There will be no trashing Kevin Ollie here on his way out. He means too much to the history of the Connecticut basketball program.

He was a pioneer as a player, among Jim Calhoun's first national recruits who illustrated that, yes, a kid from way out there in Los Angeles would say yes to Storrs, CT. He won a national championship as a coach and entertained us with a few Ollie-isms that will remain long after his departure. ("First you bring the sugar; then you bring the hot sauce" is a keeper).

But he was also too stubborn and perhaps too arrogant to be a good enough coach. He never let the world in to know the true Kevin. He shunned Calhoun. He was shortsighted in parting ways with Glen Miller. And then the most important element of all: He didn't win.

This is now about the program's fascinating move forward. That's the word, too: fascinating. Because now we'll discover whether there's any cachet remaining.

Loyalists can sing arias about the Ghosts of UConn Past. Except that you do not build the future on the past. The hire athletic director David Benedict makes will tell us whether the coaching fraternity believes UConn is still a mammoth momentarily mired in mediocrity or a mid-major muddled in the mundane, otherwise known as the American Athletic Conference.

What do coaches truly think of the American? We'll find out by the interest level in this job. Is this still college basketball royalty or has this regressed into a remote outpost that plays East Carolina on a Tuesday night in the dead of winter?

Nothing against the folks at The American who work diligently at the "Power 6" thing. They are trying to write a narrative of inclusion with the big guys. It's a decent basketball league. But efficacy isn't the issue. The issue is sex appeal. And this league has all the sex appeal of Tiny Tim.

Sure, insiders know Wichita State and Cincinnati have been successful within the conference. So has SMU. But does a menu of Wichita, Cincinnati, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa move the needle for a recruit who is also considering schools from, for example, the ACC or Big 12?

And there's the question for potential coaches: Would league affiliation imperil the ability to get quality players here?

Some UConn fans, perhaps still intoxicated by the past, think Danny Hurley would bolt Rhode Island for UConn faster than Rickey Henderson got from first to third. But would he? There's very little distinction between the American and the Atlantic 10. Travel is certainly easier in the A-10. Hurley finally has the pieces in place. And he'd be a hot candidate for any Power 5 school.

So if you're Danny Hurley, do you leave Rhody for UConn and the AAC or for Pittsburgh and the ACC?

Maybe Tom Crean, who won at Marquette but not so much at Indiana, would be interested?

Would Kevin Stallings, who won at Vanderbilt but not so much at Pittsburgh, be interested?

Would they bring back Jim Calhoun?

Believe it or not, Benedict has already kicked the tires on Geno Auriemma, per UConn sources. Geno issued a "thanks but no thanks."

It all invites the question: Has UConn basketball become UConn football? UConn football is very lucky to have Randy Edsall back here. But we've also learned that big-name football coaches don't consider UConn a destination. That's why we got a retread (Paul Pasqualoni) and a loon (Bob Diaco) after Edsall left.

We'll learn soon whether UConn basketball is still the million dollar home on the water or a Holiday Inn en route to the next stop.

I don't really know the answer anymore.

Good luck to Benedict. Seems he'll need it.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro