New England Rooted Huskies

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

When UConn takes the court tonight in hopes of claiming the program’s third national championship they will be doing so with a roster full of New England products.  Here’s a look at the five scholarship players on the Huskies roster with New England roots: 

Alex Oriakhi, 6-9, Sophomore, Center/Forward
Oriakhi is the team’s starting center and leader in blocks and rebounds.  He plays more minutes than anyone on the team other than Kemba Walker and is averaging just under a double-double with 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds.  A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Oriakhi made an early commitment to UConn and spent the final three years of his high school career already committed to the Huskies.  He was a McDonald’s All-American who won national championships on both the AAU and prep levels with BABC and Tilton respectively and finished his high school career as the top ranked player in New England by the New England Recruiting Report. 

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, 6-7, Sophomore, Forward
Coombs-McDaniel and Oriakhi have been side by side for years, making simultaneous early commitments to UConn, attending the Winchendon School together for a year, moving on to Tilton, and starring for BABC throughout the process.  Now one of the Huskies primary reserves off the bench it was actually Coombs-McDaniel who played a starring role in high school, taking the MVP of the 2009 National Prep Championship and leading both Tilton and BABC in scoring.  He finished his high school career ranked third in New England by NERR. 

Shabazz Napier, 6-0, Freshman, Guard
It was almost a year ago that Napier committed to the Huskies, reclassifying back to the class of 2010 after UConn had struck out in their pursuit of other point guards like Brandon Knight.  Ironically, Knight had chosen Kentucky, the team UConn defeated in Saturday’s semifinal, and it was only fitting that the two went back and forth in the game’s final minutes with Knight dealing Napier an intentional low blow in the game’s final minutes only to see Napier come back to score the game’s go-ahead bucket on a reverse lay-up and then ice it from the free-throw line.  Napier began his career at Charlestown High School before transferring to Lawrence Academy and played primarily with Metro Boston on the AAU circuit. 

Tyler Olander, 6-9, Freshman, Forward
Olander’s recruitment had similarities to Napier’s as he began last season in the class of 2011, only to reclassify back to 2010 and commit to UConn.  On Saturday he realized a dream as he heard his name called during the starting line-ups of the Final Four for the team he spent his childhood rooting for.  Olander grew up miles from UConn’s campus and starred at E.O. Smith High School, which is literally located immediately adjacent to UConn’s campus.  Olander spent all but a few months of his high school career at E.O. Smith, with a brief stay at Worcester Academy last season, and starred for Expressions Elite on the AAU circuit. 

Enosch Wolf, 7-1, Freshman, Center
Wolf was one of two German players to commit to the Huskies last season.  The first, Niels Giffey, went immediately to Storrs while Wolf enrolled at Wilbraham and Monson Academy.  Wolf spent the first semester at the New England prep school before joining UConn at mid-year.  He has seen limited time off the bench for the Huskies since arriving but has helped to provide increased depth along a frontline that was in desperate need of an insurance policy. 

It isn’t just the players who have deep roots in New England as all members of UConn’s coaching staff also have New England roots.  Head coach Jim Calhoun was born and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts before attending American International College in Springfield and serving as the head coach at Northeastern before coming to UConn in 1986.  Associate head coach George Blaney starred at Holy Cross and was later the head coach at his alma mater following stops at Stonehill and Dartmouth.  Assistant coach Andre LaFluer starred at Governor’s Academy in Massachusetts before playing for Calhoun at Northeastern while fellow assistant coach Kevin Ollie starred for Calhoun at UConn.  Director of Men’s Basketball Administration Glen Miller played under Calhoun at both Northeastern and UConn after a high school career at Fitch High School in Connecticut.  He went on to be an assistant at UConn before taking heads jobs at Connecticut College and Brown.