Former Seton Hall PG Sterling Gibbs will be transferring to UConn, Gibbs announced today on Twitter.
3rd times a charm.. UCONN! #BeyondBlessed pic.twitter.com/WWZAnG9pq2
— Sterling Gibbs (@SterlingGibbs4) May 16, 2015
This has been one of the worst-kept secrets in college basketball for weeks now, with indications as early as last month that Gibbs was planning to commit to UConn, and a still-online story broken by 247’s Andrew Slater and Jerry Meyer weeks ago. Gibbs did his due diligence with visits to Pitt and Ohio State, but it doesn’t appear that he ever seriously considered either. Because he’s graduated, Gibbs will be eligible to play for the Huskies in 2015-16. He was considered by many to be the top graduate transfer available this offseason, and by adding him and former Cornell PF Shonn Miller, Kevin Ollie has really reloaded for next season.
I’ve talked in length about the impact Gibbs could have at UConn, but it’s fun, so we’ll go into it again. Gibbs is a big point guard with a strong handle and great shooting range, similar to what UConn fans saw from A.J. Price. With a starting lineup of Gibbs, Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton, Miller, and Amida Brimah, the Huskies look poised to be a national title contender next season. This move also improves the second unit, as it allows Jalen Adams to come off the bench as an extra scorer and ballhandler, replacing the departing Terrence Samuel as the first guard off the bench. In addition, it also allows Kevin Ollie to utilize a smaller lineup with three-guards, Hamilton sliding up to power forward, and either Brimah or Miller remaining as the only post player.
While it wouldn’t take much from Omar Calhoun and Sam Cassell, Jr. to provide adequate depth on the perimeter, it remains to be seen if any one of Phil Nolan, Kentan Facey, or incoming freshman Steven Enoch can play well enough to be a consistent rotation big man. That would appear to be the only missing ingredient for this team to reach its Final Four-level potential.
YES! Looks like we will be back to playing into late March again next year…