'25 Summer Shootaround: UConn looks to have better balance, but will defense and rebounding issues sink them?

Summary

Eye On College Basketball: Episode Summary

Episode Title: 25 Summer Shootaround: UConn looks to have better balance, but will defense and rebounding issues sink them?
Release Date: August 6, 2025
Hosts: Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander
Guest: Rob Doster, Founder of the Field of 68 Podcast Network

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1. Introduction and Context

Gary Parish (00:56):
Gary introduces the episode as part of the "Summer Shootaround" series, highlighting that previous episodes covered top-ranked teams like St. John’s, Houston, BYU, and Purdue. This episode shifts focus to the University of Connecticut (UConn), currently ranked fifth in the top 25.

2. UConn’s Last Season Recap

Gary Parish (05:00):
The Huskies concluded the last season with a 24-11 record, including a 14-6 mark in the Big East. They finished third in the league, four games behind first place. Despite high expectations, UConn received an eight seed in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the Round of 32 before being eliminated by Florida with a final score of 77-75.

Parish (05:05):
"Three of the top four scorers are back, most notably Solo Ball and Alex Caribbean," addressing returning key players and new additions like five-star freshman Braylon Mullins from the transfer portal.

3. Roster Changes and New Additions

Gary Parish (05:10):
UConn bolstered its lineup with transfers and promising freshmen, aiming for a stronger performance this season compared to finishing 32nd in KenPom rankings last year.

4. Discussion with Rob Doster

Gary Parish (04:56):
Gary welcomes Rob Doster to the podcast, appreciating his presence and sharing a personal anecdote about attending Peach Jam with Rob and his son.

Rob Doster (05:09):
Rob reflects on the offseason as a period for relaxation and family time, contrasting it with their usually hectic schedules during March Madness.

Gary Parish (06:00–09:32):
The conversation delves into personal experiences of taking children to sporting events, emphasizing the positive impact of early exposure to sports figures. Rob shares heartwarming stories of his son interacting with UConn coaches and players at Peach Jam, fostering a deeper connection and enthusiasm for basketball.

5. Analysis of Last Season’s Shortcomings

Gary Parish (11:00–15:00):
Gary recaps the high expectations set for UConn last season, highlighting their back-to-back national championships. However, the team underperformed due to several factors:

• Lack of a Reliable Point Guard: Aiden Mahaney did not meet expectations, impacting team dynamics.
• Injuries: Liam McNeely’s injury forced Alex Caribbean into an uncomfortable role, leading to critical missed free throws (e.g., missed two free throws in a pivotal game against Villanova at [11:30]).
• Confidence Issues: Caribbean’s performance decline due to increased scouting pressure and lost confidence.

Rob Doster (12:03–16:10):
Rob attributes last season’s struggles to underestimating Coach Dan Hurley’s ability to manage the roster. He critiques the preseason rankings, suggesting that analysts overlooked inherent flaws in the team’s composition. Rob emphasizes that while Hurley is a skilled coach, reliance on his formula without addressing roster weaknesses led to disappointing results.

6. Strengths of the Current Roster

Gary Parish (16:10–22:37):
Gary asserts that the current roster is more balanced and better equipped to compete for a national championship. He highlights:

• Returning Players: Solo Ball, Alex Caribbean, and Terrace Reed provide continuity and experience.
• New Talent: Silas Demery from Georgia and five-star freshman Braylon Mullins add depth and scoring prowess.
• Shooting Threats: With Solo Ball and Mullins as potential top shooters, the team’s offensive capabilities are enhanced.

7. Defensive Concerns and Rebounding Issues

Rob Doster (22:37–31:54):
Rob praises the improved roster but raises concerns about the team's defense:

• Defensive Standouts Missing: Last season featured elite defenders like Steph Castle and Donovan Clingan, whose absence this year weakens the team’s defensive backbone.
• Bench Depth: The lack of a strong fifth starter, relying on freshmen like Eric Riba, poses challenges in maintaining defensive consistency.
• Rebounding: Without key defensive players, UConn may struggle to control the boards, impacting game outcomes.

8. Non-Conference Schedule Evaluation

Gary Parish (29:52–31:24):
Gary reviews UConn’s ambitious non-conference schedule, which includes high-profile matchups against BYU, Kansas, Florida, and Texas. He commends Dan Hurley for scheduling games that enhance the team’s national profile and prepare them for postseason competition.

Rob Doster (29:52):
Rob agrees, noting the importance of challenging non-conference games to build a robust resume and develop the team against top-tier opponents. He emphasizes that these matchups are crucial for gauging the team’s readiness and resilience.

