Jordan Hamm
The Connecticut Huskies are the first men’s basketball team to be back-to-back national champions since the 2006 & 07 Florida Gators. The Gators did something that would be impossible in today’s college basketball: They returned the top seven scorers between those two teams. Five of those players made it to the NBA.
The eighth scorer on that 2007 team that completed the back-to-back? An eventual NBA player Marreese Speights that was in a freshman reserve role.
It’s one of the deepest, most talented teams to ever come out of college basketball.
It also shows how tough it is to go back-to-back, and the importance of continuity in the sport.
The problem is…there’s never been less continuity for college rosters.
So how did UConn construct a roster that could accomplish the near-impossible?
By using the avenues afforded to them to create a diverse and versatile roster.
UConn had to replace its two leading scorers from last year’s national championship team in Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins.
But they returned a core of Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban, Donovan Clingan, Hassan Diara and Samson Johnson, who all trended in a positive direction stat-wise to help shoulder that what was left by Sanogo and Hawkins.
In a world where the transfer portal has never been more prevalent and teams can add or lose players in bunches, UConn was judicious with their decisions to add.
Adding to the continuity, reserve guard Nahiem Alleyne was the only player to enter the portal from UConn. The Huskies added Rutgers guard Cam Spencer. The senior guard provided experience in the back court and hit 98 three-pointers this year at a 44.3% rate.
On the prep front, the Huskies brought in the No. 5 recruiting class in the country. Of the class of five, two players averaged less than five minutes per contest. Jaylin Stewart and Solomon Ball averaged about 10 minutes each per game, and guard Stephon Castle averaged 26.7 minutes, 11 points and nearly five boards per game.
He played meaningful minutes while not having the pressure of needing to be THE guy.
Dan Hurley had a tremendous luxury bringing so many players back on the quest for a repeat, and that helped the program not have to put too many eggs in a certain basket when constructing the roster.
In a time where college basketball is anything but consistent, it’s what helped the defending national champs reach the pinnacle once again.
