With sophomores stepping up, newcomers adapting, UConn men's basketball looking forward to new year

“The new players are adapting pretty quick, quicker than I did last year so that’s a good thing,” added Stewart, who had a delayed move-in last summer because of his late high school graduation in Seattle.

Stewart got comfortable as the season went on, found his role and was a critical piece down the stretch; most notable was his performance in the Big East Tournament championship game, the barrage of 3-pointers that helped the Huskies pull away and beat Marquette. He finished the year averaging 2.5 points in 8.9 minutes per game, shooting 47.4% from the field.

“The main thing for me (this summer) is trying to be on the ball a little more, getting my handle up. My strength is the biggest thing I’m trying to work on, being able to go through contact and being a better defender,” he said.

Ball is also working on his handle to be on the ball more and focusing on the defensive side — “being able to lock the best players down,” he said.

It’s more of the same for Ross, who is developing his body and working on his jump shot, in addition to raising his level on defense. UConn is losing one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation in Castle and one of the most impactful players on the interior in Clingan.

“It’s kind of like going through the process all over again,” Ball said. “Hurley sets the standard and everyone’s just willing to follow. It’s just helping the new guys and the transfers get acclimated and get used to what we’ve already gone through this past year.”

The chemistry-building was accelerated with the abrupt announcement of Hurley’s interest in the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coaching job about a week after the team’s summer workouts began. As he pondered the opportunity, there were multiple players-only meetings that kept the team together.

“It was kind of a crazy situation to be in, I’ve never been in the middle of a situation like that where the whole world is watching. You have to just keep your head down, keep going and just wait for the results. I think it was a nerve-wracking experience for everybody, but I feel like we all kind of knew where Coach’s heart was at from the beginning. For me it was just like, keep working and don’t worry about all of the outside noise,” Stewart said.

“It definitely brought us closer, and it shows his true confidence in us as a team,” said Ball. “It really just makes you want to play for him even more.”

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