IMO, we can't afford to pass up a juco kid worthy of a scholarship that can make an immediate impact on our team... We're not in a position to be that selective if we have true aspirations of being in a P5 conference anytime soon...
Key word - Worthy of a scholorship. UCONN fans are going to have to face it that the UCF's, Houston's, Memphis', ECU's and others out there are going to get great JC athletes that unfortunately don't meet UCONN's academic standards. That's reality. Check out the US News rankings and see where the other public schools in our conference rank in comparison. As the article states, most, not all JUCO players do not fill the mold. I believe Diaco when he says (despite our poor performance on the gridiron, the UCONN brand is strong. Most players aren't going to the NFL and good student athletes value a UCONN education. So although for that reason we may miss out on some quality JUCO players, Diaco will from time to time get some good ones that buy into the total UCONN value proposition. I see him recruiting to the culture and going after kids who not only qualify but desire and value a UCONN education. In our aspirations to obtain AAU status, UCONN needs to hold true to that standard for obvious reasons.
Top National Universities:
SCHOOL
UCONN #19
TEMPLE # 58
CINCINNATI #63
USF #88
UCF #97
ECU NOT RANKED
MEMPHIS NOT RANKED
HOUSTON 106
Clearly UCONN has elite status when it comes to Academic rating. Navy, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa are private institutions with higher academic requirements as well.