9. Potential Scenarios and Final Thoughts

Gary Parish (31:24–33:55):
Gary poses a hypothetical scenario where UConn underperforms mid-season, falling out of the top 25. He asks Rob to speculate on possible reasons for such an outcome.

Rob Doster (31:54–33:55):
Rob identifies two primary issues:

1. Defensive Weaknesses: Without elite defenders, UConn may fail to contain opponents, leading to inconsistent performances.
2. Frontcourt Depth: Concerns about Terrace Reed’s defensive prowess and the limited support for the starting five could hinder the team’s overall effectiveness.

Despite these concerns, Rob remains optimistic about UConn's potential, placing them within a competitive tier of 3rd to 10th in preseason rankings.

10. Conclusion and Future Outlook

Gary Parish (33:55–34:15):
Gary wraps up the discussion, expressing gratitude to Rob Doster for his insights and previewing the next episode focused on Florida with Matt Norlander and ESPN’s Jeff Berzelo. He encourages listeners to subscribe and stay tuned for future analyses.

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Notable Quotes

• Gary Parish [12:03]:
  "What do we consider when evaluating UConn? It wasn’t just about who they lost; it was about understanding the flaws in the roster."

• Rob Doster [22:37]:
  "The single biggest reason is the continuity and development of younger guys turning into upperclassmen."

• Gary Parish [15:35]:
  "Think of it like winning back-to-back national championships—once you do that, it’s easy to believe you can achieve anything."

• Rob Doster [28:05]:
  "If Alex Caribbean is your fourth best player, that's when you are a national championship contender."

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Key Takeaways

• Improved Roster Balance: UConn returns key players and adds impactful transfers and freshmen, aiming for a stronger season.

• Defensive and Rebounding Concerns: Despite offensive enhancements, UConn faces potential setbacks due to weaker defense and limited frontcourt depth.

• Challenging Non-Conference Schedule: Strategic scheduling of high-profile games is designed to enhance team performance and national standing.

• Optimistic Yet Cautious Outlook: While expectations are high, both hosts acknowledge the potential pitfalls that could impede UConn’s championship aspirations.

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For the most detailed and nuanced analysis of UConn’s prospects this season, be sure to listen to the full episode of Eye On College Basketball.

Transcript

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[Gary Parish]

Hey there, it's Gary Parish. Welcome back to the CBS Sports I Own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting dodo birds in leaky black. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to the like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel, please also do that while you're here. Let's get into it. Today we are continuing our Summer Shoot around series here on the Ion College Basketball Podcast. As I hope you know, we've already done episodes on St. John, Houston, BYU and Purdue. Those are the teams that are ranked first, second, third and fourth in the top 25 and 1. So today we're turning our attention to UConn. That's the school that is fifth in the top 25 and 1. First, a quick recap on last season the Huskies went 24 11, including 14 and 6 in the Big east finished alone in third in the league standings. They were four games back of first place. St. John's lost to Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinals, then they get an eight seed in the NCAA tournament, beat Oklahoma round to 64, then lost to Florida in the round of 32. Final score there 7775 from that team. Three of the top four scorers are back, most notably Solo Ball and Alex Caribbean. And the Huskies also added some interesting pieces via the transfer portal plus five star freshman Braylon Mullins. That's among the reasons I'm a believer that UConn is due for a bounce back year after finishing 32nd at Kinpom last season. And Rob Doster, I think he agrees with me. He of course founded and runs the field of 68 podcast network. He's also a Huskies fan. So I'm looking forward to talking to Rob about this program and this team. Rob Doster going to join us right after this break, but first let's get a word from our partners.

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[Gary Parish]

I'm now joined by Rob Doster, who of course runs the field of 68 Robins GP. Nice spending time with you and your son a few weeks back at Peach Jam. Appreciate you being here with me today. How you been so far in this off season?

[Rob Doster]

Good, man, good. It's been relaxing. A chance to kind of recharge the batteries. A chance to kind of, you know, enjoy family time again. I think every March, we. We all kind of get accustomed to living out of hotel rooms and suitcases, so it's nice to be able to have a chance to just kind of hang out. I also appreciate you tolerating my son talking all that. All that junk to you when you wore your Mets hat. He's a big Phillies fan, so.

