Four-star guard Diggins commits to UConn
UConn’s return to the Big East has helped the Huskies land a player right out one of their new (and old) rivals’ backyard.
Rahsool Diggins, a 6foot-1 combo guard from Philadelphia, committed to UConn on Sunday. Diggins, a four-star recruit, is Dan Hurley’s first Class of 2021 commit. He was recruited by Villanova and fellow Big East rival DePaul, along with Kansas, Miami, Rutgers and Virginia Tech, among numerous others.
A national top-50 recruit with point guard skills who can also shoot and score, Diggins boasts a high basketball IQ and good feel for the game. He can shoot from deep and mid-range, finish at the rim, is very shifty with the ball and is an elite passer who can hit teammates for lobs, kickouts or passes off the pickand-roll.
Diggins needs to get a little stronger and is not an explosive athlete in the James Bouknight/Andre Jackson mold, but is definitely athletic enough.
In short, he’ll remind
Husky fans of A.J. Price, the former point guard who led UConn to the Final Four in 2009 and played six seasons in the NBA. UConn assistant Tom Moore was the point man for both players’ recruitment.
Diggins, who should have Archbishop Wood as a favorite to win the Philly City League title this season, is currently ranked as the No. 41 overall player and No. 6 point guard in the nation by rivals.com and No. 58 overall and No. 8 at point guard by 247sports.com.
Diggins would join a UConn backcourt in 2021-22 that should also include R.J. Cole as a senior and Jalen Gaffney as a junior. Bouknight is likely to leave for the NBA after his sophomore season this winter.
Although Diggins is listed as a point guard, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to play off the ball if Cole and Gaffney are still there. In fact, of that trio, Cole, who sat out this past season as a Howard transfer, is really the only 100-percent point guard. Gaffney, who took over the starting point guard reins from Alterique Gilbert midway through his freshman season this past winter, can also play the two.
Diggins’ commitment to UConn is further evidence of how the program’s return to the Big East is helping recruiting. Incoming freshmen Andre Jackson, of Albany, N.Y., and even Javonte Brown-Ferguson, a Canadian, have stated how playing in the Big East was a huge factor in their commitments. Adama Sanogo, a four-star incoming freshman big man, was set to commit to Seton Hall before changing his mind at the last minute and pledging to Hurley.
Back at Big East Media Day in October, 2019, Villanova coach Jay Wright told Hearst Connecticut Media he was happy to see UConn’s return to the league.
“I think it enhances the brand,” he said. “In recruiting, Connecticut will get involved with all the guys we’re all involved with, and we all compete against each other. It’s just gonna increase the pool.”
Wright added: “There will be kids growing up in Connecticut, following the Big East, and they might wind up playing at Georgetown. That’s what happened in the old Big East, and I think the same thing’s gonna happen.”
Indeed, there is now a kid who grew up in Philadelphia who will wind up playing at UConn.