Jalen Adams commits to UConn: 4-star PG picks Huskies over Kansas, Louisville

Apr 7, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Kevin Ollie waves to fans as he cuts down the net following the championship game of the Final Four in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament against the Kentucky Wildcats at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

The Connecticut Huskies won the national title this season on the strength of point guard, Shabazz Napier, who was recently taken in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft and will play for the Miami Heat this season. Kevin Ollie may have found his successor in Jalen Adams who committed to the Huskies on Monday.

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Adams is a 6-2 point guard from Chsing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass. and the nation’s No. 39 overall recruit and the No. 6 point guard recruit for the class of 2015, according ot the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Adams committed after a visit to the Storrs campus over the weekend and the role Napier played during his tenure at UConn is a big part in his picking the Huskies over offers from Kansas and Louisville, among others.

“It was because of the coaching staff and the style of play,” Adams told ESPN.com. “Coach Ollie lets the guards play. It’s a guards-based program.”

“Seeing what Coach Ollie did with a local guard from where I’m from, it definitely made a difference,” Adams said, “and made me believe that if I put in the same amount of work that I could potentially end up with a similar opportunity.”

Napier will go down in history as one of the best to ever come through the UConn program and Adams hopes to follow in his footsteps and build on the legacy he helped sustain in the wake of Jim Calhoun’s retirement and the hiring of Ollie.

Adams’ AAU coach Vinny Pastore thinks he will fit in with the scheme Ollie runs.

“It’s just a perfect fit for him,” Pastore said. “Their style of play, the tradition they have of developing guards to play free. I think Jalen has always wanted to go to UConn, and they recruited him the entire time.”

Adams is the second commitment for the class, joining fellow four-star point guard William Jackson, that now ranks as the nation’s No. 6 class and the No. 1 class in the AAC, according to the 247Sports team rankings.