UConn’s matchup will be its first vs. Northwestern
NEW YORK – The UConn men have never played Northwestern, but Cam Spencer and his family are more familiar than most.
The Spencer family has grown close with coach Chris Collins and the Northwestern program since it took a chance on his brother, Pat, in 2019, after his illustrious lacrosse career ended at Loyola. Pat used his graduate year of eligibility to play basketball for the Wildcats and, on Wednesday, scored his first NBA points for the Golden State Warriors.
“Once Pat left Northwestern that was kind of like a second home for him and our family,” Cam said.
In that lone year with the Wildcats, Pat got to know Boo Buie, a freshman at the time and now, in his fifth year, the most accomplished player in the program’s history.
“We talk all the time. We were actually texting a little bit yesterday, I know he’s mad that the brackets shook out the way they did and we’ve got to play against his brother,” Collins said. “He was with us for one year but his impact was huge, especially on Boo.
“I thought Pat did a great job showing Boo the ropes of what it takes to be a great athlete at the college level and the mentality and the mindset you have to have.”
Pat was the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer that season and Buie, now the program’s all-time scoring leader, was third. Spencer’s parents, Donna and Bruce, went to watch Buie and the Wildcats when they played at Maryland on Feb. 28.
“I love the Spencer family,” Collins said. “I just love how both of those guys are wired. They are just tough, competitive, confident guys that work hard. And Cam has become a terrific player, man. I mean, starting out at Loyola, going to Rutgers, what he did there, now coming here to the big stage at UConn and what he’s done, he gives them an edge.”
Cam scored his season-high 23 points in his first matchup against the Wildcats last year while he was at Rutgers. Now the second-leading scorer at UConn, he scored 15 in his first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Friday as the Huskies took down 16-seed Stetson, 91-52. He and the Huskies will be tasked with stopping Buie, who’s averaging 19.3 points and 5.1 assists this season while shooting over 44% from beyond the arc.
“Cam is a really good player. He shoots it very well. He can put it on the floor,” Buie said. “We’re just going to have to be dialed in on him. Try to limit him from getting to where he wants to get and take away some of his actions that he likes to get to.”
Hurley, Collins go way back
Two coaching families, the Hurleys and the Collins have known each other since the Northwestern coach played with Bobby Hurley at Duke.
“(I) recruited some of Danny’s guys when he was a high school coach and he and I have always been very good friends. I think we have a lot of similarities,” Collins said. “Both of us grew up around basketball, we’re coaches’ kids and have been around the game. So I’ve always enjoyed talking to him, I think we’ve had similar upbringings and kind of coach in a similar manner. To have an opportunity to compete against this program and this team, which to me has been as good as any over the last couple years in the country, is going to be a great honor and definitely a challenge that is going to be tough for us, but one I think our guys are excited about seeing what we can do.”
Collins’ father, Doug, was a four-time NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers before starting his coaching career. His first head coaching job came in 1986, when he coached Michael Jordan in Chicago before stints with the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and the 76ers.
“I don’t think there’s a coach that I probably could relate to more in our game than Chris, especially the way our two dads coached,” Dan Hurley said, referring to his Hall of Fame father Bob Hurley Sr. “Our dads poured every part of themselves and coached with such incredible emotion, passion, intensity. Watching his dad at games get so emotional and knowing how my dad feels at my games, I just think that there’s probably not a coach – besides my brother – that I can relate to in our profession than Chris. I think we’re so similar in so many ways, it feels like you’re kind of looking in the mirror.”
The Basketball Capital extends south
Yale’s upset win over 4-seed Auburn in Spokane, Wash., Friday night advanced the Ivy League champion Bulldogs to the Round of 32, where they’ll meet 5-seed San Diego State, who UConn beat in the national title game last year. If the Huskies get past Northwestern, they’d meet the winner of that game in the Sweet 16 in Boston.
“That last part is something that hasn’t registered,” Hurley said. “Me and James (Jones) have been texting since a couple weeks ago. His win in the conference tournament, incredible. His leadership, his coaching, he’s one of the best out there. One of the most underrated coaches in the country. You know, just a total beast. And it’s just great for Connecticut. It’s great for the state.
“I know we say Storrs, Connecticut, is the basketball capital of the world and we don’t run from that, but maybe just the State of Connecticut feels like the basketball capital of the world. Maybe we stretch that (into New Haven) a little bit right now.”
The Albany connection
Buie, from Albany, N.Y., played AAU basketball with former UConn star and national champion Andre Jackson Jr.
“He’s like a brother to me, literally since the second grade,” Buie said. “We have grown up and (been) hanging out with each other ever since. Now he’s in Milwaukee and I go up – it’s about an hour and 15 minutes and I go up like once every other weekend or so and catch a game if I can or just go chill with him and say what’s up.”