Hassan Diarra continues UConn Basketball transfer portal reload

After being one of the few teams who didn’t dive into the transfer portal a season ago, Dan Hurley and UConn Basketball have begun reloading via the portal this off-season, with Hassan Diarra being the latest pickup.

UConn Basketball lost four players to graduation (Isaiah “The Wrench” Whaley, Tyler Polley, RJ Cole, and Tyrese Martin). They also ended up losing another four players (5 if you count walk-on and fan-favorite Matt Garry) to the transfer portal.

Two former Huskies have ended up at conference rivals: Akok Akok is headed to Georgetown and Corey Floyd Jr landed in Providence. Rahsool Diggins is taking his talents to UMass and Jalen Gaffney will finish out his career at Florida Atlantic University. So who is going to fill in all these open roster spots and minutes?

The most recent addition to the roster should be a familiar name. Hassan Diarra, younger brother of former UConn player and current graduate assistant coach Mamadou Diarra.

Diarra played two seasons at Texas A&M University where he averaged 16.7 mpg, contributing 6.1 ppg while shooting just 36.4% from the field. These numbers might not be eye-popping, but Diarra provides much-needed depth at the guard position and showed improvement throughout his time in College Station. Most importantly, he is a strong defender and should only continue to improve over his remaining 3 years of eligibility.

Texas A&M ended their season going 11-2 in their final 13 games. Their only two losses came to Tennessee in the SEC tournament championship game and Xavier in the NIT championship. Hassan Diarra’s played some of his best basketball during this stretch, scoring 7.5 ppg while shooting 37% from deep. If he can build on this momentum, he will be a valuable addition to the UConn backcourt coming off the bench.

The Huskies also added East Carolina guard transfer and All-AAC second-teamer Tristen Newton. In his junior season for ECU, Newton averaged 17.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 4.3 apg. While his three-point shooting percentage (career 31.6%) leaves something to be desired, Newton averages 85.2% from the free throw line. He provides much-needed size, ball-handling, shot-creating, and scoring for the Huskies. I also imagine his three-point shooting will likely improve on a more talented UConn team where he (hopefully) won’t be forced into some questionable shot selection.

Lastly, UConn added Virginia Tech guard transfer Nahiem Alleyne. Alleyne was a three-year starter at Virginia Tech and is known for his silky smooth lefty shot – something the Huskies will need. For his career, Alleyne is averaging 9.7 ppg, shooting just shy of 39% from deep and over 80% from the charity stripe. While Newton and Alleyne are entering their senior seasons, both technically will have your years of eligibility remaining.

The Huskies still have 3 open scholarships remaining. There are whispers of a potential Stephon Castle reclassification, so they may opt to hold a scholarship open, but Hurley and co have hit the portal hard and continued to show their prowess on the recruiting trail.