Favorite Somewhat Obscure Husky

[CL82]

Vern Giscombe. Instant offense, and a great guy personally.

 

[QuickDraw]

Covington "Cup" Cormier

 

[Waquoit]

Who is/was your favorite obscure Husky? Mine was Alvin “Skinner” Frederick.

Al could be spectacular. A couple of buddies and I drove to Ohio State for the game when he was on the squad. UConn is down around 10 midway through the second half when Al beats his man for a slam. UConn makes a stop and it's Al with another nice move for a slam to make it 6. Next trip down court, Al with another move for a slam to make it 4 and we have ourselves a ball game! But wait, a late whistle for traveling. There was no travel, it was Big 10 refs saying "Enough of that". That's where I first learned about precision officiating.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Women’s side - Amy Duran.

 

[TroyHall98]

Albert Mouring

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Chad Wise

 

[Waquoit]

Chad Wise

Er

 

[Imdone]

Lyman DePriest, followed by Toriano Walker.

 

[Waquoit]

Lyman DePriest

Lyman designed this logo when he was a UConn player. They still use it 30 years later. Too bad he didn't get any NIL.

 

[SubbaBub]

The correct answer is Roscoe Smith. No one ever wanted to hit a full court heave with 30 seconds on the clock more than that guy. Love him.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Sam Funches

 

[Giscombe12]

Vern, obviously, followed by Willie McCloud & Toraino.

 

[Waquoit]

Vern, obviously,

Red Auerbach's favorite Husky!

 

[Connecticut13]

Donnell Beverly. Ultimate program guy, great team leader.

 

[Scottzer]

For the women - Pam Webber and Marci Glenney. I’m not into blondes, but those two….

 

[The Yakk]

Perno days Vern Giscombe

Also Perno days, Bobby Dulin. Maybe 5'10" at most, but he used to dunk in warmups. Teenaged me thought that was pretty cool.

 

[HooperScooper]

For the women - Pam Webber and Marci Glenney. I’m not into blondes, but those two….

I'll raise that to Sarah Northway.

 

[UofCT]

My first favorite obscure UConn player was definitely Souleymane Wane. I freakin' loved the guy's energy.

I'm the only member of my family who's never lived in Stamford, so having Craig Austrie at UConn while I was there was a lot of fun too. Sami Ameziane was my favorite walk-on while I was in college.

My favorite random transfer: RJ Evans.

Right after my graduated, I loved Charles Okwandu. I mean, this is my favorite interview clip of all time.

Unreal

 

[Bezzz]

Gotta be Roscoe Smith for his outstanding toga dance.

 

[RichZ]

I've seen a lot of names listed that I could easily have shouted out. But in the end, I had to stick with my own favorite obscure Husky -- E. J. Harrison. The kid made a name for himself in HS in Danbury, then tore it up at Western CT. After 2 years, he decided to try for the big time. He was a combo guard, didn't get to play all that much behind Khalid and Ricky, Mouring and Shad, but he always looked good when he was out there.

 

[Hromp]

I've seen a lot of names listed that could easily have shouted out. But in the end, I had to stick with my own favorite obscure Husky -- E. J. Harrison. The kid made a name for himself in HS in Danbury, then tore it up at Western CT. After 2 years, he decided to try for the big time. He was a combo guard, didn't get to play all that much behind Khalid and Ricky, Mouring and Shad, but he always looked good when he was out there.

I remember when E.J. Got in during the big East tournament and our offense didn’t skip a beat.

 

[cwh20]

I’ll throw in a Calhoun favorite when he became coach. Senior Gerry Beselink.

 

[slepers]

John Thomas from Bogalusa, LA. One of best rebounders in husky history.

 

[Hromp]

I’ll throw in a Calhoun favorite when he became coach. Senior Gerry Beselink.calhoun’s first captain and I believe he came to Storrs as an outside shooter and averaged double figures in rebounds his senior year. What a bridge Gerry was.

 

[Demo Square]

Hey Guys!

BILLY DEEHAN

Going back to the very early 70's, Billy Deehan, an all-state player from Medford, MA, was a very talented guard/forward who was a very smart guy/player. He could also jump (exceptionally) out of the building at 6'5". And he could play large or small.

But Dee Rowe never found a way to get Billy substantial minutes, so Billy sat a lot. THAT WAS A REAL WASTE OF TALENT, Dee! Billy could have created such a mismatch for opponents in isolation or on the block. I saw his all around talent playing with & against him.

In 1973, I played on a graduate UConn intramural team with Billy, the late, great sharp-shooter Alphonso Vaughan, point guard Leo Barbach & several other former Huskies & we all really had a blast. Those great guys were all students of the game who made it so easy to play with them. We simply ran teams into submission - a coupla long passes & a breakaway dunk at a time - & destroyed the UConn league in the old Greer Fieldhouse. We even topped 100 points a few times, even with 32 minute running time, no breaks. Billy had a wicked good Medford sense of humor too.

Billy was an excellent, very focussed academic star who went on to advanced degrees in the Ivy League in nuclear power, He spent his entire career running & on the board of Yankee Power in Rutland, VT. He oversaw the computerization of the entire Yankee system - a critical task. And made it more profitable every year he was there.

Now retired & living along the mid-east Florida coast, I wish Billy all the best. And I was one of many who thought he got a raw deal from Dee Rowe, wasting away on the bench 2/3 of every game. One of the best UConn "unknown" players.

Father Demo