By ADAM ZAGORIA
With UConn heading back into the Big East this season, head coach Dan Hurley and his staff are looking for tough, physical guards to compete in one of the toughest leagues in the nation.
They got one on Sunday when Rahsool Diggins, the 6-foot-1 point guard from Archbishop Wood High School and Team Final verbally pledged to the Huskies.
Assistant coach Tom Moore was the point person on Diggins, ranked as the No. 9 point guard in the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.com. He was named the Philadelphia Catholic League Player of the Year as a junior after averaging 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting 46 percent from the field.
Diggins also considered Villanova, Florida and St. Joe’s, among others.
“[Their pitch was] we’re back in the Big East, we need Big East guards to get us back to where we were to win it,” Archbishop Wood coach John Mosco said by phone. “From day one, they really made a connection, him and Tommy and him and Danny.”
“Tommy did a lot of work with him, and Danny. You’re going to get the ball and you’re going to play. We’re going to give you the freedom to play the right way, and we’re going to correct you. And you know Danny, he’s going to holler at you, and he’s going to hug you.”
2021 PG Rahsool Diggins (@RahsoolDiggins3) of Archbishop Wood (PA) captured the 2019 PCL MVP averaging 20.2 PPG last season. A 6-foot-1 facilitating PG who is able to weave his way inside, score on all levels, a slithery finisher and an elite ball handler @WoodBoysBball. pic.twitter.com/ivPDcuuPRq
— Samad Hines (@Samad_Hines) June 10, 2020
UConn figures to lose rising sophomores Jalen Gaffney and James Bouknight to the pro ranks eventually, so Diggins will look to follow in their footsteps.
“He’s a gifted player,” Mosco said of Diggins. “He can really score the basketball. He’s really crafty with the ball. And he’s a winner, he loves to win. He matured into a good point guard last year where he learned to get everybody involved and it wasn’t just him scoring first. And he knows when to take over.
“He’s always got a smile on his face. He’s just a fun-loving kid.”
Said Team Final director Aaron Burt: “Rahsool is one of the most electrifying but underrated point guards in his class. He is one of the most prolific point guards to come through our program.
“He’s a dynamic leader, and scorer on all levels and a terrific finisher around the basket. He has no fears and he lets you know he’s on the floor at all times. He’s a coach’s dream and competes every day like it’s his last opportunity to play.”
Diggins is the latest Class of 2021 guard to commit to a Big East school, after Long Island native Jordan Riley pledged to Georgetown on Saturday and Germantown (PA) Academy shooting guard Jordan Longino picked Villanova on Thursday.
UConn is also honing in on Patrick School forward Samson Johnson and recently had a Zoom call with him.
Johnson was a teammate of power forward Adama Sanogo, who will be a freshman this season for the Huskies.
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