New UConn coach Dan Hurley is wasting no time addressing his team’s lack of guard depth. In the course of one Sunday afternoon, he added true freshman Brendan Adams and, more recently, Duquesne grad transfer Tarin Smith.
Smith played for Hurley’s father at St. Anthony’s in New Jersey before enrolling at Nebraska for the 2014-15 season. He then transferred to Duquesne where he started every game as a sophomore and averaged over 12 points per game last year as a junior.
Smith is essentially Antwoine Anderson. They were both high volume shooters for Atlantic 10 teams who didn’t shoot particularly well and who transferred to UConn to close out their college careers. Check out these numbers.
ANTWOINE ANDERSON 2017 AT FORDHAM
41.1 FG% / 34.4 3P% / 69.4 FT%
11.1 ppg / 3.2 ast / 2.0 reb
TARIN SMITH 2018 AT DUQUESNE
46.1 FG% / 33.3 3P% / 65.7 FT%
12.4 ppg / 3.2 ast / 2.5 reb
That comparison might’ve triggered some UConn fans but it’s important to keep in mind that Smith’s role on next year’s Husky team figures to be greatly reduced from Anderson’s. Put another way, if Smith is playing 30 minutes per game, something has gone very wrong… again.
With Smith and Brendan Adams now on board, a few lingering questions remain about UConn’s roster. The most critical is whether Jalen Adams returns for his senior year. Without him, next year’s Huskies are almost certainly doomed regardless of how well their new guards can play. The other area of intrigue is the health of former McDonald’s All-American Alterique Gilbert who is recovering from his 439th (approx.) shoulder surgery. If Gilbert can be effective enough to push Smith down to the fifth guard on the depth chart, that’d be fine, just fine.
Sunday’s roster additions leave Hurley with one remaining scholarship to fill before the season begins (assuming no other exiting transfers). We’ll have some names for you this week. For now, Hurley has addressed guard depth, the most obvious deficiency of the roster he inherited.
