STORRS \u2014 Who\u2019s the better shooter?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say me,\u201d Jayden Ross<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 I\u2019m the better dunker,\u201d his kid brother, Jacob Ross<\/a> chimed in.<\/p>\n Jayden: \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll give ya that.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, who is the better defender?<\/p>\n \u201cMe,\u201d said Jacob, buzzing in first.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll say it\u2019s even,\u201d said Jayden, the big brother looking for the off ramp.<\/p>\n This is the kind of conversation that might\u2019ve been heard when the Ross brothers were playing in the family\u2019s yard in Virginia, in middle school, or at prep schools on Long Island or in Maryland, or now, late at night, when they are pushing each other at the Werth Family Center, teammates with the UConn men\u2019s basketball team.<\/a><\/p>\n Tarris Reed Jr. is primed to be a dominant force for UConn men\u2019s basketball<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThey\u2019re just, like, everything you\u2019d want from people in your program,\u201d coach Dan Hurley said. \u201cCulturewise, talentwise. Couldn\u2019t ask for more than what they bring to you on a daily basis. They\u2019re total soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n Hurley, who was once the Jacob to his older brother, Bobby\u2019s<\/a> Jayden, says the younger brother tends to be more of a pain in the neck. \u201cThat\u2019s how I was, and I think Jacob is, too.\u201d (Okay, pain in the neck is not the exact term Hurley chose, but you get the idea. And Jacob concurs.)<\/p>\n The Ross Brothers, Jayden, 21, and Jacob, 19, are a duo within the Huskies\u2019 roster, which is considered loaded for the upcoming season, expected to contend for conference and national championships. They reunited almost by accident. Jacob had committed to Minnesota, but when coach Ben Johnson was fired, he decommitted.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a last-minute thing for sure,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cCoach Luke (Murray) reached out to my parents and I had a conversation with my brother, asking if I\u2019d be interested. Of course, a school like this, I was most definitely interested in coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob, who\u2019d accompanied his brother on his recruiting visit to UConn, now came for his own, and he committed May 8. By that time, Jayden Ross had dismissed any thoughts of transferring, though he averaged only 4.4 minutes in 23 games as a freshman, and 11.4 minutes in 33 as a sophomore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to leave a place like this,\u201d Jayden said. \u201cYou make it your home for two years, you get close to the coaches, it was hard for me to even really think of having to choose another option. I know basketball is very different nowadays and you have to open your mind to all of it, but it was never really a thought. In the back of my head I knew I was going to come back here and improve myself as opposed to running from a situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither can remember the details of the first time Jacob prevailed in a one-on-one brotherly battle, \u201cbut it was definitely a good day for me,\u201d he said, \u201cI was definitely running around the house telling everybody I beat him. He probably let me win, If he didn\u2019t I would have ended up fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n Jayden said no, his brother won fair and square.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was definitely a lot of competing, you go through that your whole life growing up,\u201d Jayden said. \u201cHonestly, I think that was probably part of his decision coming here. We get to push each other every day and on top of that, I know somewhere in the back of his head, he was like, \u2018If he can do it, I can do it.’\u201d<\/p>\n Jayden, 6 feet 7 and 205, has gotten stronger, and is ready to be more physical on the court, complementing his athletic ability. He looked the part in the second open practice for a small group of season-ticket holders Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cYou saw all the things Jay-Ross can bring to the table minus making threes,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cHe literally did everything else on the court, and his brother is a very similar prospect.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Karaban is all-business for 2025-26; Notes from UConn\u2019s open summer practice<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Solo Ball, who played<\/a> with both at Saint James School in Maryland, said, \u201cTwo easy guys to play with, and real easy to be around off the court. Great basketball players, super athletic.\u201d<\/p>\n Newcomers, especially true freshman, have an adjustment to make at UConn, given Hurley\u2019s hard coaching style, but Jacob Ross, 6-5 and 195, has a bit of a buffer, or at least an interpreter in his big brother.<\/p>\n \u201cComing into a school like this, it\u2019s nothing you could ever experience before,\u201d Jayden said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to get him to really understand, there are going to be a lot of moments where maybe you\u2019ll second guess, think, \u2018This is really difficult,\u2019 but at the end of the day it\u2019s all going to end up helping you to be a better person, and a better player. .. Don\u2019t take things personally.\u201d<\/p>\n UConn is a program that values retention and development more than most in this transfer portal era, so it\u2019s easy to envision Jayden Ross making a leap in his junior year and growing into the productive wing player UConn has been projecting, with Jacob developing behind and one day ready to replace his brother.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a plan, but the best thing for the Ross brothers now is to savor this rare opportunity to go through this life-changing experience together. With double the tickets, they can accommodate their parents, their younger brother and sister, and scattered relatives for any games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels kind of normal,\u201d Jayden said, \u201cbecause we spent a lot of time together growing up, playing together, seeing it come full circle and happening in college, is special because it doesn\u2019t happen often. It\u2019s going to be a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n More for your Sunday Read:<\/p>\n Hartford bid to purchase Connecticut Sun undeterred by reported lack of support from WNBA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n WNBA\u2019s absurd theater<\/p>\n Franchise relocation has a long history of backroom bargaining, political intrigue and court contests.