It would’ve been a much easier process for Cam Spencer to play Division I lacrosse.
The offers came rolling in, a chance for him to follow in the footsteps of his brother Pat, a four-time All-American in lacrosse at Loyola and the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) draft. Pat never played in the PLL – instead he opted to use his graduate eligibility to play basketball at Northwestern and is currently playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League.
Cam chose basketball sooner.
“I have D1 offers to play lacrosse, but want to follow my passion for basketball,” he wrote in a letter on his high school recruiting profile. “I LOVE basketball and hope to play at the next level.”
Spencer’s coach at the Boys Latin School of Maryland, Cliff Rees, reached out to 100 schools practically begging them to offer him. Only one – Loyola Maryland – jumped.
“I think no matter where I am I always try to play with that chip on my shoulder,” Spencer told The Courant on Monday, five years later. “Like, I only had one Division I offer coming out of high school, nobody wanted me. So that’s kind of the mentality that I take into every practice and every day. It’s awesome to be at UConn and I love everything about it.”
New UConn guard Cam Spencer was once a recruit from Baltimore nobody wanted
The same kid, after three years at Loyola Maryland and one at Rutgers, finds himself now the second-leading scorer on the No. 1 team in the country as it bids for back-to-back national championships.
“It’s like the perfect marriage,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said Tuesday night after Spencer scored 20 points and led the team to a 71-62 win over Butler, it’s 11th in a row. “It’s like me and Andrea… It’s just the perfect marriage, man. This guy’s wired the way we’re wired. I’m just so happy that he’s able to experience college basketball like this.”
The no-star recruit had four stars next to his name when he entered the transfer portal over the summer. One of the most coveted portal additions in the country, Spencer knew he found his landing spot when he got to know Hurley.
“I think him and I are very like-minded people, kind of grew up the same way with him having an older brother (Bobby) and I’m the same way with my two brothers. Just blue collar, very fiery competitors that just want to win and hate to lose,” Spencer said Tuesday. “I think that’s how everybody on the team is and that’s just why this is a special team to be a part of.”
Known for his ability as a 3-point shooter – and rightfully so, his 3-point percentage (45.1%) ranks second in the Big East and fifth nationally – Spencer has proven at UConn that he can provide much more. He flies to the ball and makes winning plays on both ends of the court while injecting the team with a competitive energy that, at times, includes chirping at opponents and getting the Huskies’ crowd involved.
In the practice gym, his teammates and coaches say, Spencer is the same competitor.
“He’s delivered for us, over delivered in every possible way and you don’t even see the day-to-day,” Hurley said. “The pressure he puts on other people in the program to get in the gym to compete – if you don’t show up to compete against him and practice against him, he will destroy you, he will (smack) talk you up and down.
“That type of stuff, we lost that with Andre (Jackson Jr.) and Adama (Sanogo) because they were wired like that. Just a perfect marriage, obviously our system that we play is allowing him to be the best version of himself in college.”
Thad Matta: Clingan is ‘just a different breed’
Determined to make up for a pair of disappointing performances plagued by foul trouble, Donovan Clingan recorded his first double-double of the season in an 18-point, 14-rebound effort against Butler. He shot 8 of 12 from the field, adding three blocks and three assists.
“Clingan, he’s just a different breed just in terms of how good he is and the impact he has on the game, altering shots inside,” Butler head coach Thad Matta said after Tuesday’s game. “(UConn’s) got all the pieces, there’s no question about that. You take one thing away, somebody else does something. Not a good team, a great team.”
Linus and his blanket
Alex Karaban returned to action on Tuesday after spraining his ankle against Providence and sitting out on Saturday at St. John’s. He wasn’t at 100%, but made the big shot when he had an opportunity to put Butler away in the final two minutes, hitting a 3-pointer from the wing in front of UConn’s bench.
“Alex, he’s our security blanket… I’m Linus and he’s my blanket,” Hurley said, referencing the Peanuts cartoon.
Karaban finished with seven points and three rebounds on 3 of 7 shooting. He also had three steals, including one that he saved from going out of bounds with a circus pass that started a fast break opportunity. Clingan finished in transition to cap off an 11-2 scoring run toward the end of the first half.
“I thought Alex really gutted it out, he needs this break before Saturday,” Hurley said. “Alex at 70% or 75-80% is a game-changer. He’s a problem solver and made the big 3, but he’s had limited practices and he’s compromised. But it’s like having that extra coach on the court, he toughed it out today.”