[Gary Parish]

Yeah, we had a. We had a Phillies Mets rivalry going throughout Pete's Jam, and I'm. I'm hopeful that that'll remain true throughout the rest of this season. Uh, whoever wins the NL East, I think both of them are going to end up in the postseason. They both made big bullpen moves, uh, at the trade deadline. So it's a fun little rival. I enjoyed that taking part of it with you and your son. Let me ask you a personal question before we get to UConn. As noted, you took your son to Peach Jam, and he was running around the building, and because he's your son, you know, he can get on the floor and he's got a little more access to people, but he was getting autographs. Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and various coaches. John Caliperi, Mark Pope. As a father, do you believe. Because I was talking about this the other day in a different setting, like, I take my sons out to the PGA Tour stop in our hometown, and they. They met Colin Morikawa and they got autographs from. You know, they did a. You know, they fist bump Jordan Speed. And they are bigger golf fans because of just those little interactions. Like, it actually has them excited about going back out to the golf tournament. Similarly, I'll take them to Mets games because we're Mets fans. And my little guy earlier this season, like, got up and close with Francisco Lindor and got an autograph. And like, now he, like, you know, he's more interested in Francisco Lindor than he otherwise would have been. Do you think that experience taking your son To Peach Jam helps him become more of a basketball fan, more of a college basketball fan. Does it have a lasting impact?

[Rob Doster]

Let's put it like this. He told me that I'm never going to Peach Jam alone again. So he had. He had an absolutely fantastic time. The people at Nike were great about it. So I was a little bit nervous, man. Like Nike, Eyblade, Peach Jam, they could be a little bit stringent with some of the access sometimes, but he kind of got in and went wherever he wanted. And after day one, I think everybody just kind of knew who he was. There was one point where we had. We were watching like a U16 game or something like that, right? I don't even remember who it was, but me and, and Goodman, who I'm smarter than, when he sat down next to Mark Pope and. And we're chatting with Mark Pope and Pope did. Paid no attention to us, and he was just sitting there talking to my son, right? And so after that, we go and we get lunch and we eat some, like, chick fil A or whatever from the snack stand and we're walking back and I get caught. You know how you walk down the stairs and you see someone, you know, you get caught up and you just like. It takes forever to get where you're trying to go at Peach Jam because there's so many people that you see that, you know. So I end up having a conversation. I don't even notice. My son walks off and he goes. And he sits right back down next to Mark Pope. The Kentucky head coach fist bumps him. And I look around and they're just sitting there chatting again. I'm like, all right. I guess they're buddies now. I guess they're friends. He. He walked to the bathroom at one point, and on the way out, he introduced him to John Shire already. And he walks out and he sees.

[Gary Parish]

Sh.

[Rob Doster]

Just hits him with a fist bump as he's walking by John Sh. It's like, I. I guess that's where we're at now. He. He made himself right at home. I was a little nervous. Like, I. I wanted him down there because he. He could be a little bit shy. And he gets down there and I guess he doesn't really realize, like, there's certain places where you're not supposed to be and. And to kind of like, play it cool. And he. He hasn't figured that out yet.

[Gary Parish]

GP As a friend to a friend, as a fellow father to a father, I thought it was really sweet. And I. I enjoyed seeing him. And yeah, like, There'll be a moment this season where you guys are just randomly going to have a game on, and he's going to say, hey, I know that guy. And that guy will be John Shire. That guy will be Mark Pope, or that guy will be John Caliper.

[Rob Doster]

You see that guy coaching Duke? That's my friend. That's my friend Don Shire right there.

[Gary Parish]

Well, like, you know, my kids had this stuff, like, my kids genuinely thought for years they were tight with Mike Conley, you know, like that, because they kind of, like, were around him a few times. And so they were like, when Mike Conley would be on television, they'd be like, that's Mike. Hey, dad, can we call Mike? And I was like, no, we can't FaceTime Mike Conley tonight. But, like, that's the way they thought of him. And so I, I really do think it, it can be beneficial. Obviously, not everybody is in a position, like you and I to take our children and expose them to these things, but I think when you do, it can be a really sweet thing. And I, I, I thought what you did was, I was a little jealous, if I'm being honest. It was one of those things where I looked at it. You know what? I need to do that.

[Rob Doster]

Yeah. Bring them, bring them next time to's bringing his son next time. And then not only can we, like, have them hang out, but then we can go, like, take them to the batten cage and it's the bp. The one thing about this is, is we're, we're talking, we're going to eventually talk about UConn. Right. But, like, can we also tell stories about the, the trials and tribulations of being a travel baseball dad? Because I feel like that's what I spent 90% of my time, whenever it's nice out doing is going and sitting at baseball fields or lining baseball fields worrying about what $450 bat they left at home and forgot to bring with them.

