Hurley on spate of recent UConn transfers: 'It's almost like a different type of sport'

Apr. 15—STORRS — Contrary to a few of fatalistic fans of the team, there is not a line of UConn basketball players anxious to leave the program forming daily.

Still, the fact there has already been a quartet of players announce their intentions to depart, it's a wonder coach Dan Hurley can joke a bit about the situation.

"By the time I'm done answering the question there will probably be a couple more guys in," Hurley said with a slight smile Thursday when asked about his players entering the NCAA's transfer portal.

UConn has seen six of its players leave or announce plans to leave the program since the season ended a month ago. Seniors R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin had been planning to leave for some time, and their decisions to forgo an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19 was not a surprise.

Nor perhaps were decisions by guards Rashsool Diggins and Jalen Gaffney to enter the portal. But when guard Corey Floyd Jr. and forward Akok Akok also opted to transfer, the Huskies were suddenly quite short-handed.

"It's the reality that we're all dealing with now in college basketball with the portal and NIL," Hurley said. "It's almost like a different type of sport in terms of your program and how you've got to adapt."

That adaptation includes raiding the portal themselves to re-fill their roster, but for now the Huskies are shell of themselves.

"We don't have a lot of players, as many as you need to start a season," Hurley said. "But the ones we have are really good. We like the one that we just got and we like the core that we're bringing back."

Yes, the Huskies have added point guard Tristen Newton, still have All-Big East center Adama Sanogo, along with dynamic guards Andre Jackson and Jordan Hawkins. Hurley points out that not many teams in the country have a better top four players right now.

But that doesn't mean the UConn coaching staff didn't wish it could keep an entire roster intact from year-to-year anyway.

The new reality of the transfer portal system has caused coaches like Hurley to change their approach to recruiting.

"You've got to be even more brutally honest during the recruiting process about expectations," Hurley said. "And you have to identify freshmen that are either going to make an immediate impact and you know it and you know they're going to play as much as they want, or you've got to recruit incoming players that understand that they're developmental."

The UConn players that remain on the roster seemingly have mixed feelings about the volume of departures from the team lately.

"It definitely hurts seeing some guys go. But I know at the end of the day we're going to bring in some really good guys. We've got a lot of good recruits, and coach Hurley and the rest of the coaching staff are going to do their job of bringing in the right guys and the right type of people," Jackson said.

Said Hawkins: "It is what it is. Guys have to do what's best for themselves. Those are my guys, my brothers for life. They just have to do what's best for them."

To outsiders, it was Floyd's departure that was most stunning. He had yet to play a game for the Huskies, having spent the 2021-22 season redshirting but practicing with the team daily.

But it was Akok's departure that perhaps hit Hurley hardest.

"Some exit interviews or exit conversations are brief and some of them are emotional. That (talk with Akok) was emotional for me. His growth as a young man from when he stepped on campus was just amazing," Hurley said. "His growth as a person and now much more mature and prepared he is going into the next part of his career. That one hit me."

Weighing in on Newton

As much as some UConn fans are fretting over the recent departures, Hurley is trying to focus on the big addition his team just made. Newton, a 6-foot-5 point guard, announced this week he will be transferring from East Carolina to UConn.

The Huskies are likely to add at least four more players to their roster in the offseason but finding a replacement for the departed Cole at point guard was perhaps job No. 1.

"With R.J.'s departure and not feeling like there was a guy in the program that could take that mantle, we knew that we had to go get a big-time point guard," Hurley said. "With Tristen, that was the first thing we wanted to knock out."

The fact that Newton once scored 25 points against the Huskies in a game was a positive for both sides of the recruitment process.

"When we called initially he had good vibes about it. I think he might have said to Bouk (James Bouknight) during the game, 'You come over and guard me.' And Bouk said like, 'I'm not a defender,' " Hurley said with a laugh.

Bazz-ket-ball

The Huskies have been hosting an extra player in practice the last few days. Former UConn All-American Shabazz Napier has been working out with the Huskies during their offseason practices.

Hurley says the two-time national champion point guard has been especially helpful to Jackson and Hawkins.

"He's been giving me tips ever since he got here. I've been trying to be like a sponge and soak up all the information," Jackson said. "He's somebody who did it here in 2014. And did it again (2011). He's a two-time champion at this level, at this school. It's good to be in the presence of that."

Napier, a first-round pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2014 NBA Draft, has spent time with six different NBA teams. He played professionally in St. Petersburg, Russia, last season before leaving the country shortly after the invasion of Ukraine.

One of Napier's former teammates, Tor Watts, was also at the Werth Center for Thursday's practice.

Neill covers UConn men's basketball and UConn football teams, and he keeps a finger on the pulse of Connecticut sports. For live game updates, and more insight into UConn athletics, player transfers, and team changes, follow Neill on Twitter: @NeillOstrout, Facebook: JINeillO, and Instagram: @NeillOstrout.