UConn Basketball: Star guard Jalen Adams returning for senior season

UConn basketball is bringing in new head coach Dan Hurley. The return of star guard Jalen Adams for his senior season will certainly help the transition.

After back-to-back disappointing seasons, UConn basketball decided to fire head coach Kevin Ollie, replacing him with Dan Hurley, the former top man at Rhode Island. The hope is that Hurley will be able to return the Huskies to their prior glory. Thankfully, star guard Jalen Adams announced that he is coming back for his senior season to aid in the transition period. This is definitely welcome news for UConn fans but there are still many questions heading into 2018-19.

Over the past three seasons, Adams has steadily improved as the go-to player for the Huskies. As a junior last season, the 6’3″ guard was on the floor more than just about anybody else in the country. In fact, his 38.1 minutes played per game ranked sixth in the nation. Of course, it also helped that he was extremely effective in his minutes.

Adams averaged 18.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game as the leader of the Huskies. An all-around guard, Adams can excel either as the focal point of the offense as a scorer or a playmaker. With his size and court vision, a tremendous senior season could end up seeing Adams get selected in the 2019 NBA Draft.

There should be no questions regarding Adams’ talent. However, the Huskies are coming off a season in which they went just 14-18 (7-11 AAC). Looking ahead to the 2018-19 campaign, there are a lot of questions surrounding UConn. The return of Christian Vital (14.9 points, 5.4 rebounds) alongside Adams in the backcourt will be a welcomed sight should he decide to come back. He is currently entered into the NBA Draft without an agent. The loss of Terry Larrier, who has already decided to turn professional this offseason, though, is a tough blow.

New head coach Dan Hurley will definitely be an improvement for the program but cannot fix all of their flaws in just one season. In addition, there is the double-edged sword of the Huskies’ conference. The AAC has had some remarkable seasons in the past, including 2017-18, but next season does not look as promising. Cincinnati will once again likely reign supreme at the top but programs like Wichita State and Houston will take steps back.

Because of this, the conference will not be nearly as deep in talent as it has been in the past. This will make it easier for UConn to secure victories in conference play but those wins will not be worth nearly as much as they have been in the past. This means that the Huskies will need to have a strong record both after their non-conference schedule as well as after AAC play in order to have a chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Nonetheless, the return of Adams should help UConn take a step in the right direction prior to Hurley bringing in his own recruits. This next season will be an exciting one thanks to the returning talent in Storrs but it will still be difficult to reach the postseason. Yet, there are a lot of ever-changing variables with the program at the moment. The Huskies could finish anywhere from second in the AAC to the bottom-half of the league.

Next: 2018 Big East recruiting classes

Adams’ legacy is yet to be solidified with the Huskies and he will certainly be hoping to follow in the footsteps of players such as Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier at UConn. Are we about to witness another magical season by a Huskies’ guard?