Jalen Gaffney to enter transfer portal

For the second time in as many days, UConn men’s basketball is losing a guard to the transfer portal. After Rahsool Diggins entered his name yesterday, Jalen Gaffney also intends to transfer, according to Gavin Keefe of the New London Day. Gaffney could potentially stay in college for two more years.

The four-star guard arrived from Columbus, New Jersey in the 2019-20 season and served as a solid bench spark plug, averaging 3.9 points per game and showing flashes as a scorer while making 11 starts. His sophomore season was his best in Storrs, as he averaged 6.1 points per game and shot over 36 percent from deep.

Gaffney struggled to find a role as Andre Jackson emerged. He played just 12.8 minutes per game this past season, and while he still flashed some offensive upside, struggled in his limited minutes on both ends.

Despite a hot start to the season in which he reached double figures in the team’s first three games, Gaffney’s defensive issues and turnover problems kept his minutes low, even as he led the team in assist rate per KenPom. He finished the season playing just 16 minutes in three postseason games and failed to score in any of those contests and averaged 4.0 points per game this season.

With Gaffney gone, the Huskies’ backcourt is dangerously thin, leaving Jackson and Corey Floyd Jr. as the team’s only ballhandlers, with Jordan Hawkins rounding out the backcourt.

This move also makes it clear that Dan Hurley will be on the lookout for both scoring guards and point guards, and now possibly one of each. UConn has four scholarship openings for next season. While Hurley and staff could add another redshirt freshman like Floyd, most of those will likely be filled by transfers who are now needed for key roles on next year’s Husky squad.

With so many players leaving the program through graduation or transfer, UConn has now lost over 60 percent of its scoring from last season.