The recruit that got away from UConn?
New Haven native thriving at Xavier as Huskies’ Hurley admits: ‘None of us get them all’
CINCINNATI — The question could have been posed to UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley something like this: “Dan, recruiting is hardly an exact science, but what does Claude do that just blows you away now that maybe no one saw ...”
Sound famililar? Substitute the “Dan” with “Jim” and the “Claude” with “Gomes,” and that’s the exact question late New Haven Register columnist Dave Solomon asked Jim Calhoun 20 years ago, pondering how UConn had missed out on recruiting Waterbury’s Ryan Gomes. Calhoun famously responded with an expletive-laden rant that remains viral to this day.
Would Hurley react similarly when broached on the subject of New Haven’s Desmond Claude, who wasn’t heavily recruited by the Huskies and is now one of the Big East’s leading scorers as a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard at Xavier?
Nope, not Hurley’s style. As wild and animated as he can be on the sidelines, Hurley rarely, if ever, gets that worked up in press conferences.
Truth is, Hurley and his staff saw plenty of Claude on the recruiting trail a few years ago, when Claude was an Expressions Elite AAU teammate of Alex Karaban. Hurley was impressed.
“You see his talent, you see his physicality, that big wing guard,” Hurley recalled.
But, the Huskies had 6-4 guard Corey Floyd Jr. redshirting at the time, and had big plans for Floyd as a wing in the coming years. So Claude didn’t get much of a look. Or “not really at all,” according to Claude.
“That’s why it’s like, ‘Wow,’ ” Claude said. “But, you know, it is what it is. I’m happy with the decision anyway. I don’t hate anybody or anything. It is what it is.”
Hurley had his reasons. “In recruiting and building a culture, we don’t mislead recruits or recruit the same types of players in terms of skillset,” the sixth-year UConn coach explained. “We looked at Corey, at the time, as that type of player that we already committed to in the program. We believed in him.”
Surprisingly, Floyd elected to transfer to Providence after sitting out the 2021-22 season.
“Obviously, things don’t always work out,” Hurley said. “Corey’s not with us and Dez is playing well at Xavier. He hurt us a lot last year when we played them, he played really well. He’s a tremendous player with a great future.”
Indeed, things seemed to have worked out well for both parties. Xavier has been ravaged by graduation losses and injuries this season and currently sits at 10-8 overall and 4-3 in the Big East, including an 80-75 loss to UConn on Jan. 10 in Cincinnati. Those graduation losses and injuries have opened the door for Claude to have a much more prominent role this season as the Musketeers’ only true healthy returnee.
“I was in the back of the bus,” Claude said, “and I skipped a whole bunch of rows to get to the front.”
After averaging 4.7 points per game almost entirely off the bench (one start) in 35 contests last season, Claude is among the Big East’s best players as a sophomore. Entering Tuesday night’s action, he was 10th in the league in scoring at 16 per game, to go with 4.8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. In Big East games only, Claude is averaging 16.7 points per game, good for eighth in the league, and is 20th in the league at 5.4 rebounds per game.
Last week, Claude scored a career-high 26 points in a win over Butler, then had 19 points and nine assists in a one-point edging of Georgetown.
“We’re always going to be better when Dez is energized and playing well,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said.
Claude is also averaging a team-high 35.3 minutes in conference games.
“I accepted the role,” Claude said. “I also kind of wanted that role, to step up, especially already being here last year. I wanted to make some jumps, personally. We put a plan together to help me do that. Being a leader, leading the new guys, the freshmen, was part of it.”
Xavier was the only team to play UConn last season (twice) and not lose. Claude played pretty well in both games, including six points and three assists in 20 minutes in Xavier’s Jan. 25 victory in Storrs.
Of course, UConn went on to win a national championship, and is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Huskies already avenged last year’s New Year’s Eve loss at Xavier with an 80-75 win on Jan. 10 at Cintas Center. Claude finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, though shot just 3-for-12 from the floor.
Claude & Co. get another crack at UConn on Sunday at noon at Gampel Pavilion.
“It’s still personal, it’s not going to ever change,” Claude admitted. “But then again, you play the game to have fun. It’s what I love to do, so, just trying to focus on winning. UConn’s a really good team.”
UConn has been pretty impressive on the recruiting trail in recent years. Hurley may have missed out on Claude and lost Floyd, but instead he’s brought in potential NBA lottery pick Stephon Castle, transfers like Cam Spencer, and a possible future star in Solo Ball.
“None of us get them all right,” Hurley shrugged. “We had the right intentions.”