Blaney doesn't think that Calhiun knows if he is going to return

[Hoophound]

I find that incredibly hard to believe. The admin. is not going to make a $2 million a year hire based on the potential of losing out on some second tier recruits. That would be mindboggling. The admin. will consider that there's very little difference between an interim coach like Ollie coaching a team under a postseason ban and a lame duck coach like calhoun coaching such a team.

It's simply not going to phase them at all.

It would hurt recruiting for 2013, but when compared to the importance of hiring a coach, the loss of recruits in one class is not going to dissuade anyone from making a decision.

What are you talking about?

 

[upstater]

What are you talking about?

Not obvious? You wrote that Calhoun may be trying to shoehorn Ollie into the head coaches role. It seems preposterous that the Admin. would saddle itself with a coach it doesn't want just because removing him would mean an adverse year of recruiting. Sounds crazy to me. This means that Calhoun has no real leverage here other than the support of boosters and alumni. Gimmicks like waiting to retire are not going to threaten anyone. The only real threat is the support of Calhoun's benefactors to the program itself. That's what should concern Manuel and Herbst, especially given Manuel's familiarity with Michigan and its experience with Rich Rodriguez. The boosters close to the program never bought in with RR and that hurt them.

 

[Hoophound]

Not obvious? You wrote that Calhoun may be trying to shoehorn Ollie into the head coaches role. It seems preposterous that the Admin. would saddle itself with a coach it doesn't want just because removing him would mean an adverse year of recruiting. Sounds crazy to me. This means that Calhoun has no real leverage here other than the support of boosters and alumni. Gimmicks like waiting to retire are not going to threaten anyone. The only real threat is the support of Calhoun's benefactors to the program itself. That's what should concern Manuel and Herbst, especially given Manuel's familiarity with Michigan and its experience with Rich Rodriguez. The boosters close to the program never bought in with RR and that hurt them.

JC using leverage is nothing new IMO. He's been doing it for the last several years. I have no idea if it works but I'm pretty sure he tries.

 

[Danzz]

If Calhoun does retire, I think he needs to do it by the middle of May or so in order for UConn to be able to have a national coaching search.

Last year Gary Williams retired in early May and Maryland was able to have plenty of candidates who were interested.

If this thing drags out to early July, we have issues.

I don't believe that he doesn't know what he is going to do and can't figure out why he pulls this every year. The AD should put some pressure on JC to make a decision so recruiting doesn't get hurt.We have enough problems without knowing who the HC is going to be next year.

 

[upstater]

I don't believe that he doesn't know what he is going to do and can't figure out why he pulls this every year. The AD should put some pressure on JC to make a decision so recruiting doesn't get hurt.We have enough problems without knowing who the HC is going to be next year.

You think recruiting isn't going to be hurt when JC steps down?

There are two relevant questions, will Calhoun's replacement recruit better players than the 70 year-old year-to-year Calhoun?

And, will Calhoun's replacement coach those players (whether they are better or worse than those Calhoun would recruit) to perform at a higher level than Calhoun otherwise would?

 

[Danzz]

You think recruiting isn't going to be hurt when JC steps down?

There are two relevant questions, will Calhoun's replacement recruit better players than the 70 year-old year-to-year Calhoun?

And, will Calhoun's replacement coach those players (whether they are better or worse than those Calhoun would recruit) to perform at a higher level than Calhoun otherwise would?

Calhoun has maybe 2 years left. I never questioned his coaching ability and there is no way to know how well his successor will coach. Recruiting is already hurting us because of the tourney ban and the transfers. We can deal with that but JC's annual decision process hurts even more.Ask yourself this: if you had a highly recruited son would you want him to go to Uconn and if so why? There are plenty of good coaches and programs out there where you know who the coach is going to be. I really believe that the tourney ban is less of a problem than the questions surrondinng JC.

 

[upstater]

Calhoun has maybe 2 years left. I never questioned his coaching ability and there is no way to know how well his successor will coach. Recruiting is already hurting us because of the tourney ban and the transfers. We can deal with that but JC's annual decision process hurts even more.Ask yourself this: if you had a highly recruited son would you want him to go to Uconn and if so why? There are plenty of good coaches and programs out there where you know who the coach is going to be. I really believe that the tourney ban is less of a problem than the questions surrondinng JC.

