Sanogo Is the Man in the Middle
The Story: Is Dan Hurley going retro? It appears so as the men’s basketball team is poised to use its talented sophomore big man Adama Sanogo as the focal point of the offense.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Sanogo is a rare back-to-the-basket player who has a soft touch and great footwork. If you have a player with that talent, why not use it? The Huskies have everything they need to be a top 25 team except a proven scorer. Hurley’s going to look for Sanogo to pick up a lot of that slack and be the go-to option in the offense. Is that some classic first-practice hyperbole? Hurley is intense but doesn’t seem to be one for BS, so we are pumped. Sanogo, pronounced Suh-NO-co by the great Bill Raftery, averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 55.4 percent. He has touch and feel inside, and if he can harness his power, he could be the breakout player on a deep and talented team.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “We’re going to play through Adama. He’s our best player. When you see what the guy does daily, he’s a special player, a burgeoning great player. That’s a man on a mission.”
FIRST PRACTICE: Yesterday was the first of 30 preseason practices for the Huskies, who are one of the deeper and talented teams in the Big East. Hurley spoke glowingly about his players after practice and said competition for playing time is fierce. For example, Isaiah Whaley, Akok Akok, Richie Springs and Samson Johnson will vie for playing time in the frontcourt. Whaley is a versatile returning Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year while Akok looks like he has fully recovered after he tore an Achilles nearly 20 months ago. Add Johnson, whom Hurley said had “Wall” potential (as in Johnson’s All-America jersey could be on the wall of the practice facility) and the Huskies are loaded inside. What will be the defining characteristic? Shooting. Hurley wants his power forward to be a threat beyond the 3-point line and help open things for Sanogo inside.
THE PLAN: UConn isn’t going to play any public preseason games and will likely have a closed scrimmage with another Division I team. The Huskies will have a lot to figure out in the next 29 practices, including additional perimeter scoring to compensate for the loss of James Bouknight to the NBA. There are plenty of candidates, however, and plenty of athletic players in freshmen Jordan Hawkins, Corey Floyd Jr. and Rahsool Diggins, as well as sophomore Andre Jackson, who has elite athleticism and an excellent feel for the game. If Jackson can develop a competent perimeter shot, the Huskies have another potentially lethal player considering his high-level defense, passing game and slashing game.
Is the Football Team the Smart Play?
The Story: Lou Spanos is 0-3 as the football team’s head coach, but its performance against Wyoming has bolstered the Huskies in the eyes of oddsmakers as they are only giving up 14.5 points against SEC foe Vanderbilt on Saturday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Calling Vanderbilt an SEC team is like calling Rutgers a Big Ten team or Boston College an ACC team. Vandy is more Ivy League than SEC, and its 62-0 loss to Georgia on Saturday was one of the worst performances in recent memory by a Power 5 team. It’s not like UConn has anything to brag about, but the world is so down on Vandy right now that UConn may even be the best bet this weekend. How things change week to week. We are so enamored with the performance against Wyoming that we are relieved UConn is no longer the worst-rated team in the FBS. That honor goes to New Mexico State. With a win, UConn can turn all the catcalls about closing the program toward its SEC foe, which realistically can’t compete in the SEC.
WHY IS UCONN RISING? It’s simple — experience. Spanos has managed to keep the team together through the outrageous tumult and the youth movement paid off in last week’s loss. UConn is going with several freshman skill-position players on offense and that is exciting. Quarterback Tyler Phommachanh, running back Nate Carter and a trio of freshmen wide receivers in Kevens Clercius, Aaron Turner and Keelan Marion are all playing, and running back Brian Brewton, a jack-of-all-trades player, are going young and explosive on offense. There is no way UConn was as bad as it played early in the season.
WEBB’S WORLD: We talk about the freshmen and the offense, but how about sophomore linebacker Hunter Webb? He has 45 tackles in his last two games and along with Jackson Mitchell appears to be a linchpin of the defense. Omar Fortt is day to day with an injury, but it’s hard to think of Webb coming out of the lineup with his production.
BOTTOM LINE: We smell a win coming in the next few weeks — goodness, UMass and Yale are on tap — and we think a prime-time SEC Network game in Nashville is the tonic UConn needs. … How on earth is it in prime time on the SEC Network?
Morning Reads
• Azzi Fudd and Chipotle? The much-hyped freshman sharpshooter struck a name, image and likeness deal with our favorite Mexican fast-food restaurant. (QSR)
• Got a cool $1.8 million lying around in your couch cushions somewhere? George Springer is selling his house in Houston. It’s more than 6,000 square feet and nearly half an acre. (Houston Chronicle)
