Shops – in the dressing room delight after the tournament, Andre Jackson Jr The heart strings were pulled hard in one direction. He won two championships in high school, and he wanted to do the same at UConn.
“The only way I’m not going back is if the coach tells me to leave,” Jackson said.
Everyone was saying restart it. but when Coach Dan Hurley Reading Jackson’s quotes, he was a little worried. He gave Jackson a few days to calm down, then the day before the pageant they had the conversation.
“Andre needed a little nudge,” Hurley said. “Look, he loves it here. His heart is here, his heart will always be here, but he owes it to himself, at this point in his career, for everything he’s accomplished in his age, to really look up now, dive in full body and not have one foot with us. Really go.” So “.
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Perhaps another coach would have handled this differently. Perhaps another coach is looking at the 2023 championship banner, as Hurley did at the Wirth Center on Thursday, and instead imagines how many more chances there are to hang one more in 2024 with a fourth year with Andre Jackson at UConn.
But Hurley’s relationships with his players are special this player, just won’t allow it. Jackson announced his intention to test the NBA’s draft waters last week, and though the door behind him is more than ajar open, he’ll take Hurley’s warning and look ahead, looking beyond the safe nest of Storrs, not looking back over his shoulder. it is time.
“He needs our support,” said Hurley, “because he’s not going to be at his best in NBA exercises, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for his college coaches to work against what is in his best interest, as much as this is in the interest of UConn.”
Almost from the day he came to UConn in March 2018, Hurley has set his sights on Jackson, then at the Albany Academy. Assistant coach Tom Moore did much of the ground work, but Hurley handled much of the recruiting personally, until a weekend visit in September 2019 that sealed the deal.
It was clear they were kindred spirits, and if you remove the layers and get to the heart of this championship team, it’s the relationship between Hurley and Jackson that makes the heart beat.
“It’s different with him,” Hurley said. “Even the people you love, you develop that strong bond, that strong bond, it’s different with him because in the recruitment process, he and I, we built it there. I went and saw him a maximum of seven times you could see him as an inferior person, you made the phone calls. I did build a relationship with him, and his family is like mine, and they might as well be from Jersey City.”
Hurley never considered naming the captains until Jackson had played for him.
“He’s a fiery guy, and I’m fiery, especially when I play basketball,” Jackson said on April 8. “We have similar personalities. Coming together, he just respects my efforts and I respect his efforts to get me up to my standard. That’s definitely my man, and I feel like we have a connection, player.” with a coach, and that’s about as close as any relationship between me and any coach.”
🚨GRID UPDATE
Andre Jackson Jr. declared for the NBA draft. was the catalyst for @tweetFifth and it will leave some very large shoes to fill. Big ups to him for everything.
He will retain his university eligibility, but at the moment, there are two open places for 2023-2024. pic.twitter.com/bSIug6HsTR
– tcf15 (@tcf_15) April 18, 2023
So when they sat down and talked about the future, between the Final Four finale and the victory parade, it was more than just coach and player, it was man-to-man, heart-to-heart.
Seven players leave Hurley, or they could leave. They are all in different positions. Jordan Hawkins’ decision to enter recruiting and hire an agent was a no-brainer and it was made quickly, with Hurley Sitting next to him in the ESPN studio in New York. Adama Sanogo’s future in the NBA is less clear, but it’s clear he needs to turn professional, wherever that takes him. “Adamah finished college basketball,” said Hurley. Tristen Newton, who also tests mode but retains his disqualification, is a wild card. Others leaving through the teleportation gate had different roles in mind.
Jackson, 6-foot-6, is his special case. His unique athletic toolbox, despite his lack of offensive polish, could beat pro scouts and coaches in any number of ways, especially if he’s invited to the Combine project from May 16-18. The decision point is where Jackson, 21, is led to believe he will be drafted. In the first round he goes. Second round, back.
“He has two great options,” Hurley said. “If he plays himself in the first round, that’s a big win. If he doesn’t, he’ll be back in a team that will be in search of another huge season.”
It probably won’t be until Memorial Day before UConn learns what Jackson and Newton will be doing, and what kind of role Hurley could offer as potential transfers. This again complicates things for Storrs. Hurley can be assigned to the enlistment/transfer path; The Huskies may have already cost Nicholas Timberlake, the sharpshooter in Towson who visited UConn this past weekend, but He chose to move to Kansas.
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But Hurley, who is sitting in his championship, can show patience and unconditional loyalty to the players who made the championship. There will be players who will want to come to UConn and fill the roles it opens in June, and they will come for the right reasons. Hurley can look at that banner and remind himself that it was built on the foundation of trust between the coach and the player, and that trust should be the bedrock on which the next banner should be built.
“It’s what makes our show special,” said Hurley. “It’s the secret sauce that makes us achieve what we’ve been able to achieve, the way we accomplished it, the way the fans love our team and our program. That’s because it has a certain feel to it.”