UConn Wasn’t Silas Demary Jr.’s First Dream
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Through 13 games, the UConn Huskies look like a team that knows what it’s chasing. The Huskies are sitting on a 12–1 record and on an eight-game winning streak. They also have a perfect record in conference play, and one of the reasons for this run is Silas Demary Jr.
Demary Jr. has been averaging 9.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor this season. His 21-point night against BYU delivered UConn its first ranked win. Two games later, he logged the first triple-double of his career.
The throughline, however, has been under Demary Jr.’s control. Interestingly, that control did not start in Storrs. Before basketball became the dream, football was the family language. Silas Demary Sr. spent eight years in the Arena Football League, and his son grew up absorbing that world.
Young Silas thrived on youth football fields and even had relentless coaching from his father, who once helped lead a Pop Warner team all the way to the Super Bowl. Shanté Demary, Silas’ mom, still remembers the intensity of those days.
“I mean, he was coaching Silas so hard that I got angry,” Shanté told Hartford Courant. “I made up in my mind that day that I would always drive separately, just in case my son needed a ride home if he just didn’t want to ride with his dad after coaching him that hard.”
Despite the intensity, Silas was drawn in and kept playing football until his sophomore year of high school, where he had to make a tough choice. His basketball coach urged him to focus on one sport, as the team could not afford to have Silas Jr. injured. By then, basketball had already taken hold.
“I remember I was like, ‘Mom, can you help me tell him?’” Silas said. “She kind of broke it down to him, and I was there behind her.”
For Silas Sr., it was a moment of reckoning.“Oh, it was tough,” Silas Sr said. “But I had to realize it was his dream and not my dream. If that’s what you wanna do, we’re gonna jump all-in here for this basketball thing.”
That leap carried Silas to Georgia, where he became a double-figure scorer, an SEC All-Freshman selection, and a proven lead guard across 70 games. When he arrived at UConn, he wasn’t chasing validation. Instead, he was looking for the right fit.
Under Dan Hurley, Demary found a system that demanded precision and accountability, and it felt like the right fit almost instantly. For his family, that arc feels familiar. “Winning is a part of his brand,” Shanté said. “This is just who he has been all along.”
What’s Next For UConn and Silas Demary Jr.?
The Huskies face Xavier University next. UConn holds a 7–5 edge in the all-time series, but the last 10 meetings are split 6–4, with the margins being tight. Their most recent matchup ended in a 76–72 road loss for the Huskies.
Meanwhile, their 2023-24 meeting also saw a 99–56 UConn blowout, and their 2024-25 season saw a one-possession 94–89 escape. While history suggests volatility, Hurley will be looking to change that inconsistency.
The average score in the series sits at 79 points, and six of the last 10 games have been decided by single digits. For a UConn team built on late-game composure, this is the kind of environment where Demary’s growth matters most.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.