Strength and conditioning coach fired
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Was he fired? Press release from UConn below:
STORRS, Conn. --- UConn assistant strength and conditioning coach Travis Illian, who worked primarily with the men’s basketball program, is leaving the university to pursue other opportunities.
Illian has been with the men’s basketball program for the past four seasons. He directed the Huskies’ in-season and off-season weight training, conditioning and nutrition programs.
“Travis’ knowledge, expertise and friendship have been a tremendous help to our players and coaching staff during his time with the program,” UConn head basketball coach Kevin Ollie said. “We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in his career.”
Previous to coming to UConn in 2013, Illian held positions at the University of Alabama, TCU and Mississippi State.
STORRS, Conn. --- UConn assistant strength and conditioning coach Travis Illian, who worked primarily with the men’s basketball program, is leaving the university to pursue other opportunities.
Illian has been with the men’s basketball program for the past four seasons. He directed the Huskies’ in-season and off-season weight training, conditioning and nutrition programs.
“Travis’ knowledge, expertise and friendship have been a tremendous help to our players and coaching staff during his time with the program,” UConn head basketball coach Kevin Ollie said. “We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in his career.”
Previous to coming to UConn in 2013, Illian held positions at the University of Alabama, TCU and Mississippi State.
I don't mean to say just injuries is to blame for Travis... you have to look at players developing physically and for instance Brimah not much. Facey did only this past year
Purv is Purv physically but stamina not there.
Same with jalen stamina not there too tired too quick at times.
Remember Kemba during that magical run played every minute and could play another 40 right after if it was needed. Have too look at all those things when it comes to strength coach!!
Oriakhi... heck even skinny Roscoe Smith... Bazz did not have these type issues or nearly as much!
Hope this new hire is a good one as strength coach is the one who is with the players way more often and in the off season than anyone!!
Purv is Purv physically but stamina not there.
Same with jalen stamina not there too tired too quick at times.
Remember Kemba during that magical run played every minute and could play another 40 right after if it was needed. Have too look at all those things when it comes to strength coach!!
Oriakhi... heck even skinny Roscoe Smith... Bazz did not have these type issues or nearly as much!
Hope this new hire is a good one as strength coach is the one who is with the players way more often and in the off season than anyone!!
The guy was being hailed as the new model, the "modern prototype" strength and conditioning coach after the 2014 national championship, but I agree that guys do not seem to have physically progressed that much under his watch. I hope they hire someone seasoned and proven.
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Guys have to be willing to put in the work or nothing is going to help them trying to say Jalen was gassed because of a s&c coach doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
They lose 2 guys to pre-existing issues and a 3rd to a structural problem resulting in KO giving Jalen too much burn and the blame doesn't go on the rotations or the recruiting it goes on the s&c coach? GTFO...
No magic behind it, Kevin has to know how to run a practice too, this smells bad firing people after this season...awfully convenient to "accept" responsibility while cutting ties with a s&c coach. Travis is the reason you sucked last year?
They lose 2 guys to pre-existing issues and a 3rd to a structural problem resulting in KO giving Jalen too much burn and the blame doesn't go on the rotations or the recruiting it goes on the s&c coach? GTFO...
No magic behind it, Kevin has to know how to run a practice too, this smells bad firing people after this season...awfully convenient to "accept" responsibility while cutting ties with a s&c coach. Travis is the reason you sucked last year?
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Kemba was a senior, he wasn't getting those minutes as a soph and nobody on the planet had a better work ethic trying to say that's a coaching issue without accepting responsibility for the amount of burn you're trying to give the kid is garbage.
& I completely disagree about Amida & Kentan's physical development those guys packed on quite a bit of muscle but neither one was ever going to be a bruiser, if that's what he wanted that's what he should have recruited.
Firing someone after that season is complete bunk, that's taking Kevin's failures hanging them on an assistant and kicking him overboard. Kevin couldn't get the job done but best of luck finding a job, Travis.
THat's not Andersonfro totally inconsistent with his other posts and I would agree Blades must have hacked into his account somehow or some other prankster.
IMHO Jalen got too may minutes for sure but he was consistently gassed in the second half of games all year. Not sure if it was just the heavy lworkoad or what but for sure he had way more ball handling duties with all the other weak handles and should not have been so overworked. This is where the injuries really hurt UConn but Jalen's conditioning I think could have been better. I don't know whose fault that is, for all I know he eats a diet of pizza and ice cream and lots of Popeye chicken and beer. I am a big believer in proper diet and I don't know what they are feeding these guys.
