The UConn coach had just seen Hassan Diarra navigate the Huskies’ quest for a third consecutive national championship while battling injuries, and also oversaw a regression on the defensive end that needed to be fixed. His qualification for the point guard spot was simple: Hurley needed, in his own words, a warrior.
Enter Silas Demary, Jr.
The former Georgia Bulldog entered the portal in the aftermath of the 2024-25 season, where he was part of a team that returned to the NCAA Tournament. Demary had his share of high-profile suitors, with UConn’s Big East nemesis St. John’s at the top of the list after visiting with head coach Rick Pitino on the Red Storm’s New York campus. But the tone and tenor of his first contact with the Huskies and Hurley’s staff effectively shut the door on the Raleigh, North Carolina native playing anywhere else but the basketball capital of the world.
“It goes back to that first Zoom call we had,” Demary reflected Friday, recalling the recruiting process that led him from Athens, Georgia to Storrs, Connecticut. “That’s what made me even want to take a visit. Just talking to them, we were talking about non-basketball related stuff. Seeing how that was, and then when I got on my visit, Kimani (Young) saying, ‘there goes my point guard,’ it was just a match from the start.”
The son of a football player, the junior Demary has natural football-like instincts about him on and off the court. One in particular, while on his official visit, caught Hurley’s eye and sold him before any actual live-game scenarios could play out.
“He led us in prayer,” Hurley, who often speaks passionately about his relationship with God, said. “He had only known us for a couple hours, and he had the staff and his family hold hands before we had the recruiting dinner. We prayed together before our meal, we all held hands, and he led the prayer. That’s when you knew the guy has got some special quality about him. To do that at your recruiting dinner, with people you don’t know, at UConn? Impressive leader.”
What has stood out to Demary’s teammates is how well he was able to immerse himself into the breach he now charges into on a nightly basis. One of UConn’s elder statesmen has frequently come away impressed by his fearlessness in tackling that situation and finding his way through the haze to bring the Huskies to the doorstep of a seventh championship, and third in four seasons.
“I could just tell how serious he was and how much he wanted to win,” Alex Karaban said of his impression of Demary after preliminary conversations with his now-teammate. “And I just thought he’d fit in perfectly to where he’s someone like me, that could help lead other guys to really help be a voice in this locker room, too.”
“There’s always been a vision with Silas to really be a guy like Tristen (Newton) and really be that lead guard for us, a bigger guard in a way, to lead the defense and control the offense. He’s done a great job of that, and he’s had a great mindset, too. He knew the situation he was coming into. He knew how hard he was going to get pushed, and I think he’s lived up to the expectation and more.”
A former point guard himself, Hurley did not readily admit to seeing a little of himself in Demary, but a closer look at the two reveals further similarities. As the son and younger brother of a hall of fame coach and NBA player, respectively, Hurley’s own upbringing mirrors that of the floor general he now trusts to carry out his will.
“He’s got great presence about him, and again, it comes from the family,” Hurley said of Demary. “We’re only having the success we’ve had the last couple years because of the pedigree of the people that we bring in here. (Demary) comes from a great family, incredible inner circle with a dad (who’s a) former football player, so he’s got a football player DNA in terms of his physicality and that warrior mentality, which is not always something with basketball players.”
The family aspect of the business, something ingrained in the coach since childhood, has also helped Demary’s evolution. Almost a year later, the prayer he once led continues to be answered, with he and his UConn teammates standing two wins away from the intentions broached before the Lord being considered a divine mandate for immortality in Husky basketball history.
“I think I’ve just grown a lot as a point guard,” he said with a humble smile. “Seeing the floor, reading the floor…I have 220 assists this year. I’d never done that previously in my career, so to be able to show my evolution of running a team, facilitating and then being able to still impact the game on the defensive side of the ball and pretty much doing anything the team needs.”
“Whether that’s defending the best player, if this is a night where I have to score, then I score. When I need to get other guys going, I will. Just being able to showcase my whole overall game, that’s a testament to the coaches (who) help put me in a position to be successful. I’m just grateful for them even wanting me to come be a part of their program and this team, and I’m grateful to have a great impact on this team, too.”
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