UConn gets commitments from a handful of state standouts
GameTimeCT Player of the Year Shaban joins Huskies
As the second national signing day started on Wednesday, UConn football had a relatively quiet day, officially announcing just two transfers.
But while Jim Mora and his coaching staff’s first independently recruited class is relatively small with limited scholarships, the program has still managed to keep some of the state’s top talent in Connecticut.
UConn’s list of preferred walk-ons keeps growing. Last week Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, John Neider, announced his commitment to play for the Huskies. UConn has now recruited back-to-back CT Gatorade Players of the Year after Victor Rosa committed in the previous class.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the program has now landed back-to-back New Haven Register Players of the Year, with Joel Barlow’s triple-option quarterback Danny Shaban following in the footsteps of Norwalk’s Cam Edwards, who committed a season ago.
“The last year has been real slow, my whole life I haven’t really gotten the kind of looks that I thought I would at least,” Shaban said. “But it picked up at the end of my senior season and I am glad it did. UConn came in there at the end and it has always been where I wanted to go.”
Shaban led Joel Barlow to its first ever state championship, scoring five touchdowns himself as Barlow defeated Valley Regional/Old Lyme 61-6 in the Class SS final. Shaban rushed for 2,067 yards and a state leading 35 touchdowns on 219 carries this past season. He completed 25 of 44 passes for 721 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a defensive end, Shaban made 41 solo tackles and 27 assisted, with 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks while forcing four fumbles.
While Neider and Shaban were both quarterbacks as seniors, they will likely be shifting positions at the next level, similar to the path Victor Rosa took in his impressive freshman season at UConn, in which he led the team with 11 touchdowns.
“I think UConn is trying to build a family setting over there, really trying to get Connecticut back into the mix and keep kids in the program,” Shaban said. “I think a lot of us are underrated, you saw what John Neider did this year and he was a great player who I met on my visit. I am just excited to get to work with all of them.”
Neider was a wide receiver before his high school team, Jonathan Law, asked him to fill the