STORRS, Conn. — Even for a state like Connecticut, where college basketball is a year-round passion, there was nothing particularly special about the morning of June 28, another nondescript Saturday amid a searing summer in this part of the country, with far too many weekends remaining before UConn returns to the court.
But things began to change shortly after 11 a.m. local time in response to what was happening across the ocean and several time zones away, as Australia battled the United States in the group phase at this year’s FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, an event held in Lausanne, Switzerland. There in Vaudoise Arena, the American roster included bonafide stars like BYU signee AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle; Louisville signee Mikel Brown Jr., the No. 8 overall prospect; and Arizona signee Koa Peat, the No. 9 overall prospect. All of them future first-round talents.
And yet the player who outscored them all — the one whose highlights quickly began circulating the internet to enliven Huskies fans several thousand miles away — was a far less recognizable combo guard for the Australians named Jacob Furphy, a product of the NBA Global Academy. Though his team wound up losing by double digits, Furphy poured in a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting to set social media ablaze, at least within the college basketball sphere. His mixture of spot-up shooting, crafty pick-and-roll maneuvers and a unique ability to finish around the rim had UConn supporters salivating at a time when the program’s recruiting class also included five-star shooting guard Braylon Mullins (No. 15 overall) and blue-chip center Eric Reibe (No. 28 overall), who shined for runner-up Germany in the same event.
“You’re looking out there on the floor and there’s lottery picks up and down the lineup for the Americans and [Furphy] is enjoying nice. He’s hanging with all these guys,” UConn assistant coach Luke Murray informed me final week. “It was simply enjoyable to see him play towards the most effective guys. We already had an extremely excessive expectation for him, and so we had been excited to get to work.”
With two future Huskies competing in Switzerland, the place the US ultimately prevailed, Murray and head coach Dan Hurley hopped throughout the pond in help of their signees. They watched giddily because the event developed into a world emergence for Furphy, who averaged 16.7 factors, 4.4 rebounds and a pair of.4 assists in seven video games, and yet one more affirmation for the long-admired massive man Reibe, who put up 15.4 factors, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per sport whereas enjoying a central position for the Germans. Reibe and Furphy even performed towards one another within the quarterfinals — “I preferred speaking a little bit of s— to him,” Furphy informed me — as on-line chatter concerning the legitimacy of UConn’s forthcoming push for a 3rd nationwide title in 4 seasons intensified.
The identification and procurement of a participant like Furphy, who dedicated to the Huskies final October, is consistent with the philosophical revolution Hurley underwent following his crew’s dispiriting loss to Twelfth-seeded New Mexico State within the first spherical of the 2022 NCAA Event. Slowly however absolutely, and with various nudges from Murray, who’s thought to be one of many keenest offensive minds in school basketball, Hurley availed himself to the likelihood that junkyard protection and unflinching toughness weren’t the one traits wanted to win on the highest ranges. He adopted Murray down the rabbit gap of complicated offensive actions, high-powered analytics and the pursuit of gamers with extra holistic understandings of the sport, the type who could make complicated reads in actual time by enacting a set of well-drilled ideas.
“My psychological well being is significantly better embracing offense,” Hurley told me back in 2024, two months earlier than profitable his second consecutive nationwide title with a crew that completed No. 1 within the nation for offensive effectivity.
Most of the particular participant attributes and schematic concepts that UConn got here to embrace are staples of the worldwide sport, the place freedom of motion and off-ball screening begets stunning crew basketball over among the one-on-one, isolation-heavy traits within the NBA. That meant it was solely a matter of time earlier than the Huskies, who’re coming into 12 months 8 beneath Hurley, started eyeing recruits aware of these sorts of methods when figuring out potential targets.
Reibe, who selected UConn over Kansas, Creighton, Indiana and Oregon, was born in Germany and spent a bit of his childhood in Switzerland earlier than ultimately finishing his highschool profession on the Bullis College in Potomac, Maryland. He possesses distinctive ball abilities for a 7-footer and might function comfortably from both the low submit, the place his mushy contact ought to be an asset for the Huskies, or the perimeter, the place his jumper extends past the 3-point line and his sharp passing can feed cutters. With a number of years of nationwide crew expertise beneath his belt, Reibe, who flitted backwards and forwards between a four- and five-star rating, now involves Storrs as the first backup for beginning middle Tarris Reed Jr., the previous Michigan switch.
