Jalen Gaffney might be a year away from making a major impact, but UConn is already reaping the rewards with him on the court.
Since taking over the starting point guard job on Jan. 29, the Huskies (16-12, 7-8 American Athletic Conference) have gone 6-3 and will carry a two-game winning streak into East Carolina on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPNU) for the first of three remaining regular-season games.
“This is just like depositing money in a bank that we are going to withdraw next year where this guy is going to be a completely different player,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said. “He’s just showing flashes of what he’s going to be able to do.”
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound freshman has scored in double digits three times as a starter - including a career-high 13 at SMU. The most important statistic to the Huskies, however, is his ability to limit turnovers, which has been an issue at the position for the majority of the season.
In the last nine games, Gaffney has 31 assists (59 for the season) and only 13 turnovers, finishing on the positive side of assist-to-turnovers seven times and breaking even twice. In 28 total games this season, he has finished on the negative side only two times, tallying one assist and two turnovers in those contests.
“Jalen has been awesome,” Hurley said. “With him right now he’s playing well enough as a freshman, sometimes he looks physically weak and people are able to get into him and he’s not able to do the things off the dribble that he’s going to be able to with another offseason of strength work and stuff, but he’s playing well enough for us to have a chance to win games in a very difficult league.”
While fellow freshmen class members Akok Akok and James Bouknight started making an impact in November, Gaffney got off to a slow start due to an ankle sprain. The injury cost him about 20 practices in the preseason and Hurley eased him into the rotation once he had completed his recovery.
“I definitely feel more comfortable and that comes with coaching,” Gaffney said. “My coach believes in me and my teammates believe in me, too. They know what I am capable of and I know what I am capable of, I just have to put it together on the floor.”
Gaffney is not sure when things really started to click for him, but the three-game non-league stretch in mid-to-late December was a good boost for him heading into AAC play. He had 10 points in a win over Saint Peter’s and a seven-assist/no-turnover outing against NJIT.
“I really don’t know when but I think it’s clicked for me,” Gaffney said. “But I’m still working on my game and getting more comfortable out there. I’m still not playing as well as I want to play obviously, but I think I am playing way better than I was at the beginning of the season.”
Even though Gaffney replaced red-shirt junior Alterique Gilbert in the starting role, the latter has been unselfish in helping his younger teammate develop.
“Alterique is one of the fastest players I’ve ever played against,” Gaffney said. “He’s one of the shiftiest players I’ve played against, it’s so hard to guard him, so that’s really helped me defensively. He gives me pointers on offense as well - he’s definitely a great role model.”
Their battles in practice have been an important setting for Gaffney’s development, with Gilbert selflessly passing down his wisdom to the freshman guard as they push each other to up their game.
“Just show up every day, competing and talking to him,” Gilbert said. “Communicating with each other as much as we can in practice, that’s probably the biggest thing.”
Gilbert has definitely noticed a change in his younger teammate since his arrival over the summer.
“His confidence has risen,” Gilbert said. “He’s gotten a lot more comfortable and he’s just stepping into his role. Everybody just has to stick to the script as coach says and I think he’s done a great job of becoming a leader.”
With the Huskies rolling into their final regular-season games before the AAC conference tournament, Gaffney just wants to do his part to keep the team heading in the right direction.
“Even before our run we knew how good of a team we were, we just had to finish games. Now that we are finishing games we are having way more fun on the floor.”
