Waters Signed With LSU

[gtcam]

But there were three transfers and it is hard to ignore that in an assessment of the program. I think he needs to win or his recruiting will take another hit. That said I agree with the 12 month theory.

Ok -
We'll see

 

[upstater]

Yep, the correlation with Waters is spurious. The Waters recruitment is as weird a saga as I can ever remember. From what they supposedly wanted out of a school (Duke, Yale, GTown, Stanford) to the hazy decommitment, several confir_ed moments, "we might get him by default" moments, strange "picking up steam" moments from WKU and Creighton and then ultimately signing with that bastion of academia, LSU. Kasongo'd is nothing compared to this.

A narrative of our own making. Certainly didn't come from his coaches ...

 

[boog204]

A narrative of our own making. Certainly didn't come from his coaches ...

Oh absolutely... The various "sources" on this one were all over the place. We had at least three people on the board telling us that it was going to happen, one very adamant person saying it would never happen, you saying there's more going on than we realize, and then the rest of us idiots trying to figure out who to believe... Probably the strangest recruitment I can remember and as you stated, almost all of the strangeness was created by the board.

 

[upstater]

Oh absolutely... The various "sources" on this one were all over the place. We had at least three people on the board telling us that it was going to happen, one very adamant person saying it would never happen, you saying there's more going on than we realize, and then the rest of us idiots trying to figure out who to believe... Probably the strangest recruitment I can remember and as you stated, almost all of the strangeness was created by the board.

Also a big factor: people who are very interested in recruiting were following the recruitment of a kid and his father who said very little about it. Naturally, a vacuum was created. I get it, the kid chose LSU over Georgetown and UConn. Seems like a totally odd choice and one no one here would ever make.

The kid is probably sold on the idea of running a midlevel SEC team. That is something. It is not nothing. It may be about as odd as Ray Allen leaving South Carolina for UConn.

Many good players have chosen LSU before. Heck, Calhoun lost Brandon Bass to them -- AFTER paying his AAU outfit $15k for a game! LSU for some reason grabs top flight bball players every few years. I'm not sure what they are selling, but they have 3 four-star players this year. Ben Simmons, Antonio Blakeney, Brandon Sampson were one strong class the year before. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin a couple years before that. This school has always recruited well, and done very little with it. Shaq, John Williams, Chris Jackson, Brandon Bass, Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis.

 

[boog204]

Also a big factor: people who are very interested in recruiting were following the recruitment of a kid and his father who said very little about it. Naturally, a vacuum was created. I get it, the kid chose LSU over Georgetown and UConn. Seems like a totally odd choice and one no one here would ever make.

The kid is probably sold on the idea of running a midlevel SEC team. That is something. It is not nothing. It may be about as odd as Ray Allen leaving South Carolina for UConn.

Many good players have chosen LSU before. Heck, Calhoun lost Brandon Bass to them -- AFTER paying his AAU outfit $15k for a game! LSU for some reason grabs top flight bball players every few years. I'm not sure what they are selling, but they have 3 four-star players this year. Ben Simmons, Antonio Blakeney, Brandon Sampson were one strong class the year before. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin a couple years before that. This school has always recruited well, and done very little with it. Shaq, John Williams, Chris Jackson, Brandon Bass, Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis.

No doubt... LSU has had some big-time players over the years despite not doing much with it. I remember their team in 1990 with Chris Jackson at the point, Mo Williamson at the two, Stanley Roberts (who was talented as hell) at the 4, and Shaq at the 5. They also had two other good forwards. Team was loaded and Dale Brown was awful...

He'll be a star down there. The ball will be in his hands, he'll be able to go into Rupp and try to be Steph Curry 2.0 in front of every NBA scout. Given our roster makeup, I'm not surprised at all that he took them on.

 

[upstater]

He'll be a star down there. The ball will be in his hands, he'll be able to go into Rupp and try to be Steph Curry 2.0 in front of every NBA scout. Given our roster makeup, I'm not surprised at all that he took them on.

This has to be what he is thinking.

 

[intlzncster]

Calhoun was one of the greatest recruiters ever to the tune of 4 NC's (2014 were almost all his recruits). We can't expect KO to be on his level especially being in the AAC. However, Adams should be one of the best players in the country next season and Gilbert and Larrier might not be too far behind.

