Biggest Summer Leaps in UConn History

[OkaForPrez]

Thought this would be a good one to kick around to get excited about the prospect of major improvement for some of our guys this offseason. Here's a few to get us started:

Kemba '10. Stepped out of a phonebooth wearing a cape in Maui.
Hilton '05. Mop and bucket to 10-6-3 per game.
Bazz '12. Erratic sophmore becomes mvp on "for the love" huskies.
Okafor(prez) '02. Doubled his pt production from 8 to 16 per game without increasing minutes.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Hilton;s jump was amazing and completely unexpected. Ollie made a big jump between his sophomore and junior year.

 

[Excalibur]

Hilton;s jump was amazing and completely unexpected. Ollie made a big jump between his sophomore and junior year.

Donny Marshall's sophomore to junior improvement has to be up there.

 

[epark88]

Neils went from 'glue guy' as a Jr to 'glue guy who shot 50% from three' as a Sr...

 

[Gringo]

I'm wondering who takes the biggest leap this year Dham, RP, AB or other?

I could see any of those three blowing up.

 

[tykurez]

I'm wondering who takes the biggest leap this year Dham, RP, AB or other?

I could see any of those three blowing up.

The expectations are already there for those three. I'd love to see a guy like Facey finally have it click. Not that he's going to be an all-conference guy or anything ... but there's visible talent hidden in there.

 

[aceboon]

AJP after his "soph" season(his first year suiting up) to his junior year. Alot of that was finally getting his legs back.

 

[champs99and04]

AJP after his "soph" season(his first year suiting up) to his junior year. Alot of that was finally getting his legs back.

Was going to mention AJ. He was a beast that '08 season. His evolution was the biggest part of our progression from mediocrity in '07 to a four seed the next year(as we saw against San Diego).

 

[breezy]

Hilton's jump was so great and unexpected- I remember my mom (a big fan back then) telling me he probably did steroids.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Was going to mention AJ. He was a beast that '08 season. His evolution was the biggest part of our progression from mediocrity in '07 to a four seed the next year(as we saw against San Diego).

I re-watched much of the 2009 season and he seemed to still be working to get back into top level shape during that season. There were a number of times in the NCAAs where AJ sat out for longer times and at different times that you would have ever seen JC sit Kemba or Bazz in their respective championship years. He had plenty to come back from, with the AVS and knee surgery. Would have been a treat to see how good he would have been if he did not have those problems.

 

[aceboon]

I re-watched much of the 2009 season and he seemed to still be working to get back into top level shape during that season. There were a number of times in the NCAAs where AJ sat out for longer times and at different times that you would have ever seen JC sit Kemba or Bazz in their respective championship years. He had plenty to come back from, with the AVS and knee surgery. Would have been a treat to see how good he would have been if he did not have those problems.

Looking back at things, a torn ACL in March and a return in November is kinda ridiculous. Rondo tore his in Jan 2013 and was back Jan 2014, Rose tore his in April 2012 and then missed all of 2012-2013 season, given AJP's timetable it's not really too surprising how he struggled in the beginning and would seem to alternate b/w good games. As an aside, ESPN's Amin Elhassan had shared on twitter a convo with JC in the ESPN studios and he tweeted that JC said people have no idea how good AJP would've been if not for the brain injury and how it robbed him of his quickness. His NBA career is likely done(last I read he was exploring European options), but he deserves a salute for playing the years he did after the brain injury, ACL, and then a ruptured patella tendon after his rookie year.

 

[joober jones]

Possibly Gavin Edwards in the summer of '09