How about over achievers? Or is that too Pollyannaish? :)

[HuskyWarrior611]

Going to throw Jeff Adrien on this list too.

6’6 on a good day and had a big role on one of our most talented teams all time as a freshman. Great leader in 2009 and somehow carved out an NBA career with his size.

1st team All-Heart.

 

[JakeTheDog]

Unranked walk-on Andrew Hurley logged minutes in every 2023 tourney game.

 

[imno1]

Christian Vital deserved a better ending to his college career. That he is an all-time top 10 scorer in UConn history is incredible. He is my favorite player to have never played on a championship team.

 

[UCfor3]

Gavin Edwards.

 

[Smp7598]

Donny Marshall

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Emeka was right around 100 a little under the radar but still was not unknown . He did greatly exceed expectations even as a freshman.
Hilton was around 7 ft that they bloom late is not unusual but he never was a top 2 guy on any team
I’m surprised no one picked Christian Vital
As he was an afterthought on on the 2016-17 class , rated somewhere in the
150 range 2-3 , however he is one of UConn’s all time leading scorers
*I765 pts . Lead the 2019-20 team in scoring over 16 PPG 6.3 RPG and 2.5 Steals and made first team all AAC
Because of Roster situations he was forced to play and guard a 3 at 6’2”
* the most pts by a modern UConn player not ranked in the top 100
For a team the 2012-13 team was suppose to awful . UConn was dead completely irrelevant deserted by their historical conference mates .
Suspended , disgraced , down scholarships, an interim coach trying to replace a HOF coach we were considered a one coach dynasty.who best was behind us.
Deserted by half the previous years players With only two tiny guards , a bust as a freshman in DD and a German kid who averaged 2 pts a game his first two years . We struck fear into no one. The bigs were awful after Olander’s injury , we were stuck with Wolfe until he got suspended
Nolan a green freshman got the job by default . We got help from freshman Omar Calhoun and a PG from Holy Cross who was barely D1 . Beating MSU on National TV
finishing 10-8 ( or first winning BE season in 4 years) Then beating a top 10 Syracuse team on National TV pretty seemed improbable.as that dismal year started but more importantly that team sent a message to quote Mark Twain “ that reports of our death are a bit premature “
As an amateur historian I can’t state how important that team was . Without their success It’s impossible to visualize paths to future success including 2 NC .

 

[HuskyHawk]

Can’t say Freeman exceeded expectations, we didn’t really have early expectations back then. Same for Nadav. Vital stands out to me. Local 3 star, forced to play due to injuries, really had to figure out how to play more efficiently later in his career. Shabazz certainly exceeded any reasonable expectations, by a lot.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Tim Coles held own against Otis Thorpe and Ewing at 6-6 ...a warrior prototype pre-Jeff Adrien

 

[superjohn]

Can’t say Freeman exceeded expectations, we didn’t really have early expectations back then. Same for Nadav. Vital stands out to me. Local 3 star, forced to play due to injuries, really had to figure out how to play more efficiently later in his career. Shabazz certainly exceeded any reasonable expectations, by a lot.

Freeman was a big time recruit throughout high school. He was a stud in Springfield, MA. and then at Paterson Catholic in NJ. He was ranked around the #30 recruit in the country. The guy from that class who way overperfomed is Voskuhl. Many saw him as just a throw in for his much more heralded high school teammate Michael LeBlanc.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Freeman was a big time recruit throughout high school. He was a stud in Springfield, MA. and then at Paterson Catholic in NJ. He was ranked around the #30 recruit in the country. The guy from that class who way overperfomed is Voskuhl. Many saw him as just a throw in for his much more heralded high school teammate Michael LeBlanc.

Freeman was teammate of Tim Thomas at Patterson Catholic. True story.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The best example has to be Okafor.

Borderline 100 recruit. Even with UConn only get a burger boy AA every now and again, Okafor probably doesn't crack the top 50 of UConn recruits since JC took over based on National Rankings.

Comes in on day one and mans the C position for 3 years. Instant rim protector and rebounder. Multiple time BEDPOY, national DPOY, All-American, wins a championship and gets drafted #2 overall.

 

[Tenspro2002]

My first thought was Giffey. Okafor seems almost too obvious, but has to be up there.

 

[superjohn]

My first thought was Giffey. Okafor seems almost too obvious, but has to be up there.

I remember one of the national/international recruiting gurus saying Giffey would probably be a top 50 recruit had he played in the US, we beat out some top programs for him.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Whaley.
When i saw his HS tape for the first time, i wasnt even sure he could be a D3 bench player. Now he's fighting for a spot on an NBA roster.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Freeman was teammate of Tim Thomas at Patterson Catholic. True story.

Reason number 1,456 to hate Dick Vitale.alleged commentary.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Tim Coles

 

[superjohn]

Whaley.
When i saw his HS tape for the first time, i wasnt even sure he could be a D3 bench player. Now he's fighting for a spot on an NBA roster.

He's a great story but he's not exactly fighting for an NBA roster spot.

 

[Scoe]

Well quite frankly it’s Jim Calhoun hey the OP didn’t specify whether it’s a player or not.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Whaley-Nobody thought he had any business here. Left as a defensive player of the year, borderline nba guy.

Calcaterra-Most assumed was bench filler. 45% shooter on one of our best teams of all time.

Brimah-Probably the rawest impact player on our championship teams. Against all odds actually played in some NBA games.

 

[uconngb]

Freeman was teammate of Tim Thomas at Patterson Catholic. True story.

Wow, I never heard that……

 

[Rich]

Rod Sellers no question in my mind. I remember watching him when I was in high school on those early Calhoun teams. Dude used to run up and down the court, post up and play defense relentlessly in spite of constantly dealing with some sort of knee ailment or another. I was amazed that he could even walk given the size of the brace he used to wear. He also played about 5" taller than he actually was-his rebounding was testament to his effort because his athleticism was highly questionable.

I'd throw Gwynn in here as well-he was Robin to Smith's Batman and those teams would have accomplished substantially less without his and Sellers' efforts.

You could also throw Toraino in there. He played like a beast on the boards. Plus, JC pulled him out of Florida which IIRC was the first real recruit of any solid ability we were able to pull from a wider geographic landscape.

 

[Waquoit]

Calcaterra-Most assumed was bench filler.

Not most, loudest maybe

 

[WrenchFan69]

My two favorite UConn players ever:

Giffey - unheralded foreign recruit, okay player for a couple years, pretty useful player his junior year, then becomes the best shooter in the country and our best defender his senior year while winning a title

Whaley - a player that was thought to need a redshirt year at St Louis who could maybe help them in a few years, could have left the team after either of his first two seasons, instead completely transforms himself, becomes Big East DPOY and an integral part of UConn history. Hurley quoted saying winning didn't start until Whaley emerged.

 

[willie99]

If you were a fan BC, you'd understand what the Dream Season was.

I used to dream about making the dance, now I expect to contend

Arrogant and spoiled

 

[cohenzone]

Really no such thing as overachieving. Maximizing potential is more like it. Great coaches can get the most out of a player.