Recruits React to First Night
By many First Night was largely considered a huge success. The crowd filled Gampel and was electric all night long. The night started off amazingly with coach Ollie and coach Auriemma talking and then the video then ended with a great comeback by Team Geno to get the win.
The staff had many recruits from multiple classes in attendance. Some of the recruits are being recruited really hard, some are being recruited at a medium to hard level, and some are just beginning to be recruited by the staff. Here’s what some if the recruits thought about First Night:
Class of 2014:
PG Kahari Beaufort said this about First Night, “It was good and exiting. They are looking really good this year. The scrimmage really caught me eye.” As for why the scrimmage caught his eye Beaufort examined, “It show cases their talent.” I then asked him what he thought about the video and the intros, “I liked it. It was good. It’s something that caught people’s eye.”
Class of 2015:
PG Jalen Adams also had a really good time at First Night. “I had a good time. It was fun,” Adams stated. As for his favorite parts of the night he admitted, “The intros and the scrimmage.”
PG Jaquan Mckennon seemed amazed by everything, “It was great. I had a good time.” He then went onto say what the highlights of the night were to him, “Everything to be honest. I loved the atmosphere!! It was nice.” He then again reiterated, “The atmosphere was great. The fans were awesome. It was very cool and was definitely exciting.”
SG Arkel Ager was also at First Night. “I had fun. It was an experience. I can defiantly see myself there,” he went on to add, “I like that it’s close to home, a very nice campus, and has friendly people. Just a nice environment.” As for what he enjoyed during the event Arkel admitted, “Being behind the scene in Coach Ollie’s office and the trivia game was interesting. The intros we’re live and it looked like they [the teams] had a lot of fun together. The game was good. I can’t believe Team Ollie let Team Geno come back.”
SG Malachi Richardson described his visit as, “Fun.” He was also at Indiana’s Hoosier Hysteria last week. However, he explained what he liked about Friday night, “Seeing a different side of the players than just basketball.”
C Jessie Govan may have had the best time of all the recruits I talked to. He had this to say about his visit, “It was very nice. I had a great time. The atmosphere was real nice, but I had a great talk with Coach Ollie after.” He then explained some more about why he liked his talk with Ollie so much, “He’s a real genuine down to earth guy.” I then asked him which parts of First a Night he liked and he responded, “Just seeing all the players in general, Rodney Purvis is a beast lol,” and he added, “This year should be fun to watch.”
Some other recruits that also attended First Night from the class of 2015 were PG Will Jackson, SF Tyrique Jones, and SG Lavar Harewood.
PG Donovan Mitchell, SG Curtis Cobb, and PF Jarred Reuter were planning on being at First Night but were unable to make it for various reasons. However, Cobb told me that he is now planning on visiting for a practice sometime soon.
Class of 2016:
Some recruits from the class of 2016 that made it to Storrs for First Night were SF Tyonne Malone, and PG Ikenna Ndugba.
Class of 2017:
UConn also had some class of 2017 possible recruits in the crowd. It was SF Jordan Hardwick, PF Charles Hannah, PG Dajour Dunkley, and PG Isaiah Godwin.
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