UConn's Dan Hurley Feels 'Disappointed' About Jayden Ross's Minutes This Year

UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley thinks that all of his players have received the minutes they deserve this season … except one.

On Tuesday as Hurley answered questions ahead of UConn’s Wednesday clash with the Georgetown Hoyas at Hartford’s XL Center, the two-time national champion coach talked about sophomore wing Jayden Ross.

Hurley revealed that he regrets not playing Ross more minutes recently and that the talented sophomore hasn’t gotten the opportunities he deserves this year, in general.

“(I’m) disappointed that I've gotten away from Jayden Ross,” Hurley said.

“I shouldn't have done that. I should have continued to play him. He's the one that should have gotten minutes the last couple of games.”

“If there's anyone this year that probably hasn't had the chances that they deserved more … (it would) probably be solely him.”

Ross has played a combined 17 minutes over the last five games, tallying a total of two points on two field goal attempts across those games.

Ross has averaged 13.2 minutes per game this season but has never settled into being any kind of offensive option for UConn. He’s averaging 2.8 points per game for the Huskies on 21.4 percent from three.

It’s been an undeniably disappointing campaign for a player of Ross’s athletic ability.

Ross has shown flashes here and there, which makes his 2024-25 season thus far all the more frustrating. He scored a career-high 14 points back in November versus New Hampshire in UConn’s second game of the season. It was a performance that made Ross seem like one of UConn’s best players, a status that Hurley also floated around Ross after a preseason closed scrimmage in which Ross reportedly dominated.

Unfortunately, Ross hasn’t been able to slow the game down in most of his appearances this season, and a UConn team lacking in talent as compared with the past two seasons has suffered mightily from the kind of years that Ross and Aidan Mahaney were supposed to have but didn’t.

Hurley has remained confident that Ross can be a really good player throughout all of this, not excluding the most recent comments about wanting to play Ross more.

While many UConn fans have speculated that Ross will transfer after this season, Hurley’s continual support of the six-foot-seven athletic specimen leaves the door open for a return to Storrs in 2025-26 and a possible breakout that everyone’s been waiting for.

And by the way, the current season is far from over. Ross still has a chance to turn things around this season and become a valuable bench piece for the Huskies as they look to defy the odds and go on a run in March.

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