The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Giving it one last go
Vital looking to lead Huskies back to the postseason
STORRS — Christian Vital, who oozes New York confidence and swagger, just shakes his head and smiles when the words “Big East” are mentioned in his presence.
“It is what it is,” he offers. “A year too late.”
Vital arrived at UConn a few years after it ended its affiliation with the Big East, and will graduate next spring a couple of months before the school officially rejoins the conference. Call it bad timing.
In fact, bad timing could describe the senior guard’s tenure at UConn so far. Despite Vital’s best efforts, the Huskies have finished below .500 in each of his first three years at the school. It’s the first time UConn has done so since 19841987 (the back end of a stretch of five straight losing seasons).
The last UConn player to go all four years at the school without a postseason appearance was Gerry Besselink, a center who played in Storrs from 1983 to Jim Calhoun’s first season in 198687.
Vital is desperately trying to avoid a similar fate. He’s confident that he will — and he’s not just thinking NIT.
“I’m thinking about that fifth
banner,” he said on Tuesday afternoon.
There’s that New York confidence and swagger. And while a national championship may seem a pipe dream for a Husky team that lost its leading scorer ( Jalen Adams) to graduation, the Big Dance is hardly out of the question.
“Selfishly, I’ve never played in an NCAA tournament,” Vital said. “You come to a school like this to play in those type of moments. To have that taken away for three years, knowing it’s my last year, I definitely know I need to give it everything I have, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
For UConn to return to the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2016, it will need its two most seasoned players, Vital and Alterique Gilbert, to take some of its young, talented players under their wings. Coach Dan Hurley is hoping — demanding — that it happens.
“We need leadership,” Hurley said of Vital, “and a mindset about winning and helping young players, and being a great team guy every single day.”
Vital seems up to the challenge, even if he feels the leadership duties can be spread around.
“Being here four years, you definitely have picked up on a few things that guys fresh out of high school haven’t,” he said. “But the thing about this team is everyone can be a leader, it doesn’t have to be just Al and I. We have a lot of guys — Sid (Wilson), Brendan (Allen)’s got another year under his belt, Isaiah (Whaley)’s really developing, Tyler (Polley)’s starting to show his personality. One thing about our locker room is everyone can be a leader, it’s not just two leaders because we’ve played the most games or been here the longest. If there’s something they can help us older guys out with, that’s certainly welcomed.”
Vital and Hurley are an interesting coupling. Both are highenergy, emotional guys, New Yorkarea guards with chips on their shoulders. Some would say cocky. You’d think that would bond them, but it’s clear that, at times, they clashed throughout Hurley’s first year at the helm. Despite finishing second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game, Vital was bounced from the starting lineup for a fourgame stretch late in the season. The illadvised shots, the occasional lack of leadership, added up.
“Looking back on it, it was definitely a learning year,” Vital said. “He knows the type of person I am, I know the type of person he is. Hotheaded …” Vital quickly corrects himself, “I wouldn’t say hotheaded, but just two people who really want to win. And when you’re not winning, it’s frustrating. Especially when you know where you’re at. Being at a place like here, we know the expectations that the past coaches and players have put on us, and we want to live up to those expectations. We want to be great as well.”
‘NOT HOW YOU LEAVE UCONN’
Prior to last season, Vital entered the NBA draft evaluation process. It’s commonplace these days; players have nothing to lose getting some feedback about where they stand and what they need to work on.
This spring, on the heels of an 8445, seasonending loss to Houston in the AAC tournament, Vital didn’t even bother testing the NBA waters.
“I knew how I wanted to end my UConn career. Leaving on a 40point loss isn’t how you leave UConn,” he said. “I was thankful I had another year to kind of right those wrongs. My brothers are still here. These are guys I spend every day with, so knowing I had another chance to go into battle with them and get our first winning season in three years, that’s something I didn’t really have to think twice about.”
It’s all part of the maturation process Vital has gone through the past few years. Part of that is born from all the problems the program has been through — losing seasons, Kevin Olllie’s firing and ensuing battle with the school, NCAA violations, a mass wave of transfers. Or do you remember the “Top Five” recruiting class of 2016. Vital and Gilbert are the only two still playing for the Huskies.
Vital said he’s grown this summer alone, just trying to stay consistent with his mindset, no longer the brash, arrogant kid who arrived on campus three years earlier.
“Being young, you want to do everything and be everything out there,” he noted. “Now, you try to take it day by day. You don’t try to get everything in one day, as soon as you think about it. I’d say that’s one thing I’ve learned. I’ve gained a lot of patience with this coaching staff, and just understanding it is a process.”
Vital joined the program’s 1,000point club late last season. After he plays his last game this March (or April?), he will — barring injury — likely be among the school’s top 20 alltime leading scorers.
“If I do accomplish that, would that be a blessing? Absolutely,” Vital said. “Would I definitely say I’ve worked hard to put myself in a position like that? Absolutely. But that can’t be what you’re going to sleep thinking about. I’m thinking about that fifth banner. But being up there with guys on the wall — Ray Allen’s up there, Rip (Hamilton), Caron (Butler), all those dudes — just to be mentioned in the same sentence or same breath as those names, that’s an honor. So, if I could do that, I’d definitely feel good about that.”
If Vital scores 531 points this season, which would mean averaging about 16 points per game, he’ll pass Earl Kelley on the scoring list. Kelley also played four years at UConn without making the postseason. Vital is adamant he won’t be the next.
“I don’t see us not making the tournament,” he said. “If we don’t, I feel like that’s on us. Because we have way too much talent, we have the coaching staff, we have the people around us telling us how to be successful. We’re all growing up as young men ourselves, so I think a lot of good things are coming together around the program. There’s been a lot of negativity around the program in the public eye, but we’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, in here every day, working together and trying to get to the next level and put that fifth banner up. I think that’s what everybody has their eyes on.”
MIGHTY QUINN
Jere Quinn, who coached Vital at St. Thomas More Prep and recently won his 1,000th career game, has been battling GuillainBarre syndrome, a rare disordeer in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves and creates a paralyzedlike state. Quinn has been hospitalized since the spring, but is slated to return home in a couple of weeks.
Vital said he texted Quinn earlier this week.
“I hope his recovery’s going well. I told him I was gonna come visit him either this week or next week. He’s definitely going through a tough situation, but if I know anything about my coach, I know he’s gonna come back and coach again.”