Hurley Making Play For Top Recruits
The story: Andre Jackson was just on campus, Niels Lane is coming this weekend and Cameron Thomas is set for a visit in October as Dan Hurley takes his aim at some of nation’s hottest recruit for 2020.
JACKSON IN LAST WEEK: Jackson is a 6-foot-7 small forward and is a top-100 recruit checking in at No. 76, per Rivals. Jackson, out of Albany Academy, has made two official visits to UConn is also considering Syracuse, Iowa, and UCLA.
LANE SCHEDULES VISIT: The Huskies will welcome 6-foot-5 shooting guard Niels Lane on an official visit this weekend. Lane is coming off a visit from Texas and is a highly sought after guard from Roselle Catholic out of New Jersey. He is a consensus top 100-recruit and is moving up the rankings currently at 63 on Rivals. Lanes touts his defense as and is considering Texas, Providence, Miami, Florida as well as UConn.
THOMAS SLATED FOR OCTOBER: The Huskies are also working on bringing in top-30 recruit in Oak HiIl Academy guard Cameron Thomas. Thomas is ranked No. 29 and is a smooth shooting 6-foot-5 guard. He says his recruitment is open and just visited UCLA. He is visiting the Huskies in October and also has visited LSU, and plans on going to Auburn as well.
BOTTOM LINE: The Huskies don’t have a 2020 recruit in the fold as of yet, but have two scholarships open for 2020 and possibly three if Alterique Gilbert decides not to return for a fifth year. There’s always the likelihood that a player will leave the program, but it is clear Hurley is looking for an athletic wing player to take at least one of the slots.
Where is the Running Game?
The story: UConn is built as a run-first football team but for the last two games it hasn’t been there. Can the Huskies get their run game going?
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn has a true freshman quarterback and a young wide receiver corps. It needs the running game to get going and Kevin Mensah and Art Thompkins have had little room to work in the last two games. In college, sacks are subtracted from rushing stats which muddles the overall picture, but Mensah and Thompkins combined for 22 carries for 41 yards in a loss to Illinois and 17 rushes for 54 yards against Indiana.
WHERE ARE THE EXPLOSIVE RUNS?: The Huskies are also lacking in explosive runs with the longest run from scrimmage over those 39 carries is one 11-yard run by Thompkins. The other 38 rushes were for under 10 yards. Thompkins came out of Toledo averaging nearly 7 yards a carry but has found little room to maneuver for the Huskies. Randy Edsall sensed the need for more breakaway plays starting Thompkins in place of Mensah on Saturday.
NO RUNNING GAME, NO CHANCE?: Jack Zergiotis struggled in his second start at quarterback and if there is no run game to support the young quarterback there is no chance at success. Zergiotis was jumpy and looked uncomfortable on the road for the first time with a 14-of-28 performance for a paltry 90 yards.
WHAT DID EDSALL SAY? “We have been inconsistent. We have to be able to run the football…it’s something we are going to continue to work on and get better at. If we have the ability to run the ball it will help our offense and our young quarterback.”
NOT THIS WEEK: UConn is coming off a beating and now gets what looks like an impossible game at UCF. UCF is coming off a 36-35 loss to Pittsburgh. UCF’s dream for getting to the College Football Playoff is over, but it remains 40-point favorites against the Huskies.
Morning Reads
UCONN-USF AT 7 P.M.: UConn will host South Florida at 7 p.m. at Rentschler Field on Oct. 5. (Hearst CT Media)
BASEBALL REUNION: UConn baseball held a reunion this past weekend. George Springer wasn’t there, though, because he hit 3 home runs on Sunday. (Hartford Courant)
ABOUT THAT DE RECRUIT: UConn added its 11th commit over the weekend in DE 6-foot-5 Carter Hooper out of IMG Academy. (The UConn Blog)
