All three of those players may not have been regarded as the faces of their respective franchises, but each was most instrumental when it mattered most.
Smith, a fifth-round draft pick who rushed for just 602 yards in his career, set a Super Bowl record with 204 yards on the ground to help the then-Washington Redskins win their second Vince Lombardi Trophy. Carter, on a Toronto Blue Jays team boasting multiple future Hall of Famers in its dugout, hit perhaps the most memorable walkoff home run in baseball history to complete a successful title defense as the Jays repeated as World Series champions. Krupp, overshadowed by some of the greatest names to ever skate in the National Hockey League, delivered a Cup-winning goal in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche its first-ever championship.
Jayden Ross has one national championship to his credit already at the University of Connecticut, and on a team with star power the likes of Alex Karaban, Silas Demary, Jr., Tarris Reed, Jr., Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins, easily gets lost in the shuffle through no fault of his own. It is the product of simply being a key cog of a balanced roster.
Ross’ teammates recognize the value beyond the numbers, though. Each of them has been quick and unhesitant to label the junior wing a special player in the Huskies’ arsenal. And as the season has ramped up, so too has Ross’ productivity and contributions to a team that now reaches the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for a third time in four seasons.
The 11 points Ross amassed in Sunday’s second-round win over UCLA may seem pedestrian in comparison to the career-best 27 that Karaban put up, or the all-time effort Reed displayed on Friday, with 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman. But a closer look at Ross’ performance Sunday illustrates just how vital he is to UConn when fully engaged.
The first player off the bench for the Huskies on Sunday, Ross immediately set a tone with his unmistakable energy and two-way play, scoring nine of his points in a first half where he changed the tenor of UConn’s gameplay simply upon arrival.
“I was able to see some things they were doing,” he said of UCLA’s game plan. “Just being able to key in on that and make those adjustments when I got in the game instead of letting the game come to me and just trying to have an impact.”
“He’s the reason why we won this game,” Reed proclaimed. “That lift off the bench, and then just for him to bring the juice, bring the energy, we fed off that in the first half. The first time when we were down, he was blocking shots, getting rebounds, dunking, passing, doing everything on the court.”
Almost no one has been a bigger fan of Ross and his unique style than Karaban, who is usually the most effusive in his praise for his teammate. The senior, moments removed from one of his finest hours in a UConn jersey, immediately deflected credit from his own exploits again, highlighting what Ross was able to do for the Huskies when at his best.
“You really feel his presence out there,” Karaban said. “When he goes in there, he could make a deflection, he could get a steal, and it really just gets us going. He saves us so many times on the defensive end, but you can’t take away what he does offensively, too. He made an and-1, threes, he got fouled on a three, and just the shooter he is now is unbelievable. He’s really become such a key piece.”
As UConn’s bench has undergone a stretch of ebbs and flows throughout the season, it has sometimes become imperative that one of the second unit step up and assert himself when one of the Husky starters struggles. Ross has been all that and more this season, finally tapping into a potential that his coach believes could take him to the highest level.
“Confidence (and) strength,” Dan Hurley said when asked where Ross’ greatest improvements have come. “Those are the last frontiers for him to really unleash the impact he could have. You see it right now as a guy that’s pretty much guarding four positions, and he’s making winning plays. He’s contributing with threes and cuts, and getting out in transition offensively. He’s a guy who, eventually, is gonna be an NBA player. He’s gonna develop into that and you’ve seen it before your eyes.”
The belief factor was something Ross admitted had been plaguing him in spurts before his emergence began to take stronger root during UConn’s stretch run. Now with an almost limitless future in front of him as he chases a second national championship, he is eager to further this roll of a lifetime, so to speak, and parlay it into a greater payoff.
“I’ve known within myself that I’ve been a great player for a long time,” he said. “But the confidence piece was something that I definitely lost a bit coming into the college level. I’d say this year specifically, I’ve worked really hard on that and I think it’s starting to show on the court. So I’m just kind of happy it’s hitting during this time, and it’s only gonna get better from here.”
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