Allen celebration will be reminder of Huskies’ great past
STORRS — UConn’s glorious past will intervene on its difficult present on Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion.
At halftime of the Huskies’ bout with South Florida (noon, CBS Sports Network), Ray Allen will be honored in a ceremony that will officially retire his uniform No. 34. Allen became the first former UConn men’s player to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame back in September.
“Obviously, he means a ton to the fan base, to former players, to former coaches,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley. “He helped kind of lay the foundation for the championship teams that would follow him. He’s a face of this program.”
Allen, a 10-time NBA All-star and two-time NBA champion who is the fifth leading scorer in UConn history, is a shining reminder of the Huskies’ proud past. He also could be somewhat of a link to the future. Don’t think it’s coincidence that UConn will have numerous high-level recruits (including prized commit Jalen Gaffney) in the building for what promises to be a big crowd honoring the program’s greatest player.
“He’s a player and person that every parent or every potential recruit knows and is very aware of,” said Hurley. “You try to create a vision for kids that you’re recruiting that you can come to UConn and potentially have a career like he did. So he’s a thing of hope.”
Allen participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for UConn’s sparkling new Hall of Champions inside the Werth Family Champions practice facility on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s hard to be a 17, 18year-old kid and not walk in here and feel inspired,” Allen said of the display, an impressive shrine to the great players and teams in UConn history. “So much greatness has walked through these halls.”
Allen’s presence is also a reminder of how far the program has fallen in recent years. Maybe all you have to know is that UConn (13-15, 4-11 AAC) enters the game three games behind the Bulls in the league standings. USF (18-10, 7-8 AAC) has been the conference’s biggest surprise, with wins over Memphis and at SMU, not to mention a 76-68 win over the Huskies on Jan. 2 that was one of UConn’s worst in a season of bad ones.
The Huskies led by 12 late in the first half and by eight at halftime, only to watch it all wither away as the Bulls outscored them 51-36 over the final 20 minutes. It remains the most points UConn has allowed in a half this season.
That USF, a perennial doormat in the Big East and, now, the AAC, is having a considerably better season than the Huskies is about all you have to know about the UConn program’s current state.
“We talk about wins and losses, and that’s ultimately what we judge coaches and players by,” said Allen. “But, in the position we’re in right now, we have to start rebuilding what we’re doing. And it requires building our young people back to what we know we’re capable of at this university.”
Hurley knows where the Huskies are. He knows they’ve lost six straight games and haven’t won on the road in over a year.
“No one associated with this program is used to being in this position,” Hurley said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the spot that we’re in, but our focus is on getting this team to play as competitively and as hard as I can possibly get this team play. And while that’s going on, continue to build this program into a championship-level program.”
Hurley is trying to balance winning games with getting younger players more experience, with an eye toward the future. That’s part of the reason why freshman Brendan Adams, despite an almost season-long shooting slump, has been seeing more minutes lately. It may have something to do with why junior Christian Vital, a starting lineup stalwart and the team’s leading rebounder as a 6-foot-2 guard.
“We’re trying to look at different combinations of players ,” Hurley explained. “There’s a multitude of reasons why you would be playing a guy or not playing a guy. Obviously this is our third straight year of a potential losing season at UConn. So I don’t know if anyone in the program right now has necessarily established themselves as secure in their position, not when you’re in your third straight year of losing.”
“We’re just looking for solutions,” the coach continued. “We’re trying to emphasize culture, character, being about the right things. If we had a deeper team, there would be a lot more competition at positions. I wish there was more. Eventually that’s coming here. But there’s a variety of reasons why guys go from starting to the bench.”
Allen texted Hurley after UConn’s heartbreaking loss to Cincinnati a week ago: “We just have to get them to understand what 40 minutes hard is.”
“Coach Calhoun, in his language, used to say, ‘40 hard!’,” Allen said, feigning Calhoun’s Boston accent. “That’s what we believed in — don’t take your foot off somebody else’s throat. With Coach Hurley’s enthu- siasm and energy, I feel encouraged when I’m watching him with these guys, because I know ... I’ve been down 28 in a game and still won.”
Hurley, of course, replaced Allen’s former teammate and close friend, Kevin Ollie, at UConn’s helm in March. Still, Allen believes Hurley is the right man for the job.
“He asks plenty of questions,” Allen noted. “Some of the best coaches I’ve ever played for, big-named coach- es but they always ask ques- tions. That’s the one thing I’ve learned from being around incredible people — presidents, administrators — they always ask questions. That’s Hurley. He asks questions.”
RIM RATTLINGS
Along with Gaffney, the expected recruits attending Sunday’s game include forward Noah Collier (Gaffney’s teammate at Westtown School), 6-foot-6 guard Andre Jackson of Albany, New York and guard Cam Thomas of Oak Hill Academy. All three Class of 2020 players are making official visits.
The Huskies are also getting unofficial visits from Richard Springs of the MacDuffie School and Demarr Langford of Putnam Science Academy.