Why is Memphis able to overcome the AAC stigma with recruits? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Why is Memphis able to overcome the AAC stigma with recruits?

JMick said:
I am sure he keeps getting confused because that group called themselves the top 5. He's been told he was wrong on numerous occasions, though, and if history is any indication he will continue to be wrong
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...and continue to restate it.

Why?
Nobody knows, and he won't say.

It's moving (moved?) into, "Let the baby have his bottle" status.
 
Because of the timing. Memphis is a hot bed of talent. They have a heck of a coach in Penny Hardaway. Bottom line, just timing.
 
freescooter said:
LOL. Yeah because UConn basketball players are all
Academic stars. Last time I saw an analysis the average SAT scores for the general student population was over 1200. For basketball team it was like 935.
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Yeah, but the general population sucks at hoops. The clear solution is to move UConn to Memphis.
 
Xavier is recruiting well. Prov has talent. Prov is going to surprise UConn fans I think. This has the makings for a better rivalry this time around.
 
Zissou said:
Xavier is recruiting well. Prov has talent. Prov is going to surprise UConn fans I think. This has the makings for a better rivalry this time around.
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Why would PC surprise us? They gave us fits for the last ten years we played. They shouldn’t have but they did.
 
Palatine said:
There is no AAC stigma for recruiting.

Ollie recruited a top five class in the AAC. He just didn't know what to do after they got on campus. Hurley recruited a top 20 ecuiting class before the NBE news was released. There is no AAC stigma. It's just a figment of imagination by folks who overvalue the NBE.
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Ok, might not be a stigma, but let's call it like it is. The AAC is primarily composed of teams that cannot recruit.

Between 2013 and 2019, the AAC had 33 top 100 recruits according to 247, 34 according to Rivals, and 32 according ESPN. Outside of UConn, Memphis, and Cincinnati, the rest of the AAC had just 5 on 247, 4 on Rivals, and 5 on ESPN.

AAC teams with a top-100 recruit in either 247, Rivals or ESPN from 2013-2019: 6/12 (UConn, Memphis, Cincinnati, USF, SMU, Temple)

For the Big East comparison, from 2013-2019, it was 53 top 100 recruits according to 247, 63 according to Rivals, and 62 according to ESPN.

Big East teams with a top-100 recruit in either 247, Rivals or ESPN from 2013-2019: 10/10
 
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Zissou said:
Xavier is recruiting well. Prov has talent. Prov is going to surprise UConn fans I think. This has the makings for a better rivalry this time around.
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Not as lopsided, historically as some might think. Uconn has about a .575 win % vs Prov. all time. There was a 20-7 stretch from the early 90s to early 2000s that helped that W%. But since 2003 Uconn is just 6-7 vs Prov.

Depaul on the other hand...Uconn has slightly over a 90% W%...
 
Penny is a legend and was also smart enough (intentionally or otherwise) to cultivate a ton of resources at the AAU level. It is absolutely a perfect storm. If Tubby or Pastner is still there, they’re not a top class so it has less to do with the school and more to do with the coach.

I was initially skeptical but I think they definitely have some staying power. He needs to show he can take recruiting and turn it into wins though, so we’ll see how this year goes.
 
freescooter said:
LOL. Yeah because UConn basketball players are all Academic stars.
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Nope, but still likely higher on average than Memphis and with a higher cutoff threshold in Storrs, i.e., not at minimum NCAA SAT/ACT #s
 
tcf15 said:
Ok, might not be a stigma, but let's call it like it is. The AAC is primarily composed of teams that cannot recruit.

Between 2013 and 2019, the AAC had 33 top 100 recruits according to 247, 34 according to Rivals, and 32 according ESPN. Outside of UConn, Memphis, and Cincinnati, the rest of the AAC had just 5 on 247, 4 on Rivals, and 5 on ESPN.

AAC teams with a top-100 recruit in either 247, Rivals or ESPN from 2013-2019: 6/12 (UConn, Memphis, Cincinnati, USF, SMU, Temple)

For the Big East comparison, from 2013-2019, it was 53 top 100 recruits according to 247, 63 according to Rivals, and 62 according to ESPN.

Big East teams with a top-100 recruit in either 247, Rivals or ESPN from 2013-2019: 10/10
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Keep in mind we have fewer teams as well

33/12=2.75
53/10=5.3
 
Of course every recruit is unique, but over all I don't think the recruits are that concerned with the conference. It's more about the school. Gonzaga does fine recruiting to the WCC.
 
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Zissou said:
Xavier is recruiting well. Prov has talent. Prov is going to surprise UConn fans I think. This has the makings for a better rivalry this time around.
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Cooley is a great recruiter. They’ve actually underperformed their talent pretty significantly, but he has raised their talent level for sure.
 
Devland said:
Of course every recruit is unique, but over all I don't think the recruits are that concerned with the conference. It's more about the school. Gonzaga does fine recruiting to the WCC.
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Not true at all. It took Gonzaga twenty years of sustained success and a national title game appearance to start recruiting at a high level. Conference held them back for years. Mark few eventually earned enough trust to overcome it. Recruits want to play in big games on national television and only the p5 and the big east can give them that. There’s a reason George mason never built off their final four and Davidson never built off steph curry and on and on.

