Four-star point guard Jalen Gaffney made a verbal commitment to UConn on Monday after his official visit over the weekend.
He is the second ESPN 100 guard to commit to the Huskies in as many weeks after the pledge of James Bouknight, who made a similar decision almost immediately after his official visit last weekend.
Gaffney, who stars at the Westtown School in Pennsylvania, is a skilled and athletic lead guard who is coming off a big spring and summer with Team Rio in the Under Armour Association. He trimmed his list to six schools following the July recruiting period -- Clemson, Connecticut, Florida, Pittsburgh, St. John's and Xavier -- and was scheduled to take his second official visit to Xavier next weekend before opting to end his recruitment.
"Coach [Dan] Hurley laid out five things that stuck with me," Gaffney told ESPN. "The style of play, opportunity to make an immediate impact, exposure, player development, and trust. I trust Coach Hurley, he's won everywhere he's been, and I trust the entire staff and have a great relationship with them."
Assistant coach Kimani Young, who also spearheaded Bouknight's recruitment, has a relationship with Gaffney's father that dates back almost three decades, and was pivotal to UConn's ability to make up ground when the new staff arrived this spring.
While Hurley's arrival at Connecticut certainly marked the beginning of a new era, he and his staff have worked hard to connect to the program's rich history, and with Jalen Adams set to graduate following the coming season and Alterique Gilbert's first two seasons in Storrs being characterized by shoulder injuries, selling Gaffney and Bouknight on the chance of becoming UConn's latest dynamic guard duo was just the latest example of that.
"We've talked recently," Gaffney said of Bouknight. "He actually kind of started recruiting me himself. I think our games complement each other. We're both athletic and able to score. Together we could be that new duo and help the program get back to its glory days. That was definitely part of the allure of it."
With the backcourt of the future now solidified, UConn will put their entire focus on the frontcourt, where they are expected to add multiple pieces before the 2019 class is over with other ESPN 100 products including Precious Achiuwa, Akok Akok, and Tre Mitchell being among their top targets.