Why top recruits do not come to BigEast (except Uconn)? | The Boneyard

Why top recruits do not come to BigEast (except Uconn)?

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boscolino

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Just wondering :
1 - Weather's fault: in this case SEC, PAC 12 and so on, have more chances
2 - Inability of school management to get appealing coaches
3 - Lack of academic values
Anyone has some ideas?
 
Most of the big east schools are smaller (i think) and are catholic schools. I'm sure that deters a lot. I don't think academics would be too big to most top recruits because if we're honest, they're majoring in basketball. I'm sure the big east values academics just as much as other schools other than those with a name for it like Stanford or Ivy League schools. Weather? If the appeal is enough, they will ignore that - look at Ice and KLS, they came from CA to CT.
 
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Centerstream said:
If other BE teams consistently made runs in the Big Dance, that might help.
And if I remember correctly, back in the days of the old BE, many top recruits joined the BE.
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Top recruits joined the BE schools that left the conference.

hoopsdiva said:
Not enough NIL $$?
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They didn't get top recruits before NIL either
 
triaddukefan said:
Top recruits joined the BE schools that left the conference.
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Thus my use of "old BE".
And I believe that the weather is basically the same (this is not in any way to be taken as a climate change argument), so that shouldn't be a factor.
 
hoopsdiva said:
Not enough NIL $$?
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Time will tell, but I think this has become a factor for relative stars that are not in a Power 5 conference. Maybe you weren't a super high level recruit, but had enough success at a Big East school to think you could succeed at a higher level, with more attendance, coverage, TV games, and as a result more social media and NIL potential.

It was not so much an overall exodus from the Big East, but rather the high end players like Morrow and Park Lane who probably did enhance their NIL potential by leaving. Now with NIL, I think the other Big East teams may have trouble keeping some of their best players if they think they have significant NIL potential.
 
1). No program historical reference. Something that grabs a recruit.
2). Programs don't have a facility that is a "wow" factor.
3). Coaching and style of play.
4). Definitely the weather. Although when Miami (Florida) was in the Big East, that would have been a nice draw.
5). Geography/Location. Some areas could be too laid back for some and some might like laid back vibe.
6). Nervous about being that top recruit at a Big East program not named UConn. Those expectations hit differently, especially when there are not any other "top" level players around you.
 
AgStatesman said:
Budgets. It seems UConn's is massive, the other Big East schools not so much. This all goes back to football. Football money trickles down. In the Big East there is none.
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Many of the BE teams fund their mens teams well enough to pay top level coaches. I suspect that the governing boards of some of these schools still have members who wish their schools were still "men only".
 
Same reasons why the top dogs seem to choose SC over UConn. Dawn already has commitment's from # 2 and#12… and she will most likely get #1, too..
 
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Alydar said:
Many of the BE teams fund their mens teams well enough to pay top level coaches. I suspect that the governing boards of some of these schools still have members who wish their schools were still "men only".
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And many of the Big East schools are not public - so there is no way to force those schools to say what they are spending on budgets or coaches salrites.
 
I’d take the weather of most Big East schools over most Big10 schools. Chicago, Minny-StPaul, Madison. . .
 
The money is in the Power Conferences. The better (higher) level of plays is in the Power Conferences. The Power Conferences have the better teams and therefore the conferences are tougher. Everyone and their brother sees where this is headed. The power conferences are gonna break away from the NCAA and do their own thing. Have their own athletic tournaments, and keep all the $$$$ for themselves. If you’re not in a power conference it will be a slow, but eventual death sentence. See La Tech and ODU for the future outlook for non-Power Conference schools.
 
It starts and ends with the coaches. You have to either have a success story to sell, convince kids to buy into a dream or convince them that the school itself is the draw. In the early days of the Big East, Geno Auriemma was able to get local and regional kids to buy into a dream. He got some success (that first final four) and then he had both success and a dream as selling points. Once he won the national championship, he had proof that he could win and recruiting got easier. I think the problem is that if coaches are not successful in the first few years, recruits will look at other choices.
 
If not a UCONN players (Sheah, Carla, Jamelle), my favorite would be Jeff Walz, he surely has a science of recruiting and has some good transfer portals decisions. But can he keep recruits to stay 4 years ?
 
Football! They are still college kids and want to spend their Falls tailgating and partying and going crazy in a stadium with 80-100 thousand other fans.
 
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Down the road UConn will be in trouble, all because, at some point, they missed getting into a power conference. Not hard to imagine the Big East being a conference made up of mid-major women's teams. Some are already. After Geno, will they be able to recruit as they have been?
 
boontonbomber said:
Down the road UConn will be in trouble, all because, at some point, they missed getting into a power conference. Not hard to imagine the Big East being a conference made up of mid-major women's teams. Some are already. After Geno, will they be able to recruit as they have been?
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The big east women’s bb is already a mid major
Conference other than uconn
Attendance if you take out when UConn visits
Is in the 200-500 range recruiting. Top 100 players not realistic
Obviously big changes coming in college
Sports
Sec and big ten have seen the $
In WBB and will dominate recruiting
Obviously UConn not in a good spot
Enjoy the present!!’
 
