STORRS — Ingratiating yourself as a freshman with the defending national champions is not easy. Especially not with a coach known for his intense, hyper-competitive practices who now has heightened expectations to get back to the top.
But UConn’s group of freshmen, thanks to a unique recruiting strategy from the mind of assistant coach Luke Murray last September, got a head start on building their bond.
Murray had the idea to bring all five onto campus at the same time, some had already committed, some not. During the visit, the group posed as Michigan’s “Fab Five” of the early 1990s for a photoshoot that has since gone viral. Stephon Castle, the McDonald’s All-American, sat on top of a lowered basketball hoop in the middle, imitating Chris Webber. Beside him were Youssouf Singare and Jaylin Stewart, like Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose. Jayden Ross stood next to Singare, posing as Jimmy King, and Solo Ball was on the far right, next to Stewart, mimicking Ray Jackson.
They each held up five fingers – the photo, of course, was taken without knowing UConn would win its fifth championship months later. If they were to take it again, they’d probably hold up six.
“We had a good time that day,” Stewart remembered after practice Thursday. “The ‘Fab Five’ picture and all of that, that wasn’t our idea but we had fun doing it.”
Just in case you forgot… #the5 #fabfive championship #5 UCONN…
Where my DOGGS AT!! pic.twitter.com/kBz14TtY9k— MOMMA CASTLE (@quancas) September 13, 2022
That advance, and another when they were actually able to play in game situations together in Europe, helped jumpstart the chemistry building that will be necessary to reach the program’s national championship-level standards.
“For me it was just adjusting to the speed and the physicality,” Stewart, a 6-foot-7 forward from Seattle, said. “It would definitely be tougher going through it by myself. Just knowing I have my brothers with me, just going through it with me, it’s all about that.”
Hurley expects the group to make an immediate impact as he looks to defend the 2023 title, whether it be as a starter or off the bench. The Huskies regularly used nine players, sometimes 10, in a game last year. It helped them stay fresh and made preparation difficult for opponents.
With the Nov. 6 season-opener less than a month away, UConn’s freshmen have to quickly get up to speed with Hurley’s complex offense and prepare to play harder defense than they ever had before. Right now, Hurley says, the offense is “way ahead.”
“It’s actually been great,” Ball said, “because you see four other people right beside you going through the same thing. This stuff is hard, it’s tough, a lot of people would be quitting but we don’t quit. This is one thing we do day in, day out, this is part of our life, this is what we love.”
Ball, the 6-3 guard from Leesburg, Virginia, who was a consensus top-50 recruit, has been dealing with intense coaching his whole life.
His father, Mike, coached him in youth basketball and continues to train him. His workouts, like Hurley’s, are consistently “grueling.” Ball never asked him to back off, in fact he says he was driving the intensity, he wants to be pushed – “I was always the one who just kept going,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been pretty prepared and even though I’ve been thrown right into the fire I’ve been able to hold my own and just be able to get better every day with these guys and gain chemistry.”
Through the first months on campus, particularly lately, Ball has impressed his new coach.
He’s gone from making mistakes defensively and not knowing it last week, to now immediately recognizing whatever he’s done wrong and expressing it. “Maybe we get to next week and defensively he’s not making the mistakes,” Hurley said. “But his athleticism and his shooting, I’m feeling great about him. He’s gonna have a great year for us I think. You never know how freshmen are gonna react but when you shoot it as clean as he’s shooting it, with the athleticism and with the pedigree, we’re happy.”
With the national championship banner hanging over the team in the practice facility and another waiting to be unveiled in Gampel Pavilion, the group of newcomers is constantly reminded of why they decided on Storrs. The coaches and returning players have made clear their goal of getting back to the mountaintop, of being one of a few programs able to repeat. Hurley sees the pieces in place and they’ve already started to mesh.
“It’s definitely a standard, and (Hurley) challenges everyone every day,” Ball said. “It’s gonna take time for me to adjust fully because I know this is my first year, my first go-around with college basketball, I know how hard it’s gonna be and I’m ready for every step.”
Stewart was the last to arrive because of his school getting out late on the other side of the country, but when he finally got to Storrs the bonds were still there from that September meeting.
Just a few weeks after he moved in, in July, Stewart joined Ball and Castle in the Werth practice facility to get some late-night shots up.
Ball captured the fun in a TikTok video where he and Stewart each made shots from deep, “we’re working on our triple-hesi pullup today,” they said. After Stewart’s shot fell through he took over cameraman duties from Castle and began narrating.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Stephon Castle, No. 5, from the logo,” Stewart said. “UConn! One, two, take ’em home ladies and gentlemen!” Castle took the shot from the Husky logo at center court – nothing but net. The trio screamed and sprinted for the gym doors.
“They welcomed me with open arms,” Stewart said of his new teammates Thursday. “Those are gonna be my best friends for life.”