UCONN back to Big East?
- Thread starter Double J
- Start date
Well said.
https://twitter.com/MikeCraggSJU/status/1143919928455684096
Full quote for those who don't want to click the link:
@MikeCraggSJU
If social media turns out to be true ... UConn will be a great addition to our Big East brand and strengthen our position for the next round of television rights in 2024. Sports are about competition and we all want to be the best!
https://twitter.com/MikeCraggSJU/status/1143919928455684096
Full quote for those who don't want to click the link:
@MikeCraggSJU
If social media turns out to be true ... UConn will be a great addition to our Big East brand and strengthen our position for the next round of television rights in 2024. Sports are about competition and we all want to be the best!
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JohnnyFever
Active member
Lavin recruited well here because he was a good recruiter (at first). That was with UConn here towards the end of their "blue blood" era in the old Big East. If the theory is true that UConn renders us useless to recruits, why did we get so many top notch guys with UConn in our conference at their best? Because it's not UConn at all...it's us. If we lose out on recruits to UConn, we still would have whether they were in the AAC or in the Big East. Who cares about local recruiting? Of course we try to keep the best NYC area kids home, but they don't want to be home 99% of the time. We all know this. With kids going to different states for HS/AAU and the trend of kids not wanting to stay home for NYC exclusively, who cares about them? Of course we will try, but I don't care if we get a kid from Missouri or Long Island. As long as we get kids who fit the system and play as a team without being divas who leave immediately. Our competition is ourselves first and foremost. Failure or success is our choice, not UConn's. When you really think about it, it's kind of like a conspiracy theory being peddled. No one's holding us back but us.
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JohnnyFever
Active member
The B1G, ACC, Big 12, etc. are going to be green with envy watching our tournament at MSG. Waves of cash and tons of butts in seats. The Big East is the heart of college basketball. ACC has the better top teams, but we eat, sleep, and breath it year round. Kudos to Val who has done a great job thus far. Very smart not to rush to add VCU, STL, etc. and only accept a legit national brand with real tradition like UConn.
The BE Conference doesn’t need UConn! I agree with those who want to continue to watch the Huskies play SMU, Tulane , Tulsa, when they are on TV, which is nearly never . They deserve the Conference they are in and should stay there . They opted out of the BE years ago and should remain out . The BE has solidified its’ Identity as a Private School, largely Catholic League of competitive Basketball since the departure of the $$$ seeking Charlatans, Pitt, Syracuse, BC from the original BE . I could care less about the departure of L’Ville, Va Tech, Miami , Cinn, UCF . But , our league doesn’t need a Taxpayer Funded State University with unlimited funds at their disposal to buy recruits , sweet talk parents , promise jobs and spend 3 times as much on Recruiting budgets , Assistant Coaches , etc . UConn was often a embarrassment to our league due to their questionable recruiting practices , hijacking recruits who have already committed, etc . UConn deserved far more penalties for these violations than they ever received . Kind of like the NCAA always giving leniency to the big State schools like NC, L’ville, Ohio State, Minnesota , etc . While going berserk against the Cleveland States , and Little Sisters of the poor. No, UConn isn’t up to BE standards anymore , as if it ever was ethically . The BE can find other , more comparable partners than UConn. Plus , their fans are and were unsufferable in every capacity .
JohnnyFever
Active member
Sly, what if Nova came back down to earth and then UConn emerged in the AAC which they were about to under Hurley? That would give the AAC UConn, Cincy, Memphis (#1 class), Temple, Houston. Taking them away and adding them is a good competitive move that bolsters us and weakens the AAC which is our competition. We cannot only survive on Villanova, I'll say that until I'm blue in the face. Sweet 16 here or there for Butler and Xavier yadda yadda...but there's only 1 program post-realignment that has been playing at a blue blood level and that's Villanova. That's the only team we can throw at the top ACC, B1G, B12 teams and be confident about. To be a top 3 basketball conference, you need more than 1 big time program competing on a regular basis nationally. We just added another.
