Fw: Mike DeCourcy: UConn should shoot for two

[richard l. kandell]

DeCourcy is still trying to look out for UC.  :-)

Richard K.

----- Original Message ----- 
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Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 10:06 PM
Subject: Mike DeCourcy: UConn should shoot for two


> You can also find this article at:
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> UConn should shoot for two
> 06/16/2003
>
> Mike DeCourcy
> Sporting News
>
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> Preseason Football - The countdown begins.
> http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/preseason
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>
> 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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