Top Five Share What Brought Them to UConn
STORRS, Conn. - The name “UConn” is on the front of their jerseys, but four national championships and a host of players in the NBA are not the only things selling the program to the nation’s top recruits these days.
The waiting game for a spot in the "Power Five" might drive fans crazy, but the Huskies have an ace up their sleeve when it comes to chasing some of the top high school and prep players – his name is Kevin Ollie.
“He’s a special person,” said Alterique Gilbert, who played point guard at Miller Grove (Ga.). “He not only cares about basketball, but you individually. He has been through a lot of adversity in his life and his career in 13 years in the NBA.
“We are just learning from him each and every day.”
On Thursday the “Top 5,” which is a nickname they gave themselves, met the media on campus – the latest infusion of talent that the fifth-year head coach and his staff brought together after combing the country the last year on the recruiting trail. While none of the group is a five-star recruit, the collection ranks as the sixth highest-rated in the Class of 2016.
“We were talking to KO one day and he said if push comes to shove and you guys are doing well enough, all five of the freshmen can start, so that’s something that we are all looking forward to,” said 6-foot-9 Juwan Durham, who is coming off two knee injuries, but ranks 47th in the 2016 class. “It’s something that we are pushing for and we just have to continue to work hard together.”
Mentioning a chance to start is what every player wants to hear, but the Huskies don’t consider Ollie’s words to just be lip service.
“He really played a big role in me coming up here because he gave me the sense that he was really serious about what he was saying,” Durham said. “He wasn’t just trying to recruit me, he actually cared.
“One thing he says, and we always joke about it, is ‘I love you.’ I remember the first time he said that, the first time I was meeting him, I was like ‘what do you mean you love me?’ But I took it in perspective and was like ‘wow, he’s really serious about what he’s saying’ and so far he’s meant everything he said on my visit and stayed true to my mother and my father with his word.
“He’s just been a good guy and there for us whether he’s on campus or not, he’s only a phone call away.”
Combo guard Christian Vital was the last of the freshmen to join UConn after re-opening his recruiting process following a coaching change at UNLV, which is where he first committed. Vital, who arrives from Andre Drummond’s former school St. Thomas More and is close friends with sophomore Steve Enoch, picked the Huskies over an ACC school, Louisville, for one reason – Ollie.
“If he tells you that he believes in you, or instills his trust in you, that it’s the real deal,” said Vital, who is ranked 145th in the 2016 class. “It’s not for show, or his just trying to blow smoke towards you. He’s a genuine person.
“Obviously the media (was saying) he was going to go to this NBA team or that NBA team, and that did kind of factor into my decision. But, when he told me that he was definitely going to be coaching here that that made me feel comfortable enough to tell him that I wanted to play for him.”
In addition to the trio, power forward Mamadou Diarra (133rd), from nearby Putnam Science Academy and Prolific (Calif.) Prep forward Vance Jackson (80th) are part of the Husky newcomers. And regardless of what conference the Huskies call home, they all want to carry on the UConn name on the national stage.
“People from the west coast, they see Connecticut that’s Duke or Kentucky out there,” Jackson said. “So they see me come here and they are happy for me and want the best for me.”