Anyone involved in recruiting will tell you it’s an enormous factor. I will tell you from a first hand perspective our recruiting at Xavier took off after joining the big east. Obviously the success of the school itself is important as well, but conference affiliation is a huge factor. In the words of the wordsmith Jim boeheim “we went from not being able to recruit the great players, to being able to recruit great players”
 
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CL82 said:
FWIW the American isn't necessarily a conference for everyone. It was a bad a conference for us though. AAC is a step up for Memphis both in money and exposure and it makes more sense for it geographically.

I don't think their current recruiting binge has much to do with the conference.
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It's just timing and a coach who's in the right place at the right time and can convince a bunch of stars to come play for him. Look at Jerry Tarkanian and UNLV and it's great run, or Georgia in the early 80's with Dominique Wilkens, Eric Marbury, Vern Fleming, James Banks, Lamar Heard, Terry Fair. That Georgia team might have been the greatest team ever that didn't win it all.
 
BackAftaThis said:
Title says it all. Just honestly curious if there’s a reason or just hiring the right coach in the perfect circumstance.
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One word "Penny"

He is the reason plain and simple
 
cohenzone said:
Yeah, but the general population sucks at hoops. The clear solution is to move UConn to Memphis.
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Not at all. Just that his argument about academics is totally irrelevant to basketball recruiting. If it could consistently hit the 3 either school would accept a parking meter.
 
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Rocktheworld said:
KO recruited well for a couple years when he was young and charismatic

Championship didn’t hurt

But you know there$ other thing$ going on with Memphi$
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KO could not get a big man after that title. I expected better. I don't blame him though in part
because of the hole Calhoun put him in with the Miles and APR mess. Few blame Calhoun for any of this even with all the mistakes KO subsequently made.
 
It's all about the 1. coach, 2 facilities and 3. schedule. Memphis is a fun town, has nice facilities and they play a good schedule. Penny is obviously well liked locally and nationally for that matter. You only need to be one of 68 in bball to get a crack at a nati, not one of 4. Totally different layout for fball. There is always going to be more P5 schools present because they can afford the 3 factors. However, it's a sport where you can fund it internally unlike fball. Facilities are more important than people think. Kids nowadays don't want to rough it so to speak. It definitely helps to have nice arena's and practice facilities, dorms etc. You fall behind on that, all the conference in the world won't help unless you spend the money
 
FedEx forum.

2nd nicest arena in the NBA next to MSG, and Memphis plays their hone games there.
 
CL82 said:
FWIW the American isn't necessarily a conference for everyone. It was a bad a conference for us though. AAC is a step up for Memphis both in money and exposure and it makes more sense for it geographically.

I don't think their current recruiting binge has much to do with the conference.
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The AAC is a good basketball league. Memphis, Houston, Cinci, Temple, Wichita State are all strong programs. UCF and USF are showing well, and SMU has had good teams. Tulane should get better.

It was tough on UConn, because it was a downgrade for our fan base, and because New Englanders are so parochial and can’t seem to embrace the idea of non local rivals. Plus we are in a good recruiting area, but most of those guys didn’t find the league appealing.

But for every other school except Cinci, this league is an upgrade for their fans. More local rivals, better opponents. And except for Temple, the geography is an advantage for most of these schools. Memphis kids have no problem playing against regional opponents like WSU, Tulsa, Tulane, Houston. Even Cincinnati is on the border of Kentucky.
 
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uconnbaseball said:
FedEx forum.

2nd nicest arena in the NBA next to MSG, and Memphis plays their hone games there.
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MSG is the nicest arena in the NBA? I haven’t been in years, but I really doubt that the oldest arena is the nicest.
 
Rocktheworld said:
KO recruited well for a couple years when he was young and charismatic

Championship didn’t hurt

But you know there$ other thing$ going on with Memphi$
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At that time though, UConn was arguably the best program in the country over the previous 15 years!
 
HuskyHawk said:
The AAC is a good basketball league. Memphis, Houston, Cinci, Temple, Wichita State are all strong programs. UCF and USF are showing well, and SMU has had good teams. Tulane should get better.

It was tough on UConn, because it was a downgrade for our fan base, and because New Englanders are so parochial and can’t seem to embrace the idea of non local rivals. Plus we are in a good recruiting area, but most of those guys didn’t find the league appealing.

But for every other school except Cinci, this league is an upgrade for their fans. More local rivals, better opponents. And except for Temple, the geography is an advantage for most of these schools. Memphis kids have no problem playing against regional opponents like WSU, Tulsa, Tulane, Houston. Even Cincinnati is on the border of Kentucky.
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This is what scares me! I can see the AAC really growing into a solid basketball conference and I hope we are not jumping ship at the wrong time.
 
soxfan23 said:
This is what scares me! I can see the AAC really growing into a solid basketball conference and I hope we are not jumping ship at the wrong time.
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dont worry, the aac peaked in its first year when UConn won the title.
 
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The problem with the AAC is that the bottom of the league is abysmal, the games are going to be behind a paywall, our fans don't care about any of the teams, and nobody cares about the teams on a national level.

Other than that it's a perfect fit for UConn.
 
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