UConn has (finally!) begun to build its 2019 recruiting class by adding two guards in the last seven days. James Bouknight, a four-star combo guard from New York, was the first to come aboard with Jalen Gaffney, a three-star from New Jersey, following suit on Monday.
This leaves coach Dan Hurley with three guaranteed open scholarships remaining and no shortage of needs. Here’s some thoughts…
Hurley Must Really Like Gaffney
Bouknight was a somewhat obvious pull for UConn. The Huskies needed a big time guard and he was the best player they could land without cashing in all of their recruiting capital chasing a top-20 kid who would probably go to Kentucky anyway. I’m kinda surprised that Gaffney followed so closely though. I figured Hurley and his team would get the best guard available (Bouknight or maybe Isaiah Wong?) and then turn all of their attention to landing a big man. While they obviously needed a second guard, I thought they’d wait until later in the process to go out and find one (think Christian Vital or Brendan Adams). Instead, they seemed to lock in Gaffney early and really prioritized getting him on board.
One way to read into that (which is probably correct) is that Hurley is expecting to fight some big recruiting battles next offseason and the traditional timing of building a recruiting class is just reversed now. The other (also correct, I think) is that they really love Gaffney. The reviews from people who have seen him play a lot all seem to focus on his raw abilities and room for improvement. That Gaffney cited “player development” as his number one reason for picking UConn probably isn’t a coincidence.
It’s Fun To Be Guard-Centric
Sure, two of these guards might end up standing on chairs and forming UConn’s future frontcourt… but it’s easy to get excited about Hurley continuing the tradition of building rosters around athletic guards. There are still some notable holes in the backcourt — hopefully Hurley will be better at developing three-point shooters than his predecessor — but I’m pumped to see what a 2020-21 team led by Bouknight and Gaffney looks like.
So, Uh, Bigs?
Remember when Large Dave played 300 minutes for the University of Connecticut Huskies?
Cool, me neither.
Obviously, UConn needs to bring in at least one starter-caliber big guy — ideally two. Akok Akok, who is currently playing at Connecticut’s favorite asbestos-ridden prep school, Putnam Science Academy, seems to be the obvious choice. He included UConn in his list of five finalists but he recently hinted to the Courant’s Dom Amore that his decision might not come until the spring. His visit to Storrs next month coincides with First Night, which means Kwintin Williams’ dunks can finally be used a recruiting tool. Kofi Cockburn recently cut his list to 8 (including UConn). Either would be a great fit for the Huskies, and they would work well together as Akok profiles as an athletic stretch four and Cockburn as more of a traditional center (they still exist?).
Given the strategy that Hurley has displayed thus far (more on this in a minute), I’m guessing they pick one of those guys, go all out for them, and try to add another big in the bottom half of the top-100 as the other frontcourt guy in the class. Woodstock Academy’s Tre Mitchell would make a lot of sense.
Love It When A Plan Comes Together
It’s a nice change of pace to watch Hurley recruit. When he took over the program, he clearly had a plan to retain the existing roster and fill the open spots as fast as humanly possible so he and his staff could focus on the 2019 class. He added Brendan Adams, Tarin Smith and Kassoum Yakwe and has been working the hell out of the recruiting trail ever since.
Unlike Kevin Ollie, who spent a lot of time working multiple top tier recruits simultaneously, mostly unsuccessfully, Hurley has locked in on mid-tier guys like Bouknight and Gaffney and gotten them on board quickly. It’s possible this backfires (if Gaffney ends up the second-highest rated recruit in this class at #149, something probably went wrong), but it’s important to remember that UConn has been historically bad the last two years. Getting some good recruits into the program and then exceeding expectations on the court this season should open up some exciting recruiting opportunities in the spring, especially if guys like Precious Achiuwa, Akok and Cockburn are still available.
I’m most interested to see how many scholarships Hurley leaves open through the season. Ideally, I think he’d land two more guys before the November 2 exhibition opener (especially since I think we see a few current guys take off after the season), but I’m willing to give Hurley and his staff the benefit of the doubt.
Gilbert Insurance
I’ve said this about a hundred times over the past two seasons, but UConn needs to keep recruiting as if Alterique Gilbert doesn’t exist. We’ve seen what happens to rosters when a coach depends on Gilbert’s chronic exploding shoulders to not, well, chronically explode. It’s a good thing that Bouknight and especially Gaffney are on board but I think Hurley still needs another guard. It’s easy to dream on Gilbert, especially during the preseason when everyone overflows with optimism, but having too many ball-handlers and explosive scorers is a much better problem to have than the alternative. Look for UConn to add a decommitted recruit or another grad transfer to the backcourt in the spring.
Best Coast
Ollie and his staff probably don’t get enough credit for expanding UConn’s recruiting base. They pulled guys from Georgia, Alaska, California, Narnia, Fordham, North Carolina and all over. The downside, of course, was that those ties weren’t strong enough to hold when the program fell off the cliff. So it’s cool that Hurley is so focused on dominating the northeast again. UConn now has an institutional disadvantage because of its conference but the best way to overcome that is to mine the hell out of its own backyard. So far, so good.
The Edits Are Improving
Check out these announcement tweets.
I’m 100% committed to The University of Connecticut 🐺 #GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/IYGIadMLR2
— James (@jam3s210) September 18, 2018
ESPN 100 guard Jalen Gaffney tells ESPN that he has committed to UConn https://t.co/ixy1utXtIf pic.twitter.com/Vjt1m7Cztn
— Adam Finkelstein (@AdamFinkelstein) September 24, 2018
Pretty cool! Sure the Bouknight one is hard to read (it says “committed to UConn”), but that’s some high-grade graphic design. It’s wild that high schoolers are brands now but since we’re not changing that anytime soon, embrace the production quality.
Where The Stars At?
Landing quality recruits who can develop into good three- or four-year players is critically important. More than anything, UConn needs to win and historically, it’s players like that who lead the Huskies to championships. But they also need stars. The program hasn’t had a first round draft pick since Shabazz Napier. The erosion of UConn’s NBA presence is a drag on recruiting, its national reputation and probably its future fundraising ability. We’ve said this before, but it’d be pretty damn helpful to get more guys into high-money roles in the league, either by landing big time recruits, getting back into the business of player development, or both.
