UConn’s season may be over, but Mailbag season never ends. This week we tackle some of your questions about next year’s team and your first year on campus.
Remember: If your question wasn’t answered or you’ve been living under a rock and are just hearing about this, you can submit your questions here or on Twitter (@ADimeBack).
Triple bag question!
- Tim Fontenault asks: Savon Goodman is leaving Arizona St. Fifth-year guy. Is he worth a look, or is UConn’s frontcourt too crowded?
- Dan Ray asks via email: Do you think Ollie will target Sacred Heart transfer guard Cane Broome for the last open scholarship spot?
- @TheBigHop100000 asks: Any thoughts on Canyon Berry, 5th year guy college of charleston, could help our back court depth next year?
Assuming everyone comes back, there will only be more scholarship left, so I figured these three should go together, and hopefully we can figure out the best way to use it:
Savon Goodman is immediately eligible, and while, at 6’6″, he’s an undersized power forward, he would have been UConn’s best rebounder this year. Does that mean we should try to bring him in? Well, if we break down the roster, we have Brimah, Facey, Hamilton, Larrier, Enoch, Diarra, and Durham (if he doesn’t redshirt) as frontcourt players, but only Purvis, Adams, Gilbert, and Cassell in the backcourt (though Hamilton and maybe Larrier could play guard in a pinch). It would seem to me that a guard would be a bigger priority.
Cane Broome is a guard, and he scored more than 23 ppg last year while winning the NEC Player of the Year award at Sacred Heart. But he’s a conventional transfer, so would have to sit out next year, making him less than ideal on a team with questionable backcourt depth. He also has pretty marginal size to go along with some not-so-efficient shooting numbers (31 percent on 212 attempts from three). An undersized guard who isn’t effective from the perimeter wouldn’t be my first choice, as talented as Broome appears to be.
Canyon Barry would be able to play next season after transferring from College of Charleston. He’s a slightly better deep shooter than Broome (37 percent on 211 attempts as a sophomore) and has great size for a guard (6’6″). His overall efficiency isn’t great (career .374 from the floor), but he could be an asset off the bench, particularly since we’re only really looking for a fourth guard.
My personal preference (and I think Ollie’s, as well) would be UNLV decommit Christian Vital. He’ll be a tough get, with Louisville, West Virginia, Iowa, and Alabama all in pursuit, but he’s a great outside shooter with a PG’s handle (if not a PG’s approach).
larson8er asks via email: What do you guys see as our biggest challenge next season? This year, point guard play and rebounding (and injuries to a lesser extent) were some of our biggest deficits. I have a feeling that Adams and incoming Gilbert will solve many of our PG duties.
We touched on this in our latest podcast (coming your way this weekend). What UConn will gain in ball-handling and speed with Gilbert, they will lose in three-point shooting following the departure of Sterling Gibbs (and Omar Calhoun to a lesser extent). Freshman Vance Jackson can fill some of that space, and Jalen Adams should improve, but Rodney Purvis will need to carry the team from behind the arc.
Other areas that I worry about: Shonn Miller will be hard to replace. There will be a ton of pressure on Terry Larrier to score, especially if Amida Brimah’s offense doesn’t improve. They also could use another guard for rotational depth. The Huskies are currently a bad break from needing Sam Cassell, Jr. to play important minutes. That’s… not ideal.
Daniel Connolly asks: Things not to do your freshman year at UConn
I finished my four years at UConn a little over a decade ago. And while a lot has changed (you don’t even want to know what the Student Union looked like, or what was there before Storrs Center), some things never will.
Don’t skip classes. Even if they say attendance isn’t required, you should go to class. You should also, you know, study and do the reading for class. This is a thing I wish I could tell my younger self.
Don’t forget that you can get Dairy Bar ice cream at the dining hall at every meal. But also, don’t eat Dairy Bar ice cream at every meal because you will have to worry about waaaayyyy more than the freshman 15
Don’t get freaked out about the size of your survey courses. Yeah, giant lecture halls can be a little intimidating, but once you get used to it, it’s NBD, and your major will have much smaller classes.
Don’t spend too much time in your dorm room. Get involved. Find your people. There are so many things to do, so many clubs and activities at UConn. Try some out. (Strong plug for the Daily Campus, where you get to write and do cool stuff with cool people.)
Don’t party too hard. Like, party, have fun, but be responsible. Don’t get crazy. Trust me. It’s a bad time.
But because we’re positive people, here are some things to do:
Do make sure you see the sunrise over Horsebarn Hill. Bonus: Sledding there at night is a rite of passage
Do take advantage of the gym, fitness classes and intramurals. There are a ton of ways to get your fitness on without spending money, do those things. Take racquetball and yoga and try things you never would
Do go visit the barn. See the horses and cows. Take horseback riding (if you can, I never could get into that class…)
Do get sports tickets to as many sports as you can. Basketball and football are obvious choices, but hockey, soccer, field hockey and baseball are there, too. And the tickets are so cheap.
Do take advantage of all the culture that gets brought to you. There will be lectures from eminent thinkers and writers, art shows, music and drama performances. They’ll be in your backyard and very inexpensive.
Do get involved in the pep band if you play an instrument. That’s a super dope gig.
