R.J. Cole Heading To Storrs
The Story: Howard transfer R.J. Cole, the MEAC Player of the Year last saeson, will transfer to UConn. Cole announced his commitment on Tuesday on Instagram. He was one of the most highly sought transfers on the market this offseason and chose UConn over Alabama. He will have to sit out a season but makes for an excellent start to the 2020 recruiting class.
WHO IS R.J. COLE? Cole is a 6-foot-1 point guard who averaged 21.1 points and 6.4 assists per game at Howard this past season. He played under Bob Hurley Sr. at now-defunct St. Anthony’s and will step into a prime role for the Huskies in 2020. Cole is an excellent shooter and scorer and hits at 38.7% from 3-point range. Stadium ranked him late last month as the fourth-best undergraduate transfer in the country and ESPN has him 12th.
WHERE DOES HE FIT? This is a big signing for the Huskies’ future. Christian Vital will be in his final year and Alterique Gilbert will be a fourth-year junior, so who knows what he will decide to do after next season. Gilbert has two years of eligibility left, but could possibly petition for a sixth year if he wanted to because he missed his first two seasons with injuries. Gilbert may not want to stick around that long in college, however, and Cole will be an experienced scoring point guard for the Huskies.
UCONN DONE FOR 2019? The Huskies have no scholarships left to offer for next season unless someone leaves the program. That would seemingly put an end to the recruitment of Precious Achiuwa, who has indicated he will announce this week where he will attend college. It also leaves UConn two players short, with an ineligible transfer taking up a roster spot and one scholarship lost due to NCAA violations. UConn could have held out and decided to use that slot on a much-needed inside player, but Hurley looks like he is willing to play the long game with the roster and decided to take talent when he can get it, even if we’re going to have to wait a year to see it.
Penders Ties Baylock For Most Wins
The Story: Baseball coach Jim Penders tied his former coach, Andy Baylock, for the most wins all-time at UConn with a 9-1 win at Rhode Island yesterday afternoon. Penders now has 556 career wins during his 16 seasons and could set the record in the Huskies’ next game tomorrow.
WHAT DID PENDERS SAY? “Any time I can be mentioned in the same breath as Andrew J. Baylock, it’s an honor and a privilege,” he said after the game. “I’ve been saying it as people start to talk about this stuff that I could live 100 years or more and never touch the number of lives in a positive manner that he has. I’m going to spend some time in purgatory. He’s going to go straight up. He’s not going to spend any time there. He’s just a gem of a person and somebody I try to be more like eery day, so to be mentioned in the same breath, even if it’s just college baseball games, I get a kick out of that.”
HUSKIES GEARING UP FOR WEEKEND: UConn needs a big weekend to get back in the mix for the NCAA tournament and will send Mason Feole to the mound tomorrow in the opener of a critical three-game set against Tulane in New Orleans. The Huskies are 31-21 but only 10-11 in the tough AAC, and their season won’t end easily with Tulane second in the conference.
The Huskies need a strong showing this weekend before heading into the AAC tournament in Clearwater, Florida, next week if they want to return to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and fifth time under Penders.
Morning Read
HERVOL IN CONTENTION: Senior Jimmy Hervol shot a 1-under-par 70 on Tuesday and is tied for fourth at 5-under in the NCAA golf regional in Louisville. Hervol is competing as an individual in the tournament — the first UConn golfer in 27 years to make it. (UConnHuskies.com)
DEELEY STEPS DOWN: Associate head coach John Deeley will leave the men’s soccer team this summer after 22 years. He had been responsible for scouting opponents. (UConnHuskies.com)
JORDAN ON BOARD: The football team added another player for next season in Hayden Jordan, an athlete from Hartford who will walk on. (Hayden Jordan on Twitter)
A MESS FOR CRONIN: The hits keep coming for UCLA and new men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin, who, because of low APR scores, could be facing an NCAA tournament ban. (San Jose Mercury News)
