Huskies who blossomed as upperclassmen

[Jaydumo20]

This thread will probably be lost due to the impending Alex decision but name some Huskies who made a huge leap in their junior or senior year.

 

[HuskyBoi]

Maybe not stats wise but Whaley in his junior and senior year became a hero on the court for us

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Armstrong, Ollie, Marcus Williams, Donny, Okafor was already good but he became a machine his junior year, Kirk King, Giffey, Boatright off the top of my head.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I'm gonna echo Hilton Armstrong. His senior year was enough to get him in the league. We waited for him for 3 years.

 

[EROCK CONN]

The biggest leap in my opinion was Kemba. He was good as a freshman and sophomore but his junior year might be the best single year of any year in uconn history and he was by far the best player in the country. Other guys who made huge leaps — Andre Jackson, Hassan Diarra, Hilton Armstrong, Kevin Ollie, Sanogo went from really really good to all american.

 

[AdamaNation]

Maybe not stats wise but Whaley in his junior and senior year became a hero on the court for us

Uh. TNew-1AA. Hilt.

 

[ctchamps]

Jayden Ross - TBD

 

[mauconnfan]

Gerry Besselink, Tim Coles, John Thomas

 

[husky429]

Jayden Ross - TBD

And Stewart. I could see him take the leap to a 13/6/2 guy next year easily. Gonna have to put in the work though.

 

[Drame]

Armstrong, Olander, Craig Austrie, Giffey, Deandre Daniels, Whaley.

 

[Horatio]

Deandre Daniels, Brimah, Kemba

 

[Kitaman]

Josh Boone was a late bloomer.

 

[ctchamps]

Some love for Niels Giffey.

 

[OkaForPrez]

CV

 

[Jaydumo20]

I feel like Deandre's soph and junior year were similar stat wise but his junior year he hit bigger shots and played more meaningful basketball. Which is definitely a huge leap. Kind of like waiting for Aaron Judge to hit in the post season.

 

[ucp990411]

EJ Harrison. Went from a bench warming walk on to playing important minutes in our run in 1999.

 

[caw]

I'd say there are really only four examples under Hurley, as I think CV was already very good as a sophomore:

Whaley - as someone else mentioned it wasn't statistical but his overall play in his final year that was impressive.

Newton - Went from solid stats as a senior (first year at UConn) to being the best PG in the country as a fifth year

Diarra - His jump in play from junior to senior to fifth year is just something amazing. He went from 8-9th in 2023, to sixth man of the year in the BE in 2024 to a solid starter and arguably UConn's most indispensable player

Samson - His first two years were nearly non-existent. He was a more than solid backup last year and a solid starter this year.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Hilty always comes to my mind when talking about year to year jumps. He went from a serviceable 3 star big man to an inside force and lottery pick his senior year.

 

[mauconnfan]

Josh Boone was a late bloomer.

No sir, he was very impactful his freshman year, c’mon Kita

 

[Gurleyman]

It was a forgettable season - but Gavin Edwards took a big personal leap his last year. Kentan Facey to a smaller degree.

 

[boog204]

No sir, he was very impactful his freshman year, c’mon Kita

If anything, he actually regressed from soph to junior year. The beginning of his soph year he was like an 18-10 guy going into the BE season. Junior year he was barely in double figures.

 

[nomar]

This has got to be the 10th time we've had this same thread.

The answer is Hilton Armstrong.

 

[boog204]

It was a forgettable season - but Gavin Edwards took a big personal leap his last year. Kentan Facey to a smaller degree.

Two excellent examples. Both of those guys became really solid players on really flawed/broken teams.

Gavin's team had 5 top 50 players, four holdovers from a FF team, blew our the #1 team in the country, and barely survived Northeastern in the NIT.

Facey's team had 8 top 100 players, three McD quality players (Purvis, Adams, and Alterique) and Vital and Brimah 1-10 and they went 16-17 in a crappy league.

 

[huskyjawz]

It was a forgettable season - but Gavin Edwards took a big personal leap his last year. Kentan Facey to a smaller degree.

I was trying to remember Gavin. Rod Sellers too.

 

[Waquoit]

No sir, he was very impactful his freshman year, c’mon Kita

Wasn't he a starter?