The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn men at full strength for game vs. Stony Brook
Adams set to make return against Stony Brook
STORRS — Scootergate is out of the way. David Onuorah’s hip is better, too.
For the first time this season, including three exhibition games, UConn will be at full strength when it hosts Stony Brook today at the XL Center (7 p.m., SNY).
Jalen Adams’ suspension has been lifted and he will play today. Adams, the junior point guard, was kept out of the Huskies’ season-opener on Friday night after leaving the scene of an on-campus scooter accident two nights earlier and being charged with “evading responsibility.”
Coach Kevin Ollie met with Adams and his parents over the weekend, and believes his star guard has paid his penance.
“We had a good talk,” Ollie said. “Everybody sat down and, hopefully, he’s learned his lesson. Hopefully, he’s able to make better decisions, and I think he will going forward.”
“I’m definitely excited to get back out there with my teammates,” Adams said after Monday’s practice. “I’m just looking forward to it.”
Meanwhile, grad transfer David Onuorah practiced for the first time in a while after sustaining a hip injury a few weeks ago. It’s not certain he’ll play on Tuesday, but he’s obviously made good progress.
“It’ll be great to see the team at full-go,” said Ollie. “It’ll add some depth to our team, with Jalen back and David back.”
The Huskies got through their first game well enough without Adams, topping Colgate 70-58 at Gampel Pavilion. It was hardly a perfect night — the Raiders were within five points in the final 21⁄2 minutes — but there was plenty to like from a young, inexperienced UConn team that was without its most experienced and, arguably, best player.
The Huskies rebounded the ball well, played solid defense and got a huge effort from junior Terry Larrier, who poured in a career-high 27 points. Adams is looking forward to playing alongside Larrier for the first time in nearly a year, after Larrier was lost for the season with a torn ACL suffered in the Maui Invitational.
“Once me and Terry get out there, I think he can probably get up to 40 in some games,” Adams said. “I feel like me and him have a great connection. When I get on the court, we’re always in synch. He knows where I”m at, I know where he’s at.”
UConn also got some nice minutes from its freshmen, particularly Tyler Polley and Isaiah Whaley. Polley started and finished with nine points and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
“I was pretty nervous starting, but I think I played well and contributed to the win,” Polley said.
Added Ollie: “We have to get his defense a little bit better, but that’s freshmen. If he can do that, where we can switch one through four or one and three with him, it’ll be really helping our defense. I’m very proud of his poise. He’s a sponge, he listens, he’s very coachable. He’s a ‘yes’ man. Whatever I tell him to do, he says yes, and goes out and tries to accomplish it.”
Ollie had said the same thing a week or so earlier about Whaley. On Friday night, Whaley popped off the bench and added eight points and four boards (including a trio of impressive putbacks) in his 15 minutes.
“They’re really receiving the coaching,” Ollie said of his freshmen. “They’re believing in the system, they’re believing in the program. They’re not acting like freshmen, on and off the basketball court. I’m proud of our freshman group.”
Polley and Whaley aren’t the only newcomers to produce for UConn early on. Eric Cobb, JUCO transfer, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds on Friday. Frosh forward Josh Carlton only played eight minutes against Colgate, but he’s shown flashes in preseason exhibitions.
Now, the Huskies could add Onuorah, a Cornell transfer, into the mix. And, of course, they’ll happily welcome back their most experienced and — perhaps — best player, Adams.
RIM RATTLINGS
Adams drew praise from Ollie and his teammates for the help he gave from the bench on Friday night.
“There’s different things you see when you’re not on the court,” Adams explained. “When I was on the bench, I could see some of those mismatches that Terry or Alterique could take advantage of. Sometimes, it’s good to have a player-coach. Sometimes, guys don’t always see it from the coach’s point of view. But when another player tells them, they kind of pick up on it and agree with it a little more.”