The UConn Fast Break - 5/13/2022

Another transfer for men's hoops. Baseball keeps the gravy train rolling.

May 13, 2022

Welcome to this week’s Fast Break, and thank you for being a subscriber. Feels like summer!

This weekly newsletter is brought to you by the folks who run The UConn Blog on SB Nation, Storrs Central on Rivals, The UConn Hockey Hub on Patreon, and the UConn WBB Weekly newsletter! Please consider sharing or supporting our work!

Men’s basketball lands Hassan Diarra

On Wednesday, Texas A&M guard Hassan Diarra announced his intention to transfer to UConn. Given that Dan Hurley’s squad has had a majority of its production from last season depart via graduation or transfer, picking up another player, particularly one as staunch on the defensive end as Diarra, could prove to be valuable.

Likely a bench piece, the brother of current UConn assistant coach and former player Mamadou Diarra will provide solid depth. Though his offensive numbers (37.0 percent shooting from the field) left some to be desired in College Station, a reduced role that allows him to lock down defensively, especially when Andre Jackson is on the bench, could be a great fit for him in Storrs.

With a backcourt that also includes transfers Nahiem Alleyne and Tristen Newton, in addition to returning Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson, head coach Dan Hurley is likely done adding guards and wing players. However, with three open scholarships, it’s possible that the Huskies see another forward added to the fold before the fall, as the frontcourt is full of question marks aside from Adama Sanogo.

Regardless of what Hurley decides to do, he did a good job re-filling the cupboard after a bevy of transfers and graduated players early this offseason, some of which were a surprise.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Hassan Diarra transfers from Texas A&M - Diarra will provide solid defense and guard depth for the Huskies.

Women’s Basketball

UConn WBB Weekly - The women’s basketball newsletter checks in with former Huskies that spent last season in college basketball.

WNBA Season Preview - The 16 UConn alumni in the league began play over the weekend.

Baseball

Northeastern wins battle of the Huskies - In a rare midweek loss, Northeastern came back from 4-0 down early on, scoring six runs in the fourth inning.

Huskies sweep Creighton - Jim Penders’ crew moved to 14-1 in Big East play and reduced their magic number to clinch the Big East regular-season title to just two.

Kyler Fedko promoted to High-A - The 12th-round selection of Minnesota in the 2021 MLB Draft joins fellow 2021 draftee Pat Winkel and 2018 Minnesota draftee Anthony Prato at High-A Cedar Rapids.

Men’s Hockey

Brady Smith commits to the Huskies - An ‘05 defenseman, Smith is expected to play in the BCHL next season and will not come to Storrs for a year or two.

Support the most in-depth coverage of UConn men’s hockey out there!

Visit: https://www.patreon.com/uconnhockeyhub

Highlights

Baseball finished off Creighton on Mother’s Day with a 6-5 victory. It was scoreless early and Creighton had a runner in scoring position, but Erik Stock cut down the run at the plate to preserve a 0-0 tie in the first inning.

Memory Lane

With the second round of the NBA playoffs in full swing, let’s flashback 21 years to May 8, 2001.

On this day, Ray Allen put up 28 points for Milwaukee against Charlotte in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, enabling the Bucks to go up 2-0 in the series. Two nights earlier, Allen was the only Buck to play more than 35 minutes, leading all scorers with 26 points in 41 minutes.

The guard again led his team in time on the court, playing nearly 46 minutes, scoring a game-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field.

The series ended up going the distance, with Milwaukee coming out on top. Allen played 306 minutes and was the Bucks’ leading scorer, averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 assists per game. He dropped 28 in the deciding Game 7.

Check out Basketball Reference’s page on the series as part of Milwaukee’s ride to the Eastern Conference Finals.

UConn, Great Pic

The Huskies fell to Northeastern in midweek action on Tuesday, but Ian Bethune still grabbed some great shots.

Parting Thoughts

WNBA season has started, with a bang! Already former Huskies are making their presence felt, and also changing teams. Former Rookie of the Year Cyrstal Dangerfield was waived by Minnesota, eventually landing with the Indiana Fever. After getting cut by the Seattle Storm, Evina Westbrook signed a hardship contract with Minnesota.

While other rookies were not so lucky, Olivia Nelson-Ododa was blessed enough to earn a roster spot at the start of the season with the LA Sparks. Her classmate at UConn Christyn Williams was drafted by the Washington Mystics but suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason.

Read more about the Huskies in the WNBA in this thorough preview from Megan Gauer.

If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend or two - it would mean a lot to us!

Be sure to follow The UConn Blog!

Reply

or to participate.