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=353192]Sly, what if Nova came back down to earth and then UConn emerged in the AAC which they were about to under Hurley? That would give the AAC UConn, Cincy, Memphis (#1 class), Temple, Houston. Taking them away and adding them is a good competitive move that bolsters us and weakens the AAC which is our competition. We cannot only survive on Villanova, I'll say that until I'm blue in the face. Sweet 16 here or there for Butler and Xavier yadda yadda...but there's only 1 program post-realignment that has been playing at a blue blood level and that's Villanova. That's the only team we can throw at the top ACC, B1G, B12 teams and be confident about. To be a top 3 basketball conference, you need more than 1 big time program competing on a regular basis nationally. We just added another.[/quote]. I could not disagree more , MZ. UConn is where it belongs with other schools who , from time to time , tread the border line or worse on Recruiting , i.e. Kevin Sampson at Houston or Penny at Memphis ? I m not judging Hardaway as guilty , yet , but , how do you get elite top level recruits to go to school in Memphis ? And , Penny hasn’t had time to build a resume as a great Coach , has he ? Sampson, was a long time Recruiting violator at Oklahoma and Indiana . He’s a sleaze ! I disagree our League needs to add a violator program like UConn to supplement a 3 Time NCAA Champion like Villanova . I do believe the BE will continue to have a very competitive league and there is no reason to downplay the results of the BE getting 5, 6 or even 7 bids in the future . We don’t need any further Brand Identification . Especially with Uconn’s Past history of NCAA violations . I continue to say , UConn has found the niche they belong in . Let them stay there . Have a nice summer , MZ..
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=353183]Lavin recruited well here because he was a good recruiter (at first). That was with UConn here towards the end of their "blue blood" era in the old Big East. If the theory is true that UConn renders us useless to recruits, why did we get so many top notch guys with UConn in our conference at their best? [/quote]
I told one of our fans the same thing a few days ago.
I practically told that same fan this as well.
I told one of our fans the same thing a few days ago.
I practically told that same fan this as well.
Not sure if this is official, but...
https://twitter.com/NoEscalators/status/1143955459570831361
So, expect UConn to be here until at least the early 2030s. By then their football program will be completely dead so I don't see them ever leaving.
https://twitter.com/NoEscalators/status/1143955459570831361
So, expect UConn to be here until at least the early 2030s. By then their football program will be completely dead so I don't see them ever leaving.
to brand or not to brand that is the question.
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.
[quote="section10" post=353200]to brand or not to brand that is the question.
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.[/quote]
That is my experience as well. I'm guessing that UCLA is not a national brand for 3 reasons: 1) UCLA grads tend to stay in California. (this is somewhat changing because the UC schools' populations are being dominated by foreign students) 2) People from California are widely hated outside of California. (there is a lot of self-hatred too) If hated is too strong a word then maybe annoyed by, looked upon with disdain, critical of... but unless you are in the state or live in one of the California mutual-admiration echo chambers, California is not longer "cool" to average people. 3) The Pac-10/12... has not been a good conference for a long time and relative to recruiting has consistently under-performed.
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.[/quote]
That is my experience as well. I'm guessing that UCLA is not a national brand for 3 reasons: 1) UCLA grads tend to stay in California. (this is somewhat changing because the UC schools' populations are being dominated by foreign students) 2) People from California are widely hated outside of California. (there is a lot of self-hatred too) If hated is too strong a word then maybe annoyed by, looked upon with disdain, critical of... but unless you are in the state or live in one of the California mutual-admiration echo chambers, California is not longer "cool" to average people. 3) The Pac-10/12... has not been a good conference for a long time and relative to recruiting has consistently under-performed.
Class of 72
Active member
Like it or not welcome back Huskies.
