JEFF JACOBS

UConn men’s basketball has hit rock bottom

ORLANDO — If we could step back in time, step back to Kemba Walker’s amazing step back jumper against Pittsburgh in the 2011 Big East Tournament, who among us would have guessed the fall would be so ghastly?

This has to be the bottom point for UConn basketball.

There were maybe 1,500 fans at Amway Center at noon Thursday for an 8-9 first-round game in a conference that hadn’t even been invented in 2011. Gone was the packed house at Madison Square Garden and those magical March nights in New York. Gone was a conference tournament serving as a precursor to another legendary UConn run through the NCAA Tournament.

Instead the Huskies found themselves in a city and state that cared little about them and even less about their troubles. Back home in snowy Connecticut, anger has turned to growing apathy and that ultimately is the worst defeat of all. Being mad as hell is one thing. Not giving a damn is quite another.

A troubled basketball season came to an unseemly end with an 80-73 AAC tournament loss to SMU, a score that flattered the Huskies in a season that flattered no one.

“We didn’t meet the standard that we have for our program,” UConn athletic director David Benedict said. “And I don’t think anyone associated with our program would disagree with that statement.

“It’s disappointing we’re not going to be in the postseason for the second year in a row. Obviously, that requires a lot of evaluation.”

The Huskies faced an SMU team that had lost eight of its previous nine games. A team that was playing without its star player Shake Milton, a team down to a rotation of seven players, a team that suddenly looked like the Golden State Warriors in taking a 19-point lead against UConn into halftime.

When it was over, after UConn answered its typical lack of early inspiration with its perfunctory second-half rally, waking up when the nightmare already was far too real, Kevin Ollie was staring at a 14-18 season. That’s after he stared at a 16-17 season in 2016-2017. An entire generation of Connecticut residents hadn’t been alive to see back-to-back losing seasons, hadn’t been alive to see what Jim Calhoun built continue its tumble toward the abyss.

Yes, this has to be the bottom point.

Is it also the end point? It may well be for Kevin Ollie.

That’s the question now. “As you sit here right now, do you expect to be back coaching this team next year?”

“Yes,” Ollie said. Yes. One word. Concise. To the point.

Later, walking from the post-game press conference, Ollie was asked if he had been given assurances he would be back.

“No, I haven’t been assured of that,” he answered. “I don’t know if I’m going to wake up in the morning.”

That “yes” seemed to shout volumes, but the “no” muted it.

UConn, its athletic war chest emptied by its failure to get into a Power Five conference, finds itself in a tight spot. Can’t seem to afford to keep Ollie. Can’t seem to afford firing him. That $10.6 million remaining on a contract that runs through 2021 may be his only life preserver. If this were the last year or two of his deal the argument, frankly, would be overwhelming for a change.

So where does that leave us?

If UConn makes a move, it would have to be a splash hire. I am sure of that. While coaches like Vermont’s John Becker and Nevada’s Eric Musselman may have strong resumes, they are not the kind of names to move the needle in Connecticut. The best basketball move can always be debated, but selling tickets, reigniting interest in UConn basketball is definitely part of this equation.

By sheer force of logic, Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley would be a leading candidate. Kevin Stallings was fired Thursday at Pittsburgh, so Hurley is an immediate target there, too.

That brings us to big splash free agents. Names like Tom Crean and Thad Matta.

There also is so much uncertainty in college basketball with the FBI and Michigan State scandals, who knows where that could leave coaches in a year? Who knows what happens with Sean Miller or Tom Izzo and others? Could UConn conceivably bring back Jim Calhoun, 75, for a year until it grew certain it had landed the big name it wanted? Or is that too problematic? Would the old brawler get in and not want to leave?

Here’s another Hall of Fame name — and this isn’t idle speculation — that will blow you away: Geno Auriemma. Remember, Auriemma once could have had the Oklahoma job among some men’s offers. He would be the craziest splash of all, although Geno along with Calhoun ultimately figure to fall into the greatest “what if” UConn debate of all time.

So rewind to Crean and Matta and am I missing a big name? That would seem to be the most likely path. And does Hurley fit into UConn’s profile as a big splash? The one thing that could conceivably save Ollie is that UConn gets a “no” from a couple of those targets.

There’s the matter of the NCAA inquiry into UConn, too. The school could fire Ollie with just cause for violations and not have to pay him anything more. One source indicated there has been some NCAA scrutiny recently on some potential workout violations involving a couple of UConn players, but it’s difficult to tell how much impact something like that could have. And awaiting a NCAA outcome could take months. Would UConn, in the meantime, attempt to negotiate a buyout?

Not if UConn’s best player has any say.

“I definitely stand for (Ollie),” Jalen Adams said. “He’s a great coach. He knows what he’s doing. I definitely think he deserves his job and should be back here. He loves UConn. He would do anything for UConn. Once you get a guy like that, there’s nothing better than that.

“I don’t care what the critics say, what the wins and losses look like. Obviously that matters, but it’s a process. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Adams, who has another year of eligibility, said he plans on coming back. Yet asked if Ollie’s potential dismissal would affect his decision, Adams said, “I have to talk to my parents. I haven’t even thought about leaving or anything.”

Ollie’s 2014 national championship seems so long ago. One NCAA appearance in the last four will do that in successhungry Storrs. And this rock bottom day makes 2014 look like 1976.

“I’m going to assess everything I’ve done as a coach and see how I can get better,” Ollie said. “How can I get these guys to play better, to play together. I can’t lay down a list, but we don’t want to be here. We don’t want to be 14-18. That’s unacceptable.” Yes, it is.

And soon enough, we’ll find out if it’s his problem anymore.