Dom Amore
Hartford Courant
Ahmad Nowell walked into the Werth Center last May and he was struck by the same sight that strikes so many who visit. The championship banners, which now number five for the UConn men’s basketball program, the life size posters of lottery picks, the All-Americans.
“It was something I wanted to be a part of,” Nowell told The Courant on Monday, a day after announcing his intention to join the Huskies. “It was obviously amazing to see that they could develop all these NBA players and All-Americans and NBA champions. That’s something I want to be in the future.”
UConn had, for Nowell, an unbeatable combination of a storied history, a track record for player development and a championship-level present.
Kimani Young, UConn’s associate head coach, made the first contact shortly after the Huskies won the title and made the offer. “Talking to Kimani, he’s a real genuine guy, so it just clicked then and there,” Nowell said.
When he came to visit, UConn’s incoming freshmen, Stephon Castle and Solomon Ball showed him around, and he went out to eat with several of the current players.
“It was amazing, they were really welcoming,” Nowell said. “They had a teaching thing where they showed their player development, the last three players that went to the NBA.”
Once Dan Hurley spoke his piece, Nowell, a 6-foot-1 combo guard from Philadelphia’s Imhotep Institute Charter High School, was close to his decision.
“He said so much,” Nowell said, “a lot of things that I agreed with. But one thing he said, ‘he works on winning every day.’ He works every day to try to put himself and his team in a position to win, and that’s what really stuck with me because I love to win, and that’s what I want to be, a winner, and I’m going to do everything out on the floor to win. Hearing that from him, that he works on it, really stuck with me, because we see eye-to-eye on it.”
The words, of course, resonate that much louder when there is an 2023 NCAA championship to back them up.
“They play defense very hard,” Nowell said. “It reminded me of my high school, Imhotep. Coach Hurley is really in tuned with the game. I just liked the passion for the game, and also how together they were. I’m looking for how I could fit and from the perspective of the guards, they really let them play.”
Nowell, who weighs about 190, is built like a running back, and football was his first love before he committed to basketball. From his mother, Teneka Greer, a former track athlete, Nowell got his strength and work ethic.
Now, Ahmad, who chose UConn over Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia Tech, will be joining a championship program with name-image-likeness opportunities to give back. As he committed, he promised UConn fans a hard worker, who will be active in the community. His coach, Andre Noble, has said Nowell is “mature beyond his years.”
At Imhotep, which has won back-to-back state titles, Nowell is used to winning and playing with and against top-shelf competition, like teammate Justin Edwards, a top-five recruit headed for Kentucky. Nowell is considered a four-star recruit, ranked 30th in the Class of 2024 by ESPN, 35th by 247Sports.com and 38th by Rivals.
“When I was trying to figure out everything I wanted in a college, UConn checked all the boxes,” he said. “From the style of play to how together the team is. I’m a dog, so on the defensive end I think I will fit right in from day one with the intensity of their defense, understanding all the play action, I think I work really good off pick-and-rolls and they do that often.”
UConn coaches cannot comment on recruits until they sign their National Letters of Intent, which for Nowell would be November. He has one more season at Imhotep to chase another championship and develop his skills for arrival in Storrs.
He believes he knows what it takes to win, and what it will take to be a Hurley-UConn type of player.
“The preparation that goes into it, knowing that teams aren’t going to give up, fighting through everything,” Nowell said. “Watching film, and trying to take teams out of the situations that they’re good in. My shooting ability, my play-making ability, my ability to make reads off the pick and roll, and my effort. In high school, people don’t see the stuff that doesn’t really show up in the stat sheets, all my defensive deflections, my spin-backs and all those possession that might not look good, but I’m going to make it look good with extra effort.”
Nowell is UConn’s second commitment from the Class of ’24, joining 6-7 forward Isaiah Abraham.
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