Because he couldn't recruit the same level of athletes to UCONN, athletes make coaches look good.
Show me the best coaches and I'll show you the best athletes. Thing is they would be good with almost anyone, except maybe Jerry.
Why couldn't he get top athletes to UCONN? They've had tremendous middle distance success in the past for both the men and women. He had 18 women's scholarships. Their basketball teams are the best in the nation.
The UCONN team got worse every single year he was there.
have you ever been to Storrs? Kinda in the middle of nowhere. Basketball players spend all their time in a gym, same scenery no matter where they go to school.
Why couldn't he get top athletes to UCONN? They've had tremendous middle distance success in the past for both the men and women. He had 18 women's scholarships. Their basketball teams are the best in the nation.
The UCONN team got worse every single year he was there.
have you ever been to Storrs? Kinda in the middle of nowhere. Basketball players spend all their time in a gym, same scenery no matter where they go to school.
If its in the middle of nowhere then there are more trails for the team to run on. Even more reason why he should have done better at Uconn.
The thing is Juliette Whittaker was fast in High School, but if you actually watched her race in championship races, she was terrible . . .. She maintained her position the entire NCAA Championship race when everyone else around her, Gorrarian, Rose, Galbadyte etc, were making so many unnecessary moves up and down the pack. She basically had a perfect ride in third place for the entire run and was able to make the move when it counted. So maybe she hasn't improved in terms of PRs, but as an actual racer, she's miles better than she was in high school.
And, it's those xc miles and 1500 races she's been running two years now at Stanford that developed Juliette's strength to the point where she is now able to race 2:01/1:59/1:58 within a four-day window . . . and make the Olympic team.
In hindsight, JJ looks like a genius training and racing Juliette the way he has. But, he always has been great with female 800 runners . . . that's his MO.
Roisin had a wonderful bounce back year and went as far as could be expected at the Trials given her reduced workload this past school season due to her health problems last year as well as her recent growth spurt which added several pounds to her frame.
Since JJ had Roisin take a month off last summer then build back up in the weight room and do long sprint training during the fall -- rather than run xc -- her speed was very good but her endurance was lacking. This showed in the Trials semi's where she could only muster a 2:02 while top-3 went 1:58-1:58-1:59. Expect Roisin to be back with the xc team this fall.
Juliette's 1:58.45 now puts her 16th on this year's 800 performers list as of 6/25/2024 (see WA's Top Lists). Two ahead of her are Rose and MacKay who will not be running the 800 in Paris.
So, would certainly seems reasonable Juliette could/should make semi's in Paris.
From there -- as the quoted poster above stated -- Juliette's "miles better" racing tactics could very well slingshot her into the finals.
ON made a very wise decision by anointing Juliette Whittaker with an NIL deal. At this point, whatever they paid her ain't enough.