who was the 1 recruit that got away calhoun years..

[TheHorde]

 

[August_West]

Donyell was one of those that sort of fell into our lap.

We swiped him from under Boeheims nose while he was busy picking it. ‘yell to cuse was pretty much a done deal.

 

[superjohn]

I did an internship at hartford public and buckley in like 97. The stories about camby where crazy and umess cal

Haha, I heard them too. Can I get a mic check?!??

 

[alexd]

Bill Curley to BC. Calhoun really loved his hard nosed game and he was from the Boston area.

Travis Best and Bill Curley

I remember reading that Best and Rick Brunson, both from MA and Fair and Ollie were the backcourt guys we were really after. Ollie and Fair committed to us first. Then Best went to GA Tech and Brunson to Temple.

 

[superjohn]

I remember reading that Best and Rick Brunson, both from MA and Fair and Ollie were the backcourt guys we were really after. Ollie and Fair committed to us first. Then Best went to GA Tech and Brunson to Temple.

Yep, Best was another big miss. Ollie was a good point guard but Travis Best was on a whole other level.

 

[TheHorde]

I’m kind of surprised we didn’t get Jordan Williams over Maryland. Particularly since Jordan’s uncle, Murray Williams, played for Calhoun. I’m not sure if we were in on him hard or not, but he’s one I’ve wondered about.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I know the urban legend of that. I still don’t buy it.

Tom Moore was on Dauster's podcast a couple months ago and mentioned that they were actually reasonably close at one point. I know he took one of his visits to Storrs.

 

[husky99]

Haha, I heard them too. Can I get a mic check?!??

Drove cars that where gifts or loaners....jewelry. cash

 

[superjohn]

Drove cars that where gifts or loaners....jewelry. cash

Women

 

[husky99]

Obviously all second hand

 

[TheHorde]

Women

How did Pitino not get him then? Lmao

 

[SportsFan88]

KG or KD, I read in Calhoun’s Dare to Dream book that we coulda had baron davis too but he didn’t wanna leave the west coast

 

[Drame]

I thought Durant was big. That class could have also brought Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson if I recall. I think once sticks committed Durant felt slighted.

Durant got paid.. That was the only thing that mattered.

 

[Viet Vet]

Just a few CT boys who went away.........................

John Bagley (Warren Harding, Bridgeport): BC
Charles Smith (Warren Harding, Bridgeport): Pitt
Mike Gminski (Masuk, Monroe): Duke
John Pinone (South Catholic, Hartford): Villanova
Sylvester (Sly) Williamson (Lee, New Haven): Rhode Island
John Williamson (Wilbur Cross, New Haven): New Mexico State
Walt Luckett, Jr. (Kolbe Cathedral, Bridgeport): Ohio U.

Probably the first "big time" CT high school player that UConn landed in the Big East era was Middletown's Corny Thompson. Unfortunately, he regressed under Perno's tutelage. The first major in-state recruiting coup by Calhoun was Kolbe Cathedral's Chris Smith. That broke the pipeline of Connecticut's best emigrating elsewhere.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Well, the whole world knows he effed up on Ryan Gomes.

Shocked it took that many posts to read Gomes.

 

[TheHorde]

Shocked it took that many posts to read Gomes.

No the videos posted about Calhoun liking word are about Gomes lol

 

[XLCenterFan]

John Wallace

Not a Cuse fan but he was one of my favorite college players ever. Put the team on his back.

 

[superjohn]

Not a Cuse fan but he was one of my favorite college players ever. Put the team on his back.

He was awesome. He lives in New Milford, CT.

 

[Rich]

Felipe Lopez
Zendon Hamilton

 

[HooperScooper]

Tom Moore was on Dauster's podcast a couple months ago and mentioned that they were actually reasonably close at one point. I know he took one of his visits to Storrs.

Calhoun said Durant told Rudy Gay he was going to commit to UConn.

“He was going to come,” Calhoun, who had led UConn to NCAA titles in 1999 and 2004 ahead of the Durant recruitment, said in a phone interview after he made similar comments Saturday on Sirius NBA Radio. “He didn’t tell me personally, no. He told Rudy that.”

He added: “That summer [2006], he and Rudy Gay went to France, I believe it was, with Nike, and as he got off the plane [in the U.S.], he told Rudy, ‘I’m going to see you. I’m going to see you. I’m going to room with you.’ So they made their plans to be together.”

Jim Calhoun says Kevin Durant was 'coming' to UConn before he committed to Texas | Zagsblog

By ADAM ZAGORIA What if Brooklyn Nets […]

www.zagsblog.com

 

[EnochRoot]

The "1" recruit who got away? That's hard to say, but Marcus Camby played HS ball in Hartford, CT. Letting him get out of Connecticut to UMASS was an existential blow to what Calhoun was building.

