courant
As college basketball season approaches, UConn head coach Dan Hurley finds himself in a familiar position: touting the preseason promise of Jayden Ross. For the past two years, Hurley has spoken about Ross's standout performances in practice, his NBA-caliber flashes, and his rapid development. This offseason, Hurley again noted that the senior wing may have had the best summer of any player on the roster. Unlike previous years, Ross's emergence is now backed by tangible results—a strong finish to last regular season and a impactful NCAA Tournament run.
The question now is whether Ross will secure a starting role. That answer remains up in the air. "There's always competition," Ross said last week at Big East Media Day, where he represented the Huskies alongside Braylon Mullins at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Point guard Silas Demary Jr., the league's preseason player of the year, was absent due to illness. "Obviously everybody wants to have that role on the team, have that starting position, and I think it's a healthy thing," Ross added.
Ross's primary competition comes from highly touted freshman Colben Landrew, the Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year. Landrew was a consensus five-star recruit and a Naismith High School All-American last season, and he has already been mentioned as a potential one-and-done candidate for the 2027 NBA Draft. "We can both go at it every day and it gets you both better," Ross said. "Both competing at the highest level every day, trying to just be as consistent as you can to try to earn that spot. Obviously I want to be able to start, this is my senior year, but I think either one of us would be deserving. And, at the end of the day, we're both gonna do what we can to help the team."
Ross has shown steady improvement over his first three years at UConn. As a freshman during the 2023 national championship season, he averaged 4.4 minutes per game. That increased to 11.4 minutes as a sophomore and 17.4 minutes last year, when he posted career highs of 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He shot 50.4% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc, the second-best three-point percentage on the team behind Malachi Smith. In the NCAA Tournament, Ross proved he can provide an energy boost, particularly on defense. Much of his offseason focus has been on developing his offensive game, which had been largely limited to shots at the rim and open three-pointers.
As one of two four-year Huskies in the building—and the only healthy one while Solo Ball recovers from wrist surgery—Ross's experience could be a deciding factor in him earning the starting nod. UConn is already set to start at least three sophomores in Mullins, Duke transfer Nik Khamenia, and Seton Hall transfer Najai Hines. Inserting Landrew, an 18-year-old freshman, would give the Huskies one of the youngest high-major starting lineups in the country.
"Colben's a stud," Hurley said. "He's like, not a baby, doesn't act like a baby, but he's a young guy. He's gonna be an 18-year-old in some battles with some 23-, 24-year-olds potentially, so we need him to grow up fast. But the guy's skill level, his feel, his just all-around ability for basketball, it's high-level. You don't know exactly what the timeline's gonna look like, but he's got a lot of talent."
History suggests Ross may have the edge, though each situation is unique. Hurley has rewarded loyalty in the past, such as starting Samson Johnson over Tarris Reed Jr. at center in 2024-25, even though Reed played slightly more minutes and produced more. However, Hurley has also started freshmen, including Liam McNeeley that same year and Stephon Castle the year before, though neither had a four-year senior blocking their path. "Colben's got big-time talent, big-time ability and just a lot of confidence," Hurley said in September. "The thing that keeps freshmen from having the biggest impact they could possibly have would be motor, doing it every possession, being a relentless competitor and then obviously a lot of defense. Because no matter how talented a freshman is at the offensive end, if they sink you on defense it's hard to win with them. But he's learning, he's competitive, just, he's a stud."
The exhibition games, beginning Oct. 13 against Syracuse at Mohegan Sun Arena, should provide a clearer picture of how the competition unfolds.
Originally reported by courant.