It was always going to end this way with JC's retirement no matter what. It's normal. There should be a falloff in recruiting unless they land Billy Donovan or Sean Miller or Mark Few. I don't know what people are thinking, but blue chippers are likely not going to flock to UConn to play for Shaka Smart. So, I do expect recruiting to take a dip, just as I always expected it to regardless. It's not easy to replace a guy like Calhoun.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

It was always going to end this way with JC's retirement no matter what. It's normal. There should be a falloff in recruiting unless they land Billy Donovan or Sean Miller or Mark Few. I don't know what people are thinking, but blue chippers are likely not going to flock to UConn to play for Shaka Smart. So, I do expect recruiting to take a dip, just as I always expected it to regardless. It's not easy to replace a guy like Calhoun.

Of course players would prefer Mark Few over Shaka. Who are you trying to fool?

 

[upstater]

Of course players would prefer Mark Few over Shaka. Who are you trying to fool?

Mark Few recruits kids to a tiny Catholic school and then puts them in the NBA. Shaka may do that eventually but he doesn't do that now.

 

[Hoophound]

Mark Few recruits kids to a tiny Catholic school and then puts them in the NBA. Shaka may do that eventually but he doesn't do that now.

Mark Few is never leaving Gonzaga. He isn't a beloved figure and isn't sought out by other big schools too often. He isn't on our list, I am almost sure of it. Miller is worth a phone call and Donovan may be too, but his family loves Gainesville as I understand it. Not only do the Gators pay him well, but there is no state income tax there.

Shaka is going to recruit very well imo. He has the personality, style of play and charisma kids like. He is young and the players will relate to him. He would be a recruiting juggernaut at UConn. The question is, can he coach successfully at the highest lever year in and year out?

 

[upstater]

Mark Few is never leaving Gonzaga. He isn't a beloved figure and isn't sought out by other big schools too often. He isn't on our list, I am almost sure of it. Miller is worth a phone call and Donovan may be too, but his family loves Gainesville as I understand it. Not only do the Gators pay him well, but there is no state income tax there.

Shaka is going to recruit very well imo. He has the personality, style of play and charisma kids like. He is young and the players will relate to him. He would be a recruiting juggernaut at UConn. The question is, can he coach successfully at the highest lever year in and year out?

I never said any of those guys would land at UConn. I wouldn't expect them to. They are the only relatively young guys (sub 50) out there (other than Jamie Dixon) that I could see future NBA prospects flocking to play for. Everyone else, Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens, etc., has to still prove themselves in terms of recruiting.

I don't buy this idea that Shaka would be a recruiting juggernaut. You can't expect him to pull in the players that Calhoun does. I'm not saying he's not good at recruiting. I am saying people come to UConn because of the proven capability to develop NBA players. Granted, Ray Allen (who wasn't a top recruit) and Donyell Marshall gave Calhoun the same chance about 8 years into Calhoun's tenure, but it took awhile for Calhoun to land such talents. The Dream Team had no one on it that stuck in the NBA (Tate George and Chris Smith had a cup of tea).

 

[freescooter]

Shaka Smart is recruiting well at Virginia Commonwealth, and more to the point, he's winning games. An Andre Drummond is never coming to VCU even if you offered to rename the school in his honor, for heaven sake. Of course you can't compare their recruiting with UCONN's but put Smart in Storrs and watch what he does. Mark Few, remember, didn't originate Gonzaga's success. Dan Monson started that program's rise to national prominence. Few built on that and kept it going. In fact you might even make a case that the program, as a program, statred with Monson's predecessor, Dan Fitzgerald. He had them in the tourney in 1995, and they were good, and won several regular season titles and got NIT bids in the years before that.

 

[upstater]

Shaka Smart is recruiting well at Virginia Commonwealth, and more to the point, he's winning games. An Andre Drummond is never coming to VCU even if you offered to rename the school in his honor, for heaven sake. Of course you can't compare their recruiting with UCONN's but put Smart in Storrs and watch what he does. Mark Few, remember, didn't originate Gonzaga's success. Dan Monson started that program's rise to national prominence. Few built on that and kept it going. In fact you might even make a case that the program, as a program, statred with Monson's predecessor, Dan Fitzgerald. He had them in the tourney in 1995, and they were good, and won several regular season titles and got NIT bids in the years before that.

