Westbrook Sees Light, Heads to Storrs
The Story: In what would have seemed to be an unthinkable decision a decade ago, a Tennessee women’s basketball player will transfer to UConn. Evina Westbrook, the Lady Vols’ starting point guard the last two seasons, will resume her career in Storrs, becoming the fourth player in the Huskies’ incoming class.
WHO IS SHE? Westbrook, who acknowledged the unique situation with a tongue-in-cheek Instagram post on Friday, averaged team highs of 14.9 points and 5.3 assists last season as a sophomore. She had two double-doubles last season, including a career-high 29 points and 10 assists against Stanford, and her career average of 4.78 assists per game ranks second all-time at Tennessee.
A native of Salem, Oregon, she was the No. 2-ranked high school player in the country in 2017 behind Megan Walker, and she backed up that hype by starting all 64 games she played for the Lady Vols.
WHEN WILL SHE PLAY? An undergraduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining, Westbrook should be forced to sit out a year by NCAA regulations. However, the organization has shown much more leniency as of late toward players who wish to transfer after a coaching change, which happened when Tennessee fired Holly Warlick and brought in Kellie Harper last month. The Huskies are banking on Westbrook being eligible next season, and her addition would give an immediate boost to their offense.
If she does play next season, she’ll be seeing orange again. UConn will face Tennessee for the first time since 2007, with the first game in Connecticut and the second in Knoxville a year later.
WILL SHE START? We’ve asked this question nearly every time the Huskies received a commitment because of their now once-desperate roster situation, but Westbrook would be the best candidate to start alongside Walker, Crystal Dangerfield and Christyn Williams.
What would be interesting (again, assuming she’s immediately eligible) is seeing how Geno Auriemma would operate with both Dangerfield and Westbrook on the court. Dangerfield, who will be a senior, was one of the best point guards in the country last season, and Westbrook didn’t pick UConn to come off the bench. We struggle to remember a time when the Huskies had two equally skilled ballhandlers on the court at the same time — our loyal readers can refresh our memories — but Westbrook, who seems to be a more adept scorer than Dangerfield, may end up being the one asked to play more off the ball.
Another knock-on effect of Westbrook’s transfer would be that Geno could rotate Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Murray State transfer Evelyn Adebayo in the middle, and incoming freshmen Aubrey Griffin and Ania Makurat won’t be pressured to contribute from the first day they step on campus.
STRANGE ’17: Westbrook’s decision to join the Huskies caps an interesting 2017 recruiting class for Geno, who now has the top two players from that group in the fold after losing three others. Andra Espinoza-Hunter transferred to Mississippi State during her first season, Lexi Gordon left in December and landed at Texas Tech and Mikayla Coombs decided to enroll at Georgia last week.
PLAYING THE LONG GAME: One benefit of Westbrook’s arrival is that she will serve as a bridge to the Huskies’ next era. Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 high school junior in the country, had been expected to step in as the starting point guard from her first day on campus (and said Dangerfield’s graduation helped influence her decision), but now, presumably, she will take a year to learn from Westbrook and settle in. Things change — maybe Westbrook proves to be a better player off the ball and Bueckers can start as a freshman — but Westbrook’s presence certainly will help.
ELEVENTH HEAVEN: If eligible, Westbrook would be an 11th player on the roster for the Huskies next season — not bad considering they had just eight players less than a month ago. Are they title contenders? They’re not going to be the favorites, for sure, but their chances are a lot better than they had been. Maybe a 13th consecutive Final Four appearance isn’t out of the cards just yet.
J.O. Christian Field Closes With A Whimper
The Story: The baseball team played its final game at J.O. Christian Field on Saturday afternoon, capping a three-game series against USF with a doubleheader and a pair of losses, 3-2 and 3-1.
A BIT OF HISTORY: The Huskies moved into J.O. Christian Field in 1968 and significantly outgrew its usefulness after the turn of the century, when Jim Penders replaced Andy Baylock as coach and began churning out professional prospects.
The stadium, a set of metal bleachers alongside a rudimentary press box, will be demolished over the summer. The baseball team will move across the street to the new Elliot Ballpark, which will give the program more of a big-time feel.
RECORD MISSED: Had the Huskies swept the Bulls on Saturday, Penders could have passed Baylock for the most wins by a coach in school history. Instead, Penders, who is 555-388-5 all-time, will look to lock up that mark no sooner than Thursday, when UConn concludes the regular season with the start of a three-game set at Tulane.
WHAT DID PENDERS SAY? “The last thing we want to do was to send JOC out like this. It was such a terrible offensive day. It was tough to watch the bats. That’s the first part. As much as I’m ready to move across the street, this place means a lot to a lot of people and will always hold special memories for me, too … even if there were always crazy bounces, the wind was always blowing and it was cold. It was ours.”
AS FOR THE POSTSEASON…: The Huskies figured to be a shoo-in to make another NCAA tournament appearance at the end of this season, especially after they started by winning a series against No. 4-ranked Louisville and appearing in the rankings themselves a few weeks in.
Now, the road appears a bit rocky, given that UConn is 30-21 overall and now 10-11 in the AAC — good for just fifth in the conference. The pair of losses to USF hurt, and with the AAC likely to receive only two or three at-large bids to the 64-team NCAA tournament, the Huskies will need to make some noise in the conference tournament to play their way into contention.
No News on Pindell; Summers Signs
The Story: Former UConn quarterback David Pindell tried out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during rookie minicamp this weekend as he tries to embark upon a career in the NFL.
MEET ME OUTSIDE: Pindell, listed as an athlete when the Buccaneers released their list of tryout players, spent the first day of the minicamp as a quarterback before moving to wide receiver on the second day, according to his agent. He also was among five players asked to return punts during the practice.
NO DECISION MADE: Although most teams scramble to lock down tryout players shortly after the rookie minicamp ends, the Buccaneers have yet to do so. That means we will have to wait until early this week to find out if Pindell will earn an invitation to return for training camp.
So thankful to be here🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/AlF5TIrR7V
— David Pindell (@davidpindell_) May 11, 2019
SUMMERS SIGNS: Former UConn cornerback Jamar Summers, who may have been the best defender on the Birmingham Iron during the AAF’s brief run, was signed by the Miami Dolphins after a tryout this weekend and will go to training camp with the team. Summers had three interceptions for the Iron, which was one of the league’s better teams.
Morning Reads
PAY TO PLAY: UConn has revamped its season ticket policy for men’s basketball, scrapping the points-based system for one that will require annual donations to the university that are not tax-deductible. It has understandably upset a lot of people. (Hartford Courant)
FROM STAR TO SUPERSTAR: The Houston Astros’ George Springer went 5-for-5 yesterday with two home runs and, if he can stay healthy, will be in the AL MVP conversation this season. (ESPN)
WALKER HEADING HOME? The New York Knicks will consider signing Kemba Walker this summer if they don’t believe Kyrie Irving will leave the Boston Celtics. (SNY)
SIBLINGS IN STORRS? Dan Hurley has offered a scholarship to high school sophomore A.J. Griffin, whose sister, Aubrey, will be a freshman on the women’s basketball team this fall. (Andrew Slater on Twitter)
TOURNEY A WASH: Heavy rain in Houston all weekend forced the cancellation of the AAC softball tournament, which means the season is over for the Huskies, who finished 21-29 overall and 8-13 in the conference. (TheAmerican.org)
