Top Five Reasons Why UConn Could Be Better

1. Kemba Walker: He is now the leader of this team, which he had to defer to others in his previous two seasons. Now he owns this team and they’ll look to him for leadership. He grasped the reins toward the end of the season and the team really responded, playing their best ball of the year. Last season didn’t sit well with Walker and he is determined to leave his college career as a winner. Kemba is proving himself as one of the best point guards in the country, earning a spot on the USA Basketball team.

2. Size plus experience: Majok, Oriakhi, and Okwandu all had poor seasons, but it truly was learning on the fly. They’ll be adjusted to Calhoun’s style and should all be much more improved. There is no denying that this team will have enough length to cause any team problems. They just need to execute. You can also throw in the freshmen in Bradley, and Wolf into the mix and this team is even heavier on the size.

3. Perimeter shooting: This has been the Achilles heal of all Calhoun teams since Rashad Anderson left. They have plenty of shooting potential freshmen and Coombs-McDaniel, Walker, and Beverly should be able to show more. It can’t be worse then last years, could it? Calhoun has also recruited players that have proven to be great game time perimeter shooters in Napier and Giffey. They should provide the team instant help and Kemba knows that if he can add a consistent perimeter game, his stock will rise drastically in the draft.

4. The Big East: It will not have a clear cut powerhouse with Pittsburgh on top, but teams have lost a great deal of talent. UConn sits in the middle of the pack right now, but the conference is wide open and there is enough talent and experience on this team to end up on top. UConn is prime to have a season like Syracuse of last year, where they were totally off the radar and they surged up the polls.

5. The Freshmen. Sure it was disappointing not to land a big named blue chip player, but the word coming out of the early pick-up games is that Napier and Smith are the real deal. There are some long term projects in Olander and Bradley but this crop of freshmen look to be legitimate scorers, which will be a necessity this coming up season. But like all freshmen, you never know what you are going to get, which is what makes college sports so intriguing.