UNCASVILLE, Conn. — UConn Huskies men's basketball coach Dan Hurley made it clear that Seton Hall transfer Na'jai Hines will have to earn everything he gets in this program. However, the impact that Hines can and will have this season is already clear after just one exhibition contest.
The big man didn't start for the Huskies in Tuesday's 72-52 win over the Syracuse Orange at Mohegan Sun Arena, but he came off the bench to score 17 points and pull down eight rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
All offseason we wondered how UConn would replace big men Tarris Reed Jr., who is now in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, and Eric Reibe, who transferred to USC. Well, the biggest question facing this team got an emphatic answer from Hines: Life will be OK. It won't be same, clearly, and there will be some bumps along the way, but Hines's talent is easy to see.
He's athletic, intense, aggressive and he has the ability to take over the paint. He did it in a 20-minute sample on Tuesday. Imagine what he could show in a 30-minute sample inside a Big East game? He truly has All-Conference upside.
After Tuesday's game, Hurley mentioned trying to get Hines more consistent in how he practices, saying that he needs to look this way all the time as opposed to the sporadic performances he's brought to practice thus far.
It's clear that Hurley is going hard on Hines, as well as transfer Nik Khamenia, who came in from Duke.
Also in the news for the Huskies men
Braylon Mullins, who is arguably the most talented player on this roster, didn't play on Tuesday because of a minor ailment. Whatever that ailment is, Hurley didn't share with the media. He wore a UConn warm-up sweatsuit, but did not warm up with the team prior to the game. He sat with Solo Ball courtside pregame. Ball is expected to miss the entire season because of wrist surgery that he underwent in the offseason.
Up next for UConn
The Huskies will hit the road for the first time in 2026-27 next week when they take on Michigan State on the road in East Lansing. These two teams scrimmaged each other last year, so this is the reciprocal game from that series.
Michigan State is traditionally one of the best programs in the country under longtime head coach Tom Izzo.