That's a tired arse meme. KO recruited most of those guys though. People forget that. And also note, Boat, Bazz, Daniels, Giffey, et al didn't develop significantly until KO was coach. So yeah, KO had a hand in that. KO was the perfect coach for that particular team. Very well might not have won with JC at the helm. You just don't know.

 

[MSGSeven]

That's a tired arse meme. KO recruited most of those guys though. People forget that. And also note, Boat, Bazz, Daniels, Giffey, et al didn't develop significantly until KO was coach. So yeah, KO had a hand in that. KO was the perfect coach for that particular team. Very well might not have won with JC at the helm. You just don't know.

I was talking recruiting only and not developing. I also wasn't giving Calhoun credit for the 2014 NC just pointing out the overwhelming majority were his recruits. Calhoun didn't need KO's help recruiting he was one of the greatest recruiters ever long before KO came as an assistant. The story about Napier's recruitment was Calhoun went to watch Napier while Calhoun's assistants went to watch other players. I was giving KO support saying we can't expect him to be on Calhoun's recruiting level especially in the AAC. However, a few of his guys like Adams, Gilbert and Larrier have the potential to be some of the best players in the country next season and beyond.

 

[intlzncster]

I was talking recruiting only and not developing. I also wasn't giving Calhoun credit for the 2014 NC just pointing out the overwhelming majority were his recruits. Calhoun didn't need KO's help recruiting he was one of the greatest recruiters ever long before KO came as an assistant. The story about Napier's recruitment was Calhoun went to watch Napier while Calhoun's assistants went to watch other players. I was giving KO support saying we can't expect him to be on Calhoun's recruiting level especially in the AAC. However, a few of his guys like Adams, Gilbert and Larrier have the potential to be some of the best players in the country next season and beyond.

Apologies, it just sounded a lot like the tired arse meme that KO won because of they were JC's players. Carry on.

 

[champs99and04]

I agree with all of this - but to me, it is no different than it has always been. Even when we were winning 30 a year and being a consistent top 10 team, we did not recruit at the level of a UNC, Duke, 'Zona, UK, etc. We tended to get their backup guy (Ben Gordon, for example) and then every few years pop in a stud. I'm not sure if we want to call it a "brand" issue or if it's that players just did not want to play here, but you are right that was/is a consistent issue.

From an experiential background, I attended UConn from 98-02. Best time of my life. But I have to admit, that when I visited my buddy who attended the Univ of Maryland, the experience was just "better." Maybe it was a grass is greener or just new experience, but it was always more exciting, there was more going on, more options for everything. Attending games at Cole Field House made our games feel like a high school game; and this was when we were still selling every game out and a national power. I actually stopped getting season tickets my senior year as it was more fun to to party w/ my friends at my apt and watch the games then actually attend.

The point of my post was that our recruiting, especially regionally, has not changed. There absolutely is a problem and life would be much easier if we could dominate the Northeast recruiting scene but we have never done that. Even in our heyday, we did not recruit like Arizona.

Oh no doubt it's always been this way, but I suppose the hope - or at least mine was anyway - was that however far behind Ollie was Calhoun as a coach, he could make up for as a recruiter. That's no knock on Ollie - Calhoun's obviously one of the best ever. But he'll likely need to recruit at a higher level than Calhoun to maintain even 75% of the success that we had from '90-'12.

Your anecdotal experience doesn't surprise me, though I imagine that's more of a New England thing than a UConn thing. College Park is up there, IIRC, as being one of the best campus life's in the country.

 

[raf46]

Kids can choose where they want to go and play college basketball. I don't fault this young man for making up his mind and choosing to go somewhere else. The problem here is that he was a nationally ranked kid from Connecticut who, for whatever reason, just didn't want to come here. He hoped for Duke, Kansas...anyone who he could rationalize was a better program than UConn. He flirted with Western Kentucky and Creighton? Finally, LSU gave him a an offer that his father could spin as being the perfect place for him. This is a kid who we should have gotten. This was a kid who should have wanted to be gotten.

It is a new recruiting world that we all live in. The conference is an issue, make no mistake about it. The transfers from last year were an issue, as well. I am glad that the Waters recruitment is over. Onward and upward.