[Gary Parish]

Oh, God. There's $4,000 worth of bat in our dugout. Every after. Every Saturday afternoon, we drive an hour and a half to is located 10 minutes from our team. And I think most of our texting you and I back and forth this off season has been about youth baseball. We just videos back to each other and pictures each other and ask for advice on how to get through these ridiculous days of four baseball games an hour and a half away from home. So, yeah, we're both living that life, too. It's fun. I, I, sometimes I do think it's too Much. But there are also times where I go, like, I'll never get these moments back. I'll never get these games back. And I, I don't love all the in between time and all the. But like, play ball. Let's, let's play ball. Let's. Like, I watch my little guy play third base. Like, I enjoy that a lot and, and recognize, you know, I won't get to do this again.

[Rob Doster]

Well, I, I enjoy seeing, seeing Chase hit. I do not enjoy watching him pitch because that is probably the most stressful thing that you could do. It's like, yeah, please just get the ball over the plate, man. Like, I can't, I can't do this right now.

[Gary Parish]

I can't.

[Rob Doster]

I can't do you walking in a run. I can't do you throwing the ball to the backstop again. Please just throw a strike.

[Gary Parish]

We are headed towards 9 year old kid pitch for the first time this, this upcoming season. So. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm already well aware. We're, we're gonna need it. Before we discuss this upcoming season with UConn, I do want to look back for a second with you because this time last year, the Huskies were among the favorites, if not the favorites in some betting markets to win the national title. To win what would have been a third street third straight national championship. They were coming off back to back titles prese season. Number three in the AP poll, 11 first place votes in the AP poll, and then they famously go 03 in Maui, finished third in the Big east, got an eight seed in the NCAA tournament, lost in the round of 32. Big question. I'll try to keep it as simple as I can. What went wrong?

[Rob Doster]

I think what happened last year was we looked at that team and we said, the last two years we've completely underrated what Dan Hurley can do with the roster. Right. Like, I don't think UConn was ranked in the preseason before the 20, 22, 23 season. Right. I think they were unranked heading in and they end up winning the national championship, obviously then the year afterwards, 23, 24, I think we had them somewhere like in the 10 to 12 range. I don't know what they were in the AP poll, but they weren't one of the like top five teams. One of the surefire, no brainer picks to win a national championship heading into the season. And again, we got that one wrong. So it was just kind of like, yeah, well, it doesn't matter who they lose. Like, this is Dan Hurley. He's Figured it out. He's got the. The formula to success. Right? And you just kind of said, I think he's going to find a way to do it. You just got to bet on him finding a way to do it at this point. And you glossed over, as a result, some of the flaws that were there on that roster. Right. You didn't have a big point guard that could break somebody down. Aiden Mahaney didn't end up being what they thought that he was going to end up being. It took a little while for a guy like Terrace Reed to figure out what he was expected to do. Heading into last season, he dealt with injuries to Liam McNeely. And I think what happened when Liam McNeely went down with that injury is it forced Alex Cariban into a role that he wasn't comfortable with. He missed. There was. I don't know if you remember this game, but he missed two free throws, down by one with like eight seconds left at Villanova. That cost them a win. And then that, combined with the fact that he's now moving up the scouting report, it just completely torpedoed his confidence. Confidence. So he was half the player that he was before. And all of this stuff kind of spiraled and built on each other, and you end up with a team that just was flawed. And it was. It was a flawed roster. And I think looking back, we. We should have seen that heading into the preseason. And I think a lot of us did. Like, I think I remember you saying this, gp, that if it wasn't Dan Hurley coaching his team, probably would have been like a preseason top 20 team, but it's Dan Hurley, so you gotta. Like, we've been wrong two years in a row. I'm not gonna make that mistake again. So if I'm. If it ends up being a disaster and blowing up in my face, at least I won't have him calling me and telling me that, like, hey, you're. You're underrating us heading into the season. We should be ranked higher.

