Two-time defending champion UConn lands 2025 five-star guard

Two-time defending national champion Connecticut has landed its first verbal commitment in the 2025 recruiting cycle, and it’s a big one.

The Huskies, a powerhouse Big East Conference program, secured a verbal pledge from five-star shooting guard and top-15 national prospect Darius Adams. The talented 6-foot-5 guard, a native of New Jersey, received more than two dozen scholarship offers throughout his recruitment, but ultimately picked UConn over other finalists Michigan State and Tennessee.

Adams, who took official visits to all three of his finalists, is a consensus top-25 overall player in 2025 class. Most recruiting services rate him as a top-five shooting guard in his class, with his highest national ranking from Rivals.com, at No. 15. Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and Rivals.com place Adams as five stars.

Adams discussed his college decision with ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi.

“It felt right. It felt like family,” Adams said. “After watching them practice, I wanted to go work out. When the visit was over, I did not want to leave.”

Adams is a senior at the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., which is a member of arguably the country’s premier high school hoops conference, the 14-team Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic (“EYBL Scholastic”). Last week, Adams’ La Lumiere teammate, five-star guard/small forward Jalen Haralson, verbally committed to Atlantic Coast Conference school Notre Dame.

As a junior at La Lumiere, Adams averaged 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while the Lakers went 23-5 overall. MaxPreps named Adams an honorable mention All-American this past April.

This spring and summer during the AAU circuit, Adams received high praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances for the 17U team of the Bronx, N.Y.-based PSA Cardinals in Nike’s EYBL league.

In the EYBL regular season, he averaged 15.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest. At the EYBL’s annual Peach Jam tournament in July, Adams tallied averages of 14.4 points and 3.2 boards per encounter.

For head coach Dan Hurley and his staff, scoring a commitment from Adams is a great start to the 2025 class, but Connecticut is far from done in this cycle as UConn coaches continue to pursue various other highly ranked seniors.

Analysts noted that the Huskies are involved with 2025 prospects such as five-star shooting guard Braylon Mullins, four-star center Eric Reibe, four-star guard Acaden Lewis, five-star power forward Niko Bundalo, five-star forward Nate Ament and five-star guard Meleek Thomas.