Bouknight Ready to Hear His Name Called
The Story: James Bouknight will become the latest in a long line of UConn players to turn pro when the NBA Draft kicks off tonight (8 p.m., ESPN).
A DISTINGUISHED HISTORY: Bouknight, who is expected to go in the top 10 picks, will be …
● The first UConn player drafted in the first round since Shabazz Napier was taken 24th by the Bulls in 2014;
● The first UConn player drafted by an NBA team since Daniel Hamilton was selected 56th by the Nuggets in 2016;
● The 31st UConn player to be selected since Jim Calhoun became the coach in 1986;
● The 46th UConn player taken in the draft, which began in 1947.
WHO WILL TAKE HIM? Projections vary (as always), but indications are pointing to Bouknight going sixth to the Thunder and joining up with Kemba Walker.
● A number of outlets, including, ESPN, think he’ll land there, and The Athletic’s Magic beat writer, Josh Robbins, doesn’t see him slipping past Orlando at No. 8.
● A survey of public NBA big boards has Bouknight as the seventh-best player in the draft.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS: Bouknight would be the first Dan Hurley-era player drafted and, as we all hope, not the last. Bouknight, if you’ll remember, wasn‘t a particularly highly regarded prospect when he committed to UConn, and Hurley can now point to him and tell recruits, “See what we did with Bouknight? We can get you to the league, too.”
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “It’s one thing when a player comes into a program and he’s already preordained as the No. 1 pick or a top-five pick. He’s on a campus for several months and leaves. I’m not sure how much player development actually goes on there.
“With a situation like James’, when you talk about your player development and what we try to do at UConn in terms of an 11-month-a-year commitment to helping our players get to the highest level, he’s certainly a poster child. We’ve had a lot of guys improve their stock. But James is the poster child. James’ impact will be felt for a long time.”
WHAT DID BOUKNIGHT SAY? “I first got back to New York on Sunday. I went back to the neighborhood where I grew up, the Lower West Side, Chelsea area, and I went down to the park where I used to play, and there was a whole bunch of kids there. … And the kids wouldn’t leave me alone till it got to the point where it got kind of annoying, and then I was just like, ‘I’m an inspiration now,’ and it felt good. It hit me a little different, that kids look up to me, seeing us come from the same neighborhood. It made them feel like they could really do it. That’s what I want to be, an inspiration, someone kids look up to and say, ‘He did it. I could do it, too.’”
Dolson Wins Olympic Gold
The Story: Former UConn star Stefanie Dolson, now with the Chicago Sky, won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics yesterday when she and her 3×3 basketball teammates Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray and Jackie Young defeated a team from Russia 18-15 in the final.
GO BIG OR GO HOME: Dolson finished with a team-high seven points, knocking down a pair of free throws late to hold off a surge by the Russians. She was the United States’ leading scorer in four of the nine games it played.
● Dolson and her teammates became the first gold medalists in 3×3 basketball, which was added to the Olympic program this year. It is a modified version of three-on-three that has become especially popular overseas, with games played in a single 10-minute period and the winner either ahead when time expires or the first to reach 21 points.
● Katie Lou Samuelson, another former UConn star, was supposed to be on the team as well but she tested positive for COVID-19 before heading to Tokyo and was replaced in the Olympic lineup by Young.
MORE UCONN MEDALS TO COME? The U.S. women’s basketball team, with Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Tina Charles and Napheesa Collier, is still competing and will not be finished until the gold medal game on Aug. 8. The Americans have only played once and beat Nigeria 81-72 on Tuesday.
● Bird, 40, is playing in the Olympics for the fifth time and said on Tuesday that she will not try to play for the team again in 2024, when the Olympics are held in Paris.
