Adams Eschews Headband, Scores 20
The Story: Jalen Adams and Tarin Smith each scored 20 points and the Huskies demolished Drexel 97-65 at the XL Center last night.
ADAMS BACK TO OLD SELF: Adams, who was called out by Dan Hurley after a two-point performance on Saturday against Manhattan, scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and had three assists and only one turnover in 21 minutes. Adams, most importantly, also retired his infamous headband, which he debuted on Saturday.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies shot 60 percent from the floor (36-of-60) and were 10-of-17 from 3-point range. They forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 27 points. They finished with 97 points one game after scoring a season-low 69 against Manhattan and have now scored more than 90 points in a game six times this season. According to Katie Sharp, UConn only scored 90 or more points six times in its previous three seasons, and it last hit the 90-point mark six times in 2008-09.
WHAT WE REALLY LIKED: The controlled fury of Smith and Christian Vital. Smith was a perfect 7-for-7 and 6-of-8 from the free throw line with five rebounds and five assists. Vital was under control and was 5-of-7 shooting for 17 points and six rebounds. If both are playing well and scoring efficiently, the Huskies are going to be really tough to guard on the perimeter.
SOS ON STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: The Huskies (9-3) will play Villanova on Saturday at MSG in their final non-conference game and one that has definitely lost its luster. The defending national champs have struggled this season and have fallen out of the top 25. The Huskies’ big win this year, against Syracuse, doesn’t look as great with after the Orange lost to Old Dominion last week and Buffalo on Tuesday. That makes Saturday’s game against a quality team (at least for now) critical. UConn opens the AAC season on Jan. 2 at USF.
Ollie Just Won’t Go Away
The Story: Kevin Ollie has filed a discrimination complaint against UConn, alleging the school’s decision to dismiss him had racial motivations.
WHAT OLLIE ARGUES: Ollie, who is mired in arbitration with the school after it refused to pay the $10 million buyout in his contract, alleges that the school dismissed him for violations that did not lead to the firing of Jim Calhoun. The attorneys for Ollie are calling this “disparate treatment” racially motivated.
WHY OLLIE WAS FIRED: Ollie wasn’t dismissed for losing basketball games, per UConn. The Huskies fired Ollie in March and cited just cause for dismissal, pointing to alleged NCAA violations as the reason. Because they used those violations as the reason for the firing — and not performance as coach — Ollie’s $10 million buyout was withheld. So, when the university talks of the Ollie firing, nothing he did on the court was the reason he was fired.
OUR TAKE: The damage has been done to UConn. People will see the headline and not care about the details. It is not a good look for the university.
We here at The UConn Daily aren’t lawyers but we know public relations and the media. We spotted this one a long time ago. It should have been settled not because UConn’s case is weak, but rather because it isn’t worth the cost to argue and win. This is the very definition of a pyrrhic victory.
The disingenuous arguments by the UConn administration with regards to Ollie’s firing are, and will continue to be, a public relations problem for the university. No one in the basketball industry actually believes that Ollie was fired for those NCAA violations. No one believes, with any degree of seriousness, that Ollie would have been fired had he made the Final Four last year. Whether a case can be made that his contract was vague enough that the firing is allowable is not relevant to this discussion. UConn using legal jargon to try to get out from an ill-advised contract may work in a courtroom, but not in public opinion. This has harmed UConn’s brand and cast the school in a negative light.
On Ollie’s side, the use of “racial motivations” as a reason for his dismissal is offensive to athletic department employees, UConn alumni and the people of Connecticut. UConn embraced Ollie as a young adult and the folks in Storrs have shown nothing but admiration and patience with him throughout his life and career. The school and fanbase went along for the ride as he took over a marquee job in college basketball with no prior head coaching experience. If there was racial animus in the university hierarchy, it would have shown up long ago. These are things you can’t take back and we are saddened at this development.
This was an avoidable situation. We were hoping that cooler heads would prevail, but that ship has sailed. Who picks up the pieces from here?
Women Back in Saddle vs. Oklahoma
The Story: The women’s basketball team will resume its season tonight with a road game against Oklahoma on Fox Sports 1 at 8:30 p.m. Let’s hope they fare a little bit better in their first game back than their counterparts did on Saturday.
SHAKE THE RUST: The Huskies haven’t played since they defeated Seton Hall on Dec. 8, and the long layoff due to final exams meant that practices were a bit shorter and more informal over the course of the last week. That may be a problem for most teams, but it shouldn’t be one for UConn (9-0), which is outscoring opponents by 34.9 points per game this season.
It will also be the perfect opportunity to work guard Megan Walker back into the lineup after she missed the last two games with strep throat. Walker, who stayed away from the team while she was ill, is averaging 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds this season.
ABOUT OKLAHOMA: Ten of the Sooners’ 12 players are underclassmen, including all five starters. Freshman guard Taylor Robinson leads the team with 18.4 points per game and freshman forward Madi Williams, a former AAU teammate of UConn’s Christyn Williams, is averaging a double double with 13.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Oklahoma is shooting 45.6 percent, one of the better marks in the country, but has been held back by its defense, which has allowed a porous 78.6 points per game. UConn, which has never lost to the Sooners in 11 meetings, has twice hit 100 points in the series and could very easily do so again.
WHERE’S THE BUZZ? A matchup between UConn and Oklahoma would typically generate plenty of headlines, if not for being one of the marquee games of the season then for the creepy, borderline sexist comments made toward Sooners coach Sherri Coale by leering male sportswriters.
There’s none of that this time out, though, with the Sooners stumbling to their worst start since Coale’s first season in 1996-97. Oklahoma (3-6) is even going all out to get people to the game, giving tickets away free to students, allowing fans to take a photo with quarterback Kyler Murray‘s Heisman Trophy and, most importantly, inviting Red Panda to perform at halftime.
Morning Read https://twitter.com/Talkin_Huskies/status/1075075353645846528
BELL TOLLS FOR UCONN: The Huskies had their first significant recruiting victory in some time last night when Myles Bell, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound defensive back from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, made his commitment. Bell had been offered scholarships by West Virginia, Nebraska, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, Maryland, Syracuse and Illinois, among others. (Myles Bell on Twitter)
SHERMAN, JONES TO PRO BOWL: Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones were each voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time last night. (NFL.com)
CALHOUN GIVING BACK: Jim Calhoun hasn’t let his work as the coach at Saint Joseph prevent him from celebrating 20 years of his annual holiday fundraiser. (Hartford Courant)
CHECKING THE PULSE: Katie Sharp and Jake Storiale address Jalen Adams‘ performances, the Huskies’ turnover problems and more. (Talkin’ Huskies podcast on iTunes)
CFL EYES MAYALA: Wide receiver Hergy Mayala, a Montreal native, was ranked No. 6 in the latest list of top prospects compiled by the CFL’s scouting bureau. (CFL.ca)
EXPANSION IMMINENT? Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said he’s ready to begin discusions about expanding the College Football Playoff, which is what we would expect him to say because his conference missed out this year. (The Athletic)
UCONN TABBED FOR CAMP: The NCAA will host its East Region men’s basketball prospect camp in Storrs in July. Houston, Illinois and Grand Canyon will also hold camps, which are meant to prepare players for college. (NCAA.com)
BIG EAST TO REPRESENT USA: A team of Big East all-stars will play for Team USA in the Pan-Am Games in Lima, Peru, in August 2019. If only Kemba Walker and Alex Oriakhi had that chance in 2011… (Associated Press)
AN XS XL PROPOSAL: The scaled-down $100 million plan for renovations to the XL Center raises questions whether the building is even worth saving. (Capitol Watch podcast)
