The Top 3 Candidates to Enter the Transfer Portal for UConn

This past Sunday, UConn Men’s Basketball Coach, Dan Hurley, appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes. While they touched on his superstitions and hopes for his team this season he mentioned one statement that caught UConn fans off guard.

"Fifty percent of my roster or more is at least, you know, considering going in the portal," Hurley said, "if not already knows what school that they're going to."

It’s no secret that the transfer portal has taken over basketball and now with NIL players are essentially leaving programs with the sole intention of making more money. But the question of why they’re leaving isn’t as important right now, instead it’s who.

Jayden Ross

Before committing to UConn Jayden Ross showed promise in high school where he averaged double digits and helped bring home the New York State Federation Championship. He even got to play with current teammate, Solo Ball for two years before the two both became huskies. Ross eventually came to Storrs alongside Ball and it looked like they were going to make a promising duo.

However, you know what they say…one usually turns out to be better than the other, and in this case Ross found himself the odd man out when it came to on court production.

This season was supposed to be a pivotal year for Ross, coming off another National Championship and losing some integral pieces, many expected him to step up and be a key player for the huskies. But unfortunately there weren’t many strides made. While he has had some solid defensive moments and a few noteworthy dunks, in the grand scheme of things, Jayden Ross hasn’t been reliable.

As a fan I think I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s really no way for his role to grow on this team. Next year he’ll be behind Jaylin Stewart who has the third highest FG% on the team and Liam McNeeley, Big East Freshman of the Year, pending he doesn’t declare for the NBA draft. There doesn’t seem to be a place for Ross next year, I see it that way and he does too and because of it Ross will take his talents elsewhere.

Youseff Singare

The Huskies have had some top tier big men in the past few years from Adama Sonogo to Donovan Clingan and Dan Hurley recruited Youseff Singare to fill those shoes. Singare was a top-20 center in his 2023 class and was expected to be a one two knockout punch with Samson Johnson this season until Tarris Reed came into the picture.

With Reed on a dominant tear this past February it’s almost certain that he returns to Storrs next semester with even more to prove, and although Johnson is graduating, his spot isn’t going to go to Singare.

“It’s a monster class,” said Dan Hurley when talking about the 2025 recruits for next season, and among them is none other than monster 7-footer Eric Reibe. Reibe is the second best center in his class and when asked about him Dan Hurley said, “Offensively he’s [Reibe] far ahead of the game.”. The writing is on the wall. Singare is averaging 2.9 minutes per game this season and next year Hurley is ready for Reibe to make an immediate impact. Being the third option as a center for the third year in a row just doesn’t seem like an option which makes Singare an almost definite transfer portal candidate.

Ahmad Nowell

Out of all the people on this list, Ahmad Nowell has been at UConn for the shortest amount of time. Many will argue that he’s just serving his normal freshman duties and needs to wait his turn, but in this case, Nowell is the exception.

When this season started, Nowell was prepared to compete with Aidan Mahaney and Hassan Diarra and try to earn his spot for the point guard privileges. However, from the jump it seemed like Mahaney and Diarra would be given the keys as Nowell took a backseat. Even with Mahaney’s struggles and some nagging injuries for Diarra, Nowell still never really got the minutes that he was searching for.

Yes, he is only a freshman, but Nowell wasn’t given opportunities in circumstances that he should have, and similar to Singare, it’s only going to continue next season.

Not only does next year's recruiting class bring a center but there are three top-tier guards in Braylon Mullins, Darius Adams, and Jacob Furphy. Nowell couldn’t amass Mahaney and Diarra and he’s not expected to beat out the fresh faces coming this fall making him the third player predicted to not be a Husky come next season.