Hurley Just Keeps Reelin’ ‘Em In
The Story: How good have Dan Hurley and his assistants been on the recruiting trail lately? Power forward Samson Johnson committed to the Huskies yesterday morning, three days after shooting guard Jordan Hawkins decided he’ll head to Storrs beginning in fall 2021. It’s early, but UConn is putting together one of the best recruiting classes in the country. It’s coming.
WE’RE NO. 4! Johnson’s commitment gave the Huskies a third four-star prospect in the recruiting class, boosting it to No. 4 in the nation, according to 247Sports. (Point guard Rahsool Diggins committed last month.) That’ll probably change, but the last the last time the Huskies had a top-10 recruiting class was in 2016, when they landed Alterique Gilbert, Christian Vital, Mamadou Diarra, Juwan Durham and Vance Jackson.
That class, which would have been seniors last season, didn’t pan out so well, but others? How about 2009 (Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel), 2008 (Kemba Walker, Ater Majok and Charles Okwandu), 2006 (that massive class with Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson) and 2003 (Charlie Villanueva, Josh Boone and Marcus Williams). And don’t forget that with the pandemic, recruiting is only taking place through a computer screen. Whoo wee.
ABOUT JOHNSON: A natural power forward playing at The Patrick School in Elizabeth, N.J., Johnson, who is 6-foot-10 and 200 pounds and was born in Togo, was a teammate of incoming freshman Adama Sanogo. He had offers from Big East schools old and new, including Pitt, Syracuse, Providence, St. John’s and Xavier, but made the decision to join the Huskies last week before going public yesterday.
WHAT DID JOHNSON SAY? “It feels great. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. It feels good. I think it’s a good fit for me: the position I play, the coaching staff, how they approached me.”
ABOUT HAWKINS: Regarded as a strong shooter, Hawkins, a 6-foot-5, 170-pound wing out of DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md., also had offers from Pitts, Maryland, Louisville and Marquette, among others. Coach Mike Jones said Hawkins can score, defend and pass and is a fantastic athlete.
WHAT DID HAWKINS SAY? “[I committed because of] Coach Hurley, Coach [Kenya] Hunter, great coaching staff. We’ve got a great recruiting class coming in. The Big East is a great conference. Connecticut is a great state. Connecticut is known for making pros and winning championships.”
WHAT’S NEXT? Well, that should be about it, as the Huskies had only three scholarships open for the Class of 2021. There’s always attrition, and that won’t shake itself out for a while — we don’t want to say it, but we’ll say it: James Bouknight — but at least the coaching staff will have a while to assess its needs. Still, the class is full in August … of the previous year? When does that ever happen?
THE BEST PART? Diggins, the point guard from suburban Philadelphia who committed on July 26, said shortly thereafter that he wanted Hawkins and Johnson to join him in Storrs. Now tell us, young Rahsool: What are the Powerball numbers?
