The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hurley has work to do putting together a roster
Dan Hurley’s hiring was nothing short of a home run, celebrated in nearly all corners of Husky Nation. Billboards along several Connecticut highways trumpeted his arrival.
The introductory press conference was equally inspiring, the new UConn men’s basketball coach professing his love for the program — even confessing that UConn has always been his favorite team.
Now comes the hard part. Hurley is entrusted with turning around a team that has gone 30-35 the past two seasons and didn’t even warrant an invite to the NIT. It won’t be easy.
The first task: Fielding a roster for next season. Plenty of work is already being done on that front, as Hurley has focused his efforts on re-recruiting current players, as well as recruiting potential future players — all without a staff officially in place.
Hurley said on Friday that anyone currently on the UConn roster is welcome back next season.
“The sky’s the limit for that group,” Hurley said from the podium as he looked over at the 10 scholarship players who can return next season.
The only player eligible to return who wasn’t at Friday’s press conference was Terry Larrier, who has already stated numerous times that he intends to turn pro. However, that hasn’t stopped Hurley from reaching out to Larrier anyway, to gauge if he’d have a change in heart.
It may be more due diligence than anything, but the new coach understands there’s value in stability and in being as open and honest with players as possible in this process. Still, Larrier would appear to be a long-shot.
While Hurley said’d love to have every player back, it only makes sense that there are some priorities: Jalen Adams, Alterique Gilbert, Christian Vital, Sidney Wilson, among them. Adams insisted he hasn’t decided what he wants to do, though he sounds as if he’s strongly considering a
return for his senior season.
“I’m looking forward to getting in the gym and working with him,” Adams said of Hurley.
He said he won’t transfer, so his only option would be to turn pro. Adams said on Friday that he wasn’t sure if he’d test the NBA waters. Players now can get feedback from NBA teams before deciding whether they want to enter the draft or return to school, as long as they don’t hire an agent.
It’s likely Adams will test the waters, and equally likely that NBA personnel tell him another year of college would benefit him, as a league scout told
Hearst Connecticut Media earlier this month.
Vital has indicated on Twitter that he’s not going anywhere, and Wilson — who was recruited by Hurley while Hurley was at Rhode Island — appears happy with the coaching change. Gilbert has missed nearly all of the past two seasons with shoulder ailments and isn’t likely to transfer and have to sit out a full season.
Then there’s the young, raw group of frontcourt players. Josh Carlton is perhaps the most intriguing. At one point after Kevin Ollie was fired on March 10, it was thought Carlton had one foot out the door. But it appears Hurley would like to bring him back, and is taking steps to do so.
Carlton’s father, James, played two seasons at Holy Cross in the early 1980s before getting hurt and transferring to Appalachian State.
His head coach at Holy Cross was George Blaney, who would go on to coach at Seton Hall and become somewhat of a mentor to Hurley.
Blaney, who later served as Jim Calhoun’s top lieutenant at UConn, has contacted James Carlton, extolling the virtues of Hurley.
UConn had three players signed to national letters of intent under Ollie —James Akinjo, Emmitt Matthews, Jr. and Lukas Kisunas. Hurley said on Friday that he would soon “see where those folks stand, see what makes sense for them and us in terms of building this thing the right way.”
Akinjo has already been released from his LOI and had a home visit from Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing, so he may be too far gone. Matthews, Jr., a sharpshooter from Tacoma, Wash., was close to Ollie and former associate head coach Raphael Chillious. However, he told Hearst Connecticut Media last month, “I love UConn no matter who the head coach is.” Also, his father is from New Jersey (he played football at Rutgers) and is said to be fond of Hurley and his family.
Kisunas is on spring break from Brewster Academy and is expected back on campus Wednesday.