Kristen Somogyi - throwing it out there

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

.in most cases, they will make that choice on life experience, conditioned thought that may make them more comfortable with a person who looks a certain way.

It is "tribal" and is likely buried in your DNA through evolution. You were safer with beings that looked like you.. which is why children tend to look like their parents.. especially their fathers.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't work toward overcoming that.. but there has to be a way to serve both aspirational and more tangible goals.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I agree. But to say that Geno would not recruit a certain socioeconomic status is false. As I said in another post he built a dynasty where his program became the recruited rather than the recruiter. He could become more selective of who he brought into the program. It was never about color of skin or socioeconomic background. It was who was a solid citizen and who could help him win national championships. Nothing else and if that person was purple so be it.

That's a nice ability.. to be so in demand that you get first crack at all the solid citizen superstar athletes.. while others who want to compete with you athletically take from the ones you pass on.

Geno and UCONN "got there".. to that vaunted position. In football Bama is there right now... want to make the CFP and play for national titles? Check out Bama.. and now Georgia too... but how do you get to that point? What did Geno do to get to that position of power? It's not luck when you do not lose for years... but was that AFTER he did what he needed to do to build a team like that? Are women's sports more prone to having the best of the best all go to the same place so they will not lose? SO many questions about how programs become dynasties.

 

[Knight Time Fan]

I agree. But to say that Geno would not recruit a certain socioeconomic status is false. As I said in another post he built a dynasty where his program became the recruited rather than the recruiter. He could become more selective of who he brought into the program. It was never about color of skin or socioeconomic background. It was who was a solid citizen and who could help him win national championships. Nothing else and if that person was purple so be it.

Absolutely.

One of the obvious differences between Geno when he arrived at UConn vs. Vivian arriving at Rutgers is that (similar to Adia here in AZ) he had to sell a vision. Vivian largely - especially in the 1990's - could sell herself, rather than "Rutgers". This has always been her advantage but increasingly that advantage decreased and the Rutgers facilities and amenities became a larger factor. Now, it is recruits' parents who can identify her as a great pioneer and early advocate for equal rights.

One of the factors that unites Vivian's recruits is athletic skill. Because she is so defensively oriented, you have to be really athletic to play something like the "55".

 

[kupuna133]

That's a nice ability.. to be so in demand that you get first crack at all the solid citizen superstar athletes.. while others who want to compete with you athletically take from the ones you pass on.

Geno and UCONN "got there".. to that vaunted position. In football Bama is there right now... want to make the CFP and play for national titles? Check out Bama.. and now Georgia too... but how do you get to that point? What did Geno do to get to that position of power? It's not luck when you do not lose for years... but was that AFTER he did what he needed to do to build a team like that? Are women's sports more prone to having the best of the best all go to the same place so they will not lose? SO many questions about how programs become dynasties.

Great questions. Definitely not luck. Lot's of attention to detail. He did not lose for years because he built a program and system that developed and attracted great basketball players. I remember reading early on something that Geno said. Something that sounds so simple. In the beginning he recruited fundamentally sound basketball players and tried to make them better athletes. He said people make the mistake of recruiting great athletes and try to make them better fundamentally sound basketball players. Very difficult to do.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Great questions. Definitely not luck. Lot's of attention to detail. He did not lose for years because he built a program and system that developed and attracted great basketball players. I remember reading early on something that Geno said. Something that sounds so simple. In the beginning he recruited fundamentally sound basketball players and tried to make them better athletes. He said people make the mistake of recruiting great athletes and try to make them better fundamentally sound basketball players. Very difficult to do.

Never thought of that. Makes sense. I think our old coach Gary Waters said he only wanted to recruit WINNERS and SCORERS. If you didn't come from a winning team where you were a scorer.. he didn't want you.

I suppose that could also indicate having a fundamentally sound game or being coached by someone who taught fundamentals (which produced the winning team).

 

[MADHAT1]

Absolutely.

One of the obvious differences between Geno when he arrived at UConn vs. Vivian arriving at Rutgers is that (similar to Adia here in AZ) he had to sell a vision. Vivian largely - especially in the 1990's - could sell herself, rather than "Rutgers". This has always been her advantage but increasingly that advantage decreased and the Rutgers facilities and amenities became a larger factor. Now, it is recruits' parents who can identify her as a great pioneer and early advocate for equal rights.

One of the factors that unites Vivian's recruits is athletic skill. Because she is so defensively oriented, you have to be really athletic to play something like the "55".

one of the things thast probasbly keep some recruits away is CVS defense first approach and recruits thinking about thEIR offense play being hurt by Stringer's defensive expectations of them ones if they chose RU.

 

[RUcrazee]

So many good points made in the posts above.

First, I just want to be clear that I never suggested that Geno would not recruit a certain socioeconomic status. I was just pointing out an observation. I am aware that he has had recruits from the inner city(Barb Turner, Lorin Dixon and Tina Charles) . My observation is that there hasn't been many. It's not a criticism of Geno either. There's nothing wrong with the way he recruits. You guys have been pointing out some of the reasoning behind his recruiting. And as we all realize, it's so much easier to pull that off when you have so many to pick from. He can actually recruit players with both,..... fundamentals and athleticism.

In that same vein, I don't see any reason to suggest that CVS would not recruit or has not recruited white players as was the theme earlier in this thread. They both recruit players that they feel will fit their system. Bottom line, once again, is that CVS has struggled to get the elite-talent(regardless of ethnicity) that we all know are needed in numbers, to be able to get us back to where we want to be.

She was as aware as the rest of us that the team has needed outside shooting to help the offense improve. She made attempts to bring in shooters. Top level players who could have filled that bill were not looking at us as an option. We hadn't been in vogue for a while(for all the reasons we've discussed many times before) until those recent things I've often mentioned (Arella, winning streak, RU in WNBA, CVS recent attention). Too bad we couldn't follow through on those program momentum starters with strong post season play. We could be in the same position as the Michigans and Indys. We were right along side those programs for much of the last four years.

CVS brought in Cynthia Hernandez, Kathleen Fitpatrick, Nigia Greene, Kate Hill, Noga Peleg-Pelc, Alex Alfano, Charise Wilson, Danielle Migliore all to improve the perimeter shooting. Not all panned out due to defensive deficiencies. Mabrys were not thinking about coming to play for CVS.

She's been recruiting who she thinks she can get.

 

[RUcrazee]

Never thought of that. Makes sense. I think our old coach Gary Waters said he only wanted to recruit WINNERS and SCORERS. If you didn't come from a winning team where you were a scorer.. he didn't want you.

I suppose that could also indicate having a fundamentally sound game or being coached by someone who taught fundamentals (which produced the winning team).

Unfortunately, he couldn't take advantage of the hotbed that NJ was back then with St Ants, St Pats, Paterson Cath, StJoe's Metuchen, and ALL the powerhouse public schools at that time. An excellent coach who never had the luxury of being able to pull that recruiting strategy off. Might have if Fred Hill would have stuck in the role of recruiter and not HC.

He did get Lamizana and his top recruit Douby from NY.