UConn added two more names to its preseason awards collection on Wednesday, with freshman Colben Landrew and sophomore Blanca Quiñonez landing on national watch lists before the season even gets rolling.
Landrew was placed on the Julius Erving Award watch list, while Quiñonez earned a spot on the Cheryl Miller Award watch list. Each award goes to the top small forward in college basketball, and both preseason lists were trimmed to 20 candidates. As the season unfolds, players can move on and off those watch lists.
For Landrew, the recognition fits the buzz that already followed him to Storrs. The men’s freshman arrived as the Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year after being rated a top-30 national prospect out of Wheeler High School in Georgia and earning Naismith High School America honors. He has already flashed in three exhibition games for UConn, averaging 12.0 points per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three.
Quiñonez comes into the season with her own decorated résumé. Last year, she took home Big East Freshman of the Year, Big East Sixth Woman of the Year and Second Team All-Big East honors. She was UConn’s third-leading scorer at 10.7 points per game and also posted 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Landrew and Quiñonez now join a growing list of Huskies on preseason award watch lists. Silas Demary Jr. was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list, Braylon Mullins to the Jerry West Award list, and KK Arnold to the Nancy Lieberman Award list.
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UConns Depth Just Sent A Strong Message Before The Real Games
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Colben Landrew was the loudest of those second-unit sparks, finishing with 15 points in just 18 minutes, while Jayden Ross, Oskar Giltay and Silas Demary Jr. also reached double figures. Just as encouraging for Dan Hurleys group was the defensive edge, as UConn held Purdue to 32.8 percent shooting overall and barely gave the Boilermakers anything from outside, a reminder that the Huskies may already be close to their regular-season form. [Read more 🡒]
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Preseason rankings only add to the sense that the conference is loaded from top to bottom, with UConn and St. Johns standing out nationally while other Big East programs sit firmly in the mix. For UConn, that means every trip through the league will demand focus, depth and the kind of consistency that separates title contenders from teams that merely survive the grind. The challenge is not just beating the usual suspects, but navigating a conference where almost every opponent arrives with enough quality to make a slip cost plenty. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Showed Promise Against Purdue But Bigger Answers Come Next
UConn closed the preseason with a 3-0 record and a convincing 76-53 win over Purdue, a result that offered a real glimpse of the teams depth and versatility heading into the regular season. The Huskies got production from across the roster, including transfers Najai Hines and Oskar Giltay working inside, while freshman Colben Landrew led the scoring in the finale and helped reinforce the feeling that this group has more than one way to beat teams.
Braylon Mullins also returned from injury and logged his first extended run of the preseason, another encouraging sign as UConn turns to games that will say much more about where it stands. Gardner-Webb is next, but the real measuring stick comes soon after, when the Huskies start seeing a string of Power Four opponents early in the schedule and the questions about their frontcourt rotation and overall ceiling get a lot harder to avoid. [Read more 🡒]