For some reason, the memories raised and freshened by the outstanding OSM video we've been enjoying brought to mind my least favorite UConn player of the modern Husky era.
Sam Funches.
I couldn't resist googling him to refresh my memory, and find out if I'd been holding an unfairly negative opinion of him all these years.
The 6-8 PF was from Jackson, MS, and came to UConn for the 96-97 season by way of St. Thomas More. As a freshman, he played in 16 games. Barely. Early on he saw 3 or 4 minutes a game. But by the time league play started, he rarely saw the court. In my memory, he was the original black hole. He played so rarely that when he managed to touch the ball, he was going to shoot it or (more frequently) lose it or go out of bounds with it in an attempt to go up with it. He left the team immediately after mid term exams in his 2nd year, having scored 9 buckets and gotten 20 rebounds in his UConn career.
I was thrilled when he left.
He ended up playing at North Texas, and he did get more minutes there and had a decent, but unremarkable (5 pt 3 rb/game) 2 years there.
My Google search did also bring up a 12 year old 4th grader named Sam Funches in the US Amateur Basketball database, playing center for the Madison, MS Landsharks. Madison is about a half hour ride from Jackson. As the only center on their squad, I would guess that he's starting. Could be a son or nephew of "our" Sam Funches, but it's certainly too much of a coincidence for him not to be directly related.
The kicker is that for some reason, as much as I disliked the elder Funches' game, I find myself hoping that this 12 year old goes on to become a star somewhere.
