đ The weekend in college hoops
UConn adds to its stellar recruiting class, plus thoughts on the upcoming season for San Diego State, Kentucky and more
During college football season, itâs always fun to see which fanbases start clamoring for basketball first. Though UConn followers probably never, not even for a second, looked forward to watching the Huskies on the gridiron. Still, a 59-point beatdown surely accelerated their longing to watch Adama Sanogo and the crew on the hardwood.
Luckily for them, in the middle of their pain, the basketball program brought some good news over the weekend. Weâll start there.
THREE POINTERS
1. Crossing the rubUConn
Dan Hurley added to his impressive 2023 class on Friday, snagging a commitment from 4-star wing Jaylin Stewart. The Seattle native fits the âbig guardâ prototype that has brought the Huskies success throughout Hurleyâs tenure.
Undoubtedly, UConn fans should expect Stewart to thrive under their coachâs defensive blueprint. At 6-6 and 210 pounds with long arms, heâll overwhelm smaller guards with his length.
But perhaps more important will be Stewartâs contributions on the offensive end.
As the EYBL highlights show, he flashes on-ball creativity, cerebral passing and a pretty 3-point stroke. For a team that sometimes stagnated last season in the half-court, Stewartâs commitment gives hope â Hurley wants to put offensive woes behind him and is recruiting in a manner to do so.
In the ongoing 2023 recruiting race, only Duke and Michigan State boast better recruiting classes.
In addition to Stewart, the coach has landed commitments from 6-6 combo guard Stephon Castle (No. 20 in 247Sportsâ composite), 6-3 guard Solomon Ball (No. 41) and 6-7 wing Jayden Ross (No. 131). Rob Dauster wants the world (read: Jeff Goodman) to take notice.
Other recruiting tidbits
Saint Maryâs reeled in 2023 3-star guard Jordan Ross. Ross played for Peach Jam champs MoKan Elite this summer.
Adrian Uchidiuno is heading to the Ivy League. Brown got a commitment from the 6-3 point guard in the class of 2023.
2. The brilliance of Matt Bradley
The Field of 68âs Twitter account continues its reveal of The Almanacâs Top 100 players as part of the magazineâs promotion. Hereâs the latest installment:
Few will be surprised to see a highly-touted Duke freshman crack the top 40. Then, thereâs the $800,000 man, Nijel Pack, followed by fifth-year guard Will Richardson, a model of consistency in the Oregon backcourt.
But Matt Bradley might be the one most ready to turn into a household name.
For starters, San Diego State will be awesome this year â so for my fellow east coasters, donât sleep (literally) on the Aztecs! Consider the following: In 2022, San Diego State finished with the second-best defense in the country, per KenPom. More notably, its efficiency on that side of that ball surpassed that of the 2020 team that started 26-0. This season should be more of the same, as San Diego State returns four starters and adds a two-way phenom in Seattleâs Darrion Trammell.
But Bradley functions as the centerpiece of Brian Dutcherâs attack. The 6-4, 220-pound lefty can do just about everything on the court â he ranked top-60 in the country in usage rate last season, and his KenPom page underscores the breadth of his skill:
Of all the statistical categories that Bradley dominated, that 48 percent from 3 in conference play sticks out the most â especially factoring in the difficulty of some of his shots.
Having that type of shot creator could take San Diego State to sights unseen. Maybe the programâs first Final Four is on the horizon?
3. Big Blue Sleepers?
âKentuckyâ and âunderratedâ are rarely â if ever â uttered in the same sentence. But thatâs exactly what Terrence Oglesby and John Fanta argued in the latest Dauster, TO and Fanta podcast. See for yourself below:
The two made a compelling case that Kentucky isnât getting enough preseason buzz as national championship contenders.
Oglesbyâs petition focused on the excellent offensive output of Kentucky last season: first in the SEC in both effective field goal percentage and 3-point percentage during conference play. Hereâs one more notable metric: per BartTorvik, the âCats ranked 15th in the country in dunk attempt rate. With Oscar Tshiebwe back, along with the ultra-bouncy Jacob Toppin, that number should stay in the top tier.
But Kentuckyâs season-long outlook likely comes down to shooting. Despite canning 36.9 percent of its triples in league games, the âCats hit just 29.0 percent from distance in their final six contests (and went 3-3 during that stretch). Moreover, they must replace their best marksman in Kellan Grady.
Perhaps CJ Fredrick steps up in his stead. If not Fredrick, Toppin must either prove himself as a shooter or Daimion Collins must live up to the stretch-big reputation he boasted coming out of high school.
If Kentucky can get anywhere close to last seasonâs mark, Calipari may get that elusive second title.
(Also, donât forget to subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and to the DTF podcast.)
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Football schools?
Speaking of Kentucky, its football team, along with Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, UCLA and Indiana sit at 3-0 almost a month into the season. Who says blue bloods are one-dimensional? (College Gameday missed its chance next weekend).
THE FAST BREAK
Links to click as you scope out some Savannah Bananas tickets:
Leonard Hamilton, ex-Belmont coach Rick Byrd and Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman were among the Joe Lapchick Character Award winners.
Could a new Pac-12 media deal be done by Halloween?
A-10 Media Day will take place on Oct. 13 in the Barclays Center.
Oregon State guard Christian Wright, a projected starter, is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
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