[Gary Parish]

That is exactly what I said, and I believe that's exactly what happened. I don't want to talk out of both sides of my mouth. I had him ranked in the preseason top five like most people, but I do remember thinking, are we sure Alex Caravan is great enough to be the best player on a great team? Aiden Mahaney, like, that's a nice name, but he didn't have a great sophomore season at St. Mary's and you lost four NBA draft picks and you might have gained one. You know, that's Not a good ratio. So I, I looked at that roster and I was like, clearly they'll be good but legitimate contenders to win the national championship for the third straight year. I don't know. But Dan was out there pretty publicly. Like, I like my roster. I really like this team. This roster might be better than last season's roster. And I, if I'm being completely honest, I reached a point where I was like, who do I think I am arguing with Dan Hurley about his basketball team? Like, right. Like, this guy is clearly special, uniquely gifted. He's just won back to back national championships. He thinks this team is good enough to do it again. Why would I be the person to stand up and say no? But I think we all just got caught up in it. Dan as well. And can we, can we talk about.

[Rob Doster]

That for one second though? Like, yeah, go ahead. I love, I love the confidence, but it is certifiably insane to say that last year's team was better than the team that had two of the top seven picks in the NBA draft, neither of whom or your first team All American or the biggest player of the year. Interesting. Newton. Right? Like, what are we doing here, Dan?

[Gary Parish]

Well, okay, you might want, you might.

[Rob Doster]

Want that one back.

[Gary Parish]

Okay, on that. And I don't want to put words in Dan's mouth, but he certainly suggested he felt like this team was capable of doing all the things the other two.

[Rob Doster]

I think the direct quote was, this team is the most talented team that we've had.

[Gary Parish]

There we go.

[Rob Doster]

I think that's what he said.

[Gary Parish]

I say this as respectfully as I can say it because I understand how you get to that place. Maybe if you win back to back national championships, particularly when most people don't think you're going to even win one of them in either year, maybe once you do something like that, you start to believe that you can do anything. Like, I, I've never been that accomplished at anything. I've never been that great at anything. But I, it's not hard for me to imagine if I were all of a sudden, I would think I'm about to be great again, no matter what. Think of it. In any other aspect of, of professions, let's say you're in music, you write a number one album and then boom, you followed up with a number one album. Nobody thought the first one was gonna be the number one album, but it was. People were skeptical that you could do it again. You did it again. Now you put, you go, I'm go in the studio and record another album. I bet you it's going to be great. I bet you anybody can get caught up in that when you are that accomplished. And I think he probably just got caught up in it and probably learned something from it, but I'll let him speak to that. But I do think that's exactly right. What we found out once the season got started is Alex Caravin's not great enough to be the best player on a great team. He can be a good player on a great team, but he can't be the best player on a, on a great team. The title contender, Aiden Mahaney, like, he just, he wasn't good enough. And like, look at where he's at right now. That should tell you something about the level of player he has settled in to be at the collegiate level. He's always going to be somebody, it looks like. I hope I'm wrong, I'm not rooting against anybody, but it looks like he's going to be somebody who, wow, had a really nice freshman year and then it just sort of went wherever it went after that. And then Liam McNeely got hurt and was also asked probably to play a bigger role than he needed to play as a freshman. Combine all of that stuff and that's how you end up with an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. This roster, I will say, in my opinion, looks like it is much better equipped to compete for a national championship than last season's roster was. Just running through it, you've got three notable returning players that have played big roles on in the program. Obviously Solo Brawl, Alex Caribben and then Terrace Reed. In between that, you've got Silas Demery, who's the transfer from Georgia, shot above 40% or shot above 37 from three last season, average 13 and a half points per game. He's presumably your starting point guard. You've got some combination of guard, SL Wings of Braylon Mullins, Jaden Ross, Jaylen Stewart, Malachi Smith, the transfer from Dayton's now in the program. Jacob Fury is now in the program. Is it clear to you that this roster is better equipped than last season's roster to actually compete for the whole thing? And if so, why?

[Rob Doster]

