Jamal Coombs-McDaniel is in his sophomore year as a Forward for the UConn Huskies. His interest in basketball started at around age nine while spending time at the local community center. “I had nothing else to do but play basketball so I just became interested in it.”

Jamal is looking forward to more memorable moments on the court as a sophomore. As for his freshman year he said, “Individually or as a team, it wasn’t a good year.”

What he learned during his first year at UConn that will help him over the next three years is to play with confidence and heart. “I’m a real vocal guy so even when we play pick-up games, I’m calling out screens and stuff, and the guys react. I get the guys fired up so it should be a good year for us.”

When asked what makes Coach Calhoun happy; Jamal simply said, “I definitely gotta make shots. If we play hard as a team like we’ve been playing, we should be all set.”

Jamal is looking forward to making the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament this year after the team didn’t make it last year. Jamal said, “To make it into the tournament, we have to compete and play every game like it’s our last one. We need to be the team that we are supposed to be.”

Thoughts on new assistant coach Kevin Ollie: “He’s got a lot of enthusiasm. He’s a great guy to have around, and I’m looking forward to being coached by him.”

Winning the National Championship in high school (at Tilton Prep School in New Hampshire) had been his greatest experience before UConn. Jamal and his high school teammate Alex Oriahki (also UConn freshman) have been teammates and roommates for three years at prep school. Now they’ve continued that on- and off-the-court friendship, at UConn.

Jamal’s decision to come to UConn was made when he was beginning his sophomore year of high school. He and Alex are the youngest players during the Coach Calhoun era to have made their college commitment to UConn prior to starting their sophomore year in high school. “It wasn’t a difficult decision; I knew Coach Calhoun was a Hall of Fame coach. He has sent a lot of players to the pros, and UConn is close to home so my family can come to my games. It’s a New England school, and I’m from New England near Boston, Massachusetts”.