The fans are back. There’s beer in Gampel. It’s time to get weird and extremely basketball. It’s time to basketball relentlessly.

Every year, the ADB staff gives you some soon-to-be-wrong predictions in the form of the preseason roundtable. You can read some past words and hold them against us here: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.

[Listen to our season preview pod.]

Let’s begin…

Record Prediction

Meghan: 24-7 and then winning the BET. Providence can still eat shit.

Russ: 23-8 regular season

Tyler: 24-7 or so. Honestly, it probably depends on how respectable the bottom third of the conference is this year but I think UConn will finish second in the league.

Peter: 26-5, win the BET, make the elite eight. Bold? Of course I am.

Kevin: 23-11 (12-6), BET runners-up, NCAA R32

Chris: 23-8 reg season. Big East Tournament champs, Sweet 16 appearance. Out of conference I think we drop the game at West Virginia, win 2 of 3 in the Bahamas and beat St. Bonaventure in Newark. In conference I think the team is the clear No. 2 program in the Big East until the BET, where the Huskies cut down the nets at MSG.

Best Quality

Meghan: Front court/defense. This team is so absurdly loaded in the paint, and between the rim protection and Isaiah Whaley’s preternatural ability to close out on the pick and roll, this team is going to be very hard to score against. Add in that they’re going to be gangbusters on the glass, they’re also not going to give up a lot of second-chance shots. Expect them to hold a lot of teams to ~60 points.

Tyler: Offensive rebounding. Assistant coach Tom Moore is apparently some sort of wizard in teaching offensive rebounding (UConn was fourth in the nation in Off. Reb. % last year) and there are going to be times — probably a lot of times — where easy put-backs are the team’s best offense. I think this is going to be the area where UConn’s depth of large people has the biggest advantage.

Kevin: Interior defense. The report from the secret scrimmage that Sanogo was struggling to score inside on Johnson and Akok gave me all kinds of butterflies. It’s usually difficult to make close shots against a Dan Hurley team but the athleticism and instincts of Sanogo, Whaley, Johnson and Akok could make this the first really elite defensive team UConn’s had in a while.

Peter: Defense. We’ve got rim protectors, we’ve got perimeter defenders, and we’ve got Isaiah Whaley, the best defensive player in all of college basketball.

Chris: Front court by FAR. I think Sanogo has first team all Big East potential, Whaley could be back-to-back BE DPOY (despite being forgotten by every national columnist in America) and Samson Johnson is going to be a revelation (see below).

Russ: Interior defense. Kinda obvious but…for a reason. Whaley is the reigning Big East DPOY, Sanogo (if he can stay on the court) is a large and powerful gentleman. Akok is a freak. Samson Johnson is, according to the players, a more-than-capable rim protector. No one is scoring on this team. Tyrese Martin said guys don’t even try to drive in practice.

Worst Quality

Kevin: Who’s going to make shots on this team? It’s why we lost our two biggest games last year, and it’s the only reason I’m not higher on this team’s ceiling. I’m not sure how much better you can reasonably expect the returning guys to shoot (barring Andre Jackson, who was hurt), so hopefully the freshmen can be a lift. Or we just make it 2009 again and shoot four threes a game and make like 60% of our twos, that works too.

Chris: Three-point shooting. I could also be totally wrong on this if my X-factor prediction comes through, but outside of Cole the team doesn’t have a consistent threat from deep. Polley is definitely the best three-point shooter, but he is so streaky I’m not sure he can carry the group from behind the arc.

Russ: Who can make a shot? Seriously, who? If UConn can find some consistency from the perimeter than the team is gonna be awesome. If not, then they’ll have to just grind out wins. I don’t know who they can rely on from three. You know it’ll be Tyler Polley a few times, and UConn will look all-world in those games. The other 23 games this season? I don’t know.

Peter: Three-point shooting is questionable. We need at least one or two guys to improve in order for the offense to function properly, otherwise this is going to be Rock Fight City.

Tyler: General uncertainty. Every guy on the roster has the potential to be a really important piece, but to be successful, a lot of that potential has to be realized at the same time and, given what we’ve seen of these players, I expect that process to be uneven and nonlinear. In other words, there are going to be some games where a handful of guys are bad at the same time, and UConn will probably lose those games against teams that can score points.

