It should be a time of excitement for Dan Hurley and UConn men's basketball following the addition of a monster 2021 class, but instead, it’s a period of uncertainty.
Following a player testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 5, the Huskies are shut down from team activities until at least Nov. 19 and the start of their season - Nov. 25 - could be in limbo.
“Overall, there is a high level of concern for the team,” Hurley said, via Zoom chat with the media on Thursday. “(The) level of anxiety we all share to be ready for opening night.”
When asked if any other Huskies have tested positive since the 14-day quarantine began, Hurley was limited in his response.
“I can't talk about the number of tests, so I can't comment on that,” he said. “We'll continue to have discussions and try to protect the students here.”
Right now, the Huskies are restricted in what they are able to do while preparing for an unnamed season-opening opponent on the 25th. UConn is expected to release its first two opponents next week once the final contracts are signed, according to UConn SID Phil Chardis.
Hurley said playing in the opener “is still a possibility," but the main goal of the team is to be able to play conference games in the Big East. In the meantime, players are allowed to enter the Werth Family Champions Center and practice on the court with only their roommate, but they have to be at opposite ends of the floor.
“These guys are allowed in the facility kind of like when we were kids and you go to that outdoor court and shoot around,” Hurley said. “Again, they can’t do that with another player, they are on their own.”
Players can also workout in the weight room only one at a time, and can’t have a coach or director of sports performance Mike Rehfeldt in with them.
“We are in a difficult spot, a lot of schools are,” said Hurley, referring to the growing number of schools that have had to halt activities due to positive tests.
And once the Huskies can resume team practice, they will have a small window to prepare for the season to start.
“Missing two weeks takes weeks to recover from,” Hurley said. “We're very concerned about just the welfare of our guys upon returning and how hard to push them in practice.”
A two-week hiatus is “uncharted territory” for a college basketball team once season practices have started. However, Hurley knows from past experience that even the two-plus days off around Christmas break can throw off a team and called the return practices “brutal.”
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Addressing the COVID issue put a damper on what should have been a glorious day for the Huskies, who picked up a National Letter of Intent from three top-100 recruits in the Class of 2021. Guards Rahsool Diggins (44th ranked in the Class of 2021) and Jordan Hawkins (51st) along with forward Samson Johnson (100th) give UConn one of the top classes in the country for next season.
Diggins, a 6-foot-3 versatile guard from Philadelphia, is a senior at Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Pa. He averaged 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists last season on the way to earning the Catholic League Player of the Year.
Hawkins is a 6-5 shooting guard from Gaithersburg, Md., who is finishing his career at DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.). He averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds last season while shooting 46.0 percent from 3-point range.
Johnson, a Togo native, is a 6-10 forward at The Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.), which is also the alma mater of UConn freshman Adama Sanogo. He boasts a 7-6 wingspan and averaged 8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds last season while shooting 67.0 percent from the field.
“I remember me and (associate head coach) Kimani (Young) going to see him and Adama three or four days after I had neck surgery,” Hurley said. “Both me and Kimani loved him right away and viewed him as a guy that could be a great player here and projects to potentially be an NBA-level talent.”
