(01-17-2018 10:06 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: (01-17-2018 09:51 AM)BearcatMan Wrote: I'm also beginning to think the UConn was maybe a coach (and a particularly heavy duffel bag) instead of a program.
Two words:
Jesus Shuttlesworth
Allen definitely was an all-time great player for them, but they were pretty solid a few years before he arrived in Storrs. I can remember Donyell Marshall, Scott Burrell and Donny Marshall (no relation to the first guy) tearing it up before he arrived. They didn't win any NC's but they went to a FF if I recall pre Allen.
There's no secret to the Calhoun legacy: he cheated like hell to get guys into his program and retain them. He had to do that to compete with Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John's and the rest in the 1990s for the elite east coast talent, and continued to do it in the 2000s when the football schools became the flag bearers in basketball.
UConn will get a better coach next year, but I don't know if they'll ever return to their 1990-2014 glory. There's just too much competition in the east for recruits and other programs have more to sell to the best out of NY, NJ, Philly and DC.
Mick did the right thing when he changed his recruiting strategy post-Big East. He started looking south (NC, GA, VA) and southwest (LA, TX) for the bulk of our players/recruits (admittingly, we have pulled a guy or two out of Philly and NY). We just can't compete with the Big East and ACC for the best NYC kids given all the exposure those conferences get in their backyard. I imagine its much more difficult due to geography for UConn to get a bunch of recruits to come in from below the Mason-Dixon.