Tremont Waters chose LSU over UConn, Georgetown.

With the (not unexpected) news that New Haven's own Tremont Waters is heading off to LSU, it would appear yet another indignity in UConn's recruiting season of discontent.

It started back in January, when Hamidou Diallo chose Kentucky over the Huskies. It continued on as one UConn target after another opted for different programs, most notably Sidney Wilson picking St. John's a couple of weeks ago.

Add it all to Makai Ashton-Langford backing out of his commitment, three players (Steve Enoch, Vance Jackson and Juwan Durham) bolting the program and ... well, the optics aren't good.

So I called around to some New England-based prep and AAU coaches to see what the perception of UConn is these days. Here's some of what they had to say.

JASON SMITH, Brewster Academy head coach:

"It's still definitely one of the premier programs in the country. Coach Ollie is tremendous, and I think they made a fantastic hire. Coach (Raphael) Chillious is one of my closest friends in the business, one of the coaches I communicate with most frequently."

"I know they've had some hiccups the last month or two, but that's part of how recruiting goes in cycles."

The 'Top Five' is now down to 'Top Three'

"They're gonna be more than fine. Coach Chillious, Dwayne Killings are two of the most respected assistant coaches in the business. Coach Ollie's proven to be a championship-caliber coach himself. I think UConn is one of the premier programs in the country. Everything goes in cycles. You'll see them bounce back, have a great year, then continue to recruit great guys."

JERE QUINN, St. Thomas More head coach:

"I think it's taken a hit. Unfortunately, the conference lacks the luster with a lot of these kids. They're in with the top players with every other major program. But the league doesn't bring a lot of national prominence. The rivalries are new; it's a new league trying to find itself. Connecticut is still going after the top-echelon kids in the U.S., and they've got some pretty good players, too."

"It's very difficult for those guys to compete against the Big 10, the Big East, the ACC. If you ask the same question to the people at East Carolina or Tulane - nothing against them, but they're not going after the same kids UConn is going after."

We'll have much more in Wednesday's Register, including Smith's views on why Ashton-Langford de-committed from UConn and went to Providence, and why Wilson picked St. John's. Smith coached both players at Brewster.

Also a bit more on Smith's relationship with Chillious, and Quinn's take on why Christian Vital elected to remain at UConn.

*** Meanwhile, UConn is still heavily interested in Class of 2018 point guard Luguentz Dort from Canada. Chillious saw him drop 36 points against 22 Feet Academy (S.C.) while still at Washington to see Mamadou Diarra (not the UConn kid, the kid that recently committed to Cincinnati). The Huskies are still inquiring about the score-first point guard, but Louisville likes him a lot, too, as does Florida and old friend Andre LaFleur at UNLV, among others.

*** And add this name to UConn's recruiting interests: Brycen Goodine, a 6-foot-4, Class of 2019 combo guard from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He preps at St. Andrew's, and comes from good stock: his mom played at Providence, and his dad, Jonathan DePina, was a guard at UMass.

DePina also was a mentor to a young kid from Roxbury by the name of Shabazz Napier.

Spoke with one incoming UConn recruit, Makai Ashton-Langford, at the Hoophall Classic on Sunday in Springfield. Here's the story I wrote.

For Tuesday's paper, wrote a story on another incoming Husky, 6-foot-8 forward Tyler Polley. Nice kid, comes from good stock (his dad was an NFL linebacker), and he has apparently mastered the lost are of the mid-range jumper.

Here's my story on Polley for the New Haven Register.

Tyler Polley puts up a shot for Sagemont School

Tyler Polley (different haircut) in action for Sagemont.

We've had issues with the blog for a while, hence the lack of posts over the past month or so. But we're back, and we've got some recruiting info from the Hoophall Classic.

Spoke with Makai Ashton-Langford, who went for nine points, nine boards and 10 assists in Brewster's win over Monteverde Academy. Here's my story for the New Haven Register.

Here's what Ashton-Langford had to say:

Ashton-Langford showed some nice athleticism on Sunday, as well:

Also spoke with two other UConn targets: Brewster's Sidney Wilson and Vermont Academy's Simi Shittu:

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the field of teams and game schedule for the 2017 Spalding Hoophall Classic, an annual basketball showcase now in its 16th year at Springfield College. Games will be played at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College January 12-16, during Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.

The nation’s premier basketball event will once again showcase the top high school basketball teams from across the country, and will feature numerous top UConn recruiting targets - as well as a few Husky commits.

Among the UConn targets will be Mohamed Bamba, the Class of 2017 big man who plays for Westtown School in Pennsylvania. He'll play on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. against Arizona's Hillcrest Prep.

