Basketball is back
But don’t ask UConn fans what they think about our #20 preseason ranking
It’s that time of year again
Last Sunday, UConn fans got to see something that they hadn’t in 232 days: a victory from their beloved Men’s Basketball team. As the cold weather makes its way in to Storrs, so too does the excitement of standing in that cold for hours waiting to see our favorite basketball players take the court in Gampel.
Every November, the first preseason poll from the Associated Press is released with the rankings of the top 25 college basketball teams in the country. For most UConn fans, this poll means absolutely nothing for two reasons…
- It is only the preseason and there is no way of really knowing how good these teams will actually be over the course of a grueling basketball season
- We already know that Storrs is the basketball capital of the world and has the best damn team in the country
That being said, I think we can all agree that UConn is being underrated with their spot at #20. While we may have lost our main guy in Ryan Boatright, we return the remaining four starters from last year in Philip Nolan, Daniel Hamilton, Amida Brimah, and of course, Rodney Purvis. Not only this, but additions to the team in the form of freshmen recruits and graduate transfers will all compete for starting positions and major minutes.
By now you’ve probably heard about the great game played by Shonn Miller (graduate transfer from Cornell) in the exhibition, proving he will play an important role down low this year. Sterling Gibbs (graduate transfer from Seton Hall) brings experience and talent as a likely replacement for Boatright at point guard, and Jalen Adams (freshman) looks like a star in the making.
These new pieces, as well as the players that made UConn one of the most competitive and fun teams to watch at the end of last season, certainly know what they can accomplish, and most UConn fans do too. So for now, forget about the #20 that will show up next to “UConn” on the scoreboard to start the season, and just get excited for what should be a season to remember from the best team in the country.