Today, former Loyola Maryland and Rutgers guard Cam Spencer announced his commitment to UConn. The fifth year transfer is taking advantage of his extra year of eligibility provided by COVID-19 and will give a big boost to UConn’s lineup.
Spencer, one of the best shooters in the country last season, hit on 43.4% of his attempts from deep. He was tied as the Scarlet Knights’ leading scorer and took nearly half of his shots from long range. A leader on the team, he took shots in clutch situations and was exceptional from the free throw line, where he made 89.4% of his attempts. Spencer also notably hit the game-winning three in Rutgers’ signature win over No. 1 Purdue, a clutch gene that the Huskies will appreciate.
The pure shooter isn’t quite Jordan Hawkins, but he was a key get for a Husky squad lacking in that department. Their two best snipers, Hawkins and Joey Calcaterra are both gone, leaving a team with a lot of bigs and creators, but few players who can just get a bucket as the aforementioned pair could. The infusion of shooting that the team had last year was one of the biggest differences that led to their championship.
Spencer almost surely slots into Connecticut’s starting lineup with a ton of experience. Although he’s never made the NCAA tournament and hasn’t won more than 19 games in a year, he’s been through it all as a college player and will immediately step in as a senior leader. He’ll realistically likely end up in a role between that of Hawkins and Calcaterra, drawing starting minutes, but not commanding the type of attention that Hawkins did. Spencer will have Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle as great passers to find him in his spots and as long as he keeps his green-light and confidence, he’ll find a lot of success.
Looking holistically, Spencer is the piece on the team that allows the Huskies to truly contend to repeat. Teams don’t win national championships without great shooting and Spencer brings that. The mixture of that, his leadership, and swagger to a young team like Connecticut will be the difference maker. Dan Hurley also has proven that he knows what to do with highly-touted transfers like Newton, R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin, so there’s little doubt that Spencer will flourish.
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