The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Blaney helped convince Carlton to stay
STORRS — It’s not that Josh Carlton had one foot out the door when Kevin Ollie was let go and Dan Hurley was hired as UConn men’s basketball coach in March. Far from it, actually.
But there certainly was some uncertainty, Carlton admitted.
“It’s always gonna be like that after your coach gets fired,” the 6-foot-9 rising sophomore said.
Carlton didn’t know much about Hurley, but there was one common thread between Carlton’s family and the new Husky head coach: George Blaney, the former longtime UConn assistant.
Blaney had coached Hurley at Seton Hall, and Hurley has credited Blaney numerous times as the reason he remained in the game after contemplating leaving the sport.
About a decade before that, Blaney had coached Carlton’s father, James, at Holy Cross. James Carlton was a 6-foot-5 forward for two seasons in the early 1980s under Blaney, “the kind of player, the kind of guy I always liked: strong, quick. Terrific player, great, great kid.”
Carlton averaged 8.2 points per game as a freshman, but as a sophomore took a wicked fall during the game that actually briefly paralyzed him. The injury effectively ended his career at Holy Cross.
As his son pondered his college basketball future a few months ago, James decided to give a call to his former coach to inquire about Hurley.
“They were going through whether Josh should stay or go,” Blaney said “I told him, ‘I know Danny and (assistant) Tommy Moore love Josh. Let me call them and see what they think.’”
Hurley and Moore told Blaney they thought Carlton had great potential and could be a really good college player if he wanted to stay and work with them.
Josh Carlton, who didn’t