10/12/2023 basketball Edit

Ball using "great pedigree" to propel strong start in Storrs

Stratton Stave • UConnReport

Staff Writer

When most people think about this year’s “Fab Five” incoming class for UConn men’s basketball, the first name that comes to mind is likely 5-star Stephon Castle. Fewer people will think about guard Solomon “Solo” Ball, one member of the top five class, though he’s a player who would be the feature piece in most other recruiting classes.

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Ball is rated as a 4-star prospect, ranked no. 63 in Rivals’ final list for the class of 2023. He started under the radar as a prospect, but blew up during the summer of 2022 during AAU season. His top offers going into the summer came from Richmond and ECU, with the Spiders’ logo even occupying the background of his home screen. After though, the floodgates burst open on high-major interest and offers, with his top five including Providence, DePaul, USC, Miami and UConn. Even with the sudden plethora of offers, the makings of Ball’s meteoric rise started far before 2022.

The youngest of four, Ball attributes his strong work ethic to his parents, who both grew up in inner-city Baltimore and worked tirelessly to give Ball every opportunity. His mother, Erica, works as a traveling nurse, while his father, Mike, played junior-college basketball and now works at HomeGoods. He coached Ball as a kid and continues to train him whenever he comes home.

“It started off really early with my dad, so I feel like I’ve been prepared,” noted Ball on his basketball training. “Even though I’ve been thrown into the fire [in preseason], I’ve been able to hold my own, get better every day with these guys and gain chemistry.”

Ball talks to the media Thursday- Stratton Stave

Ball also spoke of smaller things along the way, such as car rides after games. Regardless of whether he played well or poorly, his father was always offering advice to help him improve.

Many kids would be turned off at this level of parental involvement, but Ball welcomed the support, even encouraging it.

“I never told my parents to back off,” Ball mentioned. “This is what I’ve always wanted.”

Head coach Dan Hurley also attested to the level of help Ball’s parents have provided.

“He’s got great pedigree,” Hurley said. “His parents have pushed him and held him accountable. They’ve established a work ethic and standard with him; he’s got all the right body language when you’re coaching him hard. He handles it well and he’s here with a purpose.”

With his effort and energy present early on, Ball is making an impact in practice and has shown considerable growth in the short time he’s been in Storrs. His strengths have been notable on both sides on the ball, already with one of the cleanest jumpshots on the roster.

“Solo can shoot,” noted Hurley. “He’s super athletic. He went from making defensive mistakes last week and not knowing that he made a mistake to now he’s dropping the f-bomb as he’s realizing he’s making the mistake. So maybe we get to next week and defensively he’s not making any mistakes but with his athleticism and shooting, I’m feeling great about him. I think he’s going to have a great year for us.”

Fully healthy and explosive, the two-way guard has a bevvy of different tools he can use to make contributions. Though Ball’s shooting has been heavily lauded, he’s also valuable with his ability to rise above the rim and defend.

Even though he excels at it, scoring isn’t his primary concern, with the freshman favoring a team-centric mindset.

“I’m very versatile,” Ball said of the ways he can help the Huskies. “I can guard a bunch of different positions, shoot off the ball. I also think I’m a great teammate. Wherever coach needs me, I’ll be there to help the team. Whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t care how many points I score, I just want to help the team win.”

Regardless of where he’s able to contribute, Ball will be a key piece of this team’s rotation. Starting on a roster with this much talent will be a tall-task, but it’s reasonable to see him slotting into a sixth-man role. With his main goal of bringing title number six back to Storrs, Ball will do whatever it takes to get there and will likely exceed most peoples expectations.