NCAA Basketball: Ranking teams in the 2019 Charleston Classic

4. UConn Huskies

With the Kevin Ollie saga seemingly finally behind them, the Connecticut Huskies can finally focus on the future. Part of the future has already been put into motion as UConn will be returning to the Big East next summer. Prior to that, they made a quality coaching hire in Danny Hurley.

Hurley’s first season in Storrs was a bit underwhelming at 16-17, but the 2019-20 season could be where the tide turns. He will bring in a top 25 recruiting class in 2019 that features a  trio of top 100 recruits in guard James Bouknight, Jalen Gaffney, and big man Akok Akok. Akok has actually been on campus since January, burning his redshirt season in order to get a headstart on his development in preparation for his freshman campaign.

The Huskies also return a quality core despite losing 1,700-point scorer Jalen Adams. Christian Vital, Alterique Gilbert, Josh Carlton, Tyler Polley, and Sidney Wilson all return to pull Hurley’s sled.

As we all know, or at least should, college basketball is driven by point guard play and the Huskies have a good one in Alterique Gilbert. The question is and has always been: Can he stay on the floor? Since his arrival in 2016, the 6-foot-0 guard out of Miller Grove has appeared in only 34 games in three seasons. When he is on the healthy, he’s been effective, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds per game, and leading the Huskies to an 18-16 record. Without him, UConn has managed just a 28-36 record.

The Huskies should sport something in 2019-20 that has been lacking during the last few years: Quality depth. If former top 150 recruit Brendan Adams can develop into a reliable bench piece, Coach Hurley could sport as many as nine quality players to deploy as he sees fit.

However, at the end of the day, I believe the season will depend on the knees of Gilbert.