STORRS – There was an aura about the UConn men’s basketball program that peaked during its 2023-24 national championship season.
Whenever they walked into an arena and Dan Hurley yelled, “The champs are here,” there was an intimidation factor that came with it. They had the size, the confidence, the cohesiveness on offense, dominance on defense and electricity in transition. Every game, no matter the opponent, the Huskies knew that as long as they did most things right, they should win.
As it goes, Donovan Clingan and Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle and Tristen Newton all heard their name called in the NBA Draft, and some of that aura went with them.
This offseason, Hurley and his staff did all they could to bring it back.
Enter Silas Demary Jr., a 6-foot-4 point guard who resembles a combination of Newton and Castle with his calm, controlled presence and intensity at the point of attack. Demary spent the last two years at Georgia where he was immediately thrown into the fire in the SEC, which has become one of, if not the best conference in college basketball.
Wanting to take the next step, Hurley and his staff pitched their vision and Demary was sold.
“Looking at Coach Hurley, he’s a competitor, a winner, all he wants to do is win and I feel like, at this level, that’s all I want to do,” Demary said after showing off his two-way versatility in the Huskies’ second open scrimmage of the summer. “In the past I’ve had ups and downs of not being able to win, so I really want to get back to showcasing how I can be a winner and how I can impact the game without having to score the ball as well.”
Demary speaks with intelligence and maturity; he knows what to say and he articulates it well. Off the court, contributing to that aura factor, he’s into fashion. He likes shopping for clothes and sneakers and, of course, claims to have the best style on the team, though he admitted Jaylin Stewart and Malachi Smith can put some outfits together. “We’ll see later in the year, when it starts to get cold, who could really put on a good outfit,” he said.
He spends a lot of time watching football, which he gets from his dad, and is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys despite growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Silas Demary Sr. went to Virginia State and played professional football in the Arena Football League, where he was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, a year after Jr. was born, as a member of the Los Angeles Avengers.
The new UConn point guard played football through his freshman year of high school, when he decided he wanted to pursue hoops.
“Off the court I’m very laid back, but on the court I feel like a different person. I’m a dog, I’m gonna compete at all times. But off the court I don’t like to be the same ‘rah-rah’ person the whole time,” he said.
In the workouts local media has been allowed to watch, Demary has rarely looked to score. That part will come along. Right now, in the early stages of learning a new offense, one known to be extremely complex, the focus is just on being a disruptor on defense and making the right decisions with the ball.
“The thing with Silas that was most appealing was the Tristen qualities, two-way player. He’s gonna help fortify our defense because he’s competitive and he’s 6-foot-3 and a half, 6-4, and he’s physically strong, he’s a veteran,” Hurley said. “He’s going to be in those positions a lot with the way we play offense and his own ability to get in the paint where, he’s just right now (going through) the decision-making of, when I get to the (Big East) logo, do I attack the rim? Do I throw the lob? Do I spray it to our – we’ve got big-time shooting out there, so he’s gonna have a lot of space and options. Right now he’s just going through the process of decision-making.”
The primary option in Friday’s scrimmage was the lob pass, and his chemistry with senior center Tarris Reed Jr. and others was well on display. That was a play the Huskies lacked with their point guard struggles last year.
Tarris Reed Jr. is primed to be a dominant force for UConn men’s basketball
Demary hasn’t shied away from the comparisons to Newton or Castle. There will be a learning curve, similar to what those two experienced before becoming the versions of themselves that were inducted into the Huskies of Honor or selected No. 4 overall in the NBA Draft, respectively. The comparisons started right away when the coaching staff showed him clips of Newton during his recruiting visit; associate head coach Kimani Young even called Castle to talk with him while he was in the building.
“Most of where I leaned on (Castle) was, how did he grow that one year he was here with Hurley and how did he adjust to it? How did he get to where he needed to be? And just use the things that he’s telling me and figuring out my way to do what I can do. He’s a straight shooter, kept it honest with me 100%,” Demary said. “Tristen and Steph were kind of the reason why I came here. Just seeing how those guys performed here and how they said Hurley helped them become better players and better people off the court. That’s what I was looking for.”
Hurley has seen steady progress and seems confident in what he has at the point guard position, even with backup Malachi Smith – a Dayton transfer – remaining off to the side after suffering a minor knee injury early in the offseason. Smith, a compliment to Demary like Hassan Diarra was to Newton, hasn’t let Hurley forget about the final game of last year’s Maui Invitational, when the Flyers embarrassed the Huskies, 85-67.
“He’s got some pop, he’s got some swag, he’s got some confidence,” Hurley said.
Smith should be good to go by the time the team returns from its short break toward the end of August and he’ll be able to continue building on the chemistry with Demary and his teammates, which has grown through team dinners and a trip to an escape room, where communication was critical.
UConn was able to retain a healthy amount of experience and bring in some highly-touted freshmen this offseason. Adding Demary and Smith from the portal was a way of directly addressing the No. 1 area that held the Huskies back last season and so far it seems to be working out.
“I’m hard on myself and they have a standard, but to be able to just come in here and work,” Demary said. “Work through the growing pains of not knowing what to do and then being able to finally watch the film and put it into fruition on the court, it just makes me feel good, makes me feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
Originally Published: August 11, 2025 at 11:34 AM EDT
