The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies’ Vital likely to return
When it was announced on Friday that Christian Vital intended to declare himself eligible for the 2018 NBA Draft, but not hire an agent, the conventional wisdom was that Vital was just trying to gauge what NBA personnel thought about him, then eventually announce he’s returning to UConn.
Then came an Instagram post later on Friday afternoon that seemed to indicate that maybe, just maybe, Vital wasn’t planning on returning to Storrs for his junior season after all.
“UConn, thank you for all of the opportunities you have given me on and off the court!” Vital wrote in the post. “I have come to peace with the decision that I will enter the 2018 NBA Draft. Thank you to anyone who has played a positive role in this process.”
More than a few UConn fans thought that sounded a bit like, “Thanks for all you’ve done, UConn ... I’m outta here!”
But that doesn’t appear to be what Vital is thinking.
Jere Quinn, who coached Vital for two seasons at St. Thomas More Prep, spoke with the guard over the weekend and believes Vital will ultimately return to UConn.
“He aspires to play in the NBA,” said Quinn, who won his 1,000th career game this past winter. “I think he just wants to listen to people as to where he is and where he’ll stand. Then, he’ll come back to Connecticut.”
As for the “goodbye, UConn” vibes from that Instagram post?
“That isn’t the feel I got at all when I spoke to him,” Quinn said. “It’s what young people are doing now. The NBA is giving all kinds of athletes the chance to see where they stand in their eyes. I don’t know why 300 people aren’t going. I mean, John Calipari even said he’s gonna send his walk-ons.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Jalen Adams — UConn’s best player and top scorer the past two seasons — has decided not to test the NBA draft waters this spring, he announced on Sunday.
Vital’s decision still seems a bit curious. In order for players to get feedback, they typically need to be invited to workouts with NBA teams, or to the draft combine in midMay. Only about 60 or 70 players get invited to that, and it wouldn’t seem that Vital would be one of them.
“The way I see it, you’re allowed to put in your name and you go from there,” Quinn said. “If they invite you, they invite you, and if they don’t, you take your name out. A lot of people are doing it. The number of people on the list can’t fulfill the spots — there’s way too many.”
“It’s what kids do now,” Quinn added. “He just wants to see what people think of him.”
Among those who will be testing the NBA draft waters along with Vital is Omari Spellman, the Villanova guard who was Vital’s teammate at St. Thomas More.
Virtually no one (including, one would think, Vital) believes Vital will be selected in the draft on June 21. That doesn’t mean he still couldn’t go pro and play overseas, or try to latch on with a G-League team.
But that doesn’t seem to be Vital’s game plan. Expect him back in Storrs, along with Adams, come November.
“I know he’s spoken to the coaches to make sure he can come back, I know that as a fact,” said Quinn. “Honestly, the coaches have been great with him. Danny Hurley and Tommy Moore have been great with him. They’ve done everything to make him feel good about himself. Christian said that.”