More than 30 years ago, Adolph County and David Benedict were just a pair of junior college football teammates trying to find their footing at Mesa Community College in Arizona. County, a defensive back from New Orleans, was far from home and adjusting to a new life. Benedict’s family-his father Allen, a coach at Mesa, and his mother Cynthia-welcomed him in like one of their own, offering home-cooked meals and a sense of belonging.
“They took me in, helped me get through junior college,” County recalled. “They helped me, fed me on the weekends.”
That bond between County and Benedict, now the athletic director at UConn, never faded. And a few decades later, it would set the stage for a full-circle recruiting story that’s as much about loyalty and belief as it is about basketball talent.
The connection was rekindled in 2022, when UConn football traveled to Utah State. County’s daughter, Annelise, was playing tennis at Utah State at the time, and when she mentioned the Huskies were coming to town, Adolph knew it was time to reconnect with his old friend. Turns out, Benedict beat him to it.
On August 31, 2022, County and Benedict met up in Provo for the game. UConn lost that day, but the bigger win for the Huskies was still years away-and it came in the form of Adolph’s son, Junior.
Junior County, then a lanky 6-foot-3 freshman just starting out at Utah Prep, tagged along with his dad to the game. Adolph, never shy about advocating for his kids, asked Benedict if Junior had what it took to be a Husky one day.
Here’s where the story splits a bit. Adolph remembers Benedict being blunt: “Nah, he’s not ready.”
Benedict remembers it more diplomatically: “Adolph said, ‘Hey Dave, my son’s gonna be good. You’ve got to tell your coaches to keep their eyes on my son!’
I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’”
Fast forward three years to Sept. 27, 2025.
Junior and Adolph are standing inside UConn’s Werth Family Champions Center, no longer just visitors. Junior is on his official visit, one of UConn’s top targets in the 2026 recruiting class.
A week later, he committed.
“Sure enough,” Benedict said, “Junior County became Junior County.”
Junior, now a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior at Utah’s Wasatch Academy, had become a national recruit. Purdue and Maryland were in the mix, but UConn had something deeper: a connection, a vision, and a program that felt like family.
“I think he’s always looked at UConn as a school to sort of aspire to,” said assistant coach Luke Murray, who led the recruitment. “When we talked about playing basketball when he was little, we talked about playing for good schools,” Adolph added. “UConn was always one of them.”
The official visit sealed the deal. Watching practice, meeting Dan Hurley, and feeling the energy of the program made the decision easy.
“You could tell all the players love to be there,” Junior said. “The program is one together.”
But UConn hadn’t been tracking Junior closely until May 2025, when he showed out at a Nike EYBL event in Memphis. That’s when Murray first saw him live-and when everything changed.
“He’s a winning player,” Murray said. “That’s what stands out the most. It really caught Coach Hurley’s eye when we watched him for the first time in Memphis.”
Adolph and his wife Callie were in the stands that day, expecting to meet with Arizona’s staff. Then Adolph spotted Murray.
“That’s UConn,” he said. “Who are they here for? It would be cool if they’re here for Junior.”
Callie wasn’t convinced. “They’re not here for Junior,” she replied.
But they were. And by the end of the game, UConn’s entire staff was courtside.
After a quick chat with Arizona, Murray introduced himself to the County family. The connection was made.
A few weeks later, Junior kept the momentum going at the NBA Top 100 Camp in South Carolina. His stock rose fast, and UConn was all in.
What makes Junior such a fit in Storrs? For starters, he’s got size and length at the guard spot-attributes UConn covets.
But more than that, he’s a high-level defender with a natural feel for the game. He’s athletic, he competes, and he knows how to win.
“He fits in well with the style of play we try to emphasize,” Murray said.
Can he contribute right away? That’s always a tough ask for freshmen, unless you’re in that elite tier-think AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Darryn Peterson.
Or recent Huskies like Steph Castle or Braylon Mullins. But Murray thinks Junior has a shot.
“I think he can help us,” he said. “His defense is really high-level.
A lot of times with freshmen … it’s tough. But if you’re in the process of working into a rotation, being able to really defend (is a big plus).”
It’s a long way from that 6-foot-3 freshman Benedict may or may not have doubted back in 2022.
“I heard Dave almost made us miss out on Junior,” Dan Hurley joked to Adolph over the summer.
Adolph just laughed. “That was just motivation, it just motivated us,” he said. “It’s one of those things where we all laugh about it, nothing personal about it.”
Murray agreed: “It was a little bit of a motivator,” he said with a grin. “So, I appreciate Dave for pushing him.”
But Benedict? He’s not taking any credit.
“He did all of that on his own,” Benedict said. “I’m really happy for Junior and for Adolph, because I know he’s invested a lot of time in supporting his kids.”
Adolph, though, sees it differently.
“You got him here, you motivated him,” he said to Benedict. “You said, ‘He couldn’t get here.
He ain’t ready.’ I was like, ‘We’ve got to do more.’
It’s all good, it’s all motivational.”
And at the end of the day, it all comes back to that bond forged decades ago in the Arizona heat.
“I love Dave,” Adolph said. “He did a lot for me, and I respect that.”