Fw: Mike DeCourcy: UConn should shoot for two

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Date: 16 Jun 2003 - 10:49 PM EST

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by Mike DeCourcy

» email Mike | Mike's archives | about Mike

UConn should shoot for two

June 16, 2003 Print it

Everyone seems in such a hurry to abandon Connecticut -- it's like morning rush hour at the Greenwich train station. The Huskies' old rivals from Boston College and Syracuse were first to buy their tickets, bound for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Then UConn athletic director Lew Perkins shipped out last week for Kansas. If young stars Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon hadn't chosen to return for their junior seasons, coach Jim Calhoun would be one lonely fellow.

All of this has led the Huskies toward their most critical juncture since the resignation of Calhoun's predecessor, Dom Perno, in 1986. When B.C., Syracuse and Miami are off in the ACC fighting Tar Heels and Terps, UConn is going to need somebody to play. Somebody good.

The Huskies have the most to lose in the impending shuffle. They won the NCAA title in 1999 and, with Okafor and Gordon in the lineup, they are among the favorites in 2004. Though the Huskies' eventual conference address will be dictated by their move to I-A football, this always will be a basketball school. It will become a diminished basketball school, though, if too little attention is paid to the sport in the development of the next league UConn calls home.

The Huskies, like it or not, need Cincinnati and Memphis.

Whether UConn joins the remaining Big East football schools in establishing a new league or agrees to a reformulated Big East that divides the schools that play major college football from the ones that don't, the teams most frequently proposed as the Huskies' partners do not have the critical mass to create a high-powered basketball league.

Four of the teams UConn will join are a given: Big East members Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and Virginia Tech. If only three more are added for an eight-team configuration, the reported favorites are Louisville, Central Florida and Temple. This would not be an attractive basketball league for television. It wouldn't be powerful enough on the court.

Only three of the eight schools finished the 2002-03 season in the Ratings Percentage Index top 50. That's not an aberration. That's the average over the past decade. Aside from UConn, the Big East schools in this group have managed a combined four NCAA Tournament appearances since 1994. Only Temple and Louisville have been tournament regulars.

Rutgers, West Virginia and Virginia Tech have not demonstrated they are capable of consistently competing at the high major level. Pittsburgh made remarkable progress under Ben Howland, but that advance is tenuous enough that competing in a weak league also could undermine the Panthers.

Adding Memphis and Cincinnati to this group would enhance its popular appeal and competitive gravitas. The Tigers and Bearcats own a combined 13 NCAA trips over the past decade. Memphis made the RPI top 50 three times during that period; Cincinnati ranked in the top 10 four times and never fell lower than 31st. The Bearcats have finished among the top 25 teams in attendance six times in the last 10 years. Memphis made that list seven times, the same as UConn. Memphis also brings the potential for overwhelming corporate support from FedEx and AutoZone.

With Memphis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Temple and Pittsburgh, UConn would have five partners competing at a high level in basketball. That would be a heck of a league. It would be enough to keep fans and recruits interested and worthy of attention from TV networks. The strength at the top of such a conference ought to encourage the development of its other programs.

The inclusion of Memphis and Cincinnati, however, may require the insistence of a formidable player in the negotiations. It could be UConn's call. This might not be an easy stand for the Huskies to take, given that relations between Calhoun and Memphis coach John Calipari were, to put it mildly, uneasy during the latter's tenure at Massachusetts. But you know what coaches like to say: No pain, no gain.

Senior writer Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for Sporting News. Email him at address@hidden

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