Jalen Gaffney will enter the transfer portal

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

The four-star guard arrived from Columbus, New Jersey during the 2019-20 season and served as a solid spark plug, averaging 3.9 points per game and showing flashes as a scorer while performing 11 starts. His second season was his best at Storrs, averaging 6.1 points per game and shooting over 36% from deep.

Gaffney struggled to find a role when Andre Jackson emerged. He played just 12.8 minutes per game last season, and while he still displayed attacking advantages, he struggled in his limited minutes on both sides.

Despite a hot start to the season in which he hit double digits in the team’s first three games, Gaffney’s defensive issues and rotational issues kept his minutes low, even as he led the team in terms of assist rate by KenPom. He finished the season playing just 16 minutes in three playoff games and failed to score in any of those contests and averaged 4.0 points per game that season.

With Gaffney gone, the Huskies’ backcourt is dangerously thin, leaving Jackson and Corey Floyd Jr. sole possession of the ball for the team, with Jordan Hawkins rounding out the backcourt.

The move also makes it clear that Dan Hurley will be looking for both scorers and point guards, and now perhaps one of each. UConn has four scholarship openings for next season. While Hurley and staff could add another redshirt freshman like Floyd, most of them will likely be filled through transfers that are now needed for key roles on next year’s Husky team. .

With so many players leaving the program after graduating or transferring, UConn has now lost more than 60% of its scores from last season.