WASHINGTON, D.C. – The last few weeks have been frustrating for UConn’s Solo Ball, to say the least.
Outside of a 19-point effort with four made 3-pointers in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal win over Xavier, the junior guard has had performances to forget in big-time spots for the Huskies. He was just 2-for-10 from the field with the regular-season championship on the line at Marquette, then combined to go 4-for-14 with 10 total points in the Big East semifinal and championship games.
Ball started the NCAA Tournament with nine points on 3-for-12 shooting against Furman, and went 0-for-5 in only 13 minutes in the Round of 32 against UCLA.
It was the first time he’s gone scoreless since his freshman season, when he was mostly seeing action in garbage time as a reserve on the loaded 2024 national championship roster.
“The biggest thing I’ve done now is just learn to ask for help,” he said at his locker in Washington D.C., where UConn will meet Michigan State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. “If my head isn’t in the best space possible, or if I might be second-guessing myself at a certain point in time, just be able to ask for help. Or, if stuff just isn’t going my way, I think before I used to just handle stuff on my own, like solo, and hope it worked.
“But that’s not how stuff works. You gotta be able to lean on people, you gotta be able to lean on your family, your friends, your coaching staff. Ever since I’ve done that, I’ve felt so much more positivity; also just staying off of social media, too, so I haven’t been focused on any of that.”
Jayden Ross has stepped up off the bench amidst Ball’s struggles, helping keep the Huskies’ season alive with his defensive intensity and shotmaking, giving his classmate another chance to get back on track before the year meets its end. Coach Dan Hurley is big on maintaining his starting lineup. He doesn’t want to kill anyone’s confidence and he hasn’t wavered with Ball, despite the recent struggles and seeing his 3-point numbers dip from 41.4% last season to below 30% this year.
“Solo was a preseason All-American, Solo was a second team All-Big East player, I mean, Solo is a guy that we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in unless he had some of those big games throughout the year,” Hurley said. “He just needs to see the ball go in. And I think he’s just got to continue to focus on defending, doing a better job there, doing a better job on the backboard, and that’ll take his mind off of his shooting. But I get the feeling that, just like Braylon (Mullins) was able to get some things to happen (against UCLA), I think that’s coming from Solo.”
In the meantime, Ball is doing everything he can to hold up his end.
“I go to my parents, I go to my coach. … My coach has given me incredible advice, the whole coaching staff has given me incredible advice the past few days. And of course my family, I have a mental skills coach, I got all that stuff,” he said. “I just try and lean on them the most I can. This business, you can’t do it alone. I’m learning it every single day. As I get older, I’m gonna have to learn that, too.”
At the same time, it is a difficult situation to get to the bottom of when most of his shots have been open and his mechanics, while disrupted by a wrist injury earlier in the year, haven’t changed all that much.
“My confidence hasn’t wavered at all. I know I’m the same Solo Ball I’ve been for the past three years,” he said. “It’s not even really a confidence thing. I know how hard I work and how much work I put in, so it’s not even that. It’s just not getting stuck in my own head or anything like that, just being able to talk to someone when something’s going wrong.”
