Penny Hardaway not happy UConn is leaving AAC

[gtmoBlue]

A short or rapid rise for Connecticut hoops will likely have a rise/improvement in recruiting. Historically, UConn dominance in regional recruiting has negatively affected Prov, StJ, & SH. This reconnect to the BE will likely have a short term boost to UConn's already good recruiting. Khrishna Karma help the poor friars, Johnnie's, & pirates, their recruiting & good performance run may be coming to an abrupt end.

For conference continuity sake (for the c7 minions) let's hope it takes 5-6 years for UConn to get it's shit together. The Western Division should be fine as they recruit different regions. I for one am all in for Eastern Division chaos. Go Jays!

[adoraz]

A short or rapid rise for Connecticut hoops will likely have a rise/improvement in recruiting. Historically, UConn dominance in regional recruiting has negatively affected Prov, StJ, & SH. This reconnect to the BE will likely have a short term boost to UConn's already good recruiting. Khrishna Karma help the poor friars, Johnnie's, & pirates, their recruiting & good performance run may be coming to an abrupt end.

For conference continuity sake (for the c7 minions) let's hope it takes 5-6 years for UConn to get it's shit together. The Western Division should be fine as they recruit different regions. I for one am all in for Eastern Division chaos. Go Jays!

Nah, I disagree. It's actually been the opposite for St. John's.

Seton Hall, Providence and St. John's all started recruiting very well towards the end of the old Big East when UConn and Syracuse were still in it. Lavin had a couple top 5/10 classes in the old Big East, which were better than any of our classes since realignment. Our best year in nearly 2 decades was 2011. That year we had a Top 25 team, #6 seed, and a top 5 incoming class (including a top 15 NBA draft pick and a couple others currently in the NBA). We haven't had a year even close to that since realignment. Oh, and what happened that same year? UConn won the National Championship.

Also, it's not like UConn stopped recruiting in the AAC. UConn gets players regardless of what conference they're in. They stole a recruit from St. John's (Sidney Wilson) a couple years ago despite him having signed a LOI with us. They have a top 25 incoming class next year. That's all despite being in the AAC. UConn still exists as a national brand no matter which conference they're in. The same is true for teams like Syracuse and Louisville. Will UConn get slightly better players in the Big East? Yes, most likely. But that doesn't mean it'd necessarily be coming at our expense. There are plenty of NE kids to go around and we need to establish the region as our own. Not the ACC's, B1G's, AAC's, A10"s, etc.

What matters most is the coach. Seton Hall and Providence have excellent coaches who have turned down major schools. Hurley looks to be an excellent coach. Mullin didn't even show up to recruiting visits, so hopefully Anderson will be more like Lavin and get us some top classes. We need to return to the momentum we had in 2011.

[Bogg]

Also, it's not like UConn stopped recruiting in the AAC. UConn gets players regardless of what conference they're in. They stole a recruit from St. John's (Sidney Wilson) a couple years ago despite him having signed a LOI with us.

Correction - he had enrolled and started summer classes on campus when Ollie scooped him.

[GoldenWarrior11]

No competition, no progress...

Adding an elite men's basketball program like UConn can only help the other Big East programs in recruiting. For the other programs, it will help draw more high level players (knowing that there is yet another major program that they will get to play against), and - for the NE programs minus Villanova (SJ, SH, PROV) - it will only increase the level of strong regionalism the area already has. Part of what made the original Big East special was that it kept many of the local recruits "home" because they knew that they would be on TV and get to play against many of the players they played against in HS. For the Midwestern BE programs, they will be able to sell yet another major program that they will be able to compete against twice per year.

What really diluted the Big East was the abundance of programs (16 in its prime) and the presence of routinely subpar programs (Rutgers, USF, DePaul); this led to programs like Seton Hall and Providence being incredibly overshadowed and an inability to climb out from the mid-to-lower class of the conference. Getting back to a smaller league allowed both of those programs to actually have a competitive shot at doing well in the league, and look how their recruiting and on-court success has taken off because of it. Never in a million years in the old Big East would either program be able to keep their head coaches against the interest of big-money backers like Michigan (Cooley) and Pittsburgh/Virginia Tech (Willard). It's been wonderful to see both programs return to prominence under the new configuration.

[Xudash]

Let's also consider that Providence, specifically, circa 2009 is not the same Providence as exists today when it comes to facilities, in particular.

A renovated Dunk and the new on-campus facility are major selling points for Cooley and Company.

Georgetown's new on-campus facility makes a big statement.

[adoraz]

Also, it's not like UConn stopped recruiting in the AAC. UConn gets players regardless of what conference they're in. They stole a recruit from St. John's (Sidney Wilson) a couple years ago despite him having signed a LOI with us.

Correction - he had enrolled and started summer classes on campus when Ollie scooped him.

Lol yep, I typed that out but deleted it because the paragraph was getting too long and I didn't want to spend too much time explaining. It sucked at the time, but now I'm just glad to have a real coach. The best thing for the program long-term was us embarrassing ourselves in the First Four a few months ago.

[Husky_U]

Also, it's not like UConn stopped recruiting in the AAC. UConn gets players regardless of what conference they're in. They stole a recruit from St. John's (Sidney Wilson) a couple years ago despite him having signed a LOI with us.

Correction - he had enrolled and started summer classes on campus when Ollie scooped him.

Lol yep, I typed that out but deleted it because the paragraph was getting too long and I didn't want to spend too much time explaining. It sucked at the time, but now I'm just glad to have a real coach. The best thing for the program long-term was us embarrassing ourselves in the First Four a few months ago.

Having a real coach is an amazing thing.