UConn Huskies forward Jayden Ross is the only senior who is set to play for his team in the upcoming 2026-27 season. His tenured running mate, Solo Ball, is out for next year due to a wrist injury he had surgery on. This leaves Ross as the primary veteran next season that has fully experienced the up’s and down’s of coach Dan Hurley’s program, where he is looking to mentor a team that recently lost in the 2026 NCAA title game.
With the offseason entering its deep stages, the Huskies have continued to retool their game plan, particularly on offense. In a recent interview with UConn insider Aman Kidwai on Storrs Central, Ross was asked about how much his team’s system has changed ever since his first campaign. Ross detailed how Hurley and his staff’s offensive game plan has stayed the same up to this point, since it has reaped in championships for the Huskies.
“I think it was obvious from my first day in campus, getting to meet these guys. You know, taking that visit that coach Hurley and the coaching staff had a plan. Obviously, they were trending in the right direction. They had a really strategic individual plan for how they wanted to create and like kind of alter their offense at the time,” Ross said. (1:20)
“They had a great idea of the type of players they wanted to bring in that would buy into the program and bring a lot of athleticism and high IQ to the floor,” he continued.
Ross committed to play for the Huskies back in 2022, with his first official season coming in the 2023-24 campaign. After watching UConn win it all back in 2023, Ross became a key rotation piece in the Huskies’ 2024 national championship run. The Bristow, Virginia native is aiming for a bigger role come the 2026-27 season, along with finishing his college tenure with another NCAA title.
Jayden Ross praises how Dan Hurley has been able to evolve the UConn Huskies program
Over the past decade, college basketball has become increasingly more volatile with player and coach recruitment and the transfer portal due to NIL and evolving eligibility rules. In the same interview, Jayden Ross praised coach Dan Hurley for successfully adapting his program to these changes and continuing to be a powerhouse force in the sport. With this, Ross looks forward to the squad’s continuous growth.
“They’ve done a great job. A lot has changed since then. Like you said, I’m the only four-year guy right now with Solo [Ball] and, you know, he’s not playing this year. So, college basketball in itself has changed a lot. You know, we’ve lost two coaches since then; One, Tom Moore being GM, another to getting a head coaching job. We brought in some really good coaches as well since then,” Ross shared. (2:03)
“I think coach Hurley’s done a great job of just continuing to do what it takes to maintain where he’s at and continuing to grow,” he concluded.
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