IMHO Jalen got too may minutes for sure but he was consistently gassed in the second half of games all year. Not sure if it was just the heavy lworkoad or what but for sure he had way more ball handling duties with all the other weak handles and should not have been so overworked. This is where the injuries really hurt UConn but Jalen's conditioning I think could have been better. I don't know whose fault that is, for all I know he eats a diet of pizza and ice cream and lots of Popeye chicken and beer. I am a big believer in proper diet and I don't know what they are feeding these guys.
I'm not being inconsistent with what I've said in the past I always said Kevin has faults & needs to grow but this is the 1st time I've seen a character issue out of him and tbh it makes me upset considering how hard I go at defending him as a growing coach. Firing the s&c coach when HE put these guys in position for too many minutes and HE recruited kids who couldn't play is bs no matter how you look at it. Weak. I have no problem with the too many minutes & the mistakes until he starts blaming the dang s&c coach man unreal
You know what dude? I'm not Travis & I never met him but even if I were I'd still be right.
You mean to tell me if those 3 guys don't get lost to injuries that had nothing to do with Travis he'd be out of his job right now?
Of course not because Kevin wouldn't have mangled the rotations and Jalen wouldnt have played the entire season gassed. That's Kevin all day long
Lets be honest here guys it happens in all sports college and pro that when a team has an unexpected losing season which is a big disappointment to fans and medias causing loss of attendance, regardless of what the reasons were for the losing season and disappointment, scapegoat firings happen. Just to take the NHL for example, if I am not mistaken, since the end of the 2014-15 season 16 NHL coaches have been fired. Does anyone here think that the 16 GMs of those teams were not in some way responsible for the mess that got the coach fired? NHL firings seem more frequent than in other sports because coaches get hired and the team does not have and/or the GM does not get the players needed to play the Coach's system. The Columbus Blue Jackets fired their coach at the beginning of last season with CBJ dead last in the NHL in points, brought in John Tortorella and the Blue Jackets were leading the NHL in points this year, won 15 games in a row and are a clear Stanley Cup contender. It's not because they have overwhelming talent, it's because they hired the right guy for the personnel they had. Tortorella's teams play a tight defensive system although CBJ has been surprisingly effective on offense.
Usually it is the coach who is scapegoat fired by the GM in pro sports, in order to save the GM's ***. Since a college coach like Ollie is both coach and GM of his program, the firing of a strength and conditioning coach amounts to essentially the same thing. But this is not a new development in the world of college sports. However I do note that a couple years ago when Texas fired Rick Barnes, the AD went to Barnes and asked Barnes to fire assistants. Barnes told the AD there is no way he would fire his assistants in order to save his own ***, thus showing that he is a stand up guy who gives a **** about his coaches and not a back-stabber. Texas then fired Barnes and his entire staff and brough in Shaka Smart, who hasn't done any better.
It's hard for us to judge what went on behind he scenes with Travis and what his relationship was with the players, but I think there were strength and conditioning issues with the players that were visible this past season. On the other hand in the 2014 NCAA title run, every game UConn played in the NCAA tourney they finished those games expceptionally strong.
Maybe UConn will bring in a guy who requires a minimum number of bench press reps. Maybe such rules are in order. Sometimes things have to be changed. Although it is sad that anyone loses his job I am sure Travis will get another position and, in any event, as a coach in sports you sign up for a job in which job security is not guaranteed. If you want job security get a job as a night watchman at a local shopping mall. These guys in college coaching know what they sign up for so don't feel sorry for them and certainly don't feel sorry for those 16 NHL coaches that were fired in the last 2 years. Some had it coming, some didn't, but they all signed on for a job where they were expected to win and for whatever reason they didnt.
Usually it is the coach who is scapegoat fired by the GM in pro sports, in order to save the GM's ***. Since a college coach like Ollie is both coach and GM of his program, the firing of a strength and conditioning coach amounts to essentially the same thing. But this is not a new development in the world of college sports. However I do note that a couple years ago when Texas fired Rick Barnes, the AD went to Barnes and asked Barnes to fire assistants. Barnes told the AD there is no way he would fire his assistants in order to save his own ***, thus showing that he is a stand up guy who gives a **** about his coaches and not a back-stabber. Texas then fired Barnes and his entire staff and brough in Shaka Smart, who hasn't done any better.
It's hard for us to judge what went on behind he scenes with Travis and what his relationship was with the players, but I think there were strength and conditioning issues with the players that were visible this past season. On the other hand in the 2014 NCAA title run, every game UConn played in the NCAA tourney they finished those games expceptionally strong.