Without a doubt. And I think the single biggest reason why, beyond the fact that you're able to get solo Ball, Jalen Stewart, Terrace Reed, Alex Caravan back another year, the continuity, the, the development of some of those younger guys that are turning into to upperclassmen now. The single biggest reason to Silas Demery, and I don't know if he was, he was the most Talented transfer in the portal. Right. Like I. If you're just ranking players on raw ability, I don't think that he's, I probably wouldn't have had him top five, but I think that he is the best fit that you will find from a player's skill set and the way that he's going to be used within a system. Right. What, what Hurley wants to do essentially is they run all of these complicated sets, right? They run a whole bunch of stuff and they're trying to get solo off a screen here and there's a bunch of false motion and a bunch of stuff to set it up. So you don't know what they're actually looking for and what, what action they're actually trying to create a shot out of. And that takes like 20, 22 seconds out of the clock, right? And then if they don't get the shot, what happened the years that they won it is that they just kind of gave the ball to Tristan Newton, said, all right, look, you're 6 foot 5, you're an all American caliber player. Go make something happen. Create a shot for yourself, create a shot for somebody else. Go get in the lane and draw a foul. Go get in the lane and score. Go make something happen for us. And that's kind of what he wants his offense to be. And it worked. When you had an all American caliber player and a guy that ended up being a second round draft pick and Tristan Newton, it didn't work when you had Aiden Mahaney and a guy in Asandiara who was a great role player and a perfect like point guard disruptor off the bench. But he wasn't the guy you wanted to be the number one guy. And that's what I think Silas demery is. He's 6 foot 4, he can get to the foul line, right. He can score off the bounce. He is enough of a creator where he will make the right pass. Like, I don't know if he's necessarily going to come out here and be Braden Smith, but he'll pass the ball well enough where if you get a paint touch and you send two guys at him, he's going to find a shooter. And I promise you, they have shooters. They might have the two best shooters in all of college basketball next year in solo ball and Braylon Mullins. I think all of those things matter. But it's, it's Silas Demery. To me, you have the guy that can be the person you give the ball to when everything else breaks down. Now the one concern that I have is on the defensive end of the floor, right. When you won it in 2024, you had Steph Castle and you had Donovan Clingan. You had the two of the best defenders that you're going to find, arguably the best defenders at their position. Right. The year before that, you had Andre Jackson out there who was the just. He messed everything up for every opposing offense. And I don't know if you have that. I, I don't think Solo Ball is someone that is necessarily. Let's put it like this. If he makes it to the NBA, it's not because of what he does defensively. I think you make the same argument with Braylon Mullens. Terrace Reed is good. He can get the way, but he's also like 69260 instead of 7 foot 2 and 260. So that's, that's my big question. I don't think the offense is going to be an issue. The offense wasn't an issue last year. The reason why they really struggled the way that they did is that they weren't good enough offensively to make up for the fact that you're a top 75 ish, top 80 ish, kind of a defense instead of a top five, top 10 kind of a defense.

[Gary Parish]

So if we're slutting Silas Timmery into the starting lineup, and I think everybody is also Solo Ball, also Alex Carabin, I'm assuming Terrace Reed ends up moving into the starting lineup after only starting once last season. Who's the fifth starter? You've mentioned Braylon Mullins twice. I. That makes sense to me, but I know not everybody is on board with that. Ross Stewart are also some options. How do you fill out the starting line?

[Rob Doster]

I think it'll start with Jalen Stewart. Because he's the junior. Because I think the one thing that Dan has shown throughout his tenure is that he has a level of loyalty to the players that show him loyalty. Right? Like that's why Samson Johnson started over Terrace Reed last season. Even though I think evidence would suggest that Terror street was a better player than Samson Johnson. It's why Hassan Diar got the minutes that he did at the point when things kind of broke down. Because he had a level of loyalty to Hasan D R who committed to the program and helped him win two national championships. Jalen Stewart. How many top 75 recruits would barely play as a freshman and then come back as a sophomore and then get like 12 minutes a game as a sophomore and then come back to the same program as a junior without even entering the portal and, and testing that out, right? That guy showed loyalty to Dan Hurley. He's going to show loyalty back to Jalen Stewart. And I, I think that it'll start with Stewart as the fifth starter. I think that the best teams that you will find or the best lineups that you'll find and probably by the end of the season would be. My guess is that Brantley Mullins ends up working his way in like he's just, he's a killer man. Like, he is a great shooter. And the one thing that, that, that staff finds a way to be able. Find ways to be able to, to be effective with is these guys that can run off of screens and that you could put in different actions and you could have shoot from different angles and that just don't miss. And that's who I think Braylon Mullins is going to be. He's also a white boy that's going to end up dunking on somebody this year. And I think that that's something that will. People aren't necessarily going, like, if you think about a shooter from the state of Indiana, you're not thinking about someone that's going to raise up and dunk on you. And Braylon Mullins, he has the ability to do that. He's got a little more stuff to him than, than maybe you would. You would think just kind of by looking at the scouting report on him.

[Gary Parish]

Terrace Reed is a guy who, like I mentioned, only started one game last season, but had a really productive. Showed signs of being the type of guy who I think can be the starting five on a national championship contender. What did you make of his junior year? What do you expect of his senior season?

