Both, of course, are well-deserved. Here's what they had to say:
HAMILTON:
"It's truly a blessing. I just want to continue to keep improving from this day on and keep getting better."
(on Kevin Ollie being a "second father")
"I can just talk to him about anything, his door is open 24 hours. Being to be able to talk to him about anything, on and off the court."
"It's truly an honor to be able to play for him, as well."
"This award means a lot. There were a lot of expectations coming into it, but when you've got coaches and teammates believing in you, it's not that tough."
Hamilton noted that his grandmother, Lucine Noble, passed away recently. The funeral is on Tuesday, and he will try to fly out to California on Monday to attend.
Added Kevin Ollie:
"You've got to take in consideration, he's from L.A., coming all the way across the country. Dealing with the academics, the time management we put on their lives -- it's tough. For him to continue to work and to have that on his back throughout the whole season, being named preseason rookie of the year, it's great. His expectations of himself are more than we expect of him. He's going to continue to do a good job, hopefully throughout this new season that we have, he'll continue his great play."
LENAHAN:
"It was completely unexpected. I didn't really think I'd be up for it. I know the scholar part, but the scholar-athlete part. It's an honor to receive the award. I think it says a lot about the University of Connecticut and the basketball program, really what coach Ollie stands for. I'm happy to be a representative of what coach Ollie wants us to do on and off the court."
*** Meanwhile, Temple's Fran Dunphy won coach of the year and SMU's Nic Moore was named player of the year. Obviously, Ryan Boatright could have won player of the year, as well, but Moore was the best player on the best team.
Here's what Ollie said about it:
"Anybody who's a competitor, you want to win player of the year. He had some great numbers, he led our conference in scoring, in assists he was right up in the top five. He did a wonderful job. He was unanimous first team, that's a great honor for him. Of course he wanted to win player of the year. I'd be lying right in your face if he didn't. But, at the end of the day, he doesn't have any control over that. What he has control over is getting our team ready to play, being a leader, being the point guard of our team. I think that's where his mindset is."
David - Love the blog. Thanks for keeping us up to speed on all things UConn men's hoops. Do you have any updates on UConn's recruiting efforts by chance? Looks like Adams will have an impact right away and Enoch is promising but it seems like UConn is missing out on recruits left and right these days. Traci Carter the most recent example. Is Ollie struggling with this? Does not having a talented recruiter on staff like a Slice Rohrssen hurt them? I figured coming off the title and with the new facility they would have a great class already lined up (of course if Stone commits it changes everything but I'm pessimistic about that happening). You're in the know, what are you hearing out there? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeletethe antistaff has been hustling for 3 yrs and counting. it is now proven they cannot recruit. consider only 1 impact player (dan) in this time frame. the anticoach offers any & everyone with a pulse who comes with a bag of burgers. this just advertises that he does not know what he do. successful player procurers focus on specific dudes to make them feel special and wanted. what you see is a staff of underlings who have returned to old stomping grounds to find gravy train paychecks as alternative to unemployment line. courant teem does not improve in many categories and in many facets has regressed. anticoach luv to fly to wisc and calif at drop of hat to speak to unattainable enrollees. anticoach cannot judge how rudimentary skills vs rudimentary competition translates to aac levels let alone ncaa levels. anticoach just rode jimbo recruits for two years. now he cooked. keep in mind that 3 schollies are vacant this campaign with a roster of 80% antiplayas. that means anticoach is offering and there are no takers coast to coast. i wonder wise
ReplyDeletesaw box score for ecarolina vs ucf. for attendance they list N/A. at least this silly conference gets something right. looked like about 150 people in seats on tv. smart not to say anything about attendance that might find way into publication.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the staff is trying to tap into the Vermont Academy pipeline. Also big on the shooting guard from Putnam Science Academy. Believe it or not, I don't think national championships mean as much to some kids as you might want them to. For the most talented recruits, college is a way station to the pros. "What can you do to get me to the NBA?" But then, UConn has never really had many of those kids (just one one-and-done, Drummond), so Ollie and staff deserve a couple more years to establish themselves on the recruiting trail.
ReplyDeleteanticoach will get the deux ans yo speak of; but if antistaff is not shaken up immediately the anti won will be done( the to yrs yo speak of are just gratitude and sympathy for taking jimbo players and chaperoning them to fourteen world title]
ReplyDelete