Welcome back, Tonya! | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Welcome back, Tonya!

slug25 said:
I have no doubt that Tonya Cardozo will help Geno & Co., but I thought the UConn athletic department was in serious financial straits, to the tune of tens of millions in the hole. How many other departments on campus — academic, especially — could justify adding another coach/professor/advisor to serve just 14 students in a tight budget environment?
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My tax dollars are no object. Having said that, I agree with the hirings. (this is a drop in the bucket compared to some of the stupid things CT spends money on, but I digress..)
 
Carnac said:
In my opinion, no. If I was on the search committee to replace Geno after he announces his retirement, my first choice (I realize that not many will agree) would be Becky Hammon. She is the current head coach of the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. :cool: It would probably take a "God Father" offer to lure her away from the Aces.

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Carla Berube would be my choice over Hammon any day of the week! She has proven herself in the College game and has consistently won there. Hammon has very little experience on the College level and really not much in the W either except as the coach of the most talented team in the league. I will concede that she may be a very good coach but it’s hard to tell because she has only coached the best team in the W! Give me Carla or Shea please!
 
Carnac said:
In my opinion, no. If I was on the search committee to replace Geno after he announces his retirement, my first choice (I realize that not many will agree) would be Becky Hammon. She is the current head coach of the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. :cool: It would probably take a "God Father" offer to lure her away from the Aces.

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I'm not sure her potty mouth would fly in today's college environment.
 
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Carnac said:
In my opinion, no. If I was on the search committee to replace Geno after he announces his retirement, my first choice (I realize that not many will agree) would be Becky Hammon. She is the current head coach of the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. :cool: It would probably take a "God Father" offer to lure her away from the Aces.

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I loved Becky as a player and she is a great coach with experience in the NBA so she might be able to bring a brand that draws more fans to the game but I don't see her at UCONN. Who ever the coach is that follows Geno will have a nightmare of expectations to overcome and I don't see it being a someone from outside the region.
 
GG said:
I would have to think they go bigger. Berube has to get a look. She can flat out coach.
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She enjoyed coaching at Tufts. Recruiting may be a different topic. Princeton is a plum job. The school does a lot of your recruiting for you. I don't think either she or Shea would give up where they are.
 
GG said:
I would have to think they go bigger. Berube has to get a look. She can flat out coach.
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Ok, she can coach. My question is two-fold:
1. Does she have national name recognition? Have the top 20 recruits from the next incoming HS class ever heard of her, much less want to play for her?

2. Can she pull in the same top 5 ranked HS recruits year in and year out like Geno does?

If she can’t, this program becomes irrelevant very quickly. UConn is on the map and very relevant. Can she keep them there?
 
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I am really pleased to see Tonya returning to UConn Women's basketball. But, to be honest with you, I really do not understand this Ben Kantor selection and would appreciate having some one explain to me and defend the selection of this new assistant coach.
 
Carnac said:
Ok, she can coach. My question is two-fold:
1. Does she have national name recognition? Have the top 20 recruits from the next incoming HS class ever heard of her, much less want to play for her?

2. Can she pull in the same top 5 ranked HS recruits year in and year out like Geno does?

If she can’t, this program becomes irrelevant very quickly. UConn is on the map and very relevant. Can she keep them there?
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Those are all good questions. Unfortunately, I do not know the answer. Which coach do you believe will realistically come to uconn, and can accomplish all of those things?
 
I will be interested to see Ben's role. I wonder since he was a male practice player in his youth, will he maybe end up coordinating and strategizing how the practice players prepare for practice.. I'm sure there has to be a fair amount of work in coordinating and teaching the practice players what they are expected to do. It's like having a whole other team within the program. I could see him being a great person to oversee logistics and do one one on one skills teaching.
 
veryolddog said:
I am really pleased to see Tonya returning to UConn Women's basketball. But, to be honest with you, I really do not understand this Ben Kantor selection and would appreciate having some one explain to me and defend the selection of this new assistant coach.
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Maybe as video editor he's been analyzing, providing spreadsheets & helpful hints about player performances.
Geno said in his summer interview that he was going to be recording shooting drills to keep track of how many shots that each player was making as an evaluation method.
As an experienced video editor, if it involves cameras then he would be the one to make the analysis & provide the reports on each player.
That would seem to go beyond the scope of simply being a video editor, so Geno gave him a promotion.

Since he's been watching a lot of video & knows what to look for, he can probably provide a lot of helpful insight.
 
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Most of the top teams have a great recruiter, and its not only the head coach. I often hear that Geno does it all himself - don't buy that. Too much good talent with the championship teams having to scout the entire country. Curious with the new coaching additions, who the Boneyard sees as filling this role. Candidly, neither Tonya nor Jamelle have a great track record recruiting top talent.
 
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HopJim said:
Most of the top teams have a great recruiter, and its not only the head coach. I often hear that Geno does it all himself - don't buy that. Too much good talent with the championship teams having to scout the entire country. Curious with the new coaching additions, who the Boneyard sees as filling this role. Candidly, neither Tonya nor Jamelle have a great track record recruiting top talent.
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All of UConn's coaches actively participate in recruiting. Tonya and Jamelle have had great success recruiting top talent for Connecticut. For what it is worth, I doubt that Geno or C.D. could recruit top talent for Cincinnati or Temple. Completely different contexts, cultures, institutional support, etc.
 
DEpup said:
I will be interested to see Ben's role. I wonder since he was a male practice player in his youth, will he maybe end up coordinating and strategizing how the practice players prepare for practice.. I'm sure there has to be a fair amount of work in coordinating and teaching the practice players what they are expected to do. It's like having a whole other team within the program. I could see him being a great person to oversee logistics and do one one on one skills teaching.
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Or maybe Geno wasn't given the budget to bring in two high level assistants but wanted to take advantage of the extra allowable headcount. Promote Ben and utilize his analytic experience and then bring in a new video assistant on the cheap that Ben can oversee along with potentially other support roles.
 
