Huskies to Open Season Without Ducharme
The Story: The women’s basketball team opens the regular season tonight but will be without sophomore Caroline Ducharme, who will miss the game against Northeastern at Gampel Pavilion with neck stiffness (7 p.m., SNY).
CAUSE FOR CONCERN? Ducharme missed the Huskies’ 115-42 win over Kutztown in an exhibition on Sunday with the issue, though there’s no sign that it’s anything serious.
• Ducharme was one of the Huskies’ bright spots last season. She was thrust into a larger role than expected following injuries to Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and ended up starting 11 of 31 games. She averaged 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 45.5%, including 28.8% from 3-point range.
• Without Ducharme available Sunday, Geno Auriemma went with a starting rotation of junior Nika Muhl, Fudd, redshirt senior Lou Lopez Senechal, junior Aaliyah Edwards and redshirt senior Dorka Juhasz. It’s likely that will remain the case as long as Ducharme is out.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “[Ducharme’s feeling] better. Not sure about going forward. I mean, tomorrow she’s not playing, but it’s better, getting better every day. So, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that maybe we’ll be set to go by the weekend.”
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Huskies will get their first taste of Division I competition, though it comes against an opponent in Northeastern that hasn’t finished with a winning record in four years.
• Geno has said that he plans to use Fudd on the ball more this season with Bueckers out, though much of the offense on Sunday ran through Muhl. She responded with a solid performance with seven points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in 30 minutes, but it was against an overmatched team. How she continues to grow into that role — one she had for large stretches last season with Bueckers out and the departed Evina Westbrook struggling — will be a large factor in how cohesive the Huskies’ offense looks.
• Fudd showed a willingness to shoot on Sunday, and again, while she went 9-for-16 from 3-point range against a clearly overmatched foe, it will be interesting to see whether she continues to have the green light as the difficulty level rises. Should she be shooting 16 3-pointers a game? We know she has the ability to knock them down, so if she can shoot better than .500 from behind the arc every game — which she won’t — the Huskies can use the points.
• Redshirt junior Aubrey Griffin looked fluid and athletic in the exhibition, her first public action after she missed all of last season with a variety of injuries. And we liked the boost the Huskies got from Lopez Senechal, the transfer from Fairfield and last year’s MAAC Player of the Year. She scored 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting, and led the team in scoring after the first half. If she can make the transition to a higher level of competition and is a reliable scoring threat, it will alleviate the burden on the rest of her teammates.
AS FOR THE FUTURE? The Huskies signed three players to letters of intent yesterday in Kamorea “KK” Arnold, Ashlynn Shade and Qadence Samuels, who comprise a recruiting class that is ranked No. 3, according to ESPN.
• Arnold, from Milwaukee, is the No. 6 player in the class and the No. 2 point guard. Shade, a guard from Indianapolis, is ranked No. 15, and Samuels, from Washington, is ranked No. 41.
• Geno also made a surprise signing yesterday as Jana El Alfy, a 6-foot-4 forward from Cairo, signed a letter of intent. El Alfy’s father, Ehab El Alfy, is the coach of the Egypt national women’s basketball team and she was pursued by all the heavy hitters, including Louisville, Oregon and Duke.
ABOUT NORTHEASTERN: The Other Huskies enter tonight’s game with a victory already in the bank after they knocked off Boston University 66-65 on Monday in their season opener.
• Northeastern was led by junior guard Derin Erdogan, a transfer from Arizona, who scored a game-high 24 points — including a pair of free throws with 1:33 left that stood as the winning points in a back-and-forth game.
Hurley Locks in Top Recruiting Class
The Story: Dan Hurley secured a top-five recruiting class yesterday with Solomon Ball, Stephen Castle, Jaylin Stewart, Youssouf Singare and Jayden Ross signing letters of intent to attend UConn.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Led by Castle, a potential McDonald’s All-American, the Huskies put up the fourth-ranked recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, behind only Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State. Other services have the Huskies somewhere in the top 10, but we like 247sports’ ranking the best.
WHO ARE THE FAB FIVE? Hey, they named themselves the “Fab Five” of UConn in that viral photo when all five happened to be on campus visiting.
• Castle is the top-ranked player of the group. He’s a top-30 recruit and a 6-foot-6 combo guard out of Georgia.
• Ball is from Maryland but is playing his final year at Brewster Academy. He is a 6-foot-5 guard and is ranked in the top 50 by ESPN.
• Stewart is a 6-foot-6 wing from Seattle who has a pro-style game and is considered a top-100 prospect by nearly every service.
• Ross is another 6-foot-6 wiry wing from Maryland who has played at Long Island Lutheran.
• Singare is the big man of the class as Hurley recruited his four-out offense with a center. Singare is 7 feet but a bit of a project at only 185 pounds.
HAWKINS’ HISTORY: UConn plays again tomorrow as it faces Boston University in the first game of the season at Gampel Pavilion. Jordan Hawkins‘ status will likely be updated later in the week after he played a scoreless five minutes and left the game after hitting his head on the floor.
• Hawkins has had some concussions in his career but there is little reason to worry.
Morning Reads
• Sophomore running back Devontae Houston has shown toughness in fighting through a high ankle sprain — and his ability to do so personifies the Huskies’ resilience and toughness. (Hartford Courant)
Top photo: Caroline Ducharme shoots during the “First Night” event at Gampel Pavilion. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
