The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies’ roster appears to be set for next season
EAST HARTFORD — The rumors and speculation spread like wildfire on Twitter and other outlets on Tuesday morning, as things tend to do these days.
When it was reported that Mustapha Heron, the kid from Waterbury, was going to transfer from Auburn, it was interesting. When another report said that UConn and St. John’s appeared to be the most likely landing spots for a kid who averaged over 15 points per game in the SEC last season, the plot truly thickened.
Could the Huskies be adding a high-level, hometown talent for next season, just like that?
Well, no. For one, UConn already has its 13 scholarships filled for next season, and new coach Dan Hurley isn’t in the business of yanking scholarships and booting kids off the team — a practice that too many college coaches have engaged in over the years.
“Based on the style of the program that you want to develop and put together, it was important for me that the returning players understood that I wasn’t coming in and making transactions,” Hurley said on Wednesday, prior to a meetand-greet with UConn fans and donors at Rentschler Field. “I’m a coach that embraced every returning player that wanted to be a part of rebuilding this great program. If the players were doing everything the way that I wanted done in the program, in terms of the culture, the work ethic, the commitment level, then I wanted them to be a part of the program.
“That’s the message I wanted to convey to the players, that I wasn’t just casting players aside and looking for more talent. I wanted to embrace the people in and around the program that wanted to be part of the solution.”
And so, for better or worse, the players currently on UConn’s roster are most likely the players that Hurley will bring into battle with him this season. Yes, other issues could still crop up. But the second semester grades are in, and it doesn’t appear there will be any academic casualties at this point.
“We don’t have any issues relative to eligibility with any of the incoming guys,” Hurley noted. “I feel like this is probably the 13 that we’re gonna be going with.”