[Rob Doster]

The biggest. Terrace has all the talent, right? Like he, he's. He can score on the post. He is a guy that can go out and have games where he gets 24 and 12, right. He's done, he did that last year multiple times. The big thing for him was one, staying out of foul trouble, which is something that he's got to be able to figure out, and then two, kind of processing the game offensively. And I do believe that one thing this staff has done really, really well throughout the years is develop guys and teach them how to not just play, but play in the system that they're being asked to play. Like I go back, I, I watched enough Adam Sanogo when he was a freshman and sophomore to see a guy that turned from someone that didn't know how, like you gave the ball to him, the post, and it was Going up, he probably wasn't going to make the shot, probably wasn't going to get fouled. It was nowhere near the most efficient thing that you could do offensively. But he found a way like he could score if you gave it to him on the block. He just wasn't very good at it. To being someone that was the best player for a team that won a national championship, right. That was the, the, the low post threat on a team that won a national championship. And I think that you can kind of see that coming with Terrace a little bit too. He's got to process the game better. Once he becomes a guy where you throw it to him, and if you double him, he can actually hurt you by finding the guy that's open, finding where that double team came from. Once he becomes a guy where if you put him at the top of the key, he can make the right pass, he can throw some of those back doors that are going to be there when he gets that level. I'm not saying if. I'm saying when he gets to that level, that's when he becomes a borderline all conference kind of a guy. I, I think he's going to be an all conference guy this year. I've seen projections that have, that have like Caraban a solo ball as the two guys that are all Big east players. And I kind of think it ends up being Demery and terrorist Reed that are the two best players on this UConn team when it's all said and done in March.

[Gary Parish]

Well, that's interesting because I do think a lot of people have sort of pegged solo ball as that. Like, if you're looking for the guy who's going to go from all conference to all American on this UConn roster, people point to him. He's a 63 guard. Started 35 times last season. 14.4 points per game, 41.4% shooting from three on 6.8 attempts per game. So let me stop you here. Why are you a little lower on him than it seems most people are? Because if I were trying to identify best player on UConn, I might go to solo ball first.

[Rob Doster]

So I think that there's a real shot. He could be the leading scorer. Right. The same way that Jordan Hawkins was the leading score for Yukon and many, many of the games that they played in that 22, 23 season. But I don't know how many people would say Jordan Hawkins was your best player. Right? I think it was Tristan Newton in the NCAA tournament. I think people point to Adama Sonogo. I think people realize the value of a guy like Andre Jackson and what he brought. And then Jordan Hawkins was out there and he kind of made the offense work because of how dangerous he was running off of those screens and the way that you had to manipulate, manipulate your defense to be able to make sure that he's not getting those catch and shoot looks. Looks. And I think that that's what happens with Solo Ball. Like I, I think he could average 17 points a game and I, you could still look at what Silas Demery does. If he's like a 15, 5 and 5 guy and terrace reed is 14 and 10. I think those are all situations that could happen. And I would probably say that Solo Ball is the third best player out of that group. Does that make sense?

[Gary Parish]

Sure.

[Rob Doster]

Like, I don't think necessarily being the leading score means you're the best player, but I, I think all three of those guys are going to be really, really good. And, and I'll tell you this, if Alex Caribbean is your fourth best player, that's when you are a national championship contender. Because I don't think there's a better role player in the country when it comes to like being the connector, knocking out shots from the corner, making the right reads offensively, moving the ball when it needs to be moved, making the switches that you need to make defensively. Like he is, he is an elite role player, which is why whenever he ends up going to the NBA, he's going to have a job as like a, the eighth man on, on somebody's roster. Right. Like he's going to be a guy that plays in the NBA for five, six, seven, eight years as a role player just because he knows how to do that. If you're asking him to be the guy to be the superstar, then you're asking him to do something that does, that doesn't comp that where his skill set doesn't necessarily complement the role. And I think that Caravan is your fourth best player means that you can go out and win a national championship because they've done it twice. Now.

[Gary Parish]

Obviously at this point we don't have UConn's complete schedule, but various non league games have been announced and I love it. They got BYU in Boston, bringing AJ DeBance back to his hometown Arizona at Kansas inside Allen Field House. So that's Darren Peterson. It's, it's Yukon. It's, it's, it's Kansas. It's, it's two men who have won multiple national championships and Dan Hurley and, and Bill Self. They're playing Florida in the Jimmy V. Madison Square Garden. That'll obviously pit. The two schools that have won combined to win the past three national championships. Florida wins it last season, UConn, the two before that. Also a game with Texas on the books that's scheduled for December 12th. What do you make of the non league schedule Yukon staff has put together? I like it.

