Byron Jones Getting Paid!
The Story: Former UConn star and New Britain native Byron Jones is heading to the Miami Dolphins, getting $82.5 million over five years. He will become the highest-paid cornerback.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Not bad for a lightly recruited kid out of St. Paul-Bristol who had two stars only after he committed to UConn. The UConn coaches knew what he could be when they saw him in high school and three coaches — Randy Edsall, Paul Pasqualoni and Bob Diaco — raved about his ability and potential. After missing most of his senior year due to injury, Jones became a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys. He became a free agent after an All-Pro season and was the best corner on the market.
HOW GOOD HAS HE BEEN? Jones played safety early in his career and moved to corner in 2018, to tremendous effect. He had 46 tackles this year and opponents completed just 53 percent of passes of players was defending. His best year was 2018, when he had 67 tackles and 14 passes defended.
BYRON COMES HOME: Jones isn’t someone who runs away from UConn. He’s always talked up the school and even came back and talked to the team during spring practice. Jones is now one of the highest-paid defensive players in the league.
UConn Cancels Spring Sports
The Story: We knew this was coming, but it still hurts. UConn is canceling its spring sports season.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH ELIGIBILITY? Good question. Many seniors and even underclassmen did not have much of a spring season and there is a movement to restore the eligibility of those players. We are good with that, though in many sports a senior might not have the luxury of staying in school another year and will instead start their life. We would also think that spring underclassmen should also get that year of eligibility back if they want it. As far as Winter sports? While it would be nice to see Christian Vital in an NCAA tournament, but they played an entire season already. It’s not practical.
BOTTOM LINE: No more sports, and for the spring that means UConn’s new baseball stadium will have to wait until next year. The baseball team was in the middle of a hot streak with a five-game winning streak and was 8-5 playing one of the better schedules in the country. And how about the softball team? The women’s softball team was having a terrific open to the season in softball and was 16-5 early on. Women’s lacrosse was also 5-2 on the young season.
Morning Reads
LOBO ON WALKER LEAVING: Is Megan Walker ready for the WNBA? Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo chimes in. (Journal Inquirer)
RECAPPING HURLEY’S SEASON: Dan Hurley will bring the Huskies into the Big East with renewed focus. (Hartford Courant)
PENDERS ON ABRUPT END: Jim Penders was expecting another big year for the Huskies, but the baseball team was a victim of circumstance. (Hartford Courant)
