Grading UConn players in championship win over San Diego State

Feel free to call UConn’s win over San Diego State for the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball championship a win for the NBA over the collegiate game.

UConn, known for their spread-out motion offense with multiple connectors, multiple shooters, and one of the best big men in NCAA, completed the cycle with all of their tournament wins coming by double-digits. San Diego State, conversely, ran a patented style of making the game as messy as they can, whether by choice or by way of an inability to make shots; the Aztecs had four different droughts of three-plus minutes without a made field goal.

The Huskies mostly dominated the game, led by their three (likely) NBA-bound starters who each made key plays at timely moments. They exhibited the skills that make them so unique in a class that often feels homogenized as drafts in general feel more homogenized year-to-year.

Getting into the individual grades from the 76-59 win by the Huskies, I’ll focus just on the players that I and many others project to be drafted among the 58 picks we’ll hear made on Jun. 23; that means I won’t mention Alex Karaban, who’s a legit prospect in his own right down the road, or Matt Bradley, who will be a great pro somewhere but likely not in the NBA.

Instead, here are four UConn Huskies who should find themselves on NBA rosters this fall:

Jordan Hawkins — 6’5 shooting specialist

16 points (5-9 FG, 2-4 3P, 4-4 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block

Hawkins shot 50 percent from deep in this game, and he finishes the tournament 50 percent from three on 7.0 attempts per game. He showed off the wide variety of looks he can create for himself, mostly away from the ball. Hawkins relocates after giving the ball up in a way that leaves defenders scrambling a la Steph Curry, as seen here.

The footwork on pass-catch prep and shot prep is elite for Hawkins, and he’s able to turn and fire smoothly all in one motion. He’s also got a knack for filling in the blanks, always knowing where on the floor to be based on his teammates’ spacing, like this excellent finish in transition.

And we can’t get by without mentioning his clutch dagger three:

There’s always a big riser on draft boards from the tournament and Hawkins fits that billing this year more than maybe anyone, appearing on some lottery boards now. He earns an A+ for his evening.

Andre Jackson Jr. — 6’6 connecting wing

3 points (1-3 FG, 0-1 3P, 1-2 FT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals

It’s never the flashiest box score line for Jackson, but if you watch the games, you know how valuable and crucial he was to the Huskies and their championship run. He’s an unreal vertical athlete with ready-made NBA size for his position at 6’6, 210; he dunked nearly half of his at-rim attempts this season, per Synergy.

There’s a real argument for Jackson to play substantial time at point guard, straight up, given his at times masterful playmaking as well as his three-point struggles (29.5 percent on 2.0 attempts per game). Defenses have to respect the rim threat that he is, which helps to open up easy opportunities for teammates like this one:

He’s certainly one of the most intriguing thought experiments of the group because of his mix of high-feel connectivity and wild athleticism that would be a perfect fit in the NBA, though he appears to be the most likely of this group to run it back with Coach Dan Hurley. I’m choosing to go with a strong B for a night that didn’t see as much focus on scoring as Jackson’s used to, but was otherwise stellar.

Donovan Clingan — 7’2 rim runner

4 points (2-3 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block

It doesn’t take long to understand just how appealing Clingan can be to NBA organizations when you see how big he is and how easily he glides around the floor. Though he’s a bit behind in some ways as far as technique goes, he’s already really good at certain aspects, such as keeping the ball high when he catches in traffic, keeping the ball out of harm’s way and allowing his movement to stay more streamlined.

It’s tough to judge this game on its own since he was only out there for so long, but his per-100 possessions numbers on the season are laughably good at 31.0 points (65.5% FG), 25.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks with a net rating of +36.8 per Basketball-Reference. Oftentimes, the per-100 numbers that are inflated like this due to small sample size can be fool’s gold, but Clingan shows enough of his strong feel for the game that maintaining that production could be within his reach, a la expected All-Rookie member Walker Kessler.

The minute total wants me to give Clingan an incomplete grade, but we can grade what’s there, and that’s a solid B+ especially given the three stocks in such a short amount of time out there.

Adama Sanogo — 6’9 post-up creator

17 points (5-9 FG, 7-8 FT), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block

Finishing the tournament averaging 19.7 points and 9.8 rebounds, the title victory was the fourth double-double of the tournament for Sanogo. He brought his solid footwork and soft paint touch to the floor like he has all season long, able to score over single and double coverage and find schemed opportunities.

One of my favorite plays from his night involves setting a low screen on the block for Jackson so that Jackson can rise up to the elbow and throw it into Sanogo, still waiting on the block. It’s a fun little wrinkle from Hurley that forces the defense into a tough spot because of the mismatch it gives Sanogo. You can see that play at the 1:18 mark of this video:

I would feel pretty happy taking a late-second round flier on Sanogo, especially given how comfortable he already is in 4-out schemes that he’d likely play in the NBA, surrounded by even more effective shooters. He earned an A for his championship performance.

This post was originally published on SBNation