(06-26-2019 10:29 AM)baruna falls Wrote: Unrealistic expectations by fan base and donors will.likely doom UConn's move to NBE.
Right now Uconn basketball fans are basking in the glow of a return to the Garden and the NBe. While this is understandable it's also fools gold. Here's why:
1. There is no reason to believe that Uconn will perform any better in the NBe than the AAC. NbE AMD AAc are neck and neck in terms of basketball rankings. Why would Uconn do any better in the NBe than the AAC. I know Uconn fans will cite better recruiting in the NBE , but I dont buy it.
2. This is a hail Mary for UConn. Donors and TV rights seem to be driving this panic move. There is no reason to believe UConn will suddenly become a power basketball team anytime soon, what happens when the donors and fans realize the move to the NBe did nothing for Uconn except shift the University's problems to a new league.
3. The players and coaches will feel the unrealistic pressure to be winners all the time and I believe will simply buckle from the constant pressure and unhappy fan response to their basketball product. Hurley is going to realize very quickly that nothing short of a NBe title will do for the Uconn faithful and he will have to decide if he wants the constant pressure of a win now and all the time mentality.
3.Going forward Uconn will struggle to find a head Basketball coach that will be happy to be given a short lease every season.
. I believe Uconn has created an impossible scenario for its basketball program with this move. Is for example a winning season enough for its fan base or is it Championship or bust every season. Imo the NBe creates many more negative issues than positive ones for Uconn basketball. ( the loss of football goes without saying in terms of issues Uconn.must deal with now.)
What do those who are driving this decision count as suc ess for the basketball team? My guess is that it is tied to reliving the glory days of Uconn basketball and the NBe. A hope that is probably more wish than reality.
Lol really? I'm not one of the people that blames the AAC for our struggles. 100% of the blame goes towards Kevin Ollie. We've had better recruiting classes than most of the AAC teams with the exceptions of 2018 and 2017 and we still sucked. This alone shows that it was the fault of the HC. I will forever be grateful for the 2014 championship, but the guy was a terrible HC. He was the reason we struggled and now we have one of the most promising HCs in college basketball and I can GUARANTEE right now that we will be better going forward than we have been the last 5 years.
The AAC is not a better basketball conference and NEVER will be. The BE has put more teams in the tourney than the AAC since its inception and it has 2 national titles in that span, they also have 3 of the last 6 champions if you already include us in the BE.
The only AAC schools that prioritize basketball over football are Wichita St. (obviously) and Memphis. Cincy just got a new HC and as a result are a complete unknown right now. No one knows if Penny at Memphis will even succeed. He has one season under his belt and no previous track record, could easily be Kevin Ollie 2.0. And as for that #1 recruiting class, the only reason he got it was because of his AAU ties to Wiseman, then Wiseman's commitment brought in the rest of the kids to join him. We'll see how Memphis recruits when Penny's AAU ties dry up. Houston is a really solid program and they will continue be with Sampson, I think they are really well positioned to continue to be a top 25 or even top 10 team some years. Same thing with Wichita St., they only care about basketball which appeals to recruits and Gregg Marshall is a hell of a coach. UCF had one good season last year and basketball is an afterthought to them compared to football, they won't be consistently good. As for the rest of the teams? They aren't worth a damn and show no signs of any real promise. In summary, the only AAC schools guaranteed to succeed in the future are Houston and Wichita St. Memphis and Cincinnati can be in the discussion but the HCs are complete unknowns right now. Even if things work out and Memphis, Cincy, Houston, and Wichita St. are consistently top 25 teams, you can still put me down for Villanova, UConn, Xavier, and Georgetown having more success going forward.
The BE on the other hand is in the grand scheme of things solely focused on basketball. These are all basketball schools who fully prioritize the sport. All the funds, time, energy, and effort gets funneled towards basketball for these schools. The sole mission and purpose of the ADs at these schools is to build good basketball programs. This is why the BE will continue to be better than the AAC. The AAC has split priorities between football and basketball, while the BE is all in on basketball. Programs like Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, and Xavier are known nationwide not only as basketball schools, but ones that have been extremely successful in the past and are well positioned to continue that success in the future.
The recruiting without question will be better for UConn and you have to be brain dead to not realize that. Our main recruiting grounds are New England and the Mid-Atlantic, two of the most talent rich regions when it comes to basketball. These kids grew up with the BE in their backyards. They all know that the BE IS basketball, and they grew up watching all these programs. Tell me, what northeast or mid-atlantic kid knows anything or gives a crap about Cincy, Houston, or Wichita St. basketball? A ton of these kids want to play where they grew up, play against the teams they grew up watching, parents can drive a couple of hours for most games and watch their sons play, these are all things that work in UConn's favor. Most people in our neck of the woods don't give a crap about the AAC or know anything about the schools in it, but EVERYONE knows about the BE and the emphasis that their programs put on basketball.
You honestly think Hurley didn't know the expectations when he agreed to coach here??? At his introductory press conference he even stated that he knows Final Fours and national championships are the expectation here. His father is the greatest high school basketball coach of all time. He has had the pressure of living up to his father's legacy ever since he became a HC. He is no stranger to pressure or to difficult situations. He built a top 25 program in Rhode Island of all places, a complete dumpster fire 1000x worse than the state of our program when he took it over. He had infinitely less resources and traction with recruits and he still succeeded in building a hell of a program. Believe me, EVERYONE that comes to UConn, players and HC included, know the expectations and aren't going to shy away from them. We also don't have a "win now mentality". Most of the fans know it's a process that will take Hurley 3-5 years if everything goes according to plan before we can even think about the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. It's all about recruiting well and getting slightly better every year.
P.S. We don't give a CRAP about football. Thank you for your interest in UConn athletics, and enjoy the AAC.
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Unrealistic expectations may doom Uconn's move to NBe
