‘Pork Chop’ is more than just hops
UConn senior Isaiah Whaley looking forward to an increased leadership role and improved chemistry
There was Isaiah Whaley talking last summer about how he hadn’t been sure whether Dan Hurley wanted him during the coach’s first UConn season, wondering whether he even belonged in Storrs. There had been messages from outsiders he ought to transfer.
Whaley, instead, worked his butt off during the offseason, put on 20 pounds, muscled up. And now here was a matured guy who had played more than seven minutes only once in the 2018-19 season giving a scouting report on the UConn newcomers like the senior leader he has become.
This is a much different Isaiah Whaley. Certainly much different than as he was once viewed.
“At one point last year, people thought I was a surprise,” Whaley said
Monday on a Zoom call. “Even at one point, toward the end of the season, Coach was like, ‘You’re not going to sneak up on nobody anymore. You’re not a surprise. It’s expected from you now.’
“People are going to be more ready for me now. I have to try to get better and add more things to my game. Last year, I really had a chip on my shoulder. I had a lot to prove. This year, I feel like I’ve still got a lot more to prove. I feel I can bring a lot more even than I brought last year. I still have a huge chip on my shoulder.”
I’m not going to lie. I liked Whaley’s hop. I liked Whaley’s athleticism and energy. I loved his putback
dunks. I just didn’t think he was that good at basketball.
The 11 minutes he played in a win over USF — eight points, four boards — on March 14, 2019, had given him confidence that he still had a place at UConn. Yet it was the final six games last season that proved how good he can be. The 6foot-9, 230-pound forward averaged 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds, and his 18-point, 14-rebound game at Temple was a thing of beauty.
You know that chip on his shoulder? He can serve it up to me as big ol’ slice of humble pie. He is an important piece to the 2020-21 season — whenever it is played.
“Isaiah earned his spot in the rotation by being a quietly consistent worker every day in practice,” assistant coach Tom Moore said. “He really committed himself to strength gain and skill development last summer and then he just waited for the opportunity. Great attitude. Selfless teammate. He never lost confidence in what he could do if given a bigger role.
“His defense, shot blocking and rebounding were things we thought he could give us, but his finishing and poise on offense helped us on that winning streak down the stretch. He made open shots, finished easy ones and passed the ball well from the high post.”
A late addition in 2017 by Kevin Ollie after a slew of transfers, Whaley started 12 games and averaged 30 minutes as a freshman. Eric Cobb came in as a backup and Whaley — hampered early on by a bad ankle — sat, sat, sat so long the player nicknamed “Pork Chop” could have been called “Salmonella.” He played 83 minutes his entire sophomore season. He played 232 minutes in the final seven games last season as the Huskies ran off a 6-1 finish. There was no AAC Tournament. COVID-19.
“The end, really, I hated the end,” Whaley said. “I’ve talked to (Christian Vital) a couple of times about it. We all know how CV is. He’s like, ‘We’re going to win that championship.’ I’m like ‘All right, I mean yes, yes, but let’s just take it one step at a time.’
“Me and Coach Hurley talked about it a couple of times. We talked how we all had a lot of momentum, especially me. He tells me even I still have a lot of momentum, finishing really strong is something I can build on. So even though (the cancellation) was a bad thing it was also a good thing.”
The UConn staff has been scoring major recruiting victories for 2020 and 2021. There is a slew of new faces: Andre Jackson, Javonte Brown-Ferguson, Adama Sanogo along with Rhode Island transfer Tyrese Martin. Transfer RJ Cole and redshirt Richie Springs are now eligible. Digest this.
“In my opinion this is the closest team, bonding-wise, even during the pandemic that I’ve been on since I’ve been here,” Whaley said. “Coach Hurley did a really good job with that. Some weeks, we’d Zoom call every day. We talk to each other all the time. we’re always keeping in touch. What games are going on, making sure everybody is good. Now we can hang out with each other more. At first we couldn’t do that.”
They had to stay in pods of two until sufficient negative COVID tests allowed groups to build. Just to be sure, Whaley repeated that he thought this is the closest group.
“That’s a really important aspect,” he said. “My freshman year, even coming in, there was just like a dark mood, an unsettled mood. We didn’t know if the coach was going to stay or what was going to happen. Nobody knew. People were unsettled. You didn’t know who was going to leave for the NBA. Even the team chemistry, you would have groups hanging out with just certain people. But this is a team where everybody’s together.
“Everybody’s on the same page with the coach. You don’t have people going against what the coach is saying. Coach Hurley came in and his main thing was working on the culture. He went at that straight on, so we’ve got a strong culture now where we all hold each other accountable. If somebody’s not doing what they’re supposed to do, we hold them accountable. We didn’t do that back in the early years.” Whaley had specifics. “Somebody would take four messed-up shots in a row and nobody would hold him accountable,” he said. “Nobody would say anything. Now we’ve got a team where we’re all close and we can call each other out on stuff like that.”
With COVID and an uncertain season, there was lots of conditioning at first, to get everyone’s wind back. Whaley said they toned down a bit, working on fundamentals, jump shots, ball-handling. “Dan Hurley Basketball Camp,” Whaley said. Schemes and concepts lie ahead; the warning to be smart, stay educated on COVID-19 is constant.
“He has seen some other programs that handled it poorly,” Whaley said. “He wants us to be smart about things if we want a season.”
Whaley had access to a gym in West Virginia. He invited Josh Carlton to go through a few weeks with him, working out three times a day, lifting at night, a diet regimen, the works. Carlton was dropping weight. Whaley was looking to put on a little more. The two will compete for minutes, but to have a successful year, Whaley said, everyone needs to buy in.
“As a freshman I was always trying to ask questions and try to follow what CV or Jalen Adams were doing, try to copy their work ethic, especially CV,” Whaley said. “Mamadou (Diarra). I would ask a lot of questions. Now, the freshmen, or even some of the returning guys like James Bouknight or Jalen Gaffney, they’ll be asking me questions. Coach will get on me, yell at me to be more vocal and talk to the younger guys whenever they mess up.
“I was always the young guy, the guy in the background trying to get it myself, learn it myself. Now I know everything and basically the coach is on me to try to get everybody else together. It’s a big adjustment, but I think the more time we’re together, I think we’re going to be able to figure it out.”
So he runs down the incoming list like a scout. Javonte is raw, but superlong and blocks shots. Sanogo is much more skilled than he anticipated. For a big dude, he has good footwork, is quick and a nice touch. Martin is really athletic, but far more skilled than he imagined. He has worked on his jump shot. Jackson, a star in the making, has been slowed by a minor knee injury, but he has been working hard on shooting drills.
“Whatever environment we play in, it’s going to be really intense,” Whaley said. “Hurley, it doesn’t matter if he’s playing in front of a million people or zero people. He’s going to be one of the loudest, most intense people out there and we’re all going to feed off his energy.”
And yeah, “Pork Chop” can hoop.