The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Vital learning from a champ
STORRS — Christian Vital and Taliek Brown hail from the same tough neighborhood of Corona, Queens.
They’ve played in the same parks, on a similar AAU circuit. In fact, Vital’s father, Mahdi Thomas, was teammate of Brown’s on the Long Island Panthers AAU team back in the day.
Brown has also served as a mentor to Vital, who used to work out in Brown’s Teamfootprintz training program during high school.
So it’s little wonder that Vital’s Twitter reaction when Brown was officially named UConn’s director of player development was positively spiritual.
“God answered this one personally,” Vital tweeted on July 3.
About a month later, Vital is no less grateful for Brown’s arrival (or return).
“I know how much knowledge he has, and how much I can and will learn from him,” Vital said after a workout at the Werth Family Champions Center on Tuesday. “Now that he’s actually here, on campus, it’s just gonna give me an understanding of a national championship guard.”
Ah yes — a national championship guard. That’s the most notable difference between the career arcs of Vital and Brown so far. The latter won a national championship at UConn, captaining the Huskies to their 2004 title. Vital has yet to reach a postseason tournament over his first two seasons in Storrs.
Brown is here for a variety of reasons — to make sure players are going to class, serve as a liaison between the players and coaching staff, even bring alumni back to games and practices. Helping to instill a winning culture is as big a reason as any.
“Hopefully, I can just bring a good impact to their lives,” Brown said, “try to show them how I was,
all the things I went through when I was at UConn, and try to give them that great experience of being here.”
As for giving Vital “an understanding of a national championship guard,” Brown added: “Mostly, for him, I think it was just getting him out of being so much of a scorer and start understanding the game a little more, trying to get his IQ together out there. Knowing when to make the right pass, when to take the right shot, not forcing things and just being in control.”
Certainly, those are areas where Vital can improve, as he learned during a monthlong foray into the NBA draft waters in the spring. Vital didn’t work out for any NBA teams, though he did spend some valuable time with soon-to-be Hall of Famer Ray Allen down in Miami. He has no regrets about taking a dip into the NBA process, but quickly realized why he should return to Storrs for his junior year.
“I have a great situation over here, a new situation over here, and it would be in my best interest to explore the situation here at UConn with a good coach like Coach Hurley, and just see what comes out of it this year,” he said. “If things go according to plan, I could be in a better place for next year’s draft.”
It could be an interesting season for Vital. He averaged 14.9 points and 31.7 minutes per game last season — in large part due to the Huskies’ lack of guard depth. This year, UConn brings in reigning Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year Tarin Smith and talented freshman Brendan Adams, to complement Vital, top scorer Jalen Adams and — the team hopes — a healthy Alterique Gilbert.
Vital’s minutes and production could take a hit, but when asked about that possibility, a wry smile spreads across his face.
“As far as my minutes, I’m not really concerned about my playing time,” he said. “I feel like I’m gonna be on the court as much as I need to be.”