Opening Day: Hurley to Begin Season 3
The Story: That day is finally here! The men’s basketball team will open its season tonight when it plays CCSU at Gampel Pavilion on FS1 at 8 p.m.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: After nine long months, we finally get another basketball game. There won’t be any fans in the stands and it is going to be weird, but the alternative is no games and we will adapt. We also almost didn’t get this far as the men’s basketball team is coming off a 14-day quarantine and has only practiced four times since. The Huskies, now home in the Big East, expected to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. The Huskies will then play Hartford on Friday night.
BOUKNIGHT’S FOAMING AT THE MOUTH: Sophomore James Bouknight is “foaming at the mouth” to play, according to Dan Hurley, giving us one of the great quotes of the early season. Bouknight is the star we’ve been waiting for since Shabazz Napier took his hunger and two national championships to the NBA. Bouknight is considered a first-round NBA draft pick, was recently mocked at No. 20 by The Athletic and figures to be on borrowed time in Storrs. Bouknight is 6-foot-5, lean and explosive with a 3-point shot as well as an ability to finish spectacularly at the rim. If he progresses like we think, he could be one of the better wing players in America after averaging 13 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year. Bouknight passes the eye test, folks. He’s one to watch.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “Bouknight’s been foaming at the mouth to get out there. We’ve tried to settle him down because he’s going 100 mph.”
SEASON THREE UNDER HURLEY: Where are we in the Hurley era? Hurley is 35-29 in two seasons at UConn and would have gotten the Huskies to the NIT last year, though we are 100 percent certain they would have ran the table in the AAC tournament last year. He said in his first year as coach that teams “better get us now.” Well, it is too late. UConn has a top-15 recruiting class on campus, a rising star in Bouknight, plenty of depth and a top-10 recruiting class coming in next year. UConn was picked fourth in its first year back in the Big East, but we think the Huskies can challenge Villanova and Creighton.
NO AKOK TO START? Hurley spoke to the media on Tuesday in advance of the game and said everyone is healthy except Akok Akok. Akok, coming of an Achilles tear, will not play against CCSU, or presumably against Hartford. On the bright side, Tyler Polley is back from an ACL tear and the Huskies desperately need his shooting at power forward
WHAT WE LOOK FORWARD TO: College basketball. OK, fine. We really want to see two of the newcomers: transfer R.J. Cole, who averaged 22 points per game at Howard over two years, and freshman Andre Jackson. Hurley has options and we expect to see his frenetic full-court style on full display. For the first time in Hurley’s tenure, he has the depth and talent to play fast and aggressive.
ABOUT THE BLUE DEVILS: UConn great, and we mean great, Donyell Marshall is the head coach at CCSU in his fifth year. Marshall is coming off a very difficult 4-27 year and is looking to rebuild the program for the second time in five years. The Blue Devils are not what they were during Howie Dickenman‘s heyday in New Britain, but Central is expected to be much better this season with seven of its top eight scorers returning, led by Ian Krishnan. We hope Marshall the very best in every game but tonight’s. It will also be nice to see Marshall back in a game at Gampel after he left an indelible mark on the program more than 25 years ago.
TAKE MY MONEY: The line is 26.5 and UConn is 14-0 all time against CCSU.
Geno: A Player Is Not Infected
The Story: The women’s basketball team is in the midst of a 14-day shutdown, but Geno Auriemma said yesterday the COVID-19 positive test is not from a player or coach.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Auriemma said the person who is infected is considered a Tier 1 contact, which means the person could be a player, coach, medical, training or other support staffer who is close to the team. The Huskies will pause all activities, players will quarantine in their pods, and practices won’t resume until Dec. 8.
WHAT DID GENO SAY: “I don’t know how you get in game shape unless you’re playing, I don’t know how you can stay in basketball shape unless you’re going up and down a lot with real basketball stuff going on.”
THE BASKETBALL IMPACT: UConn is the youngest it has been in 35 years. When you think about that, getting practice and game time is critical to development. UConn’s talent is likely to overwhelm its opponents, but if the Huskies run into a decent team, it is cause for concern. Building chemistry is one of the things Auriemma is an expert at doing, and having to devise a strategy to keep players engaged, in shape and motivated in a quarantine is going to take some skill.
FUTURE GAMES: It’s going to be a week-by-week thing. The Hall of Fame Classic, which UConn was going to be a part of at Mohegan Sun, is canceled. Louisville will be in the area and will look to replace its date with UConn in early December. The more we look at it, it looks like the first game might not be until Dec. 15 against Butler.
Morning Reads
BRACKETOLOGY LIKES UCONN: We can see a smaller NCAA field this year because of the virus, and now we have Bracketology for that. If there is a 68-team tourney, Bracketology has the Huskies in it. With 48 teams? It looks like the Huskies are one of the last at-larges. Too early? yes. Fun nonetheless. (ESPN)
MEN’S HOCKEY OFF: Rising COVID-19 rates has nixed the weekend games between UConn and Maine. (Portland Press Herald)
