I don't think he helped UK get international players because they are already getting the top players here in the US. They are not the type of school who typically needs to go the International route.
Mid major schools such as our selves can make really benefit from international recruiting.
Arguing the point with myself, I thought of that... if Tubby was getting the quality of player he wanted from US schools, then perhaps it wasn't that Rigot was ineffective, but just that any European players he may have otherwise gotten to UK weren't good enough.
But then... why even have him on staff then, if that's his only real calling card?... and, just as telling, why not take him to Minny which might have benefited from the international route in ways that UK couldn't/didn't?
On balance, I have to believe that Rigot had some success somewhere along the line before UK, or he wouldn't have been there in the first place.
But at this point, I believe DD, convinced of the need to establish a place in international recruiting (no doubt, furthered by his brother's European experiences and connections), has bought some sizzle... a guy living off laurels earned several moons ago... betting that there will be some steak. Time will tell... at the risk of exhausting the metaphor... whether it was all blowing smoke.
Ending on a positive...
DD's ego is huge. But I like that. It's Rick Huckabay huge. And there's something to be said for someone who doesn't feel he needs to have that seasoned NCAA HC voice sitting somewhere down the bench.