By ADAM ZAGORIA
With big recruiting classes come outsize expectations.
UConn coach Dan Hurley has a “Fab 5” recruiting class ranked No. 4 nationally by 247Sports.com — and he says it will be a “failure” if the group doesn’t contend for an NCAA championship.
“You start saying to yourself we can win a national championship with this nucleus of people we’ve put together,” Hurley told reporters Thursday, per Dave Borges of the New Haven Register. “That’s what we’re going for. Anything less than doing that will be looked at as a failure.”
UConn has won four national titles since 1999 — more than any other program during that span. Yet Hurley is still seeking his first NCAA Tournament win since taking over in 2018.
In September, UConn hosted all five of its Class of 2023 recruits — and they posed for the now infamous “Fab 5” photos.
“You’d better be great when you’re here, because people are going to bring that back up if you don’t crush it,” Hurley said.
Three recruits were committed at the time — guards Solo Ball, Stephon Castle and Jayden Ross.
Small forward Jaylin Stewart and big man Yousouff Singare were also on the visit and committed soon thereafter.
“We’re going to do something great together because all those guys, they’re really good, they got talent,” the 6-foot-11 Singare, who plays for Our Savior Lutheran in The Bronx and competes as part of the Overtime Elite league, told ZAGSBLOG when he committed. “Together we can do something great, really great.”
Asked about trying to contend for the program’s fifth NCAA championship, he said, “Hell yeah, that’s the goal, man. That’s the main goal.”
JORDAN HAWKINS IN CONCUSSION PROTOCOL
UConn announced that sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins is in concussion protocol, per Borges.
During Monday’s win over Stonehill, he hit his head hard on the ground after flying in for an offensive rebound.
Hurley has said Hawkins and junior guard Andre Jackson could sneak into the first round of the NBA Draft.
As for Jackson (broken pinky), he has “advanced to non-live drills,” per Borges.
“Fingers crossed, maybe for next week with him? We’ll see,” Hurley said.
At Big East Media Day last month, Jackson vowed to return before the Huskies travel to Oregon over Thanksgiving.
.@UConnMBB star Andre Jackson (broken pinky) says he’ll be back in 2-4 weeks and will be ready for the team’s games in Oregon in late November pic.twitter.com/05IQ2LD90D
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 18, 2022
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