UConn Basketball Recruiting Update: Huskies looking to make moves

As the NCAA tournament reached its emphatic ending, another battle off the court has picked up steam.

The recruiting season in men's college basketball typically ramps up a few notches after the champion is crowned. With seniors graduating, players transferring, and others declaring for the NBA Draft, teams have a much clearer view of their needs.

Like most national programs, UConn will actively seek to shore up holes in its roster. Head Coach Kevin Ollie and his staff will target recruits that can fill some of the openings on the roster.

The recent announcement that Rakim Lubin will transfer leaves the Huskies with 10 players under scholarship and three open slots. Despite losing senior leadership in Ryan Boatright, the Huskies stand to benefit from the commitment of Jalen Adams, a five-star 6-foot-2 shooting guard from New Hampshire's Brewster Academy.

Adams figures to step right into the vacancy left by Boatright. Similar in their ability to score, the true value in Adams comes in his ability to handle the ball. A quick first step should keep defenders honest, and if they sag too much, Adams has shown the propensity to knockdown shots from 22-feet with regularity.

Still, the Huskies need to address a lack of rebounding. Some of that responsibility will fall on the youthful shoulders of another incoming commit, Steven Enoch, the 6-foot-9 Connecticut native. He has the length to disrupt shots on the interior, and shown some ability to stretch defenses with a fairly reliable jumper. Enoch's emergence from relative obscurity should however curb expectations until he can fully acclimate himself to the collegiate level.

Elsewhere in the high school class of 2015, it does not appear as though the Huskies have much going on.

In the interest of finding immediate contributors, the Huskies will key in on potential transfers, some of whom are fifth-year seniors who have graduated and still have an extra year of eligibility. One such transfer could be Shonn Miller of Cornell who finds himself in just that scenario thanks to a quirky Ivy League rule that prohibits the participation of graduate students.

Miller recently met with UConn, as well as Michigan, Illinois, and Boston College. He was named a finalist for National Defensive Player of the Year and would complement Amida Brimah nicely to create a formidable defensive tandem. Miller also ranked second in the Ivy League in scoring last year at 16.8 points per game.

UConn also met with Providence's Tyler Harris, the younger brother of Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris. Despite early season reports that he was looking to declare for the 2015 NBA Draft, it now appears he is set on transferring instead. The younger Harris has a lengthy list that includes Arizona, Georgia Tech, UMass, Nebraska, and Tennessee among others.

For a full list of transfers, Verbal Commits has a comprehensive list including previous school, news source, and destination if applicable.

Regardless of what the roster will look like come the start of the season, the Huskies are banking on continued improvement from Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton, and Brimah. That core, with an infusion of incoming talent, might just be enough to plug the roster holes and place the Huskies back in the thick of March.

EDITORS NOTE: Kaveh Jam has joined our team as a basketball writer. He will start with recruiting and work on some other stuff as well. His first piece was meant to be more of an introductory overview, with more detailed articles coming soon. Please join me in welcoming him to The UConn Blog community!