Meghan: Who’s the guy taking the shot with the game on the line? I don’t know and neither does anyone else, and that’s the biggest issue. As strong as the defense will be, I’m expecting a lot of rock fights, so there could be a lot of close games this season. Someone is going to need to step up and be The Guy. Maybe it’s Cole, and if he can make that jump, then anything can happen.

WTF Loss

Meghan: It’s going to be some maddening, midweek away game in the Midwest and I’m going to be very mad, but it won’t be against Providence because they can eat shit.

Chris: Jan 20 at Butler. I think the Bulldogs are going to be much better than people think this year and a Thursday night game at Hinkle scares me.

Peter: I am rejecting this question because I believe in my UConn Sons. [editor’s note: last year Peter picked at Butler.]

Kevin: It’s always Providence, the Tulsa of the Big East. But I can’t remember a New Year’s Eve/Day game that ever went well, so Butler at home is also giving me butterflies.

Russ: We all know it’s Providence at home. We all know it. You cowards won’t say it.

Tyler: At St. John’s towards the end of the year.

Who is the X Factor?

Kevin: Samson Johnson, or as many people are saying, Frontcourt Bouknight. An athletic 6-10 monster who runs the floor, defends, and shoots threes? Oh hell yeah.

Tyler: RJ Cole. He was solid down the stretch last year but there was still room for improvement in his scoring consistency. With Bouknight gone, there are a ton of shots available and he should be taking them. If Cole can be a consistent scorer (and not waste possessions with bad looks), it will create some much-needed breathing room for everyone else on the roster.

Peter: Literally like half the roster is an X factor this year. Can Sanogo turn into a go-to guy? Can Andre Jackson? Is Akok back and healthy? Can Tyrese Martin be more consistent? Will RJ Cole be better after having had a year of high-major play? How ready are the freshmen going to be? There are a lot of solid parts here, and so many that might be great if things break right.

Meghan: Andre Jackson. The kid is an absolute athletic freak, but he was also in possession of the ugliest jumper I have ever seen, so his off-season development is the one I am most interested in. He’s someone who can have a tremendous impact on defense, is basically a cheat code for the full court press (going either direction), and is the best passer on the team. But can he score points? I want to see him working off the dribble and getting to the basket, which with his athleticism should be a no brainer, and if he can get the defense to start treating him like a serious threat, with his passing ability, that opens up a lot of options.

Russ: We should rename this the Akok Akok Award. So I’ll go with someone else. Jordan Hawkins is supposed to be a great shooter, but it’s always hard to gauge when and how that will translate from high school to college. If he can get buckets right away, it’s going to go a long way toward relieving the concerns about this team in the half-court.

Chris: Samson Johnson. I’m all in on “Front Court Bouk” as he’s known. I think Johnson could be Freshmen of the Year and if he’s got the depth in his game as advertised, he can be a huge boon to the three point game as well as down low.

Breakout Player

Peter: Sanogo and Jackson feel like the most likely picks here. Both are sophomores, so “breakout” feels appropriate, and both showed flashes of what they can do last year.

Chris: Adama Sanogo. This is his chance to put himself on the map nationally and become UConn’s next lottery pick.

Russ: Nationally? Sanogo. He’ll be First Team All Big East. For people who actually watch this team regularly? Andre Jackson. All indications are he’s much improved from last year and he put on a show in the blue-white scrimmage. Can’t wait to see all the dunks.

Meghan: If at the end of the season, the answer isn’t Adama Sanogo, then something has gone terribly, horribly wrong. I’m expecting the dude to be an absolute beast this season and the national writers better take notice (they won’t).

Kevin: Andre Jackson. Or, at least, it has to be. I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but I kind of feel most of the returners are what they are as players at this point, with the exception of Andre (and Sanogo, who rules, but I’d argue he’s already “broken out”.). He’s clearly an elite athlete with a high basketball IQ, a crazy eye for passing, a super pesky and long defender, and the dunks, my god, the dunks. On a team of pretty good college basketball players who played pretty good last year, he’s the one guy who I think underperformed relative to his talent (mostly because of injury, and because his shooting stroke made him almost unplayable). That leaves a lot of room for growth, and by all accounts he’s improved and healthy. The freshman-to-sophomore blow-up is the classic one for a guy as talented as him, and if it happens, we have a chance to be really good.