<\/p>\n Now, I hope the WNBA\u2019s Sun stay in Connecticut; I believe they will end up in Boston,<\/a> but this saga has become pure theater \u2014 as in theater of the absurd.<\/a><\/p>\n Generally speaking, a franchise controls a \u201cterritory,\u201d a certain radius from its location, within relevant geographic boundaries. By any definition, the Sun\u2019s territory would certainly cover all of Connecticut, except areas too close to the Liberty in Brooklyn, and in a 13-team league it could legitimately be argued it takes in all of New England, north and east of New Haven. A move to either Hartford, 52 miles from Mohegan, or Boston (106 miles) isn\u2019t really relocating to a new territory, or encroaching on another franchise.<\/p>\n So for the WNBA to contend, as has been reported by Sports Business Journal,<\/a> that neither Hartford nor Boston interests should be allowed to buy the team because neither city submitted an expansion bid is patently absurd, as Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam<\/a> has correctly pointed out to The Courant.<\/p>\n Moreover, if they moved the franchise to Houston, where a previous franchise failed despite several championships, and told Boston and all of New England, where there is a long established fan base, they can compete for an expansion franchise several years from now, this would be unforgivably stupid business practice.<\/p>\n Maybe the WNBA Board of Governors can veto a sale or a move, but Al Davis\u2019 1980s antitrust<\/a> lawsuit against the NFL set a precedent that such power has limits and cannot be used capriciously. (His victory, allowing the Raiders to move to Los Angeles, was based on the ruling that the league\u2019s requiring the approval of 75 percent of owners was an unfair restraint of trade.)<\/p>\n If the Mohegan Tribe has, or does reach a deal worth in excess of $300 million<\/a> with groups in Boston or Hartford, I don\u2019t believe the WNBA would have a leg to stand on in killing it on this basis of rejected expansion cities having to go to the front of the line.<\/p>\n Sunday short takes<\/p>\n *The Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation<\/a> Soccer and Health Camp wrapped up its eighth year in Hartford last month<\/a>, and the new element was free EKG screenings<\/a>, in addition to sessions on CPR and automated defibrillators (AEDs) for about 100 campers, ages 8 and up, from the Hartford area.<\/p>\n Ucal McKenzie, 32, died of sudden cardiac arrest on a Boston soccer pitch in 2009. \u201cI just went to an event for a family that just lost their 13-year old to sudden cardiac arrest, so this is an important topic for all ages,\u201d said Suzanne McKenzie,<\/a> who runs the foundation in memory of her husband. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re ever to young to learn what you can do and how to help a person in need.\u201d The camp, in which Hartford Athletic players participate, will be back for Year 9 next July,<\/a> Suzanne McKenzie said.<\/p>\n *The campers may have turned the season for Hartford Athletic, which hasn\u2019t lost since July 16<\/a>. The United Soccer League\u2019s in-season J\u00e4germeister Cup<\/a> quarterfinals are coming Aug. 20 and, more importantly, a playoff spot is on the table with their current winning streak.<\/p>\n *Mackie Samoskevich, originally from Newtown, brought the Stanley Cup<\/a> he helped win with the Florida Panthers to Northford Ice Pavilion,<\/a> where he played youth hockey, on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n Dom Amore: Meet a CT ballplayer who can really take the pulse of his clubhouse<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n *UConn baseball coach Jim Penders took a contingent of coaches and staffers to Washington, D.C., via Amtrak to see PJ Poulin\u2019s first game with the Nationals.<\/a> They weren\u2019t disappointed. Poulin, the former Huskies workhorse reliever, debuted in the major leagues with a scoreless inning vs. the Athletics Tuesday night. \u2026 Three ex-Huskies, Pat Winkel, Anthony Prato and Kyler Fedko, were all in the same lineup for the Triple A St. Paul Saints<\/a> Friday night. Fedko, who\u2019s hitting .333 since moving up,\u00a0has\u00a0to be called up by the Twins soon, no?<\/p>\n *Kyle Karros, son of former major leaguer<\/a> Eric, began this season in Hartford<\/a> and moved up to Triple A in July. This weekend, he\u2019ll be the first of the 2025 Yard Goats to debut in the majors with the Rockies.<\/p>\n *Branford\u2019s Jake Sullivan, a former captain f<\/a>or Jim Calhoun\u2019s first men\u2019s basketball teams at Saint Joseph, will be a grad assistant on Steve Pikiell\u2019s staff at Rutgers.<\/p>\n *Here\u2019s a challenge for MLB Network: How about digging up the five episodes of the short-lived sitcom adaptation of \u201cBall Four,\u201d starring Jim Bouton, that aired i<\/a>n 1976. As I recall, the show was a dreadful attempt to be \u201cBarney Miller\u201d<\/a> at the ballpark, but I\u2019d watch \u2026 everything\u2019s better in reruns.<\/p>\n Last word<\/p>\n Nothing complicated or controversial this week, just that periodic reminder, in light of current events for which we loathe to provide oxygen,<\/a> that a ticket to a sporting event is an implied contract. The users agree, among other things, they will not throw objects of any kind in any direction at any time. Yes, exceptions could be made for harmless traditions, like hat tossing for hat tricks, or throwing back home run balls at Wrigley Field, but other than that, if you throw anything or interfere with play<\/a>, out you go, preferably for good. \u2026 And you face whatever legal consequences follow \u2014 which should be severe for those throwing sex toys in an arena with children present.<\/p>\n Originally Published: August 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT<\/p>\n\n
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