Hurley Gives Good News On Sanogo
The Story: Dan Hurley told his BFF, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, that Adama Sanogo‘s abdominal injury is not as serious as feared and that he may return sooner than later.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Hurley was on a podcast with Rothstein, who is chummy with a lot of basketball coaches, and talked about UConn’s season, potential and, at 8-1, its first true road game at West Virginia tomorrow.
• One of the big questions for the Huskies is Sanogo’s status, and while he is out this week against West Virginia and St. Bonaventure, he could be back for the Huskies’ Big East opener against Providence.
• Also, we may see Tyrese Martin by the end of the month also as he recovers from a left wrist injury. It is better-than-expected news for the Huskies, who initially gave a two- to four-week timetable for both players.
HUSKIES MOVE UP: UConn moved up to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll as it continues to impress. That seems about right for the Huskies, who were an even more important No. 13 in the first NET ratings.
• The NET took over as the primary means of NCAA Tournament seeding a few years ago and the Huskies, even with a very weak nonconference schedule thus far, are a No. 4 or No. 5 seed before they head into Big East play.
• Villanova (No. 4), Seton Hall (No. 21), Xavier (No. 30) and Providence (No. 37) are all in what is considered the top quad.
No News On Bueckers
The Story: Is no news good news? We don’t know, but we are having heart palpitations as we wait for any information about the status of Paige Bueckers and her injured left knee.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: There was radio science out of Storrs as of last night. We don’t know how to interpret, so we won’t. Bueckers was carried off at the end of Sunday’s win over Notre Dame.
• UConn could be without Bueckers for the year and Geno Auriemma was adamant he didn’t like how the team looked when she was not on the floor. Well, we likely have no choice to find out as Bueckers and Azzi Fudd — the last two high school players of the year — are out for some time.
• That shifts a lot of the scoring load to Christyn Williams and Evina Westbrook and puts the pressure on others. Olivia Nelson-Ododa is going to become an even more critical player on offense and we expect to see a loft of freshman Caroline Ducharme launching 3s.
Morning Reads
• Jim Mora picked up his first commitments as a big recruiting weekend for the new head coach appears to have paid off. Now, the big issue is getting more players from the transfer portal, which could help the Huskies turn their rebuild around much quicker. (Hartford Courant)
• COVID-19 is hitting the men’s hockey team hard as it follows a postponement of a weekend set with Merrimack with a canceling of its home-and-home series with AIC. (UConnHuskies.com)
