The balance of the college basketball landscape has been restored. After 7 long years of being in a Mid Major conference with no much national attention the UConn has left the dreaded American Athletic Conference and is now a member of the Big East.
Despite winning the 2014 National Championship as a member of the AAC, UConn has only been to the postseason twice. Once in 2014 and once in 2016 in the only year they won the Conference Championship, in which they got bounced in the Round of 32. The only other postseason appearance they had was a loss to Arizona State in the first round of the NIT.
During their time in the Big East before conference realignment, the men’s basketball program won 10 regular season titles and seven Big East Tournament championships, as well as national titles in 1999, 2004, and 2011. The UConn women’s basketball program has won 19 Big East regular season titles and captured 18 Big East Tournament championships. The women’s program also earned eight of its 11 national championships as a member of the Big East.
While in the AAC the recruiting took a big hit as well, going from getting some of the top prospects year in and year out, to only two 5 star recruits within their time in the conference. One being Daniel Hamilton who stayed 2 years. The other being Jalen Adams who stayed all 4 years and is one of my all time favorite players. The highest recruiting was rank 8th in 2016-2017 in which they signed four 4 star players and one 3 star. The lowest they have been since joining was 84th just the next year. Since 2019, UConn has had five 4 stars and two 3 stars commit. As well as two 3 stars transfer in. From the looks of it two factors have helped the recruiting. One being rejoining the Big East and the other being head coach Dan Hurley.
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Rejoining the Big East is going to do a lot of great things for UConn. It’s a way to get back to national prominence. The excitement is in the air. UConn is home!
