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Sterling Gibbs a Perfect Fit for UConn

By Daniel Tran

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With Sterling Gibbs officially with the UConn Huskies, head coach Kevin Ollie has the perfect guard to replace the departing Ryan Boatright.

When you think back on all the great film trilogies of our time, the third one is rarely the best one. Back to the Future III, Matrix Revolutions, and, of course, the Godfather Part III are some shining examples of exceptions to the Rule of Three. Sterling Gibbs is hoping that does not hold true for his college basketball career.

After starting in Texas and graduating from Seton Hall, Gibbs will be transferring for the third time, joining Kevin Ollie and the UConn Huskies in Storrs, Connecticut. Gibbs had visited Pittsburgh and Ohio State before announcing his decision to join the Huskies.

After spending a year languishing on the bench with the Texas Longhorns, Gibbs transferred to Seton Hall to get more playing time while staying closer to home. He sat out a year and gained an extra year of eligibility in the process which allowed him to finish school in four years and have a chance to play a fourth year of basketball at another school via the Graduate Transfer Rule.

Though Seton Hall was a threat in the Big East this year, they have not reached the NCAA Tournament in the past nine seasons and have not been able to string together tournament appearances since the early 90s when P.J. Carlesimo was stalking the sidelines. Though UConn failed to even reach the NCAA Tournament this past year to defend their 2014 National Championship, they have still been able to clinch a spot in the Big Dance five out of the last eight years, which was a big factor in Gibbs’ decision.

“That was a huge part of it,” Gibbs told the Hartford Courant. “The fact I went to NCAA Tournament at Texas, but I felt like I wasn’t as much of a large part as I wanted to have. With this team now, we have all the tools to be able to get to the NCAA Tournament and make a run at it.”

The addition of Gibbs gives UConn a great chance to win the American Athletic Conference with its combination of veteran experience and young talent being grown together. Though the Huskies are losing Ryan Boatright, they are bringing back Rodney Purvis, who averaged 11.6 points per game, and center Amida Brimah, who scored 9.1 points per game and led the nation in total blocks last season with 121.

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Guard-forward Daniel Hamilton, and his Swiss Army-like skill set, is also returning to UConn. Last season, Hamilton averaged 10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists for Huskies, showing the versatility to fill-in multiple roles and thrive. Joining him on the younger side of this UConn team will be two top-100 recruits.

Jalen Adams, a 6’2” four-star combo guard from Brewster Academy in Massachusetts, will be competing with Gibbs for the lead guard spot on the team, and providing the same skillset as Gibbs even if he comes off the bench. Four-star power forward Steve Enoch will also be a freshman next year and will be battling with Kentan Facey for minutes alongside Brimah, giving the Huskies a talented team with depth that they have not had since 2009 when UConn had Kemba Walker, Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, and Jeff Adrien suiting up for them.

Sterling Gibbs is not the defensive pest that Ryan Boatright was, but he has a strong perimeter offensive game that netted 16.3 points per game last year, leading Seton Hall in scoring. His ability to handle the ball gives UConn two great threats with the ball in their hands, which traditionally means great things for the Huskies (Boatright and Shabazz Napier did okay together, I guess).

With the amount of talent at very position that UConn now has, they should be in a good position to return to the NCAA Tournament and make a deep run – a goal that Sterling Gibbs no doubt will keep reminding them of throughout the year.

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