After 15 months of waiting, the University of Michigan intends to name Connecticut athletic director Warde Manuel as its next athletic director, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly yet.

Contract details are still being finalized, but an announcement could happen as soon as this week. A message left for Manuel was not immediately returned.



http://www.freep.com/story/sports/colleg.../79307060/

Just saw this on Twitter. UConn fans how do you feel about this?

Not happy but completely expected.

(01-27-2016 11:13 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  Not happy but completely expected.

With coaches secure in FB and MBB and WBB, this shouldn't be too critical a time for UConn to find their next AD.

He did a good job and I think most UConn fans are happy for him. I don't think it's a huge setback but the new AD basically has one job and they need to find the right person.

(01-27-2016 11:20 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  He did a good job and I think most UConn fans are happy for him. I don't think it's a huge setback but the new AD basically has one job and they need to find the right person.

The one positive thing is that in all realignment articles and talks I've read, most people totally misunderstand UConn's size and market. For some reason, they think of the school as a small community college in a puny state. Probably the geography.

In actuality, Conn. has 3.5 million people, one big university with over 30k students, no pro teams, and the highest earning demographic in the country. It will be a positive having someone who understands that value in a position of real power elsewhere.

(01-27-2016 11:37 AM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 11:20 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  He did a good job and I think most UConn fans are happy for him. I don't think it's a huge setback but the new AD basically has one job and they need to find the right person.

The one positive thing is that in all realignment articles and talks I've read, most people totally misunderstand UConn's size and market. For some reason, they think of the school as a small community college in a puny state. Probably the geography.

In actuality, Conn. has 3.5 million people, one big university with over 30k students, no pro teams, and the highest earning demographic in the country. It will be a positive having someone who understands that value in a position of real power elsewhere.

The nation as a whole is very ignorant of the state of CT in general. Most think it's a tiny, completely rich and white state that is basically an NYC suburb. They don't realize it's actually a mid-sized state, with a fairly large media market and that the part of the state that is in NYC's media market is still very much UConn country. There are UConn campuses in all corners of the state and they all share the same UConn Husky brand and Storrs-based athletic department.

Good for Warde. He was great here. Let's go get Frazier if this report is accurate.

You can't fault the man for leaving for that particular job. It is his alma mater and also one of the most important schools in college athletics. He brought in some great coaches and almost made us forget the Jeff Hathaway era. It is absolutely not his fault that UConn was left out in the cold during the last rounds of realignment. The only real potential negative is that Kevin Ollie can opt out of his contract within one year of Manuel departing. That would be a real body blow.

(01-27-2016 11:58 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 11:37 AM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 11:20 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  He did a good job and I think most UConn fans are happy for him. I don't think it's a huge setback but the new AD basically has one job and they need to find the right person.

The one positive thing is that in all realignment articles and talks I've read, most people totally misunderstand UConn's size and market. For some reason, they think of the school as a small community college in a puny state. Probably the geography.

In actuality, Conn. has 3.5 million people, one big university with over 30k students, no pro teams, and the highest earning demographic in the country. It will be a positive having someone who understands that value in a position of real power elsewhere.

The nation as a whole is very ignorant of the state of CT in general. Most think it's a tiny, completely rich and white state that is basically an NYC suburb. They don't realize it's actually a mid-sized state, with a fairly large media market and that the part of the state that is in NYC's media market is still very much UConn country. There are UConn campuses in all corners of the state and they all share the same UConn Husky brand and Storrs-based athletic department.

I wish y'all the best in the B1G.

(01-27-2016 04:15 PM)jwawker Wrote:  You can't fault the man for leaving for that particular job. It is his alma mater and also one of the most important schools in college athletics. He brought in some great coaches and almost made us forget the Jeff Hathaway era. It is absolutely not his fault that UConn was left out in the cold during the last rounds of realignment. The only real potential negative is that Kevin Ollie can opt out of his contract within one year of Manuel departing. That would be a real body blow.

I disagree, but I can't change the past. So his sitting by the pool sipping Mai Thai's will be considered a 'rookie' mistake by this UCONN fan.

(01-27-2016 06:51 PM)DefCONNOne Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 04:15 PM)jwawker Wrote:  You can't fault the man for leaving for that particular job. It is his alma mater and also one of the most important schools in college athletics. He brought in some great coaches and almost made us forget the Jeff Hathaway era. It is absolutely not his fault that UConn was left out in the cold during the last rounds of realignment. The only real potential negative is that Kevin Ollie can opt out of his contract within one year of Manuel departing. That would be a real body blow.

I disagree, but I can't change the past. So his sitting by the pool sipping Mai Thai's will be considered a 'rookie' mistake by this UCONN fan.

I agree that he probably should have stayed home instead of traveling with the basketball team to St. Thomas, but the reality is Louisville's football program was ahead of UConn's and that was the difference at that moment in time.