Adama Sanogo poised to add his name to UConn's legacy of elite big men

By Michael Cohen
Updated Apr. 2, 2023 9:11 p.m. ET

HOUSTON — Sometime before Adama Sanogo committed to Connecticut on May 5, 2020, there was a 36-hour window when UConn's coaching staff began to panic. Head coach Dan Hurley and assistant Kimani Young were leading the recruitment efforts for the four-star prospect from The Patrick School in New Jersey by way of Bamako, Mali, and they began to feel like Sanogo, who was rated No. 85 overall in that particular cycle, was on the verge of committing to another program, reportedly Seton Hall.

"Kimani is usually trying to keep my head in the game and not panic," Hurley recalled during a news conference Sunday afternoon. "But Kimani was melting down because he looked like he was not going to come to us. And I think Adama began to kind of tell us he was going that way. So I had to convince Kimani, ‘Hey, we're good. He's a reasonable guy. He's not going to ruin his life and make a bad decision. He's very smart. He's going to pick us.'"

Recruiting restrictions attached to the pandemic precluded Hurley and Young from visiting Sanogo in person, so they did their best to sway him electronically during what proved to be a critical day and a half for the Huskies' future. The full-court press worked. Sanogo flipped his allegiance back to Connecticut, signed a letter of intent to play for Hurley and joined a recruiting class that already included Andre Jackson Jr., another four-star prospect and another of this team's eventual cornerstones for an extraordinary run to the Final Four.

Three years removed from the staff's temporary bout with trepidation, Sanogo has become a driving factor for a collection of players chasing the school's fifth national championship in the last 25 years. Averages of 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game earned Sanogo first-team All-Big East honors after he began the 2022-23 campaign as the league's Preseason Player of the Year. And by taking his game to new heights during UConn's imperial rampage through the NCAA Tournament — he's poured in 20.2 points and grabbed 9.8 rebounds in consecutive blowouts of Iona, Saint Mary's, Arkansas, Gonzaga and Miami — Sanogo has barreled his way into the pantheon of Connecticut's greatest big men alongside Emeka Okafor, Cliff Robinson, Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. He'll have a chance to join Okafor as the only player on that list to win a national championship when the Huskies face San Diego State on Monday night.

"Adama is a really good player," Jackson said during Sunday's media availability at NRG Stadium. "I think he's been a stable player for us ever since he stepped into the program, and he's helped us in a lot of ways. I think he's definitely going to leave a big legacy here at UConn. I'm just grateful to have him as a teammate."

Nearly 20 years after helping former Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun win his second national title in 2004, Okafor remains the program's gold standard for centers. He arrived as a relatively unheralded recruit from Bellaire, Texas, and left the school three years later with a trophy cabinet unmatched by any player in school history. He was named Big East Player of the Year in 2004 and claimed his second consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year honor that same season. He received third-team All-America honors in 2003 and became a consensus first-team All-American the following year. He was twice named Defensive Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (2003, 2004), and the organization honored him as its co-Player of the Year when the Huskies completed a 33-6 season by beating Georgia Tech in the '04 title game.

Okafor averaged 15.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game as a sophomore and still found room to improve the following season when his numbers increased to 17.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. The night he scored all 18 of his points in the second half of a national semifinal against Duke — a game the Huskies won to advance to the title game — remains one of the program's best performances. Two months later, Okafor became the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft.

"Emeka was the second guy taken in the draft and then the NBA Rookie of the Year and (averaged) a lifetime double-double," Calhoun said in an interview with FOX Sports. "It's a lot to put (Sanogo) in that category yet. But he's a terrific player, and I think the impact he's making on the team is the single most important thing. ... He's terrific. His footwork has gotten great. He's very powerful, too, you know? He's probably only 6-8 and a half, and he's not an incredible jumper. But if you have him, it helps everybody on that team — starting with (Jordan) Hawkins and everybody right through the group — because you've got to help in the middle. Otherwise, he's going to score at will."

A more apt comparison for Sanogo might be Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 behemoth whose body type and playing style were far different from Sanogo's but whose journey to Storrs, Connecticut, shares obvious parallels. Thabeet hardly spoke any English when he began playing basketball at age 15 in his native Tanzania, but within a few years, he was averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game at Cypress Christian School in Houston. 

He went on to start 99 of the 100 career games he played at UConn and became a dominant force in the Big East by his sophomore season. He matched Okafor by winning a pair of Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards and twice was named the national Defensive Player of the Year by the NABC. With averages of 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game, Thabeet was named a consensus second-team All-American in 2009 before the Memphis Grizzlies chose him No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft.

"He was a great player at UConn," Sanogo said. "I talked to him and he was like, ‘This place can change your life. You can't lose focus. When everything is going good for you, you can't lose focus. You have to stay locked in and take the coaching seriously.' He was saying stuff like that. And it was good to see that because as an international student, you know, seeing somebody like that come from (Africa) and be one of the best players at UConn, that showed me if he did it, I can do it, too."

Sanogo picked up basketball a year earlier than Thabeet, at age 14, but needed time before warming to the sport. He questioned himself about whether siphoning attention away from soccer, where he ran up and down the sideline as a fullback, was the right choice. To him, finding success in basketball seemed like a thoroughly unenjoyable pipe dream.

But seven years later — after earning first-team All-Big East honors for the second consecutive season and bringing Connecticut to the cusp of claiming the sport's biggest prize — the thoughts in Sanogo's head are much different. Sanogo told reporters there are moments when he finds himself thanking God for the decision he made to immigrate to the United States. 

"Without basketball," Sanogo said, "I would not be able to be here right now. So that's something that I will really appreciate for the rest of my life." 

Exactly where basketball will take him after Monday night remains unclear. Just a junior, Sanogo could return to Storrs for another season and anchor what many believe will be one of the most talented UConn teams in years as the nation's No. 4 recruiting class arrives at campus. He could turn pro by entering his name in the NBA Draft, but there are legitimate questions about what kind of role Sanogo can fill as an undersized big with limited perimeter shooting. Playing overseas is another viable option for him and his family to consider.

But for now, for at least one more night on the sport's biggest stage, Sanogo will anchor Hurley's offense with a national championship at stake. The idea that he almost committed elsewhere is nearly impossible to envision.

"I can't imagine that," Hurley said. "I'd be in trouble right now."

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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