“Coach Murray watches a whole lot of EuroLeague and tries to implement some stuff from there after which mix it with the stuff from [the United States],” Reibe stated. “They form of combine it collectively, and I see a whole lot of similarities.”
McDonald’s Excessive College All-American Eric Reibe (22) poses throughout a photograph shoot. (Picture by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures)
Furphy, in the meantime, was born in Tasmania, an island off the southeast coast of Australia, and traveled backwards and forwards to the mainland a number of occasions annually as his basketball profession progressed. He ultimately relocated to the capital metropolis of Canberra, which is smack in the course of Melbourne and Sydney, to affix Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence and the NBA International Academy, a program that has produced gamers like Andrew Bogut, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills and Josh Giddey.
As with Reibe, the versatile Furphy has been a part of his nation’s worldwide pipeline for a number of years and even made his debut with Australia’s senior crew within the 2025 Asia Cup qualifiers. He, too, acknowledged the offensive overlap between the form of basketball he is been taught and the core tenets Murray described to him throughout recruiting conversations.
“That was one factor I talked to my agent about as quickly as I discovered that UConn was ,” Furphy stated. “It’s a method that I like enjoying and I’ve performed just about rising up my complete life. That was one of many fundamental points of interest for positive.”
Jacob Furphy of Australia drives to the basket throughout the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025. (Picture by Vianney Thibaut/FIBA through Getty Pictures)
This summer time, Australia’s U19 nationwide crew ran a lot of their offense via Furphy on the FIBA event by asking him to return off screens or come via actions after which make the fitting choices with the ball in his fingers, even when he wasn’t technically the crew’s level guard. Murray was impressed with Furphy’s consolation stage in a high-usage position and lauded his understanding of the right way to change speeds as a cutter. Hurley got here away from the journey to Switzerland happy with how Furphy carried himself on the court docket: He was the primary participant out and in of each huddle; he was consistently speaking with teammates and coaches; he ran all over the place he went — always a point of emphasis with Hurley.
Now, Furphy shall be a part of a deep guard rotation that features returner Solo Ball and newcomers Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia switch), Malachi Smith (Dayton) and Mullins. He initiatives as a capturing guard or undersized small ahead who’s able to sliding over to level guard when needed. And whereas his enjoying time as a real freshman will seemingly be lower than what Furphy was used to with Australia, he is expert sufficient to contribute instantly in a reserve position.
“We simply love his versatility,” Murray informed me. “He’s a screener, he’s a cutter, he’s an initiator of offense, he’s a extremely good pick-and-roll participant. Traditionally, we haven’t been a crew that performs a ton out of choose and roll, however he’s going to be a man that we’re going to present extra freedom to play that manner.
“He’s going to should proceed to get higher defensively and get extra accustomed to coping with measurement and athleticism when he’s making his reads as a passer — simply getting extra accustomed to how that size presents itself on the court docket, presents itself on the rim when he goes to be a scorer — however yeah, we’re tremendous enthusiastic about him.”
That Furphy spent his whole childhood on the opposite facet of the world means the Huskies did not grow to be conscious of him till receiving a tip from a journalist who focuses on protecting the NBA Draft. The advice despatched Murray down one other rabbit gap of learning Furphy on tape from his time with each the nationwide crew and the NBA International Academy.
Murray preferred him sufficient to ask fellow assistant Tom Moore to go to Atlanta when considered one of Furphy’s groups was competing in the US final summer time. Moore cherished what he noticed, simply as Murray hoped he would, and the Huskies’ recruitment of Furphy accelerated as soon as the employees returned to campus and Hurley caught up on the most recent movie. They satisfied Furphy to signal with UConn over Illinois, one other program mining worldwide expertise at a excessive stage, and have been thrilled with the choice ever since — even when he was ranked outdoors the highest 130 gamers within the nation within the ultimate 247Sports rankings.
However fast-forward to this summer time and the FIBA event turned Furphy’s formal introduction to the American basketball world. It marked the primary time that Hurley watched his incoming freshman play in particular person, and what a string of performances he and Murray noticed.
“He doesn’t essentially have the most effective physique, he doesn’t have unbelievable size or large athleticism or nice pace,” Murray stated of Furphy. “However that’s a part of the explanation folks didn’t assume [former UConn star] Cam Spencer was that good in highschool, you recognize, or didn’t assume he was that good at Loyola [before entering the transfer portal].
“So once more, I feel a whole lot of it’s about becoming stylistically. He might not be an ideal match for everyone, however he’s an ideal match for us.”
Michael Cohen covers school soccer and school basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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