Earlier that day, fans can see UConn commit Josh Carlton play for DeMatha Catholic High at 4:30 p.m. against Bishop Gorman High.

UConn, of course, will be playing at Georgetown that day at a yet-to-be determined time. If it's early enough, perhaps the coaches can get back in time to see Bamba's night game. If not, you can bet they'll be there on Sunday morning.

UConn commit Makai Ashton-Langford will play on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 10:45 a.m., when his Brewster Academy takes on CBD Montverde Academy of Florida. Immediately afterwards, at 12:30 p.m., Putnam Science Academy - led by frequent UConn visitor Hamidou Diallo, who just cut his final list to six schools (including UConn) and 2018 target Eric Ayala - will face Vermont Academy.

Here's the full schedule:

UConn has been killing it on the recruiting trail lately. Pun intended.

Over the last couple of weeks, the Huskies have received pledges from a trio of Class of 2017 recruits: Makai Ashton-Langford, who chose UConn over Providence in a down-to-the-wire battle; Josh Carlton, a 6-10 center from DeMatha High (originally from North Carolina) and, on Tuesday, Tyler Polley, a 6-8 1/2 forward from the Sagemont School in Florida. If that school sounds familiar, it's because former UConn commit Prince Ali played there, too, and was a teammate of Polley's. Ali wound up de-committing, of course, and heading to UCLA, but there were no hard feelings, and he spoke well of UConn to Polley.

Polley's recruitment is also interesting because he had started being recruited by Dwayne Killings about a year ago when Killings was an assistant coach at Temple. Killings, of course, joined UConn's staff this past spring, continued Polley's recruitment and got Kevin Ollie interested in him. And, voila, another Husky commitment.

Spoke with Makai Ashton-Langford before the Big Strick Classic on Saturday night. Here's what he had to say:

(how his summer's going)

“Obviously, it was a great time winning the championship, after coming up short last year. It was a very fun summer – especially playing with a group of talented guys, and against a bunch of talented guys.”

He added that the three things he needs to work on the most this season are: handle, jump shot and defensive footwork.

(on his recruiting)

“I haven’t cut the list yet, but the top three that have been recruiting me a lot were UConn, Providence and Louisville.”

“I’ve always loved UConn.”

(What he's loved about UConn)

“Just what they do to their point guards. They get them to the next level, they really develop their game. If they need help shooting, they’ll help them shoot. If they need help handling the ball, they’ll help them with that. I just really like what they do with their point guards.”

Ashton-Langford said he's visiting Louisville Sept. 1-3, then UConn Sept. 8-10.

(what's he looking for in his school?)

“I’m really good with all the coaches. I really want to have a good relationship with the coaches. All the little things – who they’ve been recruiting, stuff like that, who’s really thinking about going there. Point guard-wise, who they have coming in to help me for the coming years to try to win a national championship.”

(would he mind going to a program that already has an established point guard?)

“That wouldn’t matter to me.”

(would he like to play alongside Jalen Adams, perhaps?)

“That’s my boy. We played AAU together, played Rivals together. I know him pretty well ... That would be fun. That would be fun.”

Makai Ashton-Langford hails from Worcester, Massachusetts, not far from the Connecticut border.

He grew up rooting for UConn and has admitted he's dreamed of someday being a Husky. But it's not as sure a shot as one might think.

UConn has offered Ashton-Langford, a Class of 2017 point guard, but by all accounts, he's going to wait at least through the spring and summer circuits to make any commitments anywhere. UConn and Providence have been his most dogged pursuers, with DePaul also showing keen interest. Louisville has inquired about him and, more recently, so has Kentucky.

John Calipari saw Ashton-Langford play back in November, shortly after the Cushing Academy guard had broken his hand. No one knew his hand was broken at the time, and he didn't have his best game. Ashton-Langford sat out the next 6-7 weeks, but he's back now, shooting the ball as well as ever, and sure to start attracting more interest outside of the New England schools (who can and have seen him play numerous times over the winter) once the college basketball season winds down.

"People have done a good job getting out the word, in a general sense, that Makai's got a heavy UConn lead," said Cushing's first-year head coach, Mike Wolf. "I think they're clearly high, high on his list. But the idea that other schools aren't in the mix is a false one."

With Jalen Adams (another former Cushing point guard) and Alterique Gilbert in tow, Ashton-Langford could see two point guards ahead of him by the time he'd hit campus in the fall of 2017. Ashton-Langford is more of a true point guard than Adams, although Wolf believes he's can't be labeled as a classic point guard.

