Several weeks ago, Florida high school big man Bradley Hayes had narrowed his list of schools to four and the Huskies were among the finalists. It was a glimmer of hope in an otherwise forgettable offseason that saw five players leave the program. But Hayes reconsidered in light of the NCAA making UConn ineligible for postseason play in 2013 as a result of substandard APR scores. And now, the 6-10 center is headed to Georgetown.
“Yes,” he told SNY.tv earlier this week. “I signed with Georgetown [Tuesday] night and I’m really excited about attending one of the best universities in the nation and they have a great basketball program.
“I really connected with Coach [John] Thompson [III] and the entire staff. My teammates made me feel that I was really a part of the Hoya family. And the real work starts now.”
At this point in the proceedings, nothing should be a surprise; the Huskies are at a distinct recruiting in light of their postseason sanctions. But it's not all bad news, even if next year's squad will look completely different. The team will welcome freshmen Omar Calhoun, Phil Nolan and Leon Tolksdorf, as well as Holy Cross transfer, R.J. Evans. And UConn is still a player on the national recruiting stage, too (three national titles will do that for you).
According to Adam Zagoria of the ZagsBlog.com, the Huskies are actively recruiting for 6-10 high junior forward Jermaine Lawrence out of Pope John (NJ), as well as 6-5 shooting guard Davon Reed of Princeton (NJ). Zagoria writes that UConn, Miami, Xavier and Harvard have been paying particular attention to Reed, who is still considering the Huskies despite their recent issues.
“They’re going through the problems with the NCAA right now and the question is whether [head coach Jim] Calhoun is going to be there for a while but I still like them as a school,” Reed said. “Everybody goes through trouble and stuff.”
