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UConn's Biggest Rival Makes Impactful Roster Move Before Season
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- UConn's Biggest Rival Makes Impactful Roster Move Before Season
St. John's, the biggest conference rival for the UConn men's basketball team, has made an impactful roster move just over two months away from the start of the 2026-27 season.
The Red Storm, coached by Rick Pitino, have added Reed Bailey to the roster at the 11th hour.
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Here's what you need to know:
Who is Reed Bailey?
Bailey has already played four years of college basketball, so this move comes as a clear response to the recent court injunctions which have granted Class of 2022 high school recruits a fifth year of eligibility.
The NCAA is fighting this and wants players like Bailey ruled ineligible, so it's still unclear if he'll actually end up playing for the Red Storm, but for now, we have to operate as if he will.
A 6-foot-11 Massachusetts native, Bailey spent the first three years of his career at Davidson, starting all 97 games that he appeared in for the Wildcats. He averaged 12.4 ppg there while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor. He was an All-Atlantic 10 selection in his time there.
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After those three years, he transferred to Indiana , playing in 32 games and seeing 19 minutes a night. He shot 57 percent from the floor but averaged just 8.3 ppg. He also pulled down 3.4 rebounds, so he was a solid contributor, but not a true impact player in the Big Ten.
Ohio State Buckeyes forward Amare Bynum (1) defends Indiana Hoosiers forward Reed Bailey (1) during the first half at Value City Arena. Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The benefit for St. John's
The Red Storm lost the very talented Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell to the NBA Draft, so they have solid players to replace. Furthermore, Donnie Freeman, expected to be an impact transfer from Syracuse , is now injured and will miss the entirety of the season.
Bailey is someone who can help replace each of those players, keeping Pitino's group competitive and wreaking havoc on UConn.
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St. John's beat UConn for the Big East regular season title - and the tournament title - a year ago.
Also in UConn basketball...
The latest edition of the "way too early" ESPN bracketology was released on Tuesday, with the Huskies being projected for a No. 3 seed. Perhaps more important than that was that the Big East was projected to get seven teams in the NCAA Tournament.
While a deeper conference makes things tougher for UConn on an individual game basis, it makes things better for them on a macro level. We examined the reasons why here.
