Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Kevin's Blog: Leave the UConn Men Alone
UConn Freshman Ben Eaves is transferring. This comes as little surprise. With a recruiting class as large as last fall's, there were bound to be defections. If I'm a kid good enough to play division one, then I would want to play. Ben Eaves will get a shot somewhere else and we hope have a good college career.
What is so baffling to me is the criticism I've been hearing about the 2006-2007 Huskies. Did they underachieve? Perhaps. They had one of the program's most heralded recruiting classes ever. And outside of Jerome Dyson, there's not one kid I can call a definite future star. To be fair though, they did lose 5 players to the NBA draft. Five!
On top of that, I have actually seen people suggest that Coach Calhoun should consider giving some of his salary back after a 17-14 season. Or that he should stop recruiting kids who leave early for the NBA. Are you kidding me? So let's watch State U become a mid-major. Heck, why not opt out of the Big East and join the Patriot League. Is that really what you want? One trip to the NCAA Tournament every five years, one win in the Big Dance every 50 years?
Get a clue Connecticut. When I moved here 11 years ago I constantly heard how Jim Calhoun could not win the big one and get to a Final Four. Then he brings in Rip, Khalid, Emeka and Ben and wins two titles and it's still not good enough? That is not fair. That is not right. Jim Calhoun is one of only two coaches to win multiple national titles in the last 25 years. The other coach you ask? Coack K. at Duke. Let's see...the Blue Devils lost in the first round of the tournament to Virgina Commonwealth, so maybe Coach K. should get canned or at least give back some of his salary.
Keep recruiting the best players, Coach. Who am I to question the level of talent. Coach Calhoun has nearly 800 wins. I have zero. He promised us Ben Gordon would be a star when no one else saw it. 21 points per game later in the NBA and a NCAA title, who was right? Coach Calhoun will sort out the problems of this past season and within two years be back in the hunt for another championship. In the meantime, if UConn fans want to see only four year players who don't leave early for the NBA, go root for another team. We have plenty of schools in the state that would love to take your money. And just think, you'll have plenty of extra cash since travelling to a final four will never be an option.
What is so baffling to me is the criticism I've been hearing about the 2006-2007 Huskies. Did they underachieve? Perhaps. They had one of the program's most heralded recruiting classes ever. And outside of Jerome Dyson, there's not one kid I can call a definite future star. To be fair though, they did lose 5 players to the NBA draft. Five!
On top of that, I have actually seen people suggest that Coach Calhoun should consider giving some of his salary back after a 17-14 season. Or that he should stop recruiting kids who leave early for the NBA. Are you kidding me? So let's watch State U become a mid-major. Heck, why not opt out of the Big East and join the Patriot League. Is that really what you want? One trip to the NCAA Tournament every five years, one win in the Big Dance every 50 years?
Get a clue Connecticut. When I moved here 11 years ago I constantly heard how Jim Calhoun could not win the big one and get to a Final Four. Then he brings in Rip, Khalid, Emeka and Ben and wins two titles and it's still not good enough? That is not fair. That is not right. Jim Calhoun is one of only two coaches to win multiple national titles in the last 25 years. The other coach you ask? Coack K. at Duke. Let's see...the Blue Devils lost in the first round of the tournament to Virgina Commonwealth, so maybe Coach K. should get canned or at least give back some of his salary.
Keep recruiting the best players, Coach. Who am I to question the level of talent. Coach Calhoun has nearly 800 wins. I have zero. He promised us Ben Gordon would be a star when no one else saw it. 21 points per game later in the NBA and a NCAA title, who was right? Coach Calhoun will sort out the problems of this past season and within two years be back in the hunt for another championship. In the meantime, if UConn fans want to see only four year players who don't leave early for the NBA, go root for another team. We have plenty of schools in the state that would love to take your money. And just think, you'll have plenty of extra cash since travelling to a final four will never be an option.
Posted at 2:45 PM by kevin
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