The UConn Huskies Look Ready for March Again

NCAA national runner-up UConn Huskies added their 15th and final rostered player, Egor Amosov. The Huskies are coming off another remarkable season under head coach Dan Hurley. With the standard that Hurley has set for himself at UConn, Huskies fans may remember this season as being a year of second places. Second place in the Big East regular season, Big East Tournament runners-up, and National Championship runners-up. With another strong off-season, the Huskies once again look ready to be one of the top teams in college basketball.

The UConn Huskies Look Ready for March Again

Departing Players

The Huskies had to replace eight total players this offseason, five of whom transferred out. UConn’s all-time winningest player and two-time National Champion, Alex Karaban, ended his college career. The Sacramento Kings selected Karaban with the No. 29 pick in this year’s NBA draft. Hurley and the Huskies will miss Karaban’s leadership, high IQ, and catch-and-shoot ability. Like Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr. was also drafted in the first round of this year’s NBA Draft, going to the San Antonio Spurs at No. 26.

Reed Jr. was dominant for the Huskies all year, and especially in the tournament; he was the Huskies’ anchor and will be very hard to replace. UConn also lost impact players Malachi Smith (graduated), Eric Reibe (transferred to USC), and Jaylin Stewart (transferred to SMU). In total, the Huskies lost two starters, their all-time winningest player, their leading scorer, rebounder, and best player from last year, as well as three solid bench players. Losing key pieces to the draft is nothing new to Hurley.

Returning Players

The Huskies return three starters, although starter Solo Ball will miss this upcoming season due to wrist surgery. The most impactful move this offseason for Hurley was keeping projected first-round pick Braylon Mullins. As a true freshman, Mullins was the starting shooting guard for UConn, averaging 12 points per game and hitting the shot to beat Duke in the Elite Eight.

Hurley also brings back his starting point guard, Silas Demary Jr., who averaged 10 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds per game as a junior. Additionally, the Huskies will get the return of brothers Jayden Ross and Jacob Ross. While Jacob Ross redshirted, Jayden Ross played in every game, averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds per game as a junior.

Recruits

The Huskies added three recruits this offseason. Their recruiting class was capped off this month with the addition of Amosov. Amosov, from Russia, played for Real Madrid last year in the Spanish Liga U22 league. Amosov averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game, winning the Spanish Liga U22 player of the year and leading Real Madrid to the title over Barca. Last October, UConn landed Junior County and Colben Landrew. County is a consensus four-star and top-50 recruit guard from Utah.

County was the second-ranked athlete in Utah and looks to be a perfect fit for Hurley’s system as a high-basketball-IQ two-way player. Landrew, a standout football and basketball player, chose to drop football and solely focus on basketball. This plan has paid off in the short term as Landrew was a consensus top-30 recruit and the second-rated recruit coming out of the state of Georgia. His physicality from his football background and uber-high ceiling, paired with Hurley’s ability to develop players, round out a small but very impactful recruiting class for Hurley.

Portal

Hurley added seven transfers this year, headlined by two players who made an impact as true freshmen: Seton Hall’s center Najai Hines and Duke forward Nikolas Khamenia. Hines only averaged 18 minutes per game for the Pirates, but in that time, he led the Big East in blocks per game and averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds per game while shooting 60% from the field. A physically dominant force on the interior, Hines will have major shoes to fill this year.

Khamenia was a consensus five-star recruit for Duke, averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds per game. His physical limitations showed in Duke’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Siena. Khamenia’s strengths are his catch-and-shoot ability and high basketball IQ; he will also fill a major void for Hurley. The success of UConn’s season could very well ride on the development of Hines and Khamenia.

The Huskies added a standout guard from Wofford, Nils Machowski. Machowski, after not having a big role in his first two seasons at UCF, really came onto the scene in his junior year last year, averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. Stanford’s backup freshman center Oskar Giltay looks to slot into the same role at UConn. Isaiah Shaw, a senior Northern Arizona transfer, looks to be the backup power forward; there he averaged 8 points and shot 46% from three. Jaye Nash and Elmir Džafic look to fill in as depth for the Huskies. 

Depth Chart

• PG: Demary Jr., Machowski
• SG: Mullins, County, Nash
• SF: Jayden Ross, Amosov or Landrew, Jacob Ross
• PF: Khamenia, Shaw
• C: Hines, Giltay, Džafic

Redshirt: Ball (Medical)

The Last Word on UConn’s Offseason

Hurley again gave himself another brutal out-of-conference schedule, scheduling seven tournament teams from this past season. This year, however, there may be growing pains to start the year with a schedule this tough. Although the backcourt looks to be dominant, there are major questions in the frontcourt for the Huskies. The biggest questions are at center and small forward. Hines and Khamenia have the profiles to be similar players to Karaban and Reed Jr. What can they do as sophomores? How much of a jump can they make in one year?