4-star guard Diggins commits to UConn

Rahsool Diggins called UConn head coach Dan Hurley and assistant Tom Moore on Thursday night and told them he wanted to FaceTime on Friday morning with a very important message.

Hurley and Moore probably hadn’t imagined just how early Diggins was going to call. But at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, he informed the coaches that he would be committing to UConn. Then he continued on his way to a workout.

“He’s a gym rat,” Diggins’ high school coach, John Mosco, told Hearst Connecticut Media. “He wants to get better.”

That pretty much fits the type of player Hurley wants to bring to the program to a tee. On Sunday evening, Diggins informed the world of his decision via Instagram.

“It was a great fit for everything — not too far, not too close, great program, great players and great fans,” said Diggins, who hails from Philadelphia. “I get to stay close to home and play.”

Diggins, a 6-foot-1 combo guard and a four-star recruit from Archbishop Wood High School, is Hurley’s first Class of 2021 commit. He was recruited by Villanova and fellow Big East rival DePaul, along with Kansas, Miami, Rutgers and Virginia Tech, among numerous others.

It wasn’t easy choosing UConn over the hometown team, Villanova. In fact, current Villanova star guard Colin Gillespie is an Archbishop Wood alum who frequently still works out at the school.

Mosco noted that Hurley told him: “It’s gonna take a player with big (guts) to walk away from Villanova from the Philly area, and I think you have them.”

A national top-50 recruit with point guard skills who can also shoot and score, Diggins boasts a high basketball IQ and good feel for the game. He can shoot from deep and mid-range, finish at the rim, is very shifty with

the ball and is an elite passer who can hit teammates for lobs, kick-outs or passes off the pick-and-roll. He averaged 20.3 points, 4.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor last season and earning Philadelphia Catholic League Player of the Year honors as a junior.

Diggins needs to get a little stronger and is not an explosive athlete in the James Bouknight/Andre Jackson mold, but is definitely athletic enough.

In short, he’ll remind Husky fans of A.J. Price, the former point guard who led UConn to the Final Four in 2009 and played six seasons in the NBA. Interestingly, Moore was the point man for both players’ recruitment.

“He’s crafty, electrifying, a knack for big plays and winning plays,” said Bosco. “He’s a winner. He likes to get his teammates involved, he wants to make the big shot and everything like that.”

Diggins is just as genuine off the court. Bosco came down with COVID-19 about about a month ago, and though he never had to be hospitalized, he didn’t start feeling better until about a week ago.

“He’s calling me, texting me, checking up on me and all that stuff when he found out I was sick,” Bosco reported. “He’s just a great kid.”

“He’s always smiling, never had a bad day, takes constructive criticism well. He’s easy to coach.”

Diggins, who should have Archbishop Wood as a favorite to win the Philly City League title this season, is currently ranked as the No. 41 overall player and No. 6 point guard in the nation by rivals.com and No. 58 overall and No. 8 at point guard by 247sports.com.

Diggins would join a UConn backcourt in 2021-22 that should also include R.J. Cole as a senior and Jalen Gaffney as a junior. Bouknight is likely to leave for the NBA after his sophomore season this winter.

Diggins said he prefers to play point guard, but he’ll have plenty of opportunity to play off the ball if Cole and Gaffney are still there.