Dan Hurley on the Recruiting Task Ahead
STORRS, Conn. – Danny Hurley might have a large shopping list to fix UConn basketball, but the first-year head coach will not be dishing out a dime to accomplish it.
Hurley made it clearly after Saturday’s open practice at Gampel Pavilion that the Huskies have no interest in the pay-to-play system that has plagued college basketball for decades and spilled into the courthouse following an FBI investigation.
“I was a high school coach for nine years, I had I think seven McDonald’s All-Americans … had teams where I had eight or nine Division 1 players on a team, but no one every offered me a lunch or any money,” Hurley said. “I’ve never a recruit or a handler or a mentor or a grass-roots guy ever ask me or a staff member for a thing.
“I just think that’s because they know who my dad is, they know who my family is, and they know we would rather fail than lose (our) integrity.”
And if loses out on top talent for not buying into the system, Hurley can live with it.
“How do you be their coach?” he asked. “How do you set the standard for them when you have had to sell your soul?
“To me, if I come to UConn now and I lose recruits over the years because I was unwilling to enter that world, I’m fine with it.”
Following the right way of doing things, Hurley has already added two pieces to the Huskies’ 2019 class with point guard Jalen Gaffney and shooting guard James Bouknight giving verbal commitments last month.
The three-star Gaffney is ranked the 26th best point guard, while Bouknight is the 85th-best player in the 2019 class. But, the Huskies still have three more spots to fill and a host of big names on their target list.
“We could use one of everything,” Hurley said.
When it comes to the frontcourt, the coach might want to add more than one player. UConn enters its second consecutive season without proven talent in the frontcourt, with the sophomore combination of Josh Carlton, Isaiah Whaley and Tyler Polley looking to fill holes with senior Eric Cobb and fifth-year graduate transfer Kassoum Yakwe.
The Huskies also have redshirt sophomore Mamadou Diarra, who will miss the start of the season due to a knee injury, and senior Kwintin Williams.
Hurley is unable to comment on UConn recruits due to NCAA rules, but the Huskies are in the mix for several gifted big men that could make an impact next season.
Last weekend, the Huskies hosted two players on official visits in 6-foot-9 forward Akok Akok, from Putnam Science Academy and the AAU Mass Rival squad, and 6-10 Qudus Wahab, from Flint Hill (Va.).
Akok, who is the 35th-ranked recruit in 2019, specializes in shot blocking and 3-point shooting, while Wahab, who is ranked 108th, is a shot blocker/alterer with a tireless motor.
UConn also has an official visit schedule with 6-10 Kofi Cockburn next weekend. Cockburn, who pays at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, is the 30th-ranked player in the 2019 class.
