Jacob Furphy Would Be Competing For Minutes This Year, UConn's Dan Hurley Says

A lot of people are sleeping on the six-foot-five Aussie in UConn's 2025 class
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When it comes to UConn’s loaded 2025 recruiting class, everyone’s pumped about the “Big 3” of Braylon Mullins, Eric Reibe, and Darius Adams, but not enough people are talking about Jacob Furphy.

Furphy flying under the radar comes as no surprise in today’s day and age of recruiting, where rankings reign supreme. 

Furphy — a native of Australia — is the No. 94-ranked recruit in 2025 according to 247Sports, far behind Mullins (No. 13), Adams (No. 25), and Reibe (No. 31).

But time and time again, we’ve seen high-ranked high school players underperform at the college level just as often as we’ve seen low-ranked guys excel in college and move onto the NBA.

Furphy has a real chance to be a big-time player for UConn, and he showed that on Monday playing for the under-20 Australian national team and dropping 41 points, eight rebounds, and four assists on 15-for-23 from the field in a performance that created shockwaves on X.

The huge game — and resulting hype train — for Furphy arrived just as Mullins, Reibe, and Adams were announced as McDonald’s All-Americans, making the start of this week a reminder of how wildly talented Dan Hurley’s incoming class is.

Hurley was asked about Furphy on Tuesday during the pregame press conference leading up to UConn’s battle with DePaul on Wednesday.

“He’s going to compete for (playing time next season),” Hurley said about Furphy. 

“He’s got a real chance to get on the floor and make an impact.”

“He’d be flirting with (being on the court) this year, just ‘cause he’s tough, and he’s smart and he’s got great size at guard, and the way we play fits him perfectly.”

“But I think his spirit and his competitiveness is something that we’ve lost a little bit in the locker room, and he’s gonna bring that.”

Hurley’s belief in Furphy shows that competition for guard minutes on next year’s UConn squad is going to be a dogfight. 

Presuming Solo Ball and Aidan Mahaney return for their junior and senior seasons, respectively, and Ahmad Nowell returns for his sophomore year, the Huskies will have up to six guards capable of deserving floor time.

More NCAA: Ranking The 10 Most Talented Players Dan Hurley Has Coached At UConn


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Colin Keane
COLIN KEANE

Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org