Mikayla Coombs Leaving UConn
The Story: Former high school All-American guard Mikayla Coombs will transfer from the women’s basketball team. The Huskies only have eight scholarship players on the roster next season.
DISAPPOINTING END: Coombs figured to step into a bigger role next year for the Huskies, but will now leave after two years as a little-used bench player. Coombs had a season-high six points against DePaul in November and played a high of 22 minutes against Memphis in February.
DISASTROUS 2016 CLASS: UConn had a monster class of Coombs, Megan Walker, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon. Three of those players have now transferred, with only Walker, the No. 1-ranked player in the class, remaining. The misses in that class are going to haunt the Huskies for a couple of years as they never replaced those players.
IT’S MAY, THEY HAVE HALF A TEAM: Time to hit the panic button. Yes, we are hitting it in May. We don’t know where Geno Auriemma is going to find the back half of his roster. All the great prospects are committed (and have been for quite some time) and only Aubrey Griffin, a guard from upstate New York, is coming in.
Women’s basketball teams are allowed 15 scholarship players, and the Huskies have only eight on the roster for next season. The quality is there with Walker, Crystal Dangerfield and Christyn Williams, with Olivia Nelson-Ododa primed to enter the rotation in the pivot. But the options for a fifth starter could come down to senior Batouly Camara, who struggled for a good part of last season with a knee injury; Kyla Irwin and Molly Bent, both little-used reserves last year; or the freshman in Griffin.
The good news is that Auriemma is a great coach, he has great talent still in Storrs and a ton more is coming in in 2020. Until then, no one better get hurt.
Football Captains Talk Turnaround
The Story: The football team’s three captains — right tackle Matt Peart, linebacker Eli Thomas and punter Luke Magliozzi — embraced that responsibility for the first time by meeting with reporters in Storrs.
THOMAS AN INSPIRATION: Thomas was working out in October when he suddenly couldn’t stand up and his right side stopped working. He was having a stroke. What could have ended in a tragedy has turned into an inspiration for teammates and classmates as Thomas is now a captain. Thomas’ love of football knows no bounds. The kid has had three ACL surgeries and a stroke and is now trying to get back on the field. If anyone deserves to play a game, it’s Thomas. Toughness is an understatement in our book.
PEART TALKS STRUGGLES: Peart is the anchor of the offensive line and spoke about his struggles moving to the right side from the left last year. Peart is also the only player on the roster to actually have attended a bowl game, having gone as a redshirt freshman to the St. Petersburg Bowl in 2015. As far as the old leadership council, Peart is the only one remaining on the team that was on it. Randy Edsall decided this year there should be captains.
NEW LEASE ON LIFE: No one knows more than the players how bad they were in 2018. They are reminded about it daily. One of the great parts of the spring and the offseason is a chance to reinvent yourself. The Huskies have a new lease on life and it is starting in the weight room.
TUNSTALL DEPARTS: As the players were gearing up for the coming season, one said goodbye. Offensive lineman James Tunstall wrote on Twitter that he was departing the program after two seasons and five appearances in 2018.
Morning Reads
TOP 20 CLASS FOR HURLEY: Dan Hurley‘s first recruiting class is in the books, unless Precious Achiuwa commits, and the Huskies are right now ranked No. 19 overall with Akok Akok (No. 59), James Bouknight (No. 65) and Jalen Gaffney (No. 91) as recruits this year. (ESPN)
CHARLES TO MAKE DIRECTOR DEBUT: From the hardwood to Hollywood? Well, not quite, but Tina Charles is set for a directorial debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. (Hartford Courant)
LATEST ON OLLIE AND UCONN: Just in case you were feeling good about yourself, an update on Kevin Ollie‘s UConn lawsuit. Can this case just go away? (Hartford Courant)