As has been mentioned by a few here we were our own worst enemy during the Uconn golden years. We had coaches that did not recruit hard or coach well. With our last 4 coaches we settled for mediocrity. That's almost 20 years of poor hires, poor marketing, poor recruiting, poor everything.
Cragg and the CMA staff have ushered in a new era. We will be recruiting both locally and nationally.
The only area we may not catch up quickly is with the women's program. Auriemma is a tough egotistical sob. Years ago I followed the Uconn women's program closely but not because I was a Uconn fan and even though Geno was born in the same province in Italy he always managed to rub me the wrong way. Hopefully our women will be more competitive with some better recruits because we have a terrific coach and person. With Uconn on the schedule recruiting may actually improve with the women's team.
As has been mentioned by a few here we were our own worst enemy during the Uconn golden years. We had coaches that did not recruit hard or coach well. With our last 4 coaches we settled for mediocrity. That's almost 20 years of poor hires, poor marketing, poor recruiting, poor everything.
Cragg and the CMA staff have ushered in a new era. We will be recruiting both locally and nationally.
The only area we may not catch up quickly is with the women's program. Auriemma is a tough egotistical sob. Years ago I followed the Uconn women's program closely but not because I was a Uconn fan and even though Geno was born in the same province in Italy he always managed to rub me the wrong way. Hopefully our women will be more competitive with some better recruits because we have a terrific coach and person. With Uconn on the schedule recruiting may actually improve with the women's team.
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[quote="Class of 72" post=353203]Like it or not welcome back Huskies.
As has been mentioned by a few here we were our own worst enemy during the Uconn golden years. We had coaches that did not recruit hard or coach well. With our last 4 coaches we settled for mediocrity. That's almost 20 years of poor hires, poor marketing, poor recruiting, poor everything.
Cragg and the CMA staff have ushered in a new era. We will be recruiting both locally and nationally.
The only area we may not catch up quickly is with the women's program. Auriemma is a tough egotistical sob. Years ago I followed the Uconn women's program closely but not because I was a Uconn fan and even though Geno was born in the same province in Italy he always managed to rub me the wrong way. Hopefully our women will be more competitive with some better recruits because we have a terrific coach and person. With Uconn on the schedule recruiting may actually improve with the women's team.[/quote]
Well said. This is a good move at this juncture for both UConn and our league. Our rivalry will be nasty, and it’s the school we all love to hate. It will help our recruiting if anything imo. We just need to keep working hard and selling this program.
As has been mentioned by a few here we were our own worst enemy during the Uconn golden years. We had coaches that did not recruit hard or coach well. With our last 4 coaches we settled for mediocrity. That's almost 20 years of poor hires, poor marketing, poor recruiting, poor everything.
Cragg and the CMA staff have ushered in a new era. We will be recruiting both locally and nationally.
The only area we may not catch up quickly is with the women's program. Auriemma is a tough egotistical sob. Years ago I followed the Uconn women's program closely but not because I was a Uconn fan and even though Geno was born in the same province in Italy he always managed to rub me the wrong way. Hopefully our women will be more competitive with some better recruits because we have a terrific coach and person. With Uconn on the schedule recruiting may actually improve with the women's team.[/quote]
Well said. This is a good move at this juncture for both UConn and our league. Our rivalry will be nasty, and it’s the school we all love to hate. It will help our recruiting if anything imo. We just need to keep working hard and selling this program.
I do think it is good for a league to have a villain and after realignment it has been hard to pinpoint who that is. The name Georgetown still stirs some folks up but not nearly as many as 30 years ago. Villanova wins all the time but is very hard to despise. Xavier, with Mack, had what it took but he is gone and it hadn't completely taken hold.
Enter UCONN. I've said enough about the fans. Don't forget the coach. Wait until you see his act, which plays perfectly with the UCONN fanbase. I have seen the word classy used so many times to describe Mike Anderson, well, that word will never be included in a sentence with Danny Hurley. Not saying he can't coach, and it wouldn't have driven me nuts personally if he ended up at SJU. But fans of schools other than UCONN are not going to love the phony "LOOK AT ME I'm the new Bobby Knight" nonsense that comes with Hurley.
