Important Game, But Tonight is About Boatright
He came from the Windy City, choosing UConn over Miami, Oklahoma and UNLV, committing to then head coach Jim Calhoun in November of 2010. But even before that moment, Ryan Boatright’s path to UConn was not originally clear. As an eighth grader, he committed to USC and head coach Tim Floyd. After Floyd was let go, Boat reopened recruiting and pledged allegiance to West Virginia, just a few weeks before his commitment to Calhoun. In between, head coach Bob Huggins brought in another point guard, Jabarie Hinds, who never did pan out with the Mountaineers and is currently playing ball just to the north at UMass.
“We don’t look at it in a negative way with USC or West Virginia. If it was meant to be, it would have worked. That’s how I look at it,” Ryan’s mom Tanesha told ESPN’s Dave Telep in 2010. “Ryan didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like Ryan is committing and walking away. The changing of the mind was because of the university, not because Ryan was turning his back on [the schools].”
West Virginia’s loss was UConn’s gain. He made his debut against nationally ranked Florida State and promptly burst on the scene. Down 71-68, he was fouled attempting a game-tying three with just seven seconds remaining. He nailed each free throw to force overtime and the clutchness of the Boatshow was born. He scored 14 points that day, dished out 3 assists and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.
He followed his debut up with a season high 23 points in a win over Arkansas and the Huskies were rolling. They went on to start that year 12-1, ranked in the top ten after a New Year’s Eve win over St. John’s. However that’s when the wheels fell off. A roster littered with NBA talent from Andre Drummond, to Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels and Shabazz Napier, went on to lose eleven of their next sixteen games. Boatright was suspended for three of those, the NCAA citing a further investigation into potential violations made during the recruiting process.
Finding themselves on the outside looking in at the tournament, UConn did just enough to sneak in. A regular season finale win over Pitt and a couple of wins at what turned out to be their last appearance at Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament got them there. At 20-13, 8-10 in Big East play, there was a lot of unknowns as they took on Iowa State in the first round, in what turned out to be a disappointing thirteen point loss.
Boatright finished his freshman season averaging 10.4 points on 42-percent shooting, thinking he was going to build on that in his sophomore year and get the Huskies a step further. That’s when the NCAA’s proverbial hammer came down. Banned from postseason and tournament play, along with whispers of a retiring head coach, certain Huskies jumped ship as much uncertainty loomed in Storrs.
At a time when he could’ve taken his three remaining years elsewhere to a better situation, he showed a commitment he had not just two years prior. He stuck with UConn, as did Napier, Niels Giffey and Tyler Olander. Kevin Ollie was named interim head coach and a new beginning was born. Ollie cited a two-year plan and his team promptly got to work.
They opened the year with a dramatic win over Michigan State overseas, the debut of Ollie as head coach, as Boatright filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Winners of ten of their first twelve, it was easily seen that Ollie was the right choice. Boat scored a season-high 26 points against Fordham before the defining moment of the 2012-13 season, a 66-58 win that sent Syracuse out of the Big East with ‘a bad taste of UConn in their mouths.’
During that sophomore year, Boat averaged 15.4 points, while increasing his free throw shooting to 78-percent, a 10-percent increase from his freshman year.
That attention to detail carried over into last season as the Huskies got out of the gate 9-0, including the dramatic win over Florida. Boatright, however, individually had some struggles, scoring twenty points or more, just once throughout the entire season. But it was his dedication on the defensive end that made up for his offensive inconsistencies, averaging a career high 1.6 steals, while limiting his turnovers to 1.9, a career low.
He teamed up with Napier on a six game stretch that culminated with a Huskies National Championship, averaging just under 14 points during the run to the title. He did not miss a free throw from the sweet sixteen, on (16-for-16), had 10 steals in that same stretch and shot 5-for-6 in the 60-54 championship win over Kentucky.
Following the year, he had a decision to make, head to the NBA or make a name for himself at the place he grew into a better man at for his senior season. The choice was simple, head back to Storrs.
With the team squarely on his back, UConn has had an up-and-down road, much like the story of Boatright’s career at UConn.
Ollie praised his leadership following the win over SMU on Saturday saying, “he’s keeping everybody calm and keeping everybody poised. I really want to keep stressing that because he’s doing a great job.”
As senior night approaches, now just a handful of hours away, the Huskies, playing their best ball of the season, have a chance to take another step towards building towards next week’s tournament. But in it all, tonight is about Boatright, the lone remaining member of his recruiting class (DeAndre Daniels and Andre Drummond).
As he takes the floor at Gampel for the final time, the enigmatic star has a lot to be proud of. Thanks for the memories Boat, you will never be forgotten.
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