When 2019 4-star center Kofi Cockburn (#33 on 247Sports Composite) chose Illinois over UConn on Sunday, it marked the second recruiting miss for Dan Hurley this week. While missing on Nate Tabor, a 2020 wing playing in Waterbury who chose St. John’s over the Huskies, certainly stings, missing on Cockburn creates a more acute short-term problem for UConn.
If we’ve learned anything from the team’s recent tumble into the burning garbage fire of my own personal hell, it’s that Hurley needs more talented bigs. For the last few months, Cockburn looked poised to give the Huskies a dynamic duo in the frontcourt with Akok Akok (and the most hilarious posters on Collection of People Who Know The Legal Definition of Ephebophilia The-Boneyard.com the opportunity to make many more thoughtful and nuanced jokes), but with Illinois making a successful late push to land the talented Cockburn, Hurley will need to look elsewhere to add size to the roster. So what are his other options?
1.) Tre Mitchell (#92, 247 Composite) is currently plying his trade at Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, CT, but the Pittsburgh native has long been assumed to be headed to Notre Dame. Without any significant updates to his status in several months, however, we’re left to speculate what he’s waiting for. If Mitchell hasn’t committed now, it’s possible that a push by Hurley (including the clear path for starter’s minutes as a freshman) could get him to decide to stick around in the state for a few more years.
2.) Qudus Wahab (#128) was, by all accounts, ready to declare to Pittsburgh to join an incoming class of [null] last month, only to abruptly cancel his announcement at the last minute and go mostly radio silent. Wahab lacks some of Mitchell’s polish, but the lanky, 6-10 center may have more upside.
3.) Charles Coleman (#349) is an intriguing player, as he stands an imposing 7 feet tall and possesses shooting range out to the perimeter, but he’s garnered little attention from the major scouting services. He is in possession of an offer from UConn, as well as high majors Oklahoma, Nevada, UNLV, Wake Forest, and others, so it’s possible that the scouting services have missed something, and that he’ll find his way to Storrs. It’s hard to imagine him being an impact player as a freshman, however.
4.) Chol Marial (#55) is likely a pipe dream, but he was once strongly linked to UConn when he was attending Cheshire Academy, and he might be the best player on this list. That being said, he does not appear to have been offered by the Huskies, and he’s no longer going to school on the east coast, so this ship has most likely sailed.
5.) If Hurley can’t land one of the players on this list, it’s possible he may go the grad transfer route to try to find a credible starting center. While it’s impossible to know who will decide to transfer this year, there are a few players around the game who appear to be on track to graduate with eligibility remaining. The best of the bunch might be Nico Carvacho, a 6-10 center at Colorado State. Carvacho nearly transferred a season ago, and is currently averaging 15.5 points and 12.9 rebounds in 31 minutes per game. 7-2 Trayvon Reed started his college career at Auburn, but made his way to Texas Southern, where he’s currently averaging 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Finally, 6-11 Boubacar Toure is playing college basketball for the first time since he got in 8 times for Grand Canyon during the 2015-16 season, and he looks much improved, averaging 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 25 minutes for Eastern Michigan. If his injury problems are behind him, he could be a very interesting option next season.
There are likely many other options available that Dan Hurley’s highly talented and motivated staff are pursuing, so hopefully some more names will make their way onto this list over the coming months. But whatever he does, this season has shown that Hurley needs to get players that can compete at this level onto his roster as soon as possible.
