Last Wednesday, Dan Hurley and UConn landed a commitment from highly coveted 2026 guard Junior County. The 6-foot-4 senior verbally committed to the Huskies over a slew of suitors, including Maryland, Indiana, Arizona, and Purdue.
His commitment came shortly after visiting Storrs, where you can only assume that UConn was gaining steam going into the visit, and that stepping on campus and hearing the game plan, and feeling the vibe sealed the deal.
You look at County’s rise over the past year, he’s blossomed into one of the nation’s top-rated shooting guards and is only getting better. With a massive pre-college development system such as the one Wasatch Academy (Utah) provides, you know County will be well prepared for UConn in 2026.
THE FIT
Hurley often leans on his guards to lead the offense, and County could be a perfect guy for that. Hurley likes his Hurley-era UConn guards to be strong with length, and at 6-foot-4, County has the physical intangibles that the UConn staff likes out of the guard spots.
The High-IQ play and toughness out of County could also give him an opportunity right away. You can’t play for Dan Hurley and not have some sort of physical but also mental toughness going into a system like UConn’s.
County knows how to make good reads and is very unselfish and loves to create for those around him. He’s a disciplined playmaker and limits turnovers while also keeping good flow within the offense.
He’s a three-level scorer and has a similar scoring prowess on the high school level as current Huskies guard Braylon Mullins.
One aspect of his game that I’ve enjoyed watching is the growth of his defense. He’s become more than a plus defender and can defend multiple positions with his length and strength at the guard spot, which would keep him on the floor at UConn.
He also showed this summer that his rebounding is a part of his game, where he has an impact (5.0 rebounds on the EYBL circuit). For a team that’ll push in transition, which meshes well with how County plays, a guy of his caliber and skillset must be able to crash the boards with efficiency; he does just that.
The FUTURE
This is a commitment that I believe will be one we speak about years from now as a high-impact commitment. UConn obviously has brought home two national championships over the last few years and has the winning formula when it comes to March.
Adding County is a high-level move that makes perfect sense when it comes to systematic fit and getting a guy that will be more than ready when he arrives at the collegiate level.
Depending on what comes next for UConn and the 2026 cycle (Colben Landrew?), they started massively by landing Junior County.