"He's got some Allen Iverson-esque point guard in his game," said the coach.

Both Wolf and Vin Pastore, who coaches Ashton-Langford on the Mass Rivals AAU team, agree that the kid is an elite defender.

"He's an elite defensive ball-stopper," said Wolf. "He guards the best player on any team at pretty much any position except the post, and if we asked him to do that, he'd probably do that, too."

Added Pastore: "He's the best defender at that position in the country, which fits UConn to a 'T.'"

Now, it's just a matter of whether UConn fits Ashton-Langford's needs to a 'T.'

Too many 3-pointers. An unimaginative offense. Continued poor play from Daniel Hamilton. The end of Rodney Purvis's double-figures streak. We could go on and on ...

Just a horrible loss for UConn on Thursday in Tulsa. Asked Kevin Ollie about the Huskies' over-reliance on 3-pointers (they took 29), and here was his response:



Ollie also called out Hamilton and Purvis -- as well as himself, to a degree.

All this on a night where recruiting target D.J. Harvey, who UConn had planned to go see on Monday at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, revealed a list of 15 schools that didn't include the Huskies.

Ouch.

UConn will be playing in Houston on Sunday when several targets are playing in Springfield, including Westown School's Mohamed Bamba, who plays Sunday at 4 p.m., as well as commit Mamadou Diarra and target Hamidou Diallo of Putnam Science Academy, which plays Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Karl Hobbs did stay back to check out Diarra and Diallo on Wednesday night. Diallo had 14 points, three assists and three rebounds and Diarra added nine points and 10 boards to lead PSA to a 71-67 victory over Cushing Academy. Cushing is led by Makai Ashton-Langford, another prime UConn target. The Huskies are expected to watch a player on Friday in Houston, as well.

UConn continues to keep an eye on its other commits, as well, recently seeing Alterique Gilbert play in Georgia. The Huskies are encouraged with Juwan Durham's progress, as well, and feel he'll be ready to go by next November -- even if he has to start off slowly.

And it certainly appears Vance Jackson is excited about becoming a Husky this summer.

6 months till I be in Storrs✈️😝

— HeVantastic (@VanceJackson1) January 13, 2016

The 2015 National Prep Showcase will run Nov. 20-22 at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, and as always, a strong field full of top recruits will be on display.

UConn fans should take note of the following: Putnam Science Academy, with commit Mamadou Diarra and Husky Class of 2017 target Hamadou Diallo in tow, will play on Friday, Nov. 20, at 8:30 p.m. against Sunrise Christian Academy.

PSA will play again the following night, at 8 p.m., against Monteverde Academy.

Meanwhile, Cushing Academy, featuring prime Class of '17 UConn target Makai Ashton-Langford, will play on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m.

Also worth noting: New Haven's own Tremont Waters, whom UConn has offered and is still recruiting, plays on Nov. 20 with South Kent Prep against Hargrave Military Academy, then again on Nov. 22 at 11:45 a.m. against Monteverde.

Friday, November 20th

10:30a.m. Notre Dame Prep (MA) vs. Fork Union Military Academy (VA)

12:00p.m. South Kent (CT) vs. Hargrave Military Academy (VA)

1:45p.m. St. Thomas More (CT) vs. IMG Academy (FL)

3:30p.m. Bridgton Academy (ME) vs. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP)

5:15p.m. Vermont Academy (VT) vs. Spire Institute (OH)

7:00p.m. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) vs. Lee Academy (ME)

8:30p.m. Putnam Science Academy (CT) vs. Sunrise Christian Academy (KS)

Saturday, November 21st

9:30a.m. Fork Union Military Academy (VA) vs. St. Thomas More

11:15a.m. IMG Academy (FL) vs. Bridgton Academy (ME)

1:00p.m. Hargrave Military Academy (VA) vs. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)

2:45p.m. Elev-8 Academy (FL) vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)

4:30p.m. Sunrise Christian Academy (KS) vs. Brewster Academy (NH)

6:15p.m. DME Academy (FL) vs. New Hampton (NH)

8:00p.m. Montverde Academy (FL) vs. Putnam Science Academy (CT)

Sunday, November 22nd

10:00a.m. Brewster Academy (NH) vs. Spire Institute (OH)

11:45a.m. South Kent (CT) vs. Montverde Academy (FL)

1:30p.m. New Hampton (NH) vs. Elev-8 Academy (FL)

3:15p.m. Tilton (NH) vs. DME Academy (FL)

5:00p.m. Cushing Academy (MA) vs. Blair Academy (NJ)

6:30p.m. Wilbraham & Monson (MA) vs. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP)