The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn’s Jalen Adams will return for his senior season
He’s back! Actually, he never left. Jalen Adams will return to UConn for his senior season, bypassing the chance to enter his name in this year’s NBA draft. Adams made the announcement via a 104-second YouTube video on Sunday afternoon.
“Playing at UConn the past three years has been a dream come true,” Adams said in the video, while highlights of his UConn career play in the background. “Although the journey has not always been what I envisioned, I am reminded of greatness every day I come into the gym and see those four national championship banners.”
Adams, like his teammate Christian Vital and more than 150 other players throughout the country, could have entered his name in the draft, received feedback from NBA personnel and returned to school by May 30, as long as he didn’t hire an agent. However, Adams elected not to even test the waters. The deadline to do so was Sunday.
“My legacy as a UConn Husky is important to me,” Adams said in the video. “I am more determined than ever to live up to the expectations of great UConn guards and deliver a championship season for my university and our amazing fans.”
An NBA scout told Hearst Connecticut Media in March that it was in Adams’ best interest to return to school for his senior year.
Adams had a spotty freshman year, but made up for it with a 75-foot prayer at the end of the third overtime of UConn’s eventual AAC tournament firstround win over Cincinnati. The Huskies wound up winning that tournament and advanced to the Round-of-32 in the NCAA tournament.
However, the Huskies haven’t even made the NIT the past two seasons, finishing under .500 overall both seasons. Adams was a first-team all-AAC selection
as a sophomore and a second-team pick this past season. He averaged a team-high 18.6 points a game as a junior while playing 38.1 minutes a game.
Coach Kevin Ollie was fired after this year’s 14-18 disaster and replaced by Dan Hurley, who has turned around programs at Wagner and Rhode Island.
“Returning to UConn Nation for my senior year, I am excited to work with Coach Hurley and lead us into the new era of UConn basketball,” Adams said. “I am fully committed to my career and education. Another year of development and growth will help me to achieve my ultimate goal — an NBA career. See you in November.”
Vital announced on Friday that he will test the NBA draft waters, but won’t hire an agent. While Vital has virtually no chance of being drafted, and most at UConn expect him to return to school, he left a rather cryptic message on social media on Friday.
“UConn, thank you for all the opportunities you have given me on and off the court!” he said in an Instagram post. “I have come to peace with the decision that I will enter the 2018 NBA draft. Thank you to anyone who has ever played a positive role in this process.”
Whether that means Vital, who was second to Adams in scoring on UConn last season at 14.9 points per game but shot just over 38-percent from the floor, is leaving the program for good remains to be seen.