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UConn Men's Basketball Injuries: Dan Hurley Issues Very Interesting Update
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- UConn Men's Basketball Injuries: Dan Hurley Issues Very Interesting Update
(Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
The No. 4 UConn Huskies men's basketball team defeated the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday night in Game 2 of the exhibition season in East Lansing.
The 78-70 win moves the Huskies to 2-0 on the exhibition campaign, and they'll have one preseason game (Purdue) left before the ball tips up for real on Nov. 2.
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Our own Jami Leabow covered the game itself here, but after the game, Huskies' head coach Dan Hurley issued an exciting comment on guard Solo Ball, saying that he could "potentially" be back later in the year.
So, you're telling me there's a chance?
Following last season's national championship game, Ball underwent wrist surgery that was supposed to keep him out the entire season.
So what's changed?
The rules. Simply.
Ball has played three seasons in three years. As part of the NCAA's new "age-based eligibility model," athletes are given five calendar years to play five seasons in their sport. As such, there are no more official redshirts and no more medical redshirts. If a player misses a year, it simply counts as one of their five.
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As such, there's no eligibility-based reason for Ball to sit out the entire year anymore. If he can come back, he can come back, and he'll still have the option to play a fifth year if he wants to.
When the program said that Ball was out for the season, that rule didn't exist yet. Now that it does, the calculus has clearly changed.
The Solo Ball file
A rising senior from Virginia, Ball averaged 12.8 ppg for the Huskies last year. He played in all 39 games, also pulling down three rebounds and dishing out more than one assist per game.
With Silas Demary in the fold at point guard, Ball was able to play at the shooting guard spot, but his shooting numbers regressed. He was just 30 percent from three-point range after leading the Big East in the same category (41.4 percent) as a sophomore.
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Clearly, that wrist injury led to the regression.
In addition to getting to the national title game last season, Ball helped UConn win the national title as a freshman in 2023-24.
How could he fit in with this team?
It remains to be seen. Obviously, if Ball is able to come back, it will be later in the year when the team's rotations are already humming. That means he'll have to fit in where he can, but he's such a good player that Hurley will clearly make room for him. It's just about finding the best pocket for him to contribute.
However, he has to get fully healthy first.
