The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A career remembered
Vital looks back at time with UConn, ahead to pros
Heading into the American Athletic Conference tournament playing the best basketball of his career, his team on a fivegame winning streak, Christian Vital was confident his team would win the championship.
Not just the AAC tournament championship, mind you. The NCAA championship.
“I don’t believe you could tell anyone that we weren’t going for it all,” Vital said on a conference call on Tuesday morning. “Obviously, that’s a crazy task, and a lot of other teams are going for that. But if you look at our last month of basketball going into March, everyone knows how UConn’s story goes.”
UConn, remember, was hardly a guarantee even to make the NCAA tournament if it didn’t win the AAC title. But confidence has never been an issue with Vital, who insisted since the start of last season his goal was to lift a “fifth banner” to the Gampel Pavilion rafters.
Instead, the coronavirus pandemic brought a cruel and immediate end to Vital’s mercurial UConn career.
“We weren’t able to finish it, so we’ll never know,”
Vital said. “That’s just something we have to live with. I’ve kind of already given that up. I can’t change it, it is what it is, I can’t go back in time. But I believe we were on our way to doing something special.”
Vital’s college career had a little of everything — losing (lots of it), clashes with coaches Kevin Ollie and Dan Hurley, even contemplation about leaving the program.
“I’ll be honest with you, I had times where I was like, ‘Is this the place for me?’ ” Vital said. “You question a lot of stuff during times of negativity and losing, especially.”
The last member of the “Top Five” recruiting class of 2016 still playing for the Huskies, the 6-foot-3 guard came alive this past season as a senior — particularly over the final month. In
Vital’s final six games, he averaged 23.8 points — nearly double his career average to that point.
“The way that I was playing at the end of the year, the numbers I was putting up and how efficient it was, I felt like I was working out in front of the country at the time,” he said. “And I planned on using the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament to really put myself on the map.”
That didn’t happen. Vital ends up 10th on UConn’s all-time scoring list and second in 3-pointers made. He finishes as the AAC’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and third in both scoring and steals.
Through no fault of his own — at least this past season — he is also UConn’s first four-year player not to reach the postseason since Gerry Besselink graduated in 1987.
Ultimately, Vital will leave a lasting legacy at UConn.
“From freshman year to senior year, there were so many things that happened in the program — from the program, players, the team, myself personally — that were really crazy,” he said. “To look back on it and understand that I was right in the middle of that and to come out, not to say on top, but a lot better than the situation I was in … it just shows that if you work hard, you’ll get in a better spot.”
Indeed, throughout this season, Hurley repeatedly noted that the legacy of Vital (as well as fourth-year junior Alterique Gilbert, who has since transferred to Wichita State) will be felt years down the line, when the program is ostensibly back winning titles again. Hurley has stressed that Vital will have played a huge role in getting the program back on that track.
“When Coach Hurley and the program does win another championship, I’m not gonna take credit for that,” Vital said. “That’ll be the guys on that team. Did I have a part in bringing back the competitiveness and stuff like that? I believe so. We were competitive every game this year, for the most part. I’ll be happy, I’ll try to feel a part of it, because I’m an alum now, I’ll always be happy when they win.”
Vital left his home in Queens Village, N.Y. a little over a month ago and is currently in Louisville. Computer issues kept him from watching UConn’s virtual commencement ceremony — and hearing a shout-out he got from president Thomas Katsouleas.
“I didn’t consider it real graduation,” he said. “You don’t get walk across the stage. You wait four years to do that. It’s just unfortunate what the current situation in the world is.”
But he’s extremely proud to have graduated, particularly for his mom, Rose, who “knew education was important from the beginning.”
So what’s next for Christian Vital?
“To play in the NBA,” he quickly noted. “I plan on playing at the highest level of basketball.”
That’s why he left New York, epicenter of COVID-19 where open gyms are hard to find, and is currently working out with Derek Anderson, the former University of Kentucky and NBA standout. He believes his versatility, as a 6-foot-3 guard who can shoot the 3-pointer and play above the rim, along with his basketball IQ can lead to a place for him in “The Association.”
Would you expect anything less from a young man with extreme confidence? No … until you also understand that beneath that confident veneer, there is humility and hunger, as well.
“I’m in no way, shape or form complacent or happy with where my career is at right now,” Vital said. “College is over with. Now, I have to do it at the next level.”
Asked what he’d like his UConn legacy to be, he added: “A guy who stayed, wasn’t the most talented, worked on his game, understood he needed to improve himself and needed to help others. Who had the ability to help and lead others, but needed to take on that responsibility, and not just think about what he has going on. I honestly think that was the changing point of my career … when I really brought my teammates together.”