DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright have, after lengthy deliberation, chosen different paths for their respective immediate futures. Daniels has chosen to forgo his final season of college eligibility to enter the NBA Draft, while Boatright has elected to stay at UConn for his senior season.
This obviously affects next season in a big way. Let’s start with the good. With Boatright returning, this leaves the team with an even deeper backcourt going into next season. Along with Boatright, Terrence Samuel will be entering his sophomore year after a mini-coming out party in the NCAA tournament, and swingman Omar Calhoun will be a junior after what amounts to a lost season this year. Newcomers will include shooting guard Rodney Purvis, a McDonald’s All-American transferring in from NC State, Daniel Hamilton, a big-time scoring swingman who is ESPN’s 30th-ranked recruit, and Sam Cassell, Jr., who comes to UConn after one season at Chipola Junior College in Florida.
The obvious move here is to slot Purvis in for Napier while Hamilton takes over Niels Giffey’s spot. I could, however, see Samuel and Calhoun fighting for starting spots. Regardless of what happens, there is a lot of talent there, and UConn should have one of the best, deepest, and most versaitile backcourts in the country next year. So there’s that.
The frontcourt, already a source of consternation for most of this season, is a different story. The Huskies look to have a solid center platoon with Amida Brimah and Phil Nolan, but the power forward spot now falls to Kentan Facey, who saw limited minutes as a freshman. Incoming freshman Rakim Lubin certainly looks the part, apparently chiseled from the same granite as former Husky Jeff Adrien, but he’s raw and was not considered a top recruit.
The Huskies are still a possible destination for forward Melvin Swift, a power forward out of Houston, Texas. Swift is rumored to be deciding between UMass and UConn, and Daniels’ departure would seem to help the Huskies’ chances. Swift isn’t an elite recruit, but he’s a sensational athlete, and he could provide UConn with a credible rotation at the four with Facey and Lubin.
If UConn doesn’t land Swift, they still have a few options. One would be to get creative and play small a lot next season, something Kevin Ollie has already shown a willingness to do. I suspect that, with the roster as it stands now, we’re likely to see a lot of 3- and 4-guard lineups, especially since two of the four big men on the roster – Facey and Brimah – struggled with foul trouble as freshmen.
The other option would be to go back to the well of the fifth-year graduate transfer. This worked well with RJ Evans and Lasan Kromah the last two seasons, and I suspect that Kevin Ollie and his staff have already surveyed the landscape in this regard. The best choice would have been Tennessee State forward MJ Rhett, who was 18th in the country in double-doubles last season. Kevin Ollie was reportedly in contact with Rhett, MJ decided to transfer to Mississippi while Daniels was considering his options.
There are two other players who intrigue me and who are, to my knowledge, still considering schools for next year. My first choice would be Washington’s Desmond Simmons. Simmons, a 6-7, 225lb power forward, averaged 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in only 21 minutes last season with the Other Huskies, but struggled to find regular playing time in a crowded frontcourt. When Washington visited UConn last season, Simmons led all players with 10 rebounds.
Another possibility would be Xavier forward Justin Martin. Though a bit undersized for power forward at 6-6, 205, Martin was a versatile weapon for the Musketeers last season, posting averages of 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting a tidy .373 from three-point range. In a lot of ways, he profiles as a down-market version of Daniels, which would make for an easy adjustment from last season.
Landing Simmons or Martin would give UConn a reliable option in the high post next year, while still keeping scholarships open for a very strong class of 2015. Getting an experienced transfer from a school in another major conference would also buttress the spirits of UConn fans after losing Daniels early. Let’s hope that Ollie has one or two more recruiting coups left in him before next year.
Great piece. If Ollie can’t get a good 4 with his own resumé and that new ring, I’m not sure what that says about his recruiting. Then again, early in career, late in season, so I don’t think we can expect a miracle here. But I have to think at least Martin would be interested and would fit in well.
No matter who Ollie gets, I’ve seen nothing so far to make me think they’ll do anything less than work their way through a wall for him. The degree to which his kids want to work for him and make him proud is remarkable. (Let’s hope that translates into more degrees as well.) If a kid is too short, they’ll grow a few inches over the summer if he asks. I love it.