I notice that Zach Brown dropped to #18.....that must mean we're a shoe in to get him and ESPN has adjusted their rankings accordinglyNice to get 6,10 and 11 on this list then huh?
I notice that Zach Brown dropped to #18.....that must mean we're a shoe in to get him and ESPN has adjusted their rankings accordinglyNice to get 6,10 and 11 on this list then huh?
But how can he sell something he wasn't a part of? If it works great, but I don't see how that makes sense.
I get the feeling Hobbs and miller selling Hasheem thabeet won't be that effective to most big time recruits, or their parents. The head coach is the one who gets all the credit for player development, wether that be right or wrong, and Ollie can't sell the thabeet angle logically himself.You have a staff made up entirely of people who played at and graduated from UConn. They played for and started their coaching careers under the same guy.
The continuity here is so insane that anything that that's happened between 1980 and now can conceivably be credited to this group of people one way or another.
If any school can reliably take credit for what's gone before, it's 2015 UConn.
You can put your doubts to rest now.
(Miller graduated from Northeastern, but he played here first and came right the hell back in '86 when Calhoun took over.)
I guarantee you that the pictures of Ray Allen in the new basketball facility aren't solely there because they needed something to cover the wall.I get the feeling Hobbs and miller selling Hasheem thabeet won't be that effective to most big time recruits, or their parents. The head coach is the one who gets all the credit for player development, wether that be right or wrong, and Ollie can't sell the thabeet angle logically himself.
He had very little experience prior to Uconn. Believe he left early, earlier than JC recommended. JC's comments to recruits "I want you to play professionally; for a long time". Hard to resist the money however and that is the dilemma. Hard to see how this is a Uconn problem and is easilyOn the flip side, one could argue that Thabeet was never good enough to play in the NBA, yet we got him a big guaranteed contract and set him up for life. What other school could have done that?
But is Ollie selling kids on that picture? It's cool to have UConn legends and be able to point to them and say "you could be this" but Ollie isn't going to tell a kid he had much to do with ray Allen's success.I guarantee you that the pictures of Ray Allen in the new basketball facility aren't solely there because they needed something to cover the wall.
Whether or not Ollie tries to take credit for someone like RayRay's success is irrelevant (and I'm sure he doesn't), the aura and mystique of having guys like Allen and Okafor and Gordon and Donyell and Rudy and player xyz is a selling point in and of itself. Seeing those players names and images on the walls makes it obvious that its part and parcel to the UConn tradition of grooming NBA level players.But is Ollie selling kids on that picture? It's cool to have UConn legends and be able to point to them and say "you could be this" but Ollie isn't going to tell a kid he had much to do with ray Allen's success.
You're overthinking this. Guys like Allen, Gay, Thabeet, etc. are absolutely good for recruiting still even though Ollie wasn't the one coaching them. I understand your point, but I don't think many people would agree with it.But is Ollie selling kids on that picture? It's cool to have UConn legends and be able to point to them and say "you could be this" but Ollie isn't going to tell a kid he had much to do with ray Allen's success.
But is Ollie selling kids on that picture? It's cool to have UConn legends and be able to point to them and say "you could be this" but Ollie isn't going to tell a kid he had much to do with ray Allen's success.
That's not true, and let's not act like 1 more year at UConn would've prevented Thabeet from being a bust.He had very little experience prior to Uconn. Believe he left early, earlier than JC recommended. JC's comments to recruits "I want you to play professionally; for a long time". Hard to resist the money however and that is the dilemma. Hard to see how this is a Uconn problem and is easily
explainable to a potential recruit.
I kind of get the sense we're more into him than Brown. I have nothing to back this claim up, of course.
Not sure what you believe is not true. He first played basketball at 15. He came from another country. He was the highest drafted player ever to be sent to the Development League (and this was in his first year). Hard to imagine he couldn't have been helped by playing another year but I can't argue with his choosing to go pro. What is the dollar difference if he got hurt by staying an extra year? $1 million insurance vs say $6-9 million for going pro? I don't know what the dollar differential was but the point I am trying to make IMHO is that he really could have benefitted from another year. If it wasn't experience are we to say that he was just dogging it or had a bad attitude? As far as the JC quote, I don't remember him saying that about anyone specifically but just using it as an expression in an article on the subject of kids leaving too early. Just my opinion.That's not true, and let's not act like 1 more year at UConn would've prevented Thabeet from being a bust.
Not sure what you believe is not true. He first played basketball at 15. He came from another country. He was the highest drafted player ever to be sent to the Development League (and this was in his first year). Hard to imagine he couldn't have been helped by playing another year but I can't argue with his choosing to go pro. What is the dollar difference if he got hurt by staying an extra year? $1 million insurance vs say $6-9 million for going pro? I don't know what the dollar differential was but the point I am trying to make IMHO is that he really could have benefitted from another year. If it wasn't experience are we to say that he was just dogging it or had a bad attitude? As far as the JC quote, I don't remember him saying that about anyone specifically but just using it as an expression in an article on the subject of kids leaving too early. Just my opinion.
I think you are right.I kind of get the sense that we are into both, and both are very high on UCONN...hence the pressure for Zach Brown to commit so early in order to beat Obiagu in accepting an offer.
I kind of get the sense we're more into him than Brown. I have nothing to back this claim up, of course.
Why? You don't think Ollie knows who he would choose if he was lucky enough to have a choice? I'm not saying he doesn't love Brown, I'm just saying I get the sense that Ikey is #1. Before Brown announced a visit, Ozzie said that Ollie was after Obiagu very very hard. It's not unreasonable to think that someone in Brown's camp caught wind of something like this, and really wanted to get the ball rolling.We've been recruiting Brown a heck of a lot longer and just had him on campus hoping for an early commitment. So I don't see how this can possibly be true.
We've been recruiting Brown a heck of a lot longer and just had him on campus hoping for an early commitment. So I don't see how this can possibly be true.
Why? You don't think Ollie knows who he would choose if he was lucky enough to have a choice? I'm not saying he doesn't love Brown, I'm just saying I get the sense that Ikey is #1. Before Brown announced a visit, Ozzie said that Ollie was after Obiagu very very hard. It's not unreasonable to think that someone in Brown's camp caught wind of something like this, and really wanted to get the ball rolling.
This is all hypothetical, but it's plausible.
Why? You don't think Ollie knows who he would choose if he was lucky enough to have a choice? I'm not saying he doesn't love Brown, I'm just saying I get the sense that Ikey is #1. Before Brown announced a visit, Ozzie said that Ollie was after Obiagu very very hard. It's not unreasonable to think that someone in Brown's camp caught wind of something like this, and really wanted to get the ball rolling.
This is all hypothetical, but it's plausible.
I kind of get the sense we're more into him than Brown. I have nothing to back this claim up, of course.
I don't see why we couldn't have both! Not sure either would be thrilled about it, but having 2 bigs would be amazing. I don't know much about eithers game. Can either of them step out? Need room for Larrier, Gilbert, (Hopefully Diallo) to be able to penetrate.Can't we just have both? Is it too greedy to have two 7 foot towers in the middle?