Kevin Ollie Proves

[Cuse Action]

that a young, inexperienced coach can follow a legend and have success. I'd love to see Hopkins get the chance to do likewise, and sooner rather than later.

 

[jdubs30]

The one question surrounding Ollie (at least in my mind) was whether he could coach in big games spots; I think he can.

His recruiting was never question.

The only thing now is it will be alot harder to recruit than it was for Calhoun. They're still in the AAC.

 

[rstone7727]

The next two years will be telling, when Calhoun's kids are gone. Will Ollie be able to do it all? Recruit and coach? Time will tell.

 

[dasher]

that a young, inexperienced coach can follow a legend and have success. I'd love to see Hopkins get the chance to do likewise, and sooner rather than later.

You would rather have a coach that hasn't won one game over a guy that has won over 900. I am very glad you aren't making any important decisions.

 

[HOFCeluck]

As frustrated as I get I think a lot of people are going to have greater appreciation for Jim Boeheim when he retires.

 

[Cuse Action]

You would rather have a coach that hasn't won one game over a guy that has won over 900. I am very glad you aren't making any important decisions.

I'm guessing that if Hopkins had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years or so, he might have 900 wins as well, and maybe more than one national championship. Everyone knows he's a great recruiter. Unfortunately we may never know how well he'd do as head coach here.

 

[dasher]

I'm guessing that if Hopkins had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years or so, he might have 900 wins as well, and maybe more than one national championship. Everyone knows he's a great recruiter. Unfortunately we may never know how well he'd do as head coach here.

you're guessing that? Do you have any idea what it was like at Syracuse 37 years ago? I was there. No one put us in the same league with Marquette. Let alone other top programs. JB put us there. Along with help from the Big East and the Dome. You have no idea. We have been to the title game 3 times. And you guess that a guy that hasn't won one game would have done at least that. What tells you that? An angel on your shoulder. I am very friendly with Hop. I wish him nothing but the best. But he will have a long way to go before he is almost as good as JB.

 

[pfister1]

I'm guessing that if Hopkins had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years or so, he might have 900 wins as well, and maybe more than one national championship. Everyone knows he's a great recruiter. Unfortunately we may never know how well he'd do as head coach here.

I'm guessing that if he had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years he would have 900 wins as well, however I think it highly presumptive to think that he would be good enough to earn the opportunity to be at the helm of the Syracuse program for nearly 4 decades..... but yeah if he managed to do well enough to be allowed to stick around that long I guess a lot of wins would be expected.

 

[Cuse Action]

you're guessing that? Do you have any idea what it was like at Syracuse 37 years ago? I was there. No one put us in the same league with Marquette. Let alone other top programs. JB put us there. Along with help from the Big East and the Dome. You have no idea. We have been to the title game 3 times. And you guess that a guy that hasn't won one game would have done at least that. What tells you that? An angel on your shoulder. I am very friendly with Hop. I wish him nothing but the best. But he will have a long way to go before he is almost as good as JB.

Actually Fred Lewis and Roy Danforth started the rebuilding process, and the Big East was created and the program benefited from ESPN, the Dome, etc. And you have no idea how Hopkins will do as a head coach. I know he's a great recruiter, and that's a big part of building a program. And JB himself said that he was the best candidate for the USC job last year, so he must have some coaching chops. I think that Boeheim has been a great coach, and belongs in the HOF, etc. However, he is stubborn to a fault, and his offensive gameplan has regressed over the years. I'd prefer we not lose Hop to BC, etc.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

The next two years will be telling, when Calhoun's kids are gone. Will Ollie be able to do it all? Recruit and coach? Time will tell.

Well he got Daniel Hamilton and Sam Cassell Jr for next season and Prince Ali the year after. He seems to be off to a good start.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I'm guessing that if Hopkins had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years or so, he might have 900 wins as well, and maybe more than one national championship. Everyone knows he's a great recruiter. Unfortunately we may never know how well he'd do as head coach here.

Hop will be a very good coach. JB is a basketball genius.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Roy Danforth left Syracuse for Tulane.

Tulane

 

[rstone7727]

Well he got Daniel Hamilton and Sam Cassell Jr for next season and Prince Ali the year after. He seems to be off to a good start.

All three are shooting guards... The front court is where he needs help.

 

[kuethstheman]

you're guessing that? Do you have any idea what it was like at Syracuse 37 years ago? I was there. No one put us in the same league with Marquette. Let alone other top programs. JB put us there. Along with help from the Big East and the Dome. You have no idea. We have been to the title game 3 times. And you guess that a guy that hasn't won one game would have done at least that. What tells you that? An angel on your shoulder. I am very friendly with Hop. I wish him nothing but the best. But he will have a long way to go before he is almost as good as JB.

