New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Adams has entered NCAA’s transfer portal
Dan Hurley’s first UConn recruit is now the program’s first “transaction” of this off-season.
Brendan Adams, a junior who will graduate in May, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.
“In my three years at UConn,” Adams said in a message he released on Twitter on Tuesday, “I have grown into the man that I am today and I am proud to graduate this year with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Urban and Community
Studies. I would not trade my time here for anything. Thank you UConn!”
He also thanked God, his family and support system, his teammates, coaches and staff “who have taught me many lessons that I have grown drastically from.”
Adams, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 4.5 points per game for the Huskies this season, shooting just 30 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point land. He began the season as a regular part of the rotation and joined the starting lineup for a sixgame stretch beginning in early January, after leading scorer James Bouknight underwent left elbow surgery and with freshman Andre Jackson sidelined by a broken wrist.
During that stretch as a starter, Adams averaged 5.5 ppg but shot just 24 percent (8-for-33) from the floor and 26 percent from 3.
When Jackson returned, Adams went back to a reserve role. And when Bouknight returned for a Feb. 16 game against Providence, Adams barely played the rest of the way. He got into just three games of UConn’s final nine games for a total of 17 minutes — 10 of them in garbage time during UConn’s 34-point demolition of DePaul in a Big East tournament game.
If Adams wasn’t happy about the reduced role he never showed it, remaining engaged on the bench during games, where he was as loud a cheerleader for his teammates as anyone.
Adams, a Baltimore native whose brother, Jaylen, was a star at St. Bonaven
ture, originally committed to Hurley while Hurley was still head coach at Rhode Island. When Hurley took over at UConn in March, 2018, Adams followed him to Storrs. He averaged 2.6 ppg as a freshman and 7.4 as a sophomore while shooting
at a much higher percentage overall and from 3-point range.
Adams will graduated in May. He was honored on “Senior Day” against Georgetown on March 6, along with seniors Isaiah Whaley, Tyler Polley and Josh Carlton.
“He’s the hardest worker, and an incredible example of everything you want in your program,” Hurley said of Adams prior to that March 6 game. “And even though his role isn’t, right now, what he wants it to be or what it’s been, we’re not in this spot this year without him — in terms of what we’ve built, and how he’s played for us this year.”