[Rob Doster]

I love it. I think I give Dan a lot of credit for this because I think he understands, I think John Shire understands this. I think Mark Pope understands this. That you are the coach at a program like that. You have a responsibility to play games that matter in November and December. Yeah, right. Like for this sport to thrive at the level that those guys want it to thrive at. That. That frankly, gp, me, you, Norlander, nada that that we want it to thrive at. You need to have games that can cut through the noise when it's football season. Because let's be like November and December is football season in the United States of America. It is what it is. But there's Tuesdays and Wednesdays where there's no football games going on. There are Saturdays, once you get towards the end of November where college basketball is the preeminent sport that's going to be on TV and you have to have games that are played between programs that are going to be competing for national championships and have national fan bases and national name recognition. And I think that there's a responsibility when you are the coach at those programs to play those type of games in that setting in that time frame. And I love that that Dan and those. And it's not just Sean Shire and Mark Pope, like Rick Patino does it. There's, there's a lot of guys at those programs that are leaning into it. But I think that when you are there, you shouldn't have a schedule where you're playing Nothing but like sub 200 buy games in non conference because you're not doing it the right way. You got to give the fans something to be able to feast on before the start of January.

[Gary Parish]

Last thing before I get you out of here and I appreciate your time. Let's say for just the sake of the conversation, because neither of us believe this, we both think UConn's going to be very good. But believe it or not, sometimes we're wrong. If UConn isn't very good and we look up in middle of January and they're outside of the top 25 and projected to, you know, be a 6, 7, 89 seed in the NCAA tournament. If we are living that life, what would be the reason? Why would that happen?

[Rob Doster]

I think it's twofold. One is defensive issues. You know, we kind of touched on this earlier, but I don't think that you would classify anybody in that starting lineup, and frankly anyone outside of Malachi Smith as someone that is a, a, an elite defender in college basketball, right? And if you can't be at minimum a top 40 defense and it's very hard to go out and win a national champion championship, like, you gotta, you gotta at least be good enough, right? You don't have to be great, but you gotta be good enough. And I think that there is a real chance that this team is not good enough on that end of the floor to be competing for national championships. And I think in addition to that, the biggest red flag that I see is, is at the five spot, right? Like Terrace Reed is a guy that was not necessarily a great defender last year that dealt with foul trouble. And the only guy that you have in the front court behind him is a freshman in Eric Riba. That is, you know that, that isn't exactly coming in as a projected one and done candidate. Now Donovan Klingen wasn't either and he turned into a two and done guy. That, that could have been a one and done guy that was a clearly an all American and a lottery pick after a sophomore year. But I, I think that that is not what you should expect out of four star freshman. So I'm a little concerned about the five spot, I'm a little concerned about the defense, but I do think they will have enough weapons offensively and they'll find a way to be good enough on that end of the floor. Like, I, I think I have them fourth right now in the preseason and I think you can make the argument for them anywhere from 3rd to 10th and be pretty justified in that. Like, to me it's, I, I don't know. I think you have St. John's first right. To me it's Purdue and Houston are the top two and then there's like 10 teams from three to 12 where you can all make a, like a pretty strong argument for them being anywhere in that group. And I would have St. John's in that group as well, but I think UConn is very much in that group and I would have them towards the top of that second tier of teams.

[Gary Parish]

In college basketball, that is Rob Doster from the field of 68. If you're not subscribed, you should be subscribed. You can subscribe anywhere. You subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify. Check him out on YouTube. He's on Twitter. Slash X @RobDoster. That's @RobDoster. You're the best, buddy. I appreciate your time. Tell your son I said hello and I'll see you again real soon.

[Rob Doster]

He said go.

[Gary Parish]

Phil's no lgm. Lgm. I'll see you soon, buddy.

[Unknown]

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[Gary Parish]

Once again, big thanks to Rob Doster, field of 68, for hanging out discussing Yukon with me. Our next episode in the Summer Shoot around series that's going to be on Florida. It's going to be Matt Norlander and ESPN's Jeff Berzelo. Oh, buddy. Discussing the reigning national champions. Hopefully you'll check that out. The episode is scheduled to drop Friday, August 8th. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Hook Larnell thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion College Basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please, please go subscribe. Any way you subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that and we will talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care. You can be anything this w Paramount Podcasts justice has a new Daddy Sundays you serve 20 years for Man's laughter.

[Rob Doster]

You mean manslaughter? Must have been quite the joke. Liam Neeson Surprised to see me? Me too. The Naked God now playing.

[Gary Parish]

Rated PG 13.