XStorrsion said:
Or maybe Geno wasn't given the budget to bring in two high level assistants but wanted to take advantage of the extra allowable headcount. Promote Ben and utilize his analytic experience and then bring in a new video assistant on the cheap that Ben can oversee along with potentially other support roles.
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Yeah. I can see that. Maybe instead of splitting the money, he added money to Tonya to pull her in and then gave Ben a good raise.
 
Rowdy831 said:
I loved Becky as a player and she is a great coach with experience in the NBA so she might be able to bring a brand that draws more fans to the game but I don't see her at UCONN. Who ever the coach is that follows Geno will have a nightmare of expectations to overcome and I don't see it being a someone from outside the region.
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It was just one man's opinion. As I said, I didn't expect anyone to agree. It's very possible that UConn won't go off or outside of Geno's tree of former assistant coaches to find a replacement. I expect Geno to have some input on who his replacement will be. No doubt there will a number of current head coaches and assistant coaches that would apply for the job. Several posters have mentioned Carla Berube as their choice to replace him. What if she does not want the job? Then who? For the record, Hammon probably wouldn't want the job if offered.
 
GG said:
Those are all good questions. Unfortunately, I do not know the answer. Which coach do you believe will realistically come to uconn, and can accomplish all of those things?
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I’m not hating on Berube. I think she’s a very good coach, and would be happy to see her succeed Geno. I simply posed those questions out of curiosity.

I would pose those same questions about any other potential replacement candidate. Whoever replaces him needs to do so without the program missing a beat.

Whoever takes over will be under a microscope and subject to a lot of scrutiny, especially if they lose games early in the season.
 
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Carnac said:
I’m not hating on Berube. I think she’s a very good coach, and would be happy to see her succeed Geno. I simply posed those questions out of curiosity.

I would pose those same questions about any other potential replacement candidate. Whoever replaces him needs to do so without the program missing a beat.

Whoever takes over will be under a microscope and subject to a lot of scrutiny, especially if they lose games early in the season.
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It will be no easy task, that is for sure. It will take a special talent who is extremely confident. Benedict has hit it out of the park with his recent hires, so we will have to trust him. Unlike some other universities, I know UCONN is all in on success in both the women’s and men’s side.
 
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I think Ben will continue as Video Coordinator add some work with the men practice players and some other odds and ends!
Geno just rewarded Ben's good work!
With Tonya added on Geno doesn't need another heavy-duty body during practice! He now has 5 great coaches that excel in their areas!
 
Carnac said:
Ok, she can coach. My question is two-fold:
1. Does she have national name recognition? Have the top 20 recruits from the next incoming HS class ever heard of her, much less want to play for her?

2. Can she pull in the same top 5 ranked HS recruits year in and year out like Geno does?

If she can’t, this program becomes irrelevant very quickly. UConn is on the map and very relevant. Can she keep them there?
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“I didn’t even know what to think of it,” [Ellie] Mitchell said. “Some people said, ‘Oh are you going to reopen your recruiting window?’ But after they announced coach (Berube) was going to be the coach, we had heard so many great things about her.”

After [Abby] Meyers learned about who her new head coach was, she knew “(Berube) didn’t miss a beat.” Her concerns about the culture changing vanished.

“When we found out she was from Tufts, played at UConn and she coached the USA team that (UConn sophomore guard) Paige Bueckers was on … she’s just a winning mentality, a leader and an all-star,” Meyers said of her coach. “She’s baller … we’re good to go.”

Meyers is now in the WNBA. As Princeton players go to the WNBA, the more Carla’s reputation will grow

www.trentonian.com

Carla Berube instills fun, winning culture as Princeton women’s basketball coach

PRINCETON — Carla Berube has two pieces of gum and a peppermint mocha before she steps on the court to coach the Princeton women’s basketball team. It’s sweet like game day, and not her typical order. That’s the tip of the iceberg when i…
www.trentonian.com www.trentonian.com
 
HuskyNan said:
“I didn’t even know what to think of it,” [Ellie] Mitchell said. “Some people said, ‘Oh are you going to reopen your recruiting window?’ But after they announced coach (Berube) was going to be the coach, we had heard so many great things about her.”

After [Abby] Meyers learned about who her new head coach was, she knew “(Berube) didn’t miss a beat.” Her concerns about the culture changing vanished.

“When we found out she was from Tufts, played at UConn and she coached the USA team that (UConn sophomore guard) Paige Bueckers was on … she’s just a winning mentality, a leader and an all-star,” Meyers said of her coach. “She’s baller … we’re good to go.”

Meyers is now in the WNBA. As Princeton players go to the WNBA, the more Carla’s reputation will grow

www.trentonian.com

Carla Berube instills fun, winning culture as Princeton women’s basketball coach

PRINCETON — Carla Berube has two pieces of gum and a peppermint mocha before she steps on the court to coach the Princeton women’s basketball team. It’s sweet like game day, and not her typical order. That’s the tip of the iceberg when i…
www.trentonian.com www.trentonian.com
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OK, that answers my question. As I said, I’d be happy to see Berube succeed Geno if she wants the job. I’m pretty sure she would have Geno’s blessings.
 
UConn will be a good Job after Geno retires only if UConn can get into a major conference.
(ACC, B1G, or B12) It won’t be easy for UConn to get a top coach if they are stuck in the Big East when Geno retires.
 
Carnac said:
2. Can she pull in the same top 5 ranked HS recruits year in and year out like Geno does?
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Honestly, you could ask that question of any candidate and the answer would be the same. No. Now what?
 
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