A couple weeks ago, highly-touted All-Universe recruit Andre Drummond told us all what we all knew: that he would stay for another year of prep school, paving the way for him to jump to the NBA Draft without stepping foot on a college campus.
Then, after about two weeks of silence, Drummond dropped this bombshell via Twitter, shattering the status quo and instantly changing the landscape of UConn basketball:
It's official I'm heading to the university of connecticut to be a husky this year! Do I hear #repeat #huskyfam @aoriakhi34
This happened absurdly quickly; the Courant's Jeff Jacobs tweeted about 10 minutes earlier that Drummond changed his mind; Alex Oriakhi followed several minutes later with a coy tweet of his own, and then Drummond confirmed it.
So, uh.
Whoa.
Drummond instantly changes the dynamic of the 2011-12 Huskies, not in the least because he's rated among the top two or three players in the country in this recruiting class.
If he lives up to his scouting reports, Drummond could theoretically be a big man the likes of which comes along so rarely (though Jim Calhoun has had two in the last eight or nine years); it shakes up the starting lineup, sliding Alex Oriakhi down to the 4 and Roscoe Smith to the 3 (presumably); it's the cherry on top of two of the best recruiting classes in Jim Calhoun's career; and it legitimately raises the possibility of a repeat national title.
Logistically, Drummond would have to be enrolled in fall classes (which begin Monday) to be eligible to play before mid-December. And roster-wise, it sounds like someone is getting waived, as UConn is already at it's scholarship limit. However, a source has told CBS Sports that Drummond may consider walking on to the team, which would a) be an ingenious (if slightly devious) run-around of the NCAA and APR penalties and b) indicate that Drummond would be a one-and-done.
Either way, we've got ourselves a Friday night game-changer.
Welcome aboard, Andre Drummond. Woooooooooooo.