Day One of UConn men's summer workouts represents 'fresh start' for defending national champs

STORRS – When the summer workout session began last season there was plenty of angst surrounding the UConn men's basketball program. The team had just lost a handful of players from the season before and was forced to trust its player development, taking gambles on players to make substantial jumps in production.

On Monday, below the fresh "2023 National Champions" banner in the far right corner of the Werth Champions Center, the Huskies were thrilled to be back at work.

"Unfortunately last year is over now," Alex Karaban said, reluctantly.

"It's basketball at the end of the day," said Tristen Newton, who decided Wednesday to pull his name from the NBA Draft and return to Storrs for his fifth college basketball season. "The leadership roles are a little different, but it's still the same basketball stuff that we did last year."

"Today is the end of last year. Today starts a new season, today starts a new year and now we’re trying to achieve the same goal with a whole new, different team. It's going to be difficult, last year wasn't easy, but we’re all willing to put the work in," Donovan Clingan said, sweat dripping down his face.

Head coach Dan Hurley's voice was groggy, tired after its first day back.

"My coaching voice, it's been nothing but compliments and easy conversations and today was the first time in a while I got a chance to get after some people and correct some things and coach. It's so much fun to coach," Hurley said.

In preparation for next year, Hurley will again be calling for jumps in production on the court and off of it after losing "one of the best leaders ever" (according to Karaban) in Andre Jackson to the NBA Draft. This year it will be on the championship ring-bearing trio of Karaban, Clingan and Newton to carry the leadership load. Clingan, naturally eye-grabbing at 7-foot-2, is expected to turn his 13.1 minutes per game off the bench last season into a critical role as one of the most prominent faces of the program.

"Now he's in a position where he's responsible for the group's energy and the leadership," Hurley said. "He's got a huge personality and he's very charismatic, but now you have to step into the shoes of Adama (Sanogo) or Andre or Jordan (Hawkins) – like leading men that could never have a bad day. When you go into the role that he has now, practice, game night, shootaround – he could never have a bad segment or a bad day. And that's the difference between being a supporting player and a core player."

Three members of UConn's five-man freshman class were in action on Monday, though Solomon Ball, a four-star recruit from Brewster Academy, was still recovering from an ankle injury he suffered at the end of his prep season. Hurley says Ball is about two and a half weeks away from participating in live work. Jaylin Stewart is still finishing the school year at Garfield High in Seattle and will join the Huskies later this month.

With 11 scholarship players on the roster as of Monday afternoon, Andrew Hurley and Andre Johnson Jr. remaining as walk-ons, Dan Hurley said he hopes to add one more from the transfer portal but he isn't sure about the 13th scholarship spot unless there is a perfect fit.

"The big jumps was (Hurley's) message, making sure the returning guys step up from what they were last year. And then the freshmen to be ready, I mean they’ve got to make an impact for us this year and they’ve got to step up," Karaban said. "Really just paying attention to the details. It's a fresh start – it feels weird but it's a fresh start and we’ve just got to re-learn everything."

Former Rutgers guard Cam Spencer, a transfer portal target on his official visit, sat off to the side of the gym Monday watching the team work out. Spencer, 6-foot-4 with four seasons of college basketball under his belt, shot 43.4% on 3-pointers last season averaging 13.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2 steals per game.

Hurley said adding a shooter is his top priority: "At this point, I think, now that the roster is settled (in terms of Jackson and Newton having made their decisions) if there's help from the perimeter to continue to play the way we want to play. Obviously we can make adjustments, we’re not going to settle or take a bad fit, we’re very specific with what we want. Because we have a culture and it's got to fit both ways."

Not only is Clingan preparing to lead the Huskies next year, he's also hoping to lead his own path to the next level. He knows that means he has to start shooting.

"I’m trying to expand my game behind the 3-point line," he said to no surprise on Monday. "That's what all the big guys nowadays are doing – I mean look at (Nikola) Jokic, he does it all. I’m just trying to expand my game and to be a player like Jokic is a dream of mine."

Those who arrived at Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center early enough last season may have caught sight of Clingan's jumper, with his quick and obviously high release. He shot just one three-pointer all season but his role didn't call for any more – he was on the court to grab rebounds, play in the pick-and-roll and get to the rim.

"I feel like I’m a pretty good knockdown shooter," he said. "Just aim for two or three 3s a game next year but if it's hot that day and it's flying then it's gonna keep flying."

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