Mora Adds Ex-Wisconsin Quarterback
The Story: It was a case of coming and going for the football team as the Huskies received a commitment from Wisconsin quarterback Nick Evers and lost last year’s starter, Ta’Quan Roberson, to the transfer portal.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: We forgive the whiplash at quarterback for Jim Mora, but the football team will bear little resemblance to what the Huskies put on the field last year.
• Evers, one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the Class of 2022, committed to the Huskies after leaving the Badgers following spring practice.
• Apparently seeing the writing on the wall, Roberson put his name in the transfer portal after two years at UConn. He started his college years at Penn State.
• The Huskies’ other quarterbacks are Joe Fagnano, a Maine transfer who is returning from season-ending knee surgery last fall after opening the season as the starter, and freshmen Tucker McDonald and Cole Welliver, a January enrollee.
WHO IS EVERS? Evers is from the same area of Texas as Welliver and originally enrolled at Oklahoma. He transferred to Wisconsin after one season and was behind Glastonbury’s Tyler Van Dyke, an experienced Miami transfer, at the end of spring practice, so he re-entered the transfer portal. The Huskies were able to take Evers, who has three years of eligibility remaining.
• Evers is 6-foot-3 with a strong arm and can make plays outside the pocket. Oklahoma and Wisconsin thought he was good enough to bring him into the mix to start. Evers looked at where he was on the depth chart and made the “realistic” decision to try somewhere else.
• Evers will be a strong candidate to start as his main competition appears to be Fagnano. Even though he has only thrown one pass in a college game, he has two years of college practice under his belt and is looking for a place to showcase his athletic talent.
THE BOTTOM LINE: UConn has rebuilt the offense through the transfer portal. Mora brought in wide receivers from Purdue and Wisconsin in T.J. Sheffield and Skyler Bell and is looking to find immediate results by taking in hungry part-time players and backups at major football powerhouses. Will it work? That’s what Mora’s banking on as he enters this season, and reeling in Evers is a doubling down on the importance of the portal.
— John Silver
Three-Peat Comes Into Focus
The Story: Dan Hurley watched the transfer portal close yesterday, and with one notable exception, the roster is all but set as the spring semester comes to an end.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The only big news that hasn’t dropped is whether Alex Karaban returns for his third year.
• Karaban is testing the NBA waters and appears to be a lock as a top-40 pick. Can he get into the first round? Hurley said in an interview with Andy Katz that Karaban is looking for a first-round guarantee. If not, he will return to school.
DIARRA RETURNS: Hassan Diarra, as expected, is returning for his final year. That’s big news for the Huskies, who now have experience at point guard.
• Diarra, the Big East Sixth Man of the Year, was a critical bench player and defensive disrupter last season as he averaged 6.1 points per game and shot 48.3 percent, including 35.7 percent from 3-point range, while playing 19.4 minutes a game.
• Diarra’s emergence came after a rocky first year for the Huskies in which he struggled on offense and was a fringe rotation player. Now that Diarra is the most experienced guard, his job is likely to expand as he helps groom highly touted freshman Ahmed Nowell as the lead guard.
• Diarra will play an important role, and we think his defense, driving ability and improved shooting are promising. Can he play 25 to 30 minutes per game? We don’t know, but with some talented young guards behind Diarra, we aren’t sure if he’s going to have to.
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER: With the addition of Aidan Mahaney from Saint Mary’s, the Huskies have experience and shooting. Add sophomore Solomon Ball, who showed promise in limited minutes early in the season, and the Huskies have three players who can shoot from deep and defend. Add Nowell, a top-40 high school point guard, and the Huskies have plenty in the backcourt.
• On the wing, the Huskies added top-15 recruit Liam McNeeley, perhaps the best high school shooter and a replacement for Cam Spencer. Jaylin Stewart, who was part of the rotation late in the season and has a pro game and athleticism, and Jayden Ross will be back, with freshman Isaiah Collier set to join the team.
• Samson Johnson, who averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game last season, returns at center, and the Huskies went into the portal to grab 6-foot-10 Michigan transfer Tarris Reed Jr., who had nine points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Youssouf Singare, a project center, also returns.
• The Huskies have one scholarship open, not counting Karaban’s. The Huskies would likely try to add another transfer forward if Karaban remains in the draft but have also had success getting players from Europe to round out the roster.
CAN THE HUSKIES THREE-PEAT? UConn figures to be a top-15 team if Karaban returns, and McNeeley is considered a future lottery pick with his combination of size at 6-foot-7 and his shooting. The Huskies would be pulling off the first three-peat since the famed UCLA dynasty under John Wooden.
• If the Huskies get to the Final Four next year, Hurley should be elected directly into the Hall of Fame. UConn is losing four starters, possibly all five, from a national championship season and will return two rotation players, not counting Karaban. He’d definitely get a statue next to Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma (actually, where are those statues?).
ALUMNI TEAM: Do you miss UConn’s tournament run? Alum Marc D’Amelio, through the D’Amelio Huskies Collective, will field a team in The Basketball Tournament, which is in its 11th year and continues to grow in popularity.
• The team, Stars of Storrs, will feature UConn alumni and be managed by Chris Smith, the school’s all-time leading scorer. The entire roster has not been finalized but former national champions Ryan Boatright, DeAndre Daniels and Joey Calcaterra have committed to play in the endeavor.
— John Silver
Morning Reads
• The No. 2 seed women’s lacrosse team will play No. 3 Georgetown in the Big East tournament today in Cincinnati.
Top photo: Ta’Quan Roberson attempts a pass during the Huskies’ game against Utah State. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