Many factors involved in interesting a recruit. Coaches, school size, location, past team win history, NIL, individual team players, record of PR draft, team schedule, league, HS coach recommendation, parents, school friends !
 
Limited television exposure. How often will the Big East wbb teams appear on national television? What? Maybe two or three regular season games on Fox? Maybe a game or two on CBS Sports? Who, other than UConn has regular television and streaming coverage? The power conferences all have their own networks that provide more frequent televised games and streaming.
I have always viewed weather as a pick your poison situation. Are smog and mudslides preferable to colder weather and blizzards? How about a tornado alley state or a state that is ground zero for frequent hurricanes? Even Hawaii experiences tropical cyclones, sunamis, and has lava flows.
 
boontonbomber said:
Down the road UConn will be in trouble, all because, at some point, they missed getting into a power conference. Not hard to imagine the Big East being a conference made up of mid-major women's teams. Some are already. After Geno, will they be able to recruit as they have been?
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Recruits come for Geno and the great success prior to 2016. Without both of those and adding the NIL advantage SEC schools have, it's going to be a tough sell for recruits in the future.
 
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UCTitleTown said:
Recruits come for Geno and the great success prior to 2016. Without both of those and adding the NIL advantage SEC schools have, it's going to be a tough sell for recruits in the future.
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Players go to UConn because it prepares players for a pro career better than any other school. The midmajors that don't fund their team or provide top level facilities don't sign top talent. College basketball is the end of the road for all but the best and those few still come to UConn and they are ones who win titles. UConn continues to sign them.
I've been reading predictions of the demise of UConn basketball for over 20 years. UConn runs fairly modest deficits for wbb and the taxpayers love the basketball teams. Depending on who succeeds Geno, the team will continue to attract the very best.
 
boscolino said:
Just wondering :
1 - Weather's fault: in this case SEC, PAC 12 and so on, have more chances
2 - Inability of school management to get appealing coaches
3 - Lack of academic values
Anyone has some ideas?
Expand ...
Why would ranked recruits want to play in the BE unless they wanted to stay close to home?
 
$ drives collegiate sports and the $ is concentrated these days in the now P4 conferences due to Football, which funds all other sports except MBB. $ gets coaches and facilities. It also gets recruiting budgets. Outside of UConn, none of the BE WBB teams spend $ on the sport at a level needed to be highly competitive these days, because they don’t have access to the revenue of the P4 conferences. Follow the $.

The SEC and B1G now distribute over $50 million annually to each member school and those numbers are getting ready to skyrocket with new TV deals. The ACC pays out a little over $30 million and is considered “poor” in P4 standards, it’s why FSU is trying to break away. It’s also why UCLA, USC, UW and Oregon jumped to the B1G.

You ask why most BE teams cannot recruit top players, look at the revenue they receive from the BE annually, less than $6 million. This isn’t going to get better for the BE, it’s going to get worse, and soon.
 
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Darwin said:
$ drives collegiate sports and the $ is concentrated these days in the now P4 conferences due to Football, which funds all other sports except MBB. $ gets coaches and facilities. It also gets recruiting budgets. Outside of UConn, none of the BE WBB teams spend $ on the sport at a level needed to be highly competitive these days, because they don’t have access to the revenue of the P4 conferences. Follow the $.

The SEC and B1G now distribute over $50 million annually to each member school and those numbers are getting ready to skyrocket with new TV deals. The ACC pays out a little over $30 million and is considered “poor” in P4 standards, it’s why FSU is trying to break away. It’s also why UCLA, USC, UW and Oregon jumped to the B1G.

You ask why most BE teams cannot recruit top players, look at the revenue they receive from the BE annually, less than $6 million. This isn’t going to get better for the BE, it’s going to get worse, and soon.
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Same old story. then. The rich and the poor.
 
Charliebball said:
Why would ranked recruits want to play in the BE unless they wanted to stay close to home?
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Why did Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti, and Nykesha Sales want to play for UConn in the early 1990's when its practice facilities were horrible and the Big East of that era was weak? Yes, they were local talent, but they certainly could have gone to a bigger-named school.

Likewise, if the 1990 version of Geno were a young and unheralded coach at Marquette in the last few years, he would have recruited KK Arnold and Allie Ziebell from Wisconsin high schools, and he would have dissuaded Emily LaChapell from transferring. At that point, and with the players that actually are on the Marquette roster, he could have been a contender -- to quote Marlon Brando.

A better recruiter than Doug Bruno would have recruited and retained more Chicago talent than Doug has. A more dynamic personality than Jim Flanery at Creighton could have recruited Caitlin Clark and had the success that Iowa is now having. But it takes a unique individual with a rare combination of ambition, salesmanship, charisma, and exceptional basketball X-and-O knowledge to have that success.
 
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