A closer look at the group of 19 players leaving UConn.
UConn football continues to lose players.
Running back Dante Black and receivers Zavier Scott and Quayvon Skanes announced this week that they plan to transfer from the program, making 19 scholarship players who will not return to UConn next season despite remaining eligibility.
Here’s what to know about that group.
Four started at least half UConn’s games last season
Though many of the UConn transfers were role players or reserves, several made key contributions for the Huskies in 2019.
Safety Tyler Coyle was a captain and the team’s leading tackler. Cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson started for the first half of the season before hurting his ankle. And center Nino Leone and guard Cam DeGeorge (who celebrated Senior Day but has not announced that he intends to transfer) were multiyear starters on the O-line.
All those players would likely have contributed to next year’s UConn team as well.
Several others played supporting roles in ’19
Other departing players played more marginal roles for the Huskies.
Ryan Gilmartin started three games at linebacker before suffering a high-ankle sprain. Mike Beaudry started three games at quarterback, before ultimately being usurped by Jack Zergiotis. Donovan Williams contributed at tight end when he wasn’t injured. Skanes returned punts all season. Mason Donaldson played sparingly at receiver but established himself as the team’s kickoff specialist. Eddie Hahn played on special teams.
Of those players, all of whom have spent at least four years in college, only Hahn chose to celebrate Senior Day last month, suggesting that the others at least entertained the idea of staying at UConn. It’s likely that some or all were not invited back for 2020.
Five players had at least two years of eligibility remaining
Though most departing UConn players were graduate transfers (i.e., those who had finished undergraduate but retained a year of eligibility) five could have two or more years of college football ahead of them.
That group includes Black, Scott, cornerback Ryan Carroll and offensive linemen Robert Holmes and Stanley Hubbard.
Four of those five players started at least one game at UConn, though only Carroll played regularly at any point (starting eight games as a freshman in 2018 before sitting last season for academic reasons). Hubbard, who said he transferred primarily for family reasons, would likely have started at center next season had he stayed in Storrs.
These players will have to sit out next season, unless they receive waivers from the NCAA.
Others struggled to find playing time
The remaining transfers were stuck in reserve roles at UConn, though some got chances during their time in Storrs. Brett Graham was the Huskies’ starting punter in 2017, then lost that job and became the team’s holder. Defensive end A. J. Garson cycled up and down the team’s depth chart in 2018 but barely played in 2019. Andrew Migliaccio appeared in one game this past season. Noel Brouse did not appear in any.
These players celebrated Senior Day. Their departures did not come as surprises.
More played offense than defense
Ten of the departing players played offense, with nine having started at least one game in their UConn careers. Seven played defense, with five having started at least one game. One (Graham) was strictly a specialist.
Still, UConn’s offense will return seven starters next season, baring further transfers, while the defense could return as many as nine.
Almost all were recruited by Bob Diaco
One underlying story of this transfer wave is the apparent divide between players recruited by current coach Randy Edsall and those recruited by his predecessor, Bob Diaco.
Of the 19 players leaving the program, 13 arrived at UConn before Edsall did, and another (Hubbard) committed to Diaco before sticking around with Edsall.
“It is a fact that the majority of the kids that are transferring were not recruited by Randy and his staff,” athletic director David Benedict said Sunday. “Is that the lone reason? I don’t think so, but certainly that’s a part of it.”
Tight end Jay Rose is the lone remaining player from UConn’s 2016 recruiting class (assembled under Diaco). About a dozen remain from the 2017 class, which came together at the end of Diaco’s tenure and the beginning of Edsall’s.