The buzz around Na’Jai Hines is already loud enough to hear all the way to Storrs.
UConn brought in the Seton Hall transfer to help fill the gap left by Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban, and the early chatter has been impossible to ignore. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports has been talking him up, Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports has too, and Trotter recently pegged Hines as one of the biggest breakout players in the country.
That kind of attention makes sense when you look at what Hines already did for the Pirates. In one season at Seton Hall, he averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while blocking 2.2 shots per game in just 18 minutes a night. Rothstein noted earlier this summer that when Hines gets more than 20 minutes, the production jumps to 10 points and eight rebounds per game.
That’s the number UConn will be aiming for.
With Reed gone to the NBA and now with the San Antonio Spurs, the Huskies have real questions in the frontcourt, and Hines is a big part of the answer. The expectation is that Dan Hurley will lean on him for more than 20 minutes a night.
Even with all that turnover, the national outlook on UConn hasn’t cooled much at all. The Huskies are staring at one of the toughest schedules anyone can remember, yet the consensus is still that they’ll be excellent again in 2026-27. The reason starts with the guard play of Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins, but Hines’ upside is a major piece of the conversation too.
UConn’s recent standard is doing a lot of the work here. The Huskies finished second in the Big East regular season last year, then were runners-up in the Big East Tournament before rolling through March.
They beat Duke in the Elite Eight, handled Illinois in the Final Four, and eventually fell to Michigan in the national title game. That was their third trip to the championship game in four years, and they won two of those titles, making them the most successful program in the country over that stretch.
Separately, former UConn baseball star Rollie Sheldon died on Aug. 31 at the age of 89. According to an online obituary, Sheldon spent one semester at Texas A&M before enrolling at UConn, where he played both basketball and baseball.
After leaving UConn in 1960, Sheldon signed a professional contract with the New York Yankees. The right-handed pitcher finished his career 38-36 with a 4.09 ERA, appeared in 160 games with 101 starts, and helped the Yankees win World Series titles in 1961 and 1962. He won a career-best 11 games in 1961 and was part of the Yankees during Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle’s famed home run chase that season.
In Other News...
Jordan Hawkins Gets The Fresh Start UConn Fans Were Hoping For
Jordan Hawkins is getting a reset in Memphis after a uneven run with the New Orleans Pelicans, where the former UConn standout spent three seasons following his selection with the 14th pick in 2023. Hawkins never quite found a steady rhythm in New Orleans, but the move gives him a chance to start over with a new team and a new backcourt situation as he heads into the upcoming NBA season.
The fit is especially notable for UConn fans because Memphis already has fellow Huskies product Cam Spencer in its guard mix, giving Hawkins a familiar face as he settles in. For a player whose pro career has had its ups and downs, the next stop now comes with the appeal of a cleaner slate and the possibility of carving out a bigger role in a place that knows exactly what he brings. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Enters A Bigger Test Than UConn With Distractions Building
Maryland heads into its road game at UConn with enough on its plate already, and Michael Locksley has spent the week trying to keep the focus squarely on football. The Huskies present a real challenge, starting with dual-threat quarterback Kalieb Osborne and a coaching staff Locksley says deserves respect. For Maryland, the message has been about defensive discipline, cleaner offensive execution and carrying a so-called Championship Mindset into a tricky away matchup.
The larger backdrop, though, makes this more complicated than a standard nonconference trip. Maryland is still navigating personnel and legal issues while trying to lean on emerging leaders to steady the locker room, and the situation around Teasley remains part of that picture as the program sorts through how to handle it. Against UConn, the football questions are obvious, but so is the off-field weight Maryland is trying to keep from becoming the headline. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets An Early Jolt Of Bulletin Board Material For Maryland
Maryland is already leaning into its preparation for UConn, with Mike Locksley saying his team has spent time reviewing the last game, working through recovery and turning the page toward the matchup. He also made clear he expects a lively atmosphere in Storrs, noting the Huskies can count on strong support at home, which is always part of the equation when the opponent is headed north for an early-season test.
The one moment that may stick with UConns staff a little longer came when Locksley briefly referred to the Huskies by their coachs old school before correcting himself at the podium. It was a small slip, but the broader message was more revealing: Locksley said he has a lot of respect for Jason Candle and the program Candle has built, which only adds a little extra edge to a game that already had some intrigue attached to it. [Read more 🡒]