Some thought Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun would retire after winning the 2011 national title. Instead, he pulled off the biggest recruiting coup of the summer and will return for the 2011-12 season with an excellent chance to win another championship.
Blue-chip center Andre Drummond shocked the basketball world on Friday by announcing, via his Twitter feed that he'll play for the defending champs this season. His destination isn't that surprising - it's never really shocking when UConn lands a top recruit. But the timing is. Just weeks ago, Drummond announced that he'd attend prep school for a year; most experts had him pegged as the top prospect in next year's freshman class.
The announcement also comes as a surprise because, technically speaking, Connecticut doesn't have a free scholarship to offer Drummond at this time. ESPN's Andy Katz is reporting that another Husky player - likely redshirt freshman Michael Bradley - will give up his scholarship to accommodate Drummond's arrival in Storrs.
Connecticut was a consensus top-ten team before Drummond announced his intentions. I had them ranked sixth in the first edition of my college hoops power rankings. In the latest edition, I've bumped them up to number two. If Drummond is as good as advertised and Jeremy Lamb develops into the player I think he'll become, the Huskies will have as good a chance as any team to win the 2012 title, and become the first team since the 2007 Florida Gators to repeat as champions.
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