Seton Hall point guard Sterling Gibbs announced his intent to transfer on Tuesday, and sources close to the situation say UConn is the heavy favorite to land his services.
Gibbs’ desire to transfer to UConn reportedly grew organically from Kevin Ollie’s recruitment of his younger brother, Temple. It has long been rumored that Sterling accompanied Temple on a visit to UConn last month, and that Sterling was impressed by UConn’s facilities. Sterling had been recruited by the Huskies coming out of high school, but originally chose Texas. After one season, he transferred to Seton Hall, and has been one of the best guards in the Big East for the last two seasons, memorably knocking Villanova out of the 2014 Big East Tournament with a last-second buzzer-beater. Last season, he averaged 16.3 points and 3.8 assists, shooting 44 percent from three-point range.
If Gibbs ultimately transfers to UConn, the Huskies will likely be the early favorite in the AAC, and would appear to be in position to make significant noise nationally. Gibbs would slide into the starting point guard position, recently vacated by the graduating Ryan Boatright. A starting lineup of Gibbs, Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton, incoming Cornell transfer Shonn Miller and Amida Brimah would be one of the best in the country, and it would allow Ollie to use incoming freshman Jalen Adams off the bench, rather than forcing him to run the offense from day 1. If Omar Calhoun can be effective enough to be the 7th man, UConn would only need to see one or two of their reserve big men (Phil Nolan, Kentan Facey, and the incoming Steve Enoch) develop into effective rotation players, and they’d be going into the season with a talented, deep roster, capable of beating nearly anyone.
There will likely be more news to come on this, so check back regularly for updates.
I used to hate his older brother at Pitt!
But adding this kid to the rotation would do wonders. Another ball handler is much needed (thats why Boat got wore down so much last year because he was the only one trusted to run the point- especially in the AAC tourney).
That, and the luxury of not having to toss Jalen into the mix from Day One, will be huge.
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