We were on a par with St. Bonaventure and Penn State, as I recall.

 

[orangedave]

Actually Fred Lewis and Roy Danforth started the rebuilding process, and the Big East was created and the program benefited from ESPN, the Dome, etc. And you have no idea how Hopkins will do as a head coach. I know he's a great recruiter, and that's a big part of building a program. And JB himself said that he was the best candidate for the USC job last year, so he must have some coaching chops. I think that Boeheim has been a great coach, and belongs in the HOF, etc. However, he is stubborn to a fault, and his offensive gameplan has regressed over the years. I'd prefer we not lose Hop to BC, etc.

And if Fred Lewis hadn't brought in Dave Bing & Jim Boeheim where would we be today? This was Lewis' greatest contribution to this program - not any thing he did on the court.

 

[Pat Kelly]

I'm guessing that if Hopkins had been coaching at SU for the last 37 years or so, he might have 900 wins as well, and maybe more than one national championship. Everyone knows he's a great recruiter. Unfortunately we may never know how well he'd do as head coach here.

Very dumb statement

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

All three are shooting guards... The front court is where he needs help.

Brimah, Nolan, and Daniels will all be back. Facey will be better with another year. Hamilton will play along side of Samuel and Cassell. I know most people here hate Uconn, but honestly Ollie is doing a great job. For what it's worth I think Hopkins would do a great job with SU. It will be very disappointing if he never gets the chance.

 

[LennX6]

We were on a par with St. Bonaventure and Penn State, as I recall.

A NIT bid was a reason to celebrate.
We have had centers that went from 6'4" to 6'6".

 

[TheCusian]

Brimah, Nolan, and Daniels will all be back. Facey will be better with another year. Hamilton will play along side of Samuel and Cassell. I know most people here hate Uconn, but honestly Ollie is doing a great job. For what it's worth I think Hopkins would do a great job with SU. It will be very disappointing if he never gets the chance.

Every year a mid-major with a high seed slips through to the final four. It's just UCONN's turn. Ollie still has much to prove over the long haul.

 

[Shermthegeneral]

As frustrated as I get I think a lot of people are going to have greater appreciation for Jim Boeheim when he retires.

I've often wondered how well JBs career would have been if he didn't have the dome as his recruiting tool.

 

[pearl31]

Mike Davis coached Indiana to F4 right after taking over from Knight.

 

[Orangezoo]

All respect to ollie but shabazz is the key here. The real test begins when calhouns guys are gone.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I've often wondered how well JBs career would have been if he didn't have the dome as his recruiting tool.

It certainly didn't hurt, but he was doing well when we were playing games at Manley. I may be wrong, but Boeheim hated the Dome at first.

 

[uc_jack]

All three are shooting guards... The front court is where he needs help.

Calling Hamilton just a SG isn't accurate, he is a 6'7" swingman who will play the 3 mostly, but reportedly also has some PG skills and handle. Yes he is mostly a perimeter player but is long, has a good handle, drives to the basket, and isn't afraid to get physical. If he has the skills as reported, he will be a matchup nightmare.

We do also have PF Rakim Lubin (nicknamed Rock) coming in at 6'7" and 230lbs (some reports up to 250) He is not currently very highly ranked (3ish stars, just out of top 100), but he was ranked as high as 40 last year before a back injury kept him out of the summer leagues and lost exposure. He is healthy now and is playing great. Probably won't contribute much more that muscle for his freshman year, but the kid already has a man's body, is strong, quick and athletic and will be a key player in the frontcourt in a couple years.

And don't forget Brimah, who was an Ollie recruit. He may be thin, but will get stronger and better. Kid is athletic and although only playing ball for 4yrs, is a sponge who will get MUCH better if his growth over this year is any indication.

As for the guards, we have Cassel Jr. (PG) coming in and Purvis (SG/PG)transferring from NCST. Both are big guards at 6'4", with Purvis at 200lbs. 2015 will see Prince Ali (SG) come in, also at 6'4". And with Samuels (PG), also an Ollie recruit, already on the roster at 6'4" and a strong 190, we are well stocked with a big backcourt.

Yes, so far Ollie has had better luck recruiting more highly ranked guards, but given the choice, I would rather have the star guards and swingmen than the star frontcourt. Good guard play and defense wins tournament games. As long as we can get serviceable bigs who can defend and rebound, that's all we need.

And with UConn and Ollie's exposure with this FF run, you can bet our recruiting gets even better. There are still some quality late recruits out there that I bet are taking another look at UConn. Don't worry about this "mid-major" team, we'll be just fine...

 

[HOFCeluck]

I was definitely posting on a UCONN board this time last year!