Projected Starting Lineup
G – Kemba Walker 6-1 Fr. (5-Star Prospect)
G – A.J. Price 6-2 Sr. (32.1 MPG, 14.5 PPG, 5.8 APG)
G – Jerome Dyson 6-4 Jr. (27.0 MPG, 12.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG)
F – Jeff Adrien 6-7 Sr. (33.8 MPG, 14.8 PPG, 9.1 RPG)
C – Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 Jr. (31.0 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG)

Impact Bench Players
G – Craig Austrie 6-3 Sr. (22.3 MPG, 7.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG)
G – Donnell Beverly 6-4 So. (4.8 MPG, 0.7 PPG, 0.8 RPG)
F – Gavin Edwards 6-9 Jr. (7.9 MPG, 2.9 PPG, 1.6 RPG)

Guards
UConn returns both of its starting guards from a season ago, and will likely add one more this season. Freshman Kemba Walker is a five star recruit that will probably just run the point right away. He’s a great passer and is also known for tough defense, too. That’s not to take anything away from senior A.J. Price, who could possibly run some point as well, but we think he’s better suited as a SG. After all, he did lead the team with 141 three point shots last year. Jerome Dyson is expected to start again, but he looks like he was overrated coming out of high school. He was supposed to be a big weapon from long range, but he’s only shot 71-218 (33%) from out there in two seasons. Craig Austrie may be the guy who should start, although he did see his fair share of starts last season. He’s a smart player who will take it to the hoop. It starts to get thin after that as Donnell Beverly could see some playing time after Doug Wiggins transferred.

Forwards
The Huskies frontcourt won’t look a whole lot different this season, although the loss of starter Stanley Robinson, who left the team for unknown reasons is a tough loss. They also lose Curtis Kelly, who transferred but he didn’t play much as wasn’t much of a factor anyways. Senior Jeff Adrien is the workhorse of the squad, and he’s a great rebounder and defender, though his offensive skillset could use some work. Hasheem Thabeet is a beast down low at 7-3, and he does everything Adrien does even better. He’s tough to stop in the post so you’d like to see them get him more involved in the offense. Look for depth to be a problem if either of the two get in foul trouble. They don’t have much after Gavin Edwards, who has played well and is ready for a bigger role.

Final Thoughts
The Big East is a very competitive conference, and UConn is part of the reason why. They have a pretty experienced group that won 13 conference games last season, so they have to be considered one of the top contenders to challenge UConn for the conference title. One cause of concern has to be the defense, because although Thabeet makes it near impossible for anyone to beat them down low, their perimeter defense needs some work. Hopefully Walker can improve that area because that would make them that much better. They have a variety of weapons on offense, especially Price who is one of the best players in the Big East. UConn knows that this is the year they’re expected to make a deep run in the NCAA tourney. We think they have the talent to go much farther than they did last season.

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