The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Setting Early Expectations
Men picked to finish fifth; Adams all-league selection
PHILADELPHIA — There is one thing that’s been consistent in the first five years of the American Athletic Conference’s existence.
UConn will be picked to finish in the upper half of the league in the preseason coaches poll. And the Huskies will ultimately finish well below that prediction.
UConn has been picked to finish second, first, second, second and fifth in the league’s first five seasons. It wound up finishing fourth, sixth, sixth, sixth and eighth, respectively.
At the league’s annual media day on Monday at the Philadelphia, the Huskies were selected to finish fifth this season. With a sparkling new head coach in tow in the form of Dan Hurley, along with unanimous first-team all-league selection Jalen Adams, a healthy Alterique Gilbert and far more depth than the past couple of seasons, is this the year the Huskies finally best the expectations?
In a league with plenty of parity, no discernible great teams but plenty of good ones, it’s certainly possible.
“It does seem like there could be a lot of movement,” Hurley said of this year’s AAC, “which is another reason why you might want to throw those [predictions] out. If Jalen Adams shows up as one of the best guards in the country. If Alterique Gilbert is able to knock all that rust off. If Tarin (Smith) and Christian Vital and Brendan Adams are able to form one of the best guard groups, in terms of depth and play, we may be able to be better than that.”
UCF, which features perhaps the league’s best trio in preseason player of the year B.J. Taylor, 7-foot-7 monster Tacko Fall and coach Johnny Dawkins’ talented son, Aubrey, was picked to win the league. But all three of those players missed significant time
(or, in Dawkins’ case, all of it) with injuries.
Cincinnati, last year’s league champion, has been to eight straight NCAA tournaments. But the Bearcats lost both the league player of the year (Gary Clark) and an NBA firstround draft pick (Jacob Evans).
Houston was picked to finish third, but loses AAC scoring champion Rob Gray, Jr. Memphis is fourth, but new coach Penny Hardaway has never coached a single play above the prep level. Temple, SMU, Wichita State ... all have flaws, yet all could surprise.
In short, the league is really up for grabs.
“I think our conference is very talented,” said Adams. “I know there’s a lot of teams who have a team that have a chance to be at that top spot. I’d say 1 through 8 could get to No. 1. It’s exciting. You know every day you’re gonna have to come out and compete.”
Just don’t ask Hurley how it feels to be picked to finish fifth.
“I don’t look at any of that stuff,” he said. “We’ll be ready to play when the ball goes up. We’re just so focused right now on getting better on the court as a team, continuing to build the program that way, our recruiting efforts. You’re just so busy in the first 18-24 months, things like articles, rankings, polls ... you’re, like, oblivious.”
One thing Hurley knows is that the league will up its stature if his program gets back to its former heights. And Memphis, too. The Huskies have lost 35 games the past two seasons and haven’t even been to the NIT. Memphis hasn’t reached the postseason since 2014.
“I think it becomes one of the best basketball leagues in the country when Memphis and UConn are doing things Memphis and UConn are expected to do, in terms of their pedigree and past,” Hurley said. “That obviously helps. Going along with that, Temple, Houston, SMU, Wichita State, Cincinnati — these are perennial NCAAcaliber programs.”
He continued, “I think when Memphis and UConn are right, it’s a five-, sixplus bid league. What [Memphis has] been able to do recruiting, with the caliber of people they’re involved with, it just brings a buzz to the conference. The success of this league, programs like Memphis and UConn getting right, it’s critical to its development.”
Adams remembers watching Hardaway when he was a star with the Orlando Magic.
“It’s cool to play against somebody who you’ve watched play in the NBA and have kind of been a fan of his game,” Adams noted. “It’s great to see him take over Memphis. I know, personally, the point guard Jeremiah (Martin) is gonna learn so much from him. It’s gonna be a headache to guard him, with that knowledge from Penny, but it’ll be a great experience.”
For Adams, a senior, he just wants to experience the NCAA tournament one more time. He got there as a freshman (thanks in no small part to his 75-foot buzzer-beater against Cincinnati in the AAC tournament) but wants to get back again.
“It’s very important,” he said. “I really just want our team to experience what it’s like to get into that postseason to continue to play in March. That’s when all the excitement really happens and everyone’s watching. That’s really when dreams do come true. I think we worked so hard in the summer, didn’t really take many days off, it will be great for our team to get that experience.”
And maybe, just maybe, this is the year UConn defies the preseason expectations and gets back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2016.
“You don’t want to be on break while everybody else is playing games,” Adams added. “It’s a humbling experience.”
Added Hurley: “There’s a lot of if’s. Which coach is gonna be able to get the most out of their guys?”