Stephon Citadel's Assertion Sends UConn Again to Males's Title Sport – Sports activities Illustrated

Stephon Citadel isn’t your typical one-and-done freshman. 
Bodily, his chiseled body makes him mix in much more with the UConn Huskies’ veterans than your common freshman. He performs a mature sport, joyful to take a seat down in a stance and defend his man with out the standard worries about stacking counting stats to pad his NBA draft inventory. He signed as much as play for a coach in Dan Hurley who makes no qualms about how arduous he coaches his gamers and picked a spot the place he’d be surrounded by veterans with championship aspirations. 
“While you watch us observe on a recruiting go to, you see simply how maniacal we’re … in June, July, Could, October, the day after Christmas,” Hurley stated in March. “You recognize what you’re moving into. We’re ruthless rivals.” 
That didn’t spook Citadel. 
That it didn’t in all probability ought to have foreshadowed the kind of efficiency he placed on in Saturday’s Final Four win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. On the largest stage in faculty basketball, Citadel delivered the best efficiency of his profession, exploding offensively for 21 factors to assist the Huskies maintain off a feisty Crimson Tide bunch. In a sport with a number of future NBA gamers on the ground, Citadel was clearly the very best participant within the sport, making an enormous two-way affect that keyed the Huskies’ eleventh straight double-figure NCAA match win. 
Citadel hasn’t at all times been an assertive offensive participant this season, settling into the background of the gorgeous UConn offense and making his hay in transition. Alabama examined that, sagging off Citadel defensively to attempt to dare him to shoot. Citadel didn’t take the bait and was in assault mode from the leap, tallying 13 factors within the first half to steer all scorers on the break. He drove confidently to the rim, made robust floaters and even cashed in a pair of threes, serving to stand up to a bevy of Alabama threes to take a four-point lead into the locker room. 
“It was sort of a disrespect on their finish simply to protect that far again,” Citadel stated. “I took benefit of it early.”
Even whereas battling foul bother, Citadel had his fingerprints throughout UConn’s defining second-half surge. Alabama had punched again properly, tying the sport at 56 with 12:41 to play and placing the Huskies on their heels for the primary time all match. As a substitute of returners like Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan or fifth-year senior Cam Spencer being the one to step up in that sort of second. First got here a key offensive rebound in site visitors off a Spencer miss that produced a pair of free throws. Citadel then knocked down a troublesome floater within the lane to stretch the result in 4, sparking what turned an 8–0 run that gave UConn a lead the Huskies wouldn’t relinquish. 
The approaching-out get together might need been a shock to Alabama, but it surely wasn’t contained in the UConn locker room. Hurley has lauded Citadel’s work ethic and mentality from the second he was publicly allowed to touch upon the five-star’s dedication, lauding him for caring about “the issues that actually matter” and being an ideal match for the UConn tradition. 
“While you obtained to the primary observe, whether or not you ripped him or inspired him, all the things was, ‘Sure, Coach,’” Hurley stated. 
That mentality additionally rapidly ingratiated Citadel along with his UConn teammates.  
“He’s not like every other freshman,” Clingan stated of Citadel. “He’s on the market to do no matter his workforce wants for him to do to win … He’s probably the most unselfish participant on the workforce.”
“You can inform on his [recruiting] visits,” Newton stated. “It’s by no means actually about Steph, it’s at all times concerning the workforce and successful video games.” 
The dominant exhibiting Saturday figures to make Citadel some cash in June’s NBA draft, which is perceived as pretty extensive open on the high. Whereas not good, Citadel’s dimension and defensive instincts have made him a high-floor prospect, and showings like this one offensively showcase a tantalizing ceiling for groups to faucet into. However there’s loads of time to fret about Citadel’s draft inventory. The main target from Citadel, because it has been all yr, has been on serving to ship a repeat nationwide championship to UConn. That unselfish tradition established on the high and trickled down by all the Huskies program has keyed this system’s exceptional March dominance and now replenishes itself with items like Citadel wanting to affix the get together. 
“[UConn’s culture] could be very uncommon, however we’ve plenty of uncommon guys on this locker room,” Citadel stated. “It’s uncommon to go back-to-back, however we’re the workforce that’s doing it.”

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