I'm thinking it cost Camby/UConn one, maybe two rings.

That's all I got.

 

[Fishy]

Donyell was one of those that sort of fell into our lap.

Nooo….that was a hard, hard recruitment.

We swiped him from under Boeheims nose while he was busy picking it. ‘yell to cuse was pretty much a done deal.

Nope. Family did not like Jim Boeheim. (There’s a story about some of the Syracuse shenanigans for another day.) Maryland and Billy Hahn were the competition.

Yep, Best was another big miss. Ollie was a good point guard but Travis Best was on a whole other level.

Yep. And then we had to sweat out Ollie’s standardized tests to see if he could become eligible.

Randall Jackson/Wayne Turner

Bill Curley

The is a correct answer.

Camby

No reputable school could have gotten Camby past admissions and administration. It was….bad bad.

I thought Durant was big. That class could have also brought Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson if I recall. I think once sticks committed Durant felt slighted.

We were always second for Durant, it seemed. First, we were second behind UNC and then when they dropped out and we looked like we would get him, he visited Texas and that was that.

Lawson and Ellington were never happening.

Kevin Garnett.

Never a chance. The stories about Garnett coming here were fiction.

 

[Travelman6]

Calhoun said Durant told Rudy Gay he was going to commit to UConn.

“He was going to come,” Calhoun, who had led UConn to NCAA titles in 1999 and 2004 ahead of the Durant recruitment, said in a phone interview after he made similar comments Saturday on Sirius NBA Radio. “He didn’t tell me personally, no. He told Rudy that.”

He added: “That summer [2006], he and Rudy Gay went to France, I believe it was, with Nike, and as he got off the plane [in the U.S.], he told Rudy, ‘I’m going to see you. I’m going to see you. I’m going to room with you.’ So they made their plans to be together.”

Jim Calhoun says Kevin Durant was 'coming' to UConn before he committed to Texas | Zagsblog

By ADAM ZAGORIA What if Brooklyn Nets […]

www.zagsblog.com

Huh? Gay was gone by that point. He didn't come back for his Junior year.

But Durant would have joined a team that was otherwise 17-14 (6-10 in the BE). Maybe they beat West Virginia and/or Marquette early on, and from there perhaps the entire season's trajectory changes. Maybe +5 wins to get to 22-9, maybe even 25 wins if they had beaten Marquette, but impossible to say for sure. Texas was 25-10 that year and lost to 5-seed USC in round 2.

 

[rip7774]

I think there was a story Durant committed to all 3 schools in his final 3.

I followed recruiting heavy back then (less life responsibilities ) and never got the sense we led or led big at the very least. UNC was hot at the time and cleaned our clock that class, landing Ellington and 1-2 others we liked so I never felt we we’re going to beat them and always felt Barnes was one of those shady coaches masquerading as some virtuous guy.

Obv our class ended up just fine with Sticks a big time pickup, Dyson and Hasheem in the spring I believe & others.

 

[alexd]

Nooo….that was a hard, hard recruitment.



Nope. Family did not like Jim Boeheim. (There’s a story about some of the Syracuse shenanigans for another day.) Maryland and Billy Hahn were the competition.



Yep. And then we had to sweat out Ollie’s standardized tests to see if he could become eligible.



The is a correct answer.



No reputable school could have gotten Camby past admissions and administration. It was….bad bad.



We were always second for Durant, it seemed. First, we were second behind UNC and then when they dropped out and we looked like we would get him, he visited Texas and that was that.

Lawson and Ellington were never happening.



Never a chance. The stories about Garnett coming here were fiction.

I remember a story in "husky blue n white" about Ray Allen and Garnett being friends and that IF KG was actually going to go to college, we had a as good a shot as anyone.

 

[alexd]

What's really fun is despite all this, we have 5 titles.
And if Cuse hadn't rented Carmelo for that one season...

 

[Dove]

There was a kid who went to Purdue that JC wanted bad. Cuonzo Martin.

I still remember hearing Arnold Dean interviewing Brunson and Best on his show. It seemed liked those kids wanted to come here.

 

[ElGreco]

Billy Curley

Absolutely the correct answer. JC often said that.

 

[ElGreco]

This, UConn would've won a national championship or two before '99 if they got Camby and probably would've had one of the best teams ever.

We had the opportunity but showed little interest - he had an injury in HS and grew dramatically after that if I remember correctly.

 

[Palatine]

Never a chance. The stories about Garnett coming here were fiction.

I read about it in Calhoun's book. Of course, that doesn't mean it's not fiction.