A bunch of strawmen arguments.

First, Shaka Smart's starters were not recruited by Smart.

Second, no one is criticizing Smart for not landing Drummond at VCU. Please read more carefully. I didn't compare his recruiting at VCU with his recruiting potential at UConn. Where did you get that?

I'm comparing his potential for recruiting at UConn with recruiting by new coaches without a track record for producing NBA talent at schools like UConn. Sean Miller at Arizona, for instance, had 2 underwhelming recruiting years before landing a great class. He had coached a very winning Xavier team for 5 or 6 years prior to that, but during that period he did not produce a single NBA player.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I think Billy Donovan makes significantly more than Calhoun, not sure our State would ever agree to pay him what we would need to steal him from FL.
I'm not as sold yet on Shaka Smart as everyone else seems to be, he didn't build the VCU program himeslf as everyone seems to intimate, Anthony Grant had them in the great shape and made the NCAA tourney a couple times in the years just prior to Shaka's coming on board.

 

[Hoophound]

I think Billy Donovan makes significantly more than Calhoun, not sure our State would ever agree to pay him what we would need to steal him from FL.
I'm not as sold yet on Shaka Smart as everyone else seems to be, he didn't build the VCU program himeslf as everyone seems to intimate, Anthony Grant had them in the great shape and made the NCAA tourney a couple times in the years just prior to Shaka's coming on board.

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

Billy D. makes about $3,000,000. If he wants to come back to New England, he may look at it. Again, he is happy in Gainesville as I understand it.

Miller seems like the better chance. He is rumored to want to be on the east coast. If that's true, he would not turn down UConn. He would succeed here.

 

[upstater]

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

Billy D. makes about $3,000,000. If he wants to come back to New England, he may look at it. Again, he is happy in Gainesville as I understand it.

Miller seems like the better chance. He is rumored to want to be on the east coast. If that's true, he would not turn down UConn. He would succeed here.

He turned down Maryland, and his wife is from the Maryland area.

Once again, I wasn't saying that Dixon, Donovan, Miller, Few would be coming to UConn. I was saying that, outside those guys, I wouldn't expect any new coach to improve on Calhoun's recruiting.

 

[businesslawyer]

First JC nas earned the right to retire when he wants. However, he should not hold hostage the
Uconn program. If he hasn't made up his mind then keep it in house. How can letting this out benifit Uconn. This yearly gamesmanship must stop. If he comes bsck this year, holds scholarships for next year but does the same thing how is that a benifit to Uconn.

This is where I am. JC has every right to coach as long as he wants without the school removing him. Having said that, he does not have the right to hold the program hostage on an annual basis to get things that he wants. This was o.k. one time, if he felt he needed to push Hathaway out the door (whether he was right or wrong, I'm just saying I can live with a coach pulling that kind of power play once), but it can't happen annually without causing too much damage to the program. At some point soon, Manual or Herbst is going to have to make that clear.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

My mother is not particularly old, but she's old enough. She has a dog that is about a year old. Every now and again, she will ask me what would happen to the dog in the unfortunate event that her life's odometer stops advancing.

I don't want to mislead her, so I tell her that I view her and the dog as a package deal - if mom heads to the afterlife, unless my brothers decide to adopt it, the dog will join her very, very shortly. Perhaps even in a matter of minutes.

George needs to realize that we view him much the same way. If Jim goes, there will be a line of Boneyarders at the UConn hoop offices packing George's personal effects in boxes and possibly driving them to his house. We might even drive George back to his house if we have room.

You'd really kill the dog?

 

[freescooter]

I'm not "sold" on shaka either. He just seems to have an "it" factor. The guy acts, looks, talks and walks successful.

