Despite little playing time, Springs remains patient
Sit back, relax and put on an extended version of a song from your playlist — say, the live version of “Free Bird.”
The length of that song about equals how much playing time Richie Springs has had in his first two seasons at UConn.
Thirteen minutes in two seasons. That’s well less than half a game, and only a few minutes more than the team’s walk-ons have played the past couple of years.
Granted, Springs sat out his freshman year as an academic redshirt. But the 6-foot-9 forward barely saw the floor this past season. He played in just five games, and never for more than two minutes until getting an eight-minute run (the “Free Bird” guitar solo?) in UConn’s 34-point dismantling of DePaul in a Big East tournament game.
It’s enough to send a player looking for greener pastures at another program, especially with loosened NCAA transfer rules that have sent over 1,600 players into the transfer portal this season.
But not Richie Springs.
He’s still a Husky, and has no intentions of being anything else.
“I feel like I needed those two years, and that it will all pay off in the long run,” Springs said in a text exchange with Hearst Connecticut Media. “I needed those two years to mature and grow as a player. I feel like a lot of guys in my situation would have broken already, but I’m going to keep going. I know this will all pay off soon.”
“It says a lot about him,” added coach Dan Hurley. “It says a lot about the people
he keeps around him, his support system, the quality of life-advice he gets to not run away from a tremendous challenge at UConn.”
That support system includes Terrence “Munch” Williams, who coached Springs for two years with the PSA Cardinals AAU team. He watched Springs make great strides from his sophomore to junior year and noted that Springs has always been a “straightshooter” who chose to redshirt his first year at UConn rather than reclassify and play another year of prep.
“He’s always been a process kid, from middle school to high school and now in college,” Williams said. “He gets it. He sees success later in the process, so he’s not one to run away from competition when things get hard. He’s never mentioned anything about the portal. He just says, ‘Hey, I’m gonna be ready when my number’s called. When I get an opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it.’”
“It would be a lot easier for Richie,” added Hurley, “to go down a level to where it’s going to be handed to him.”
That’s not going to happen in Hurley’s program, and it’s certainly not going to happen next season. In fact, the competition level will be as intense as ever for playing time in what Hurley labels the Huskies’ “Forward Room.”
Isaiah Whaley, the reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year, is back for one last season. So is Adama Sanogo, so impressive as a Big East All-Rookie Team selection this past winter. Akok Akok, perhaps the most talented of the bunch, will be back and ostensibly healthy, 18 months removed from Achilles tendon surgery. Samson Johnson, a 6-11 national top-50 recruit, is joining the program.
“It’s an exciting group to work with,” Hurley said. “There are a couple of guys with NBA ability, productive players and guys with a lot of talent that play with a high motor. These guys are really going to push each other to be better.”
Earning minutes won’t be easy for Springs, who is still just 19. Josh Carlton saw the writing on the wall and left for Houston as a grad transfer last month. Heck, 7footer Javonte Brown only spent a few months on campus as a freshman before bolting in January after playing just four minutes in two games. He’s now at Texas A&M.
But Springs isn’t fleeing to the Lone Star State. He’s embracing the challenge.
“I think it will be great competition for all of us,” he said, “since we will have one of the best frontcourts in the country.”
‘THIS WASN’T GOING TO BE A QUICK FIX THING’
Hurley has had “constant communication” with Springs the past two years.
“As a head coach that’s a former player, that thinks about his players a lot, I try to put myself in Richie’s shoes. In (James) Bouknight’s shoes, in Akok’s shoes, in Isaiah’s shoes. You try to have empathy with where they’re at.”
And that’s part of why, despite the transfer boom in men’s college hoops, UConn has had so few players leave the program under Hurley. Grad transfers like Carlton, Brendan Adams and Alterique Gilbert were mutual decisions, as was Sid Wilson. Really, Brown was the only surprise departure in Hurley’s three years at the helm.
“It’s a sign of a quality program that you’re recruiting players that want to be around each other, that has a coaching staff that players believe in and enjoy working with,” Hurley noted. “Players don’t leave elite programs. It’s pretty rare that places like Villanova or Duke or UConn has players leave. Players shouldn’t want to leave, unless they’re at the point in their career where they feel like they have to.”
Make no mistake, the staff likes Springs’ potential. Hurley calls him “the best offensive rebounder I’ve coached,” and lauded his play in practice several times late last season.
So what does Springs have to do to finally get some meaningful minutes? Improve his confidence, his presence, his maturity, according to Hurley. Improve his oncourt communication (calling out ball-screens, etc.) and knowing where to be on the floor. And establishing an offensive identity: Is he a face-up, drive-to-thehoop forward? A stretch four who can hit 3-pointers?
Springs said he’s focused on improving his jumper and his ball-handling this summer.
“I’m looking forward to getting on the court,” Springs said, “and help be a part of another winning season.”
He’s as free as a bird now. “This wasn’t going to be a quick fix thing,” Hurley added. “He didn’t come here to be an early-entrant player. We continue to talk to Richie about patience and being a better player. Hopefully by the end of the year, the day-out, day-in battles with Akok, Isaiah, Adama, Josh over the years are going to make him a much better player.”