This is what David Benedict envisioned.
This is why David Benedict wanted Dan Hurley.
This is why David Benedict knew — as UConn’s athletic director — that he had to get out of the American Athletic Conference and back into the Big East.
The Huskies are and always will be a basketball school and now they’re ready to again be showcased on the national stage the same way they were when Jim Calhoun did the greatest building job in the history of college basketball from 1986-2013.
The NCAA’s decision on Wednesday to grant an immediate eligibility waiver to Rhode Island transfer Tyrese Martin for the upcoming season means that Hurley and the Huskies now have another starting caliber wing in their program.
It also means that they’re ready to be a national factor this season.
The 6-6 Martin averaged 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds last year as a sophomore and should form a prolific “small ball” lineup with Howard transfer R.J. Cole at point guard, burgeoning sophomore James Bouknight, and top-50 freshman Andre Jackson. Sophomore Jalen Gaffney and veteran guard Brendan Adams will also have major roles in this perimeter based attack.
The makeup of this team is eerily similar to Hurley’s last team at Rhode Island, one that boasted the deepest back court in the country during the 17-18 season. That year culminated with a win over Trae Young and Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament prior to a difficult loss to Duke in the Round of 32.
The ceiling for this team at UConn is significantly higher.
Beyond the Huskies’ loaded perimeter, Hurley has a bevy of options up front with five different players — freshman Adama Sanogo, Josh Carlton, Akok Akok (expected to return in January from an achilles injury), Tyler Polley, and Isaiah Whaley — capable of playing major minutes.
The questions about UConn stepping up a weight class to the Big East from the American Athletic Conference are warranted.
The Huskies were only a combined 35-29 over the last two seasons, but it’s important to point out two things: UConn had bottomed out as a program in the two years prior to Hurley’s arrival under Kevin Ollie and the Huskies also had more momentum than anyone in the American Athletic Conference prior to the league tournament last March before it was cancelled due to COVID-19.
With Martin, a potential All-American in Bouknight, and the 6-6 Jackson — “a do-everything forward in the Scottie Pippen mold” according to one power conference head coach — the Huskies have three different perimeter pieces that would be able to find consistent minutes in any program in college basketball.
This is what David Benedict envisioned.
This is why David Benedict pushed to get UConn back into the Big East, so he could prove to Hurley and everyone else that the Huskies were still a program that could be a national factor.
Today, UConn has the most talent that it’s had in its program since it won a national title in 2014.
What does that mean for the season that lies ahead?
A seat back at the table that’s associated with national relevance.
For the past few years, that wasn’t an invitation that has found its way to Storrs, Connecticut.
