Read what Bob Diaco says about the star system. Don't get me wrong, I will take a bucket load of 5 stars but listen to what he says:
Diaco was more direct on the ratings.
"The star rating is ridiculous, convoluted, non-essential for team building," he said. "It is a fan, money-making component, which I respect and I'm good on. I love the fact that football — high school, [youth] football, college football — gets more and more and more [publicity] and press and excitement. That's not a bad thing, but we're not going to do our business based on it. And whether one guy was a one-star, two-star, four-star, five-star is irrelevant to what our needs are."
It's all about the evaluation of players and then the development of those players that will determine success.
"They key is, if you're UConn and you don't win games, you're not going to win the hearts of the four- or five-star ballplayers right now," Lemming said. "So what you do is make sure your coaching staff is out there working their butts off to find athletes that are going to develop into four- or five-star type-players while the big schools don't take a chance on them. Barry Alvarez did that at Wisconsin, Kirk Ferentz did it at Iowa. They turned around programs that were struggling, and they turned them around by evaluating and developing.
"There's no secret, genius coach out there ... you win with impact players. If you can't get them outright, you get ones that have the potential to be an impact player and develop them, and that comes down to very, very strenuous and hard-working recruiters that know how to get there and get the job done."
Brian Dohn, the northeast recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said you can't compare this round of recruiting to any other at UConn, but he sees the path Diaco is following.
"He's done a good job assembling guys that have certain characteristics: big frames, athletic but need to grow into their bodies a little more or need to develop physically," Dohn said. "I've seen a lot of the players, and there's a lot of talent there. It's a class heavy on projection, and I mean that in a good way. You look at a kid like Tyler Davis who I've seen a few times. He throws a good ball. Refine his mechanics a little bit, get him stronger and he could have really good arm strength.
"Kevin Murphy [defensive tackle from West Chester, Pa.]? I love Kevin Murphy. He's a grinder. His motor never stops. Ian Campbell [Pompton Plains, N.J.] is a big tight end. If he gets bigger and stronger — I always think of UConn as having good tight ends — I think he can fit that mold. Nazir Williams [wide receiver from Bridgeton, N.J.] can play a couple of positions. He just needs to get a little bit stronger. I think if you look at what Diaco has done ... recruiting is about projections. He has taken kids that are athletic and maybe slightly under being BCS kids, but that's the situation they're in."
Diaco alluded to that reality as well.
"It's important that everybody understand it's a different parameter now, period," he said. "We don't play in a BCS conference. We don't have an automatic tie-in. There's a conversation about the Power 5. It's just flat-out the reality.
"Now, can we put a good-to-great team together? Absolutely. And we will — with the guys we need."
Diaco said he has the best strength and conditioning coach in the United States in Matt Balis, who has been working to change body composition of players so each is in optimal condition to perform.