Enter UCONN. I've said enough about the fans. Don't forget the coach. Wait until you see his act, which plays perfectly with the UCONN fanbase. I have seen the word classy used so many times to describe Mike Anderson, well, that word will never be included in a sentence with Danny Hurley. Not saying he can't coach, and it wouldn't have driven me nuts personally if he ended up at SJU. But fans of schools other than UCONN are not going to love the phony "LOOK AT ME I'm the new Bobby Knight" nonsense that comes with Hurley.
[quote="IDRAFT" post=353208]
Enter UCONN. I've said enough about the fans. Don't forget the coach. Wait until you see his act, which plays perfectly with the UCONN fanbase. I have seen the word classy used so many times to describe Mike Anderson, well, that word will never be included in a sentence with Danny Hurley. Not saying he can't coach, and it wouldn't have driven me nuts personally if he ended up at SJU. But fans of schools other than UCONN are not going to love the phony "LOOK AT ME I'm the new Bobby Knight" nonsense that comes with Hurley.[/quote]
https://redmen.com/videos/167-hurley.html
Enter UCONN. I've said enough about the fans. Don't forget the coach. Wait until you see his act, which plays perfectly with the UCONN fanbase. I have seen the word classy used so many times to describe Mike Anderson, well, that word will never be included in a sentence with Danny Hurley. Not saying he can't coach, and it wouldn't have driven me nuts personally if he ended up at SJU. But fans of schools other than UCONN are not going to love the phony "LOOK AT ME I'm the new Bobby Knight" nonsense that comes with Hurley.[/quote]
https://redmen.com/videos/167-hurley.html
[quote="Paul Massell" post=353201][quote="section10" post=353200]to brand or not to brand that is the question.
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.[/quote]
That is my experience as well. I'm guessing that UCLA is not a national brand for 3 reasons: 1) UCLA grads tend to stay in California. (this is somewhat changing because the UC schools' populations are being dominated by foreign students) 2) People from California are widely hated outside of California. (there is a lot of self-hatred too) If hated is too strong a word then maybe annoyed by, looked upon with disdain, critical of... but unless you are in the state or live in one of the California mutual-admiration echo chambers, California is not longer "cool" to average people. 3) The Pac-10/12... has not been a good conference for a long time and relative to recruiting has consistently under-performed.[/quote]
NM
this branding issue is perhaps a generational issue.
I am 71 and 1/2 years old. I don't remember ccny nor Bradley but I do remember when nyu was very good and Columbia was good. I started going to SJU games as a high school junior (63-64). I travel nationally and see Michigan, ohio state, notre dame garb very often. Georgetown gear is plentiful. UConn stuff is scarce, SJU stuff more scarce, in the branding issue I rarely see UCLA mentioned. this was a school that for decades dominated a sport like no other, except for maybe the beloved yankees. those not yet 30 years old, they know of UConn's glory from half a decade ago and believe that UConn is a national brand because of that.[/quote]
That is my experience as well. I'm guessing that UCLA is not a national brand for 3 reasons: 1) UCLA grads tend to stay in California. (this is somewhat changing because the UC schools' populations are being dominated by foreign students) 2) People from California are widely hated outside of California. (there is a lot of self-hatred too) If hated is too strong a word then maybe annoyed by, looked upon with disdain, critical of... but unless you are in the state or live in one of the California mutual-admiration echo chambers, California is not longer "cool" to average people. 3) The Pac-10/12... has not been a good conference for a long time and relative to recruiting has consistently under-performed.[/quote]
NM
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[quote="plandome4" post=353207]Change is good. Adding UCONN is great. We are a stronger, more competitive and more marketable league. If competition is too great the we should leave to play the St. Louis's and Dayton's of the world in mid major obscurity.[/quote]
Bingo.
Bingo.