Maybe UConn will bring in a guy who requires a minimum number of bench press reps. Maybe such rules are in order. Sometimes things have to be changed. Although it is sad that anyone loses his job I am sure Travis will get another position and, in any event, as a coach in sports you sign up for a job in which job security is not guaranteed. If you want job security get a job as a night watchman at a local shopping mall. These guys in college coaching know what they sign up for so don't feel sorry for them and certainly don't feel sorry for those 16 NHL coaches that were fired in the last 2 years. Some had it coming, some didn't, but they all signed on for a job where they were expected to win and for whatever reason they didnt.
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Keep me out of this...and lets move on to fillin' the 13 ships( not 11) like KO( with Ozzie's help) is tryin' to do.... so bodies wont be an issue next year.....looks like a ton of guys could be movin' from schools with all the coaching changes going on in CBB. Including some high level bigs, hope KO didn't pull the trigger to soon on Cobb, there may have been better options. Here's another one who averaged 12.5pts/8 rebs as a soph in the PAC12 & I think Uconn recruited but he might have to sit out: Noah Dickerson wants release from HuskiesDid Blades hack Anderson's computer? Or me?
edit: just noticed Dr. O1 linked him in another thread
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I also worry that UConn panicked and pulled the trigger too soon on Cobb......Dickerson would have been a better acquisition.
Also here's another 4 star big who it says Uconn offered (looks like everyone did) that could be a grad transfer from G-town after his RS JR year... Akoy Agau started out at Ville didn't do much but averaged 4.5/4.2..85% Ft's in about 15 minutes per game this year for the Hoya's.... with JT3 gone ???
Dickerson and Agau both sound better than Cobb so we again must wonder why offer Cobb so early in the process? It's not even clear if anyone else was recruiting Cobb?
True... at least according to the Rivals data base: Eric Cobb 2017......seemed like he had more interest (4-5 higher major offers) out of HS: Eric Cobb 2015
Also coincidentally Jacobs just did a Frank Martin story this morning....since he's a Husky & FWIW this is what he had to say:
Cobb was accused of shooting a BB pellet gun at an occupied vehicle. He also was cited for marijuana possession. "We've all agreed it's best for them to move on," Martin said at the time. After playing for Chipola (Fla.) Junior College this past winter, Cobb, the big body rebounder UConn dearly needs, committed to the Huskies.
"I just spoke to Eric [Wednesday]," Martin said. "He is a beautiful kid. All of us who get old, we start judging these kids and we forget ourselves when we were that age. None of us were perfect. None of us lived life at 18, 19 without making mistakes. Some of us got away with it.
"I am telling you he is a beautiful kid. He comes from a background of difficulty. I'll never forget the day he knocked on my door and goes, 'Coach, look, look. I haven't had a 3.0 since second grade.' He wanted to show me his grades. Kevin [Ollie] is going to be a great role model for the kid. I'm happy for Kevin. I'm even happier for Eric. He didn't pout. He didn't complain. He went to junior college, handled it right and now he has another opportunity."
Jacobs: From S.C.'s Sweet 16 Team To UConn's Eric Cobb, Frank Martin always teaching
Cobb was accused of shooting a BB pellet gun at an occupied vehicle. He also was cited for marijuana possession. "We've all agreed it's best for them to move on," Martin said at the time. After playing for Chipola (Fla.) Junior College this past winter, Cobb, the big body rebounder UConn dearly needs, committed to the Huskies.
"I just spoke to Eric [Wednesday]," Martin said. "He is a beautiful kid. All of us who get old, we start judging these kids and we forget ourselves when we were that age. None of us were perfect. None of us lived life at 18, 19 without making mistakes. Some of us got away with it.
"I am telling you he is a beautiful kid. He comes from a background of difficulty. I'll never forget the day he knocked on my door and goes, 'Coach, look, look. I haven't had a 3.0 since second grade.' He wanted to show me his grades. Kevin [Ollie] is going to be a great role model for the kid. I'm happy for Kevin. I'm even happier for Eric. He didn't pout. He didn't complain. He went to junior college, handled it right and now he has another opportunity."
Jacobs: From S.C.'s Sweet 16 Team To UConn's Eric Cobb, Frank Martin always teaching
Not being there everyday, it's hard to tell if the trainer deserved to be pushed out or not. Guys with Brimah's frame are never going to turn into Shaq. Facey got stronger, however.
As for Jalen being gassed, that is about him either being hurt during the year and missing practice or indicative of what KO demands from them in practice(not enough). Practice should be exponentially more difficult than the game.
As for Jalen being gassed, that is about him either being hurt during the year and missing practice or indicative of what KO demands from them in practice(not enough). Practice should be exponentially more difficult than the game.