Last CT player of note to go to LSU was Jiggy Williamson of Wilbur Cross. Not a good history for CT kids going to LSU. Also, at 5.9 140 pounds, the player will get bigger, but how much. I saw him play against Hillhouse and a single defender took him off his game. The CT high schooler who went to Fairfield, Tommy Nolan, would have been a better fit for us. And even he red shirted two years ago, then hardly played last year.

 

[UConnNick]

Wasn't this the kid that was all about academics?? Had Yale, Duke, Georgetown on his initial list? LSU?? Really?? LSU?? Is there a worse academic institution in D1?? Wow, good luck to him.

Yes there is. Texas Tech. LSU requires its students to color inside the lines. TT doesn't.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Apologies, it just sounded a lot like the tired arse meme that KO won because of they were JC's players. Carry on.

KO's players (he developed them), but JC's recruits (he brought them here in the first place).

KO hasn't shown he can identify the right recruits to bring in, or develop the ones he does bring in.

 

[intlzncster]

KO hasn't shown he can identify the right recruits to bring in, or develop the ones he does bring in.

I don't think it's that black or white. Adams is developing just fine. I've little doubt Larrier will be a beast. Vital looks like a UCONN kid through and through. Gilbert's fit is gonna depend on injury.

KO's problem is simple, for a number of reasons, he hasn't brought in enough talent. And I'm not talking about high school ranking talent. Just flat out guys who are ready to play from Day 1.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't think it's that black or white. Adams is developing just fine. I've little doubt Larrier will be a beast. Vital looks like a UConn kid through and through. Gilbert's fit is gonna depend on injury.

KO's problem is simple, for a number of reasons, he hasn't brought in enough talent. And I'm not talking about high school ranking talent. Just flat out guys who are ready to play from Day 1.

I would assume that falls under his "identify the right recruits to bring in."

I do agree with you, though. Frankly, a lot of this stuff is just luck. We'll speculate about his not being able to develop or identify players and there'll be some truth to it, but really we're just all waiting to read the dice with the new crop of players. I happen to think things point up in that regard. The bigger problem right now seems to be that we flat out can't get anybody to play here.

 

[Towney007]

I feel like KO is in a weird no-man's land. He gets 1-3 super talented kids - a bunch of lottery tickets and a transfer or two. The 1-3 super talented kids hang around 2 years and dip. One of the 3 lottery tickets work out while the other two are major busts. A few transfers have been outstanding. A few have been lousy. So what they end up with is a top heavy team that has a role player forced to step into a more crucial role and they lack the depth to hack with the elite teams. 1 or 2 injuries and the roster can be a mess. but somehow, there's always enough talent to hang around.

That's my take at least...

 

[temery]

Oh absolutely... The various "sources" on this one were all over the place. We had at least three people on the board telling us that it was going to happen, one very adamant person saying it would never happen, you saying there's more going on than we realize, and then the rest of us idiots trying to figure out who to believe... Probably the strangest recruitment I can remember and as you stated, almost all of the strangeness was created by the board.

We need someone with plenty of time to put together a scorecard for recruiting predictions.

 

[JonnyRI]

Like a multi year sheep trivia for recruiting?

The attention span on this board is 20 minutes, not sure how well it would work.

On a serious note would be cool to look back at years later.

 

[dennismenace]

Oh absolutely... The various "sources" on this one were all over the place. We had at least three people on the board telling us that it was going to happen, one very adamant person saying it would never happen, you saying there's more going on than we realize, and then the rest of us idiots trying to figure out who to believe... Probably the strangest recruitment I can remember and as you stated, almost all of the strangeness was created by the board.

 

[dennismenace]

That's a tired arse meme. KO recruited most of those guys though. People forget that. And also note, Boat, Bazz, Daniels, Giffey, et al didn't develop significantly until KO was coach. So yeah, KO had a hand in that. KO was the perfect coach for that particular team. Very well might not have won with JC at the helm. You just don't know.

Love JC but the in your face style like Full Metal Jacket doesn't resonate with today's teens. You could see this coming when he would have Khalid on the sidelines and he just looked away and smiled while JC went off. Too bad too because he know how to mold NBA players big time.

 

[Waquoit]

It was JC's time to move on. He was headed to a Bobby Knight ending.