And has won 27, 28 and 29 games in successive years. gone to the Final Four once and then won a first round game the following year. Won the CBI his first season as a head coach. I'd say he not only acts, looks, talks and walks successful...his record indicates that he is successful...Given our academic "shortcomings" of late, the fact that he was an academic all-american and an NCAA post graduate scholarship winner can't hurt public perceptions either...By the way, this notion that he didn't recruit anyone isn't totally facutal. He recruited the guy who was the 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder, as well as th epoint guard who led th eteam in assists and steals and minutes played. Whether they are NBA prospects, who knows,but one wouldn't expect too many of those at that level.

 

[Danzz]

This is where I am. JC has every right to coach as long as he wants without the school removing him. Having said that, he does not have the right to hold the program hostage on an annual basis to get things that he wants. This was o.k. one time, if he felt he needed to push Hathaway out the door (whether he was right or wrong, I'm just saying I can live with a coach pulling that kind of power play once), but it can't happen annually without causing too much damage to the program. At some point soon, Manual or Herbst is going to have to make that clear.

My feelings exactly.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I can't believe there are people who would actually be disappointed if Shaka Smart was the next coach at Uconn.

If people are waiting to "see if he can keep this up" I'll save you some time - he's going to win another 28+ games next year too. He's losing one player from last year's team (Bradford Burgess) and Burgess' brother is a member of his incoming recruiting class.

There's a reason why he was the clear #1 candidate at NC State and Illinois and he'll continue to be the #1 candidate at any high major job that opens up.

 

[Rumrunner]

Does anyone know if Calhoun attended the Nike Elite camp in VA over the weekend? I know every head coach of consequence was there, including Duke- Coach K, Williams- UNC, Self-KU, Cal-KY,Pitino- L'ville, Howland-UCLA, Izzo-MSU, etc. All the mid majors were there, Wright-VU, Stecens-But were also there.

 

[OkaForPrez]

And has won 27, 28 and 29 games in successive years. gone to the Final Four once and then won a first round game the following year. Won the CBI his first season as a head coach. I'd say he not only acts, looks, talks and walks successful...his record indicates that he is successful...Given our academic "shortcomings" of late, the fact that he was an academic all-american and an NCAA post graduate scholarship winner can't hurt public perceptions either...By the way, this notion that he didn't recruit anyone isn't totally facutal. He recruited the guy who was the 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder, as well as th epoint guard who led th eteam in assists and steals and minutes played. Whether they are NBA prospects, who knows,but one wouldn't expect too many of those at that level.

To support the numbers further, one of my good friends and fellow basketball junkies whose opinion I greatly value sat behind the VCU/UCLA bench at the garden for coaches vs. cancer either last year or the year before.

He said that juxtaposed against Ben Howland, Shaka appeared to be the far superior coach. His ability to engage and motivate his players and the level of respect he commanded were palpable. Anyone who has watched VCU compete knows that the guys Shaka puts out there will run through brick walls for him.

I don't know what makes a great recruiter, but as a basketball fan, I'll take class B talent that outworks their opponent every night out over class A that gets outworked.

 

[upstater]

I can't believe there are people who would actually be disappointed if Shaka Smart was the next coach at Uconn.

If people are waiting to "see if he can keep this up" I'll save you some time - he's going to win another 28+ games next year too. He's losing one player from last year's team (Bradford Burgess) and Burgess' brother is a member of his incoming recruiting class.

There's a reason why he was the clear #1 candidate at NC State and Illinois and he'll continue to be the #1 candidate at any high major job that opens up.

Who are the people who would be disappointed if Smart were the next UConn coach?

 

[Danzz]

Who are the people who would be disappointed if Smart were the next UConn coach?

What makes anyone think that a top coaching candidate would jump at the Uconn job? We will be coming off a down year or 2 of recruiting. The top candidates aren't going to want to rebuild a program in Storrs and play in a diluted BE. We are not getting Smart, Miller, Few, or Donavan. The reason for our success is a stubborn thick headed Irishman who established a reputation, recruited successfully and won 3 NCC's. It was a monumnental task and basicly the new coach would almost have to start over. It isn't impossible but it sure isn't one of the top job opportunities in the country.
We would be better off handing the job to Ollie because we aren't going to get one of the top guys.At least Ollie would bring continuity and an NBA background. Can Ollie coach? I have no idea but we stand a better chance with him rather than rolling the dice than some second tier guy.