Tyler: For the second year in a row I’ll go with Andre Jackson. He’s the most naturally talented guy on the roster and got dealt a shitty hand last year with injuries, COVID and a ghastly shooting slump that (I think) affected his confidence. Jackson strikes me a guy who will really feed off a crowd, and he’ll get ones in Gampel and XL that are absolutely frothing for his style of basketball.

Team Leaders in Scoring, Rebounding & Assists

Peter: Sanogo, Sanogo, Jackson

Tyler: Cole, Whaley, Cole. 

Meghan: Cole (but not by much and Sanogo could be in the hunt), Sanogo, Cole (but expect the assist highlight reel to belong to Jackson)

Chris: Scoring – Sanogo. Rebounding – Sanogo. Assists – Cole

Kevin: Cole, Sanogo, Cole

Russ: Scoring: Cole (it’ll be like 13 ppg and a bunch of guys between 8-12 ppg) Rebounding: SanoGod Assists: Cole

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel Award (bench guy who inexplicably leads the team in scoring once or twice)

Tyler: Akok Akok. After missing so much time, I think it’s reasonable to expect a season of ups and downs for him, but those ups will probably include at least one game (it’s Coppin State, obviously) where he goes bonkers and UConn Twitter anoints him its king.

Meghan: Samson Johnson is going to have some big games this season. Bet.

Russ: Front. Court. Bouknight.

Peter: Jalen Gaffney smells of someone who will score 20 points a couple of times this year.

Kevin: I bet Rahsool Diggins has a 19-points-on-6-of-7-shooting game in him.

Chris: I would say Johnson because I think he’ll be a starter caliber player by end of the year, but Hurley will never not start Whaley because of his defense – so by definition he’ll be coming off the bench and dominating.

Something You’re Looking Forward To

Meghan: Whaley and Tyler Polley getting the victory lap they rightfully deserve. I’m so happy they get to go out with this team in front of batshit crowds and get the Senior Night they deserve. Especially Whaley, who really feeds off the crowd energy, getting to play in front of a raucous student section is really just what we all need to happen.

Chris: Gampel being an absolute madhouse. We’re back in the Big East and fans haven’t been allowed in since Christian Vital and the Huskies knocked off a ranked Houston team in what I guess was a rare March out of conference win?

Kevin: That first win over a really good team at Gampel with fans back is going to be so sweet after the last five years of stuff that’s happened (both to UConn, and in general). I need it so bad. I’ve got butterflies just thinking about it.

Russ:

Corey Floyd has played zero (0) college basketball games and he is my favorite college basketball player pic.twitter.com/kGm2PhrBkA

— Russell Steinberg (@Russ_Steinberg) October 18, 2021

Peter: Saying rude things to other Big East fans on twitter after we beat them.

Tyler: I didn’t realize how much I would miss people in the stands last year. I can’t wait to get that part of college basketball back. Every part of the game will be better (as long as FOX does not show anyone from Nebraska on TV, for obvious reasons).

Wild Card (Literally Any Other Prediction)

Meghan: UConn Twitter amazes/terrifies all of Gampel when we roll up in the best/most horrifying collection of 90s UConn attire assembled this millennium.  

Tyler: I don’t think this is a hot take, but Tyler Polley will get into UConn’s top-ten for made three-pointers. He’s 16th now and needs 48 to catch Doron Sheffer for 10th place. I love lists like that because you always remember some really fun players when you look at them, and I’m excited to remember Polley as a strange-but-fun player who did one thing very entertainingly while in a UConn uniform.

Peter: I will purchase a Samson Johnson fathead for my house and/or classroom.

Chris: Samson Johnson, Andre Jackson and Jordan Hawkins are going to be much bigger contributors to this team than people think at this point. If UConn gets to the second weekend in March, it’ll be because these three have been been major factors in the team’s success.

Kevin: Andrew Hurley will eat a butterfly.

Russ: Dan Hurley will be ejected twice this season, and we will say that one of those ejections cost UConn the game even though it was actually the 500 other things that went wrong.