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Jacob Furphy and the University of Connecticut are seemingly a match made in heaven. The 18-year-old is a high-IQ wing who's shown off an impressive motor and toughness over the course of his junior career, and he'll be joining a Huskies program that has a playstyle that's among the most modern in college basketball, under an intense head coach in Dan Hurley. "It's their work ethic, and the way coach Hurley goes about his business," Furphy told ESPN, on why he chose Connecticut. "Coach is very energetic and enthusiastic. He drives his players to be the best they can every single day, and I feel like that's what I need to get better and go where I wanna go." Furphy's skillset projects as one that should fit seamlessly within Hurley's system. He's a 6'6 wing who can score at all three levels, has excelled as a connector, and makes high-level reads on the offensive end. He's represented his home state of Tasmania as a junior, helping lead them to a third-place finish at the 2024 U20 Nationals, dropping a triple-double - 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists - in the bronze medal game. Connecticut is coming off back-to-back NCAA Championships under Hurley, and have become renowned for their impressive ball and player movement. They had the highest Offensive Rating in college basketball last season - 123.3 points per 100 possessions -and that's a system that, theoretically, Furphy could be extremely effective in.  It's why Connecticut assistant coach Luke Murray was so high on Furphy when he first laid eyes on him at the NBA Academy Games in July, and led the recruitment for the talented Tasmanian. "I think I fit their system perfectly," Furphy said. "They're very European in the way they play, really modern. The thing that excites me about it is that I've been playing like that my whole life. "Going into an environment like that, where I'm gonna be living and breathing it every day, playing that exact same way every day, and then going off the knowledge I already have and the way I've played already, it'll fit perfectly." Furphy is currently a member of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, and was a member of the Australian team that won the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in September, averaging 16.8 points and 4.2 rebounds - shooting 46.4% from beyond the three-point line - over the tournament. "I'd say I'm a fairly intelligent basketball player," Furphy said. "I like to facilitate and playmake, but I can also score the rock from many different areas. I can shoot the three, and get inside; I have a nice little floater game. I feel like I can impact a basketball game in different ways." Furphy won't head to Storrs, Connecticut until the beginning of the 2025-26 season; in the meantime, he'll be making his senior national team debut with the Australian Boomers. The teenager was a late addition to the Boomers ahead of a pair of FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, with Australia set to face Thailand and Korea in November. Furphy isn't expected to see meaningful minutes over those games, but he's relishing the opportunity to be around the high-level NBL talent he'll be teammates with during the week. "I'm not really worried about whether or not I play," Furphy said. "I just wanna get over there and enjoy the experience, and see how my teammates go about it, and the culture they have. It's going up against them, but also seeing how they go about their day, and how they go about tournament play. I'm excited to see all those little things. "This has obviously been a huge goal of mine, so to be able to complete that goal at a young age is very cool."
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