UConn head men's basketball coach Dan Hurley had high praise for forward Adama Sanogo following a 76-59 win over San Diego State for an NCAA tournament national championship, CBS Sports Senior Writer Matt Norlander wrote in a Tuesday article.
“He's obviously cemented himself into the pantheon of greatest, obviously, the greatest big guys with all the production and back-to-back First Team All-League, and now this,” said Hurley, “to have the national championship just puts him in a position in one of the most storied programs in college basketball.
“He's an all-time great.”
Adama Sanogo was one of two Huskies to earn a double-double in the National Championship win on Monday. The 6-foot-9-inch forward scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds after gathering 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Miami Hurricanes in the Final Four. Sanogo started a dominant NCAA tournament with a 28-point, 13-rebound performance against Iona in the opening round, as he hit 13 of his 17 shots and two of his attempts from the free throw line.
The former four-star recruit out of Bamako, Mali, Adama Sanogo averaged a career-high in scoring during his third season with the Huskies. He dropped 17.2 points per game for a UConn squad that ended the year with a 31-8 overall record and a 13-7 record against conference opponents.
UConn won every one of its games in the NCAA tournament by an average margin of 20 points, the fourth-biggest since the field of teams expanded to 64 in 1985. They earned highlight victories over Gonzaga and Miami to pave the way for the matchup with San Diego State, taking down the Bulldogs in an 82-54 victory that saw Adama Sanogo score 10 points and grab 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins led the team with 20 points.
“They buried us before the season and then they buried us in the mid-point,” Hurley said, via CBS Sports. “We had the chip on our shoulder.”
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