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Congratulations to the Huskies on their 5th natty!! What an incredible and dominant run they had in this years tournament!! Will they run it back and maybe repeat as champions?? Let's review!

OUT:
*Joey Calcaterra
*Jordan Hawkins (going pro)
*Adama Sanogo (going pro)
*Andre Jackson (going pro)
*Nahiem Alleyne (portal to St John's)

STAY:
*Tristen Newton
*Hassan Diarra
*Alex Karaban
*Donovan Clingan

IN:
*Stephon Castle
*Solomon Ball
*Jayden Ross
*Jaylin Stewart
*Youssouf Singare
*Cam Spencer (Transfer from Rutgers)

My 0.02:
I couldn't be happier for UConn! So many of our leagues detractors were like "tHe BiG lEAst iS a JoKE oTHer THan noVA" but UConn's title proves that this league is more than just Nova. The Huskies finished 13-7 in the league and in FOURTH PLACE. They wound up winning the natty. That's how powerful this league is, man. UConn is BACK and they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the future! Really like the recruiting class they got coming in. Even with the personnel losses, the Huskies should be a great ball club next year and in the years to come!

POST-DEADLINE UPDATE:
The defending champs have had an ok offseason. They've lost their 3 best players to the pros though in Hawkins, Sanogo and Jackson. Thankfully they return excellent pieces to build around in guys like Newton, Clingan and Karaban. They've also got a fantastic recruiting class coming in, headlined of course by 5-star McDonalds All-American, Stephon Castle. Every other recruit is a 4-star. That's a pretty damn good class. It's still a young team though. Growing pains they'll go through, but as the season goes on, I got no doubt UConn will get better. Dan Hurley is a fantastic coach.

Jackson will stay another year. He has said publicly within the last few months that he came to UConn to stay for 4 years and that he still plans to do that. And frankly he should stay because there are such glaring holes in his game. He needs more development before he will be ready for the next level.

On the other hand, I will be shocked if Sanogo does not go - especially on the heels of him being named MOP of the tournament. I don’t see how he helps himself by staying or how he could possibly be better positioned for the NBA draft.

Should UConn be the pre-season favorite in the BE? I don’t think so. Not as long as Marquette has everyone coming back. (Did I miss an NBA draft announcement?) Clingan can replace Sanogo and Castle is a 5-star recruit who can step in for Hawkins. UConn’s recruiting class is ranked #4 by 247, so there should be plenty of depth. So they can go forward with a lot of pieces in place. However, we saw the problems they had in January and their inability to progress beyond the semi-finals in the BE tournament. It took a lot of work to get the pieces to fit together and mesh as a working unit. Remove the team’s 2 best players and I think that the work starts all over again, leaving them with a lot still to prove.

Just my 2 cents.

No surprise, Hawkins declaring for the draft.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36105826/jordan-hawkins-entering-nba-draft-uconn-title-win

Championship parade in Hartford was lit, best one since '99.

Adam Zagoria
@AdamZagoria

Donovan Clingan announced he will return to @UConnMBB next season

Dan Hurley told me he’s going to let him shoot 3’s next year

Donovan’s dad told me he wants his son to be emotionally and physically ready for the NBA when the time comes

2:19 PM · Apr 8, 2023

Towson transfer PG Nick Timberlake down to Kansas & UCONN. At Kansas this weekend, final visit at UCONN next weekend.

Husky_U wrote:Adam Zagoria
@AdamZagoria

Donovan Clingan announced he will return to @UConnMBB next season

Dan Hurley told me he’s going to let him shoot 3’s next year

Donovan’s dad told me he wants his son to be emotionally and physically ready for the NBA when the time comes

2:19 PM · Apr 8, 2023

Good move coming back, both for him and the Huskies.

Nahiem Alleyne has hit the portal

Thank you Adama for the memories.

Wishing him the best in the draft

Newton declared for the NBA draft too. Didn’t see that coming.