The UConn Fast Break - 5/30/2023

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Heading to the Gainesville Regional

UConn baseball has now gone to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments and nine of the last 13 after being placed in the Gainesville Regional as an at-large team to the field of 64.

A 2-seed in the Regional, the Huskies are joined by Florida, 3-seed Texas Tech, and Florida A&M.

Most NCAA Tournament projections had Jim Penders’ squad going to Boston College, but the Eagles were passed over in favor of No. 15 South Carolina and No. 16 Alabama, as their losing Quad 1 record and No. 203 non-conference strength of schedule likely did the Eagles in.

This removed UConn’s obvious regional pairing and sent the Huskies wherever they fit in the 2-seed pecking order, which was a brutal draw to the regional hosted by the Gators, who are ranked No. 2 in the country.

Florida tied for the SEC lead outright and won the East Division, advancing to the SEC Tournament semifinals before falling to Vanderbilt. Kevin O’Sullivan’s team has lost just six times at Condron Family Ballpark all year and all but two involved taking two of three from a Quad 1 opponent in a weekend series.

The Huskies’ first matchup against Texas Tech is a tough one as well. The Red Raiders split a two-game midweek set with Stanford and went 2-2 against West Virginia, while also taking two of three on the road from Oklahoma. Texas Tech also beat the teams they needed to beat, with just five sub-100 losses all year, three of which came as part of a weekend set, with a 22-5 overall record.

As for Florida A&M, the Rattlers come battle-tested. They were forced to play six games in five days in the SWAC Tournament, winning the title out of the loser’s bracket.

UConn and Texas Tech are part of Friday’s first waves of games, with the first pitch coming at 12 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+. We’ll have wall-to-wall coverage until the Huskies are eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Huskies at the White House – President Joe Biden honored Dan Hurley and the Huskies to kick off Memorial Day Weekend.

New Numbers - The freshman have moved onto campus. Some jersey numbers are confirmed, and others are reported.

Women’s Basketball

UConn WBB Weekly – Your go-to place for all the latest news and stories surrounding the Huskies.

Recruiting Tracker ($) – All the latest recruiting news. 

UConn’s 2023 Freshman Class ($)  – An overview of the incoming freshmen.

Baseball

Does UConn have the pitching? - A look at what it will take to succeed in Gainesville.

Big East Tournament Opener – A comeback win over Georgetown. 

Huskies fall to Xavier – Big loss Thursday night.

UConn advances to Big East final – The Huskies dominated Georgetown.

UConn fell to Xavier, again – For the first time since joining the league, UConn failed to win the conference tournament.

Hockey

UConn’s roster after the transfer portal ($) – An early preview of what the depth chart might look like this fall.

Aiden Metcalfe leaving the team – Defenseman Aiden Metcalfe is leaving the team but staying at UConn to continue his engineering degree.

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 The UConn Hockey Hub 

Highlights

UConn baseball was facing elimination in the Big East Tournament on Friday against Georgetown. After the Hoyas struck first, the Huskies broke the game open with a five-run third inning, including this three-run shot from Ben Huber.

Memory Lane

The NBA Finals get started on Thursday, so let’s go back 10 years to one of Ray Allen’s biggest shots.

The Miami Heat were down three points with the shot clock off in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, which they had to win to force a Game 7. After LeBron James missed a game-tying triple, the ball found Allen in the right corner. He knew what to do.

UConn, Great Pic

Some photos from the White House ceremony by Ian Bethune and one from the interviews after the ceremony.

Parting Thoughts

Members of the UConn men’s basketball team spent Friday doing something that very few people get to do: meet the President of the United States at the White House.

Almost two months after their season ended, the Huskies gathered and celebrated their 2023 national championship season, even as some members of the team have started to go their separate ways.

It’s one of the many, and arguably the coolest, perks of winning a major championship, and also one final hurrah for this incredible accomplishment.

This team has been properly lauded for its success but the amount of pro talent on the team has probably gone underrated. Jordan Hawkins is a likely first-round pick. Andre Jackson is emerging as someone who could be on an NBA roster this year if not next.

Adama Sanogo is a fringe player because of his height but he’ll still have a productive pro career, in this country or another one. Tristen Newton has a shot at the G League this year. Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban, and some of this year’s incoming freshmen are also loaded with pro potential.

This is part of the improvement Dan Hurley has brought to this team’s top-line talent. In addition to James Bouknight in 2021, the program’s first first-round pick since Shabazz Napier in 2014, and guys like Tyrese Martin and Isaiah Whaley who have been on two-way deals, UConn’s presence in the NBA is improving after a bit of a lull. This is almost as important as raising banners, as high school prospects are surely looking at how good the schools recruiting them are at putting players in the league.

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