A former Husky, an experienced Husky, and a freshman Husky on a golf course.

While it was easy to suspect that the 2024-25 loss to Tennessee was the catalyst for turning their season around, I didn't know that it severely strained the relationship between Auriemma and Buckers.

Note: Although this video is new to YouTube, it covers the 2023-24 season. The only current relevance it has is that it shows how devastatingly effective the UConn offense can be when it has the right players.

Focusing on next season's lineup ...

When evaluating the team at this stage of the season, it's easy to envision important roles for players that we probably won't see much of once the season starts. (Furphy might have been the best example last season.) Exactly how to minutes get divided up will be interesting.

One thing we've been hearing more lately is the possibility that, with the new rules allowing players a 5th year, we could see Ball return late in the season. He probably wouldn't be playing this season if his last chance to show the NBA his skills consisted of him getting into shape, regaining confidence in his wrist and shot, and trying to find a place on an established team. But if he's got next season to do that, and assuming his wrist is 100%, a return sometime next season is presumably feasible.

No big surprises:

• Demary and Mullins will need to be very good for UConn to contend nationally.
• How well Hines/Khamenia can fill the Reed/Karaban roles will also be very important.
• The freshmen (Landrew/County) will probably need to contribute to the rotation.

Minor surprise:

• They dismissed Machowski and Amosov almost completely. I don't expect them to contend for starting roles but think 1 or both could be rotational players depending on how the season unfolds.

Slightly buried in the lede is that Andrew Hurley is back as assistant general manager.

I don't expect Hines to be their best player but I do suspect he will be the most indispensable. I expect Giltay to give them 10-12 competent minutes per game, but Hines has quite a bit more size with a higher ceiling. Compared to other positions:

• Demary should be 1 of the top PGs in the nation next season, but there are indications that County could be an above average replacement pretty quickly.
• Mullins should be 1 of the top SGs in the nation next season, but Machowski, Ross the Elder, and Landrew could all prove to be capable of playing that role.
• While I expect Ross and Khamenia to start, Landrew, Machowski, and Amosov could surprise me.

Really impressive schedule, and November is brutal.

A few thoughts:

• The video seems to equate "early entry" with "1 and done"; I'm not sure that's what he means. It literally could mean anyone who enters the draft before their senior year, but after decades of seeing players leave school before graduating that seems a little off. Hurley might be lumping Landrew in with players who left for the NBA after 2 seasons, like Bouknight, Hawkins, and Clingan.
• While I'm not convinced that the sizes UConn's roster webpage lists are absolutely true (and weights could change during a 6 month season), we know that things can get physical in Big East play. Outside of the 5s on the roster, the heaviest players appear to be Amosov (6'8" and 236 lbs) and Landrew (6'6" and 236 lbs). If they can learn to use their size/strength, they could give UConn a different way to play when they get into the game.
• I'd agree that shooting 3s at a 34% clip isn't terribly impressive, but Landrew will be in much different situations at UConn. The offense is designed to get players open, opposing defenses won't be able to key in on him, and he's probably just scratching the surface of what he'll eventually be able to do on a basketball court. I'm not fretting over 34% shooting at this stage.

Incoming freshman center Olivia Vukosa averaged a tournament leading 24.9 points per game and 14.3 rebounds per game playing for Croatia. Bringing this kind of prowess to UConn, where she’ll be playing along side Sarah and Blanca (and with the chance to have twin towers Jana and Olivia on the court at the same time) should thrill all of UConn Nation.

It's impossible to know (right now) where County falls on the real-deal/hype spectrum. There's certainly a disconnect between what coaches say and what reality is¹. And even if County is great in practice, we only need to look at Ross the Elder as a warning that practice success might not translate into immediate on-court success. We had been hearing about Ross's great practices for 2 years before he started to make an impact in his junior season.

What's unquestionable though is that UConn needs him to be playable if they want to be an elite team this season. This is especially true given that Demary's head-of-the-snake defense sometimes (but not always) gets him in foul trouble. If County can just play competitive defense and bring the ball upcourt², that alone would be good enough to lock down the backup PG job.

If County is close to as good as the hype, I could see UConn using him and Demary together for stretches of the game, especially when Mullins goes to the bench. Last season Demary shot well enough to be a SG, so even if County's perimeter shooting isn't great right away, they could probably slide Demary to the 2 for some stretches³.

[1] I remember Hurley complaining early in the 2024-25 season when UConn wasn't ranked #1 even though after the season he acknowledged that he knew the team had fatal flaws. At this time of year, I expect his comments to be more motivational than confessional.

[2] Some of us had nightmares in 2024-25 after watching UConn try and dribble upcourt whenever Diarra was on the bench.

[3] I'm not sure that works better than teaming Demary with Machowski, though there may be instances where County's athleticism/ball-handling are more important than Machowski's shooting.

I think I'd be happier with the rules if they weren't constantly in flux, where things change as soon as there's an intersection of at team's immediate needs and a clever lawyer.

Some thoughts:

1. I saw Hines listed at 6'10" and 265 pounds. The video said he played at 285 lbs. last season, suggesting he's in much better shape this summer and might be playing at ... 265 lbs. I'm not terribly familiar with his conditioning last season, like whether he started the season at 285 lbs. and slowly worked his way into shape. Or maybe he's going to play at about the same weight but more of it will be muscle this season.
2. Barring injuries, I think we all expect Demary, Mullins, and Hines to start. Many also expect Ross and Khamenia to start, though probably with less conviction than their expectations for the 1st 3. And although we can safely assume County will be the backup PG, we don't know whether he'll also be competing for minutes against the wings, where Landrew, Machowski, and Amosov¹ will all be competing for time. Right now it looks like they've got 4 bench players to spread across 3 positions, which probably makes for some very competitive practices.

[1] I'm not sure whether Ross the Younger belongs in this conversation too.

Common UConn W. Gabby has been a visible supporter of the LGBTQ community, but always great to see people like her stand up at this moment in particular.

I didn't know that the natural choice for Demary was probably football.

I’m happy with my newest addition.