittling the actual core team down to no more than seven or eight players. Could all those players be kept happy and enrolled under those circumstances? Would he go with upper-classmen and let the others wait their turns? Will they go for that? Whaddya think?

The best NCAA WBB games of the year might be pick-up games at UCONN.

45 TO GO​

 

[Sonny44]

Just watched that game again- and that line was a classic. She is a great announcer and a great fan of Geno and our program.

Doris is the best around; not perfect, but who is?

 

[Bayareahusky]

yes lesmis89 thank you for the 411 on the illini....... I guess I was trying to say that there are plenty of big conference athletic programs who have little to show for success..... in response to those who contend that since UConn has no success in football, they will be long waiting for a suitor for a big conference invite...

forgive me for not being impressed at Illinois success record that you cite..... anyone can make a bowl game if they have a winning record..... there are what.... 30 of them out there.....

i continue to believe that UC will slowly heat up the excitement on grid program and join a bigger conference in due time

 

[LesMis89]

yes lesmis89 thank you for the 411 on the illini.. I guess I was trying to say that there are plenty of big conference athletic programs who have little to show for success..... in response to those who contend that since UConn has no success in football, they will be long waiting for a suitor for a big conference invite...

forgive me for not being impressed at Illinois success record that you cite..... anyone can make a bowl game if they have a winning record..... there are what.... 30 of them out there.....

i continue to believe that UC will slowly heat up the excitement on grid program and join a bigger conference in due time

Didn't expect you to be impressed by my post. But Illinois is a member of the AAU and UConn needs to get accepted by them if they even want to start being considered by the B1G.

Any school not a charter B1G member had both AAU membership and (very) solid football programs.

 

[HuskyNan]

And Field Hockey, I think.

The AAC doesn't sponsor field hockey. UConn is a member of the Big East in that sport.

 

[Husky1964]

Nebraska not AAU member.

 

[meyers7]

Nebraska not AAU member.

Anymore, they were when they joined the B1G.

I guess I was trying to say that there are plenty of big conference athletic programs who have little to show for success..... in response to those who contend that since UConn has no success in football, they will be long waiting for a suitor for a big conference invite...

Universities that are already in conferences and Universities trying to get into a conference are two very different animals.

 

[reno tony]

The AAC doesn't sponsor field hockey. UConn is a member of the Big East in that sport.

Thanks. Did UCONN win the National Championship?

 

[Icebear]

Yes.

 

[TroyHouse66]

zorro:
<<Do you think maybe we could get an NCAA rules change so that the Huskies could field not one but two teams? Team Blue and Team White, perhaps?>>

If memory serves me, back in the old (c. 1964-66) Hartford Industrial League there was a team scheme that followed that strategy. The "First" squad was the five or six Hartford Public High (Conn State Championship) starters from the previous year(s?) The "Second" squad was four of the Weaver starters from the previous year, with the fifth being the leading rebounder from Buckley.
"First" squad started and played 1st and 3rd quarters; "Second" squad played 2nd and 4th quarters.
They did well.