CULTIVATING HIS FIRST CROP
Hurley’s class of newcomers includes lone freshman Adams, grad students Smith, Yakwe
Brendan Adams walked onto the UConn campus, and like many visiting recruits, was struck by the banners, the ones signifying championships, the ones commemorating All-Americans, NBA players, lottery picks.
“When I visited, I just loved the whole atmosphere,” Adams said after committing to UConn. “You see the banners, the championships and the history — you can feel a great program when you walk onto that campus. … I’m going to be working very hard to get UConn back where it needs to be.
Adams, 18, is in a unique position to facilitate that process. He is Dan Hurley’s first recruit, the only Class of 2018 recruit joining the Huskies this season. He will be the first block in what UConn is trying to build, or rebuild — a role model, a year or two ahead of the young players the coaching staff is working to land for 2019 and 2020.
“He shares the same passion and desire and obsession with the game that I do,” said Hurley, offering what, from him, is the ultimate compliment.
Adams, a combo guard, 6-foot-4 and 196 pounds, averaged 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for Calvert Hall in Baltimore last season, after he had committed to play for Hurley at Rhode Island in the fall of 2017. “At the time we recruited him, he was considered a high-major recruit,” Hurley said.
When Hurley left for UConn, Adams de-committed. Considered a top-150 player, closer to three-star than four, he looked around some, but it was late in the process for a 2018 recruit. Within two weeks he chose to follow Hurley to Storrs.
“I think he’s a guy that’s going to surprise people, because he didn’t get a lot of attention when we signed him,” Hurley said, “and he’s a really, really good player. Good size, very athletic, shoots the ball very well, which is a major need with our program.”
So Adams comes in as a freshman, but with the mark of being Hurley’s type of player. The more experienced guards in front of him will be pushed for minutes, healthy competition UConn has been missing the last couple of years. He earned the chance to start the exhibition game against Southern Connecticut on Nov. 2, and led the Huskies with 17 points.
“You just watch practice and you don’t think ‘freshman’ in practice,” Hurley said. “He’s a guy we’re going to be able to play this year and he can give us some really good minutes.”
And Brendan Adams comes from a basketball family ready to mix it up. His older brother, Jaylen (not to be confused, of course, with UConn’s Jalen), played at St. Bonaventure and now has a two-way contract with the NBA’s Hawks and their G League affiliate. Brendan grew up playing against his brother and cousin, former Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain, in their Baltimore driveway. They were four years older.
“For the most part, Brendan’s a quiet, reserved kid,” Jaylen Adams said. “He’s an animal, though. He just works. At this point in his life he’s working harder than he ever has in his life, and now that he’s got something in front of him, he’ll go even harder. He’s a scorer first, a real big guard, good at using his body, getting into the lane. But he can score at all three levels and we kind of play opposite. Me, I was a point guard first. He was a scorer first, and a point guard. He brings those intangibles while just learning how to score.”
The day he committed to UConn, April 14, Adams was joined by Tarin Smith, a grad-student transfer from Duquesne, and the next day Kassoum Yakwe, grad student from St. John’s, announced he was coming, too. That, in one weekend, wrapped up Hurley’s catch-up recruiting for 2018, putting his first imprint on UConn, replacing the three recruits who de-committed when Kevin Ollie left and freeing up the coaches’ time to go for the future.
The Huskies’ newcomers:
Tarin Smith
The Basics: 6-3, 185. Guard. Age 22. Grad student.
Last played for: Duquesne in Atlantic 10, where he was the conference’s sixth man of the year.
Known for: Solid, all-around play. Played for Hurley’s father at St. Anthony in Jersey City, for Nebraska before transferring to Duquesne.
Smith says: “I never thought coming in to college I’d be bouncing around three places. I did what I had to do, made the best decisions for myself and my family. But some things hold true. … You don’t settle for less. Greatness is the only option.” Dan Hurley says: “You come in here in the morning and the ball is bouncing. You look out on the court and Tarin’s working on ball-handling drills. You’ve worked out, you maybe have a meeting, you go back into your office — the ball’s bouncing. He’s working on his shooting. … That’s what you get when you recruit a guy who played for a coach like my dad, in a place like St. Anthony.”
What to expect: With his pedigree, Smith was brought to UConn to help Hurley install his system and mindset at UConn. On the court, he will need to offer an example of the grit and aggressiveness on offense and tenacity on defense that the coach wants in all his guards.
Kassoum Yakwe
The basics: 6-7, 212. Forward. Age 21. Grad student.
Last played for: St. John’s in the Big East. Known for: Shot-blocking; led Big East as a freshman in 2015-16.
Yakwe says: “It’s very calm [in Storrs], it’s not like New York. Outside of campus, there is nothing to do. I like it because all I do is go to school, study and focus on basketball. I think this is the perfect place for me.”
Dan Hurley says: “He brings a lot of value to our frontcourt because he’s an athletic shot blocker. Our guards will occasionally get beat off the dribble, so it’s essential to me to have somebody who could affect shots at the rim, challenge shots, block shots. … That falls in line with Kassoum’s strengths, so I feel that he will have a chance to have a big impact on the program.”
What to expect: Yakwe, recovering from a foot injury, will help on defense if healthy. Whether he can contribute enough offensively to stay on the floor will be an early-season question mark.