UConn men’s basketball saw Tarris Reed go to the NBA and Eric Reibe leave for USC, needing to rebuild its frontcourt via the transfer portal in order to be competitive this season.
In Seton Hall’s Na’jai Hines and Stanford’s Oskar Giltay, they’ve done a great job.
Hines’ talent was apparent as a four-star freshman for Seton Hall. He reclassified down a year, so he’s young for his grade, and averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds with 2.2 blocks in 18.0 minutes per game across 31 games. He notched a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) in a game against UConn, one of four double-doubles and 11 double-digit rebounding efforts on the year.
Head coach Dan Hurley has been effusive in the praise of Hines’ ability. In the preseason, he came off the bench for the Syracuse game and led the Huskies with 17 points. He encountered some foul trouble as he started against Michigan State and Purdue but still demonstrated a high ceiling. He showed off an impressive ability to score in the post and run the offense out of the five, making some nice assists in the Purdue game.
“Na’jai is as talented as any of the centers that have been here. Can score over either shoulder,” Hurley said. “The guy can pass, he understands sports. You could put him at shortstop or centerfield on a baseball diamond, you can throw him in at safety or quarterback and he’ll do a five step drop…he’s a natural athlete.”
While he needs to be more disciplined defensively, Hines should be the starter and a guy who can score easy buckets against smaller teams while holding strong against bigger teams. At 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, Hines averaged 11 points and five rebounds per game in three exhibitions. He’s the kind of physical player Hurley wants to have in the post, with the rebounding and shot-blocking ability to be an elite defender on top of being a prolific low-post scorer.
Giltay is a big body as well, at 6-foot-11 and 245 pounds. The Belgian native began his career at Stanford, playing 14 minutes per game with 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in a backup role, where he earned praise for his defense. He’s noted for his high basketball IQ, strong rim protection, and good athleticism for his size.
“We absolutely had to get Oskar in here. The tools, athletic ability, more of a movement center, rim protection, rebounding, a guy that could do a great job defensively in the ball screen game and then could get off ball screens quickly on the offensive end,” Hurley said.
Hurley has praised Giltay’s progress from the summer to now, including the 18 minutes he played against Purdue with Hines in foul trouble. They both hit foul trouble against Michigan State. Against Purdue, Giltay went 5-for-6 for 12 points with four rebounds in 21 minutes.
The Huskies also added Elmir Dzafic, but he is expected to be a developmental player at this point.