NationalchampionUConn men's basketball team hunting for biggest prizes on recruiting trail

Jul. 11—In particular, there was Jaylin Stewart, whose versatile game had Hurley and/or Murray courtside at each of his games. A couple of months later, Stewart committed to the Huskies.

And there was Youssouf Singare, a raw 7-footer on the New Heights Lightning team. A couple of months later, Singare had pledged to UConn, as well.

Four of the Huskies' "Fab Five" recruiting class under one roof (top recruit Stephon Castle was in Chicago at an Under Armour event).

This year's Peach Jam was held a bit earlier, over the week of the Fourth of July. There were no current Husky commits playing in the event — indeed, the Huskies don't have a Class of 2024 commit yet. That could change soon.

Isaiah Abraham, a 6-foot-7, four-star recruit from Virginia, has said he'll make his college decision by mid-July, and UConn appears to be the leaders in the clubhouse. His cousin and teammate, Patrick Ngongba, is an even more highly-rated, 6-11 center. Abraham and Ngongba visited UConn together last month, and while there's no word on whether the cousins are a package deal, the UConn staff intently watched both players throughout last week.

Ahmad Nowell, a 6-foot guard and national top-40 recruit from Philadelphia, was also at the Peach Jam. He is down to four schools — UConn, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Kentucky — and is set to make his decision on July 23.

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The staff also set their sights on the deeper future this past week. Cooper Flagg and A.J. Dybantsa are the top-rated recruits in their respective classes of 2025 and 2026. Both are from New England (Flagg from Maine, Dybantsa from Brockton, Mass.). Both hold offers from UConn.

Flagg's mother, Kelly Bowman, played college basketball alongside Donovan Clingan's late mother, Stacey Porrini, at the University of Maine some 25 years ago. Bill and Stacey Clingan attended the Flagg's wedding.

There's no certainty the relationship would play a role in Flagg's collegiate decision. Clingan could easily be playing in the NBA Summer League this time next year. The overwhelming general consensus is that Flagg, a 6-8, 195-pound forward who can do a little off everything, is bound for Duke. He has said Duke is his "dream school." Kelly Flagg (and Stacey Clingan) played at Maine under coach Joanne P. McCallie, who later coached at Duke. Second-year Blue Devil coach Jon Scheyer watched Flagg liked a hawk all week.

But then, so did Hurley. In fact, the Huskies went "three-deep" on the sidelines watching at least one of Flagg's game last week. That's always a sign of great interest.

A few years ago, the Huskies might not have made a serious push for guys like Flagg and Dybantsa. But now, a national championship in hand, an elite program in the Big East and, perhaps, soon moving to the Big 12, Hurley has clearly set his recruiting sights higher.

"We've won a national championship, we've put guys in the NBA," Hurley told Hearst Connecticut Media a few months ago. "We want to recruit the top players. We'll always have the balance on the roster. We want to recruit the best players in the northeast, and recruit the best players nationally to keep our program at a championship level. But also, it's got to be a culture fit. The culture fit is big. We want to develop players. They've got to have the right mentality about how we go about things."

And who knows ... maybe Hurley could "Flagg" down his biggest recruit yet?

"We have a lot of confidence as a program with where we are, what we do with player development, what we do with winning, and what the culture looked like for people to see in March and April," he continued. "I think players want to play hard like we do, move the ball like we do. Our players are thriving, and the team thrives."