From UConn to Providence: What You Need to Know About Corey Floyd Jr.
What a difference a year can make.
At this time a year ago, Providence and UConn appeared to be programs headed in two different directions — at least, that was the perception nationally. The Friars were coming off of an underperforming 2020-21 season, and their recruiting class barely made a blip on the national radar.
Dan Hurley and UConn, meanwhile, seemingly had the full backing of the Big East’s PR machine since announcing their return to the conference, and were stacking up impressive recruiting classes on top of one another.
Hurley’s 2021 recruiting haul, perhaps his most highly regarded, was ranked the seventh best in the country by 247 Sports. All four members of their ’21 class could be found in the top 100, highlighted by a trio of guards in Jordan Hawkins (#51), Rahsool Diggins (#59), and Corey Floyd Jr. (#93).
No one here needs a history lesson on what transpired over the past seven months. UConn is hardly in a tailspin (despite losing the likes of Diggins and Floyd Jr. — who were close going back to AAU days with Team Final, only to transfer after one season), but Providence has followed up a 27-win campaign by cleaning up on the transfer market this spring.
The Friars picked up their fourth commitment of the spring on Sunday, and this one may be the juiciest of any of them. Floyd flipped from UConn to Providence, becoming the first player to transfer between Big East schools since the league allowed its players to do so.
Make no mistake, it got nasty between Providence and Connecticut fans last season. UConn was ready to resume its rightful place atop the Big East in its second season in the league — or, at the very least, begin battling it out with Villanova for league supremacy for the foreseeable future.
In the process, Providence would be relegated back to what UConn fans last knew them as prior to the Big East’s realignment in 2013 — an occasional NCAA Tournament team that might land a top 100 player every once in a while.
Between ruining UConn’s unofficial return to the Big East in December, winning the league’s regular season title despite virtually everyone outside of Smith Hill waiting for the bottom to fall out, and now taking in Floyd a year after he first enrolled at Connecticut, Providence has gone from afterthought to nuisance to a larger-than-expected problem for the Huskies.
Corey Floyd Jr. added even more spice to this rivalry with his decision on Sunday. Floyd saw the rivalry up close last year, and he surely heard stories of it from his father, who played at PC in the early ’90s.
So, while Floyd Jr. will be a storyline when Providence and UConn meet over the next couple of years, his impact could go well beyond being an interesting subplot in a regional rivalry.
The Franklin, NJ native brings a physical presence to the Friar backcourt — he’s 6’4, 210 pounds. He physically punished opponents as an underclassman in high school, and took summer classes so that he could reclassify from the class of 2022 and join Connecticut’s 2021 group.
During his high school and AAU career, Floyd Jr. played for a pair of prolific teams. He saw significant minutes as an underclassman at powerhouse Roselle Catholic in New Jersey, and won Nike’s Peach Jam title last summer playing alongside perhaps the two best big men in the class of 2022 in Jalen Duren and Dereck Lively. Like Floyd, Duren reclassified to the class of 2021 and headed to Memphis, while the 7’1 Lively is a Duke commit who many consider the best player in the class of 2022.
In his final season at Roselle Catholic, Floyd averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He followed that up by averaging 12.1 points per game in EYBL play for Team Final last summer. He shot .393 from 3-point range in the spring and summer (24-61), but .565 from the free throw line (26-46).
Floyd redshirted at UConn last year, but earned praise from Hurley: “If Corey was available and wasn't a red-shirt, he would have played this year because he's physical, he's got great pedigree and size… He doesn't have anything that's really deficient. He's an athlete, well-rounded, and he's still young.”
Connecticut was on him early, and ultimately won out for his services over a group of contenders that included Rutgers, PC, Auburn, and others.
While many transfers of this caliber leave due to playing time, Floyd joined what could be a deep Providence backcourt — one that includes All Big East point guard Jared Bynum, junior-to-be Alyn Breed, freshmen Jayden Pierre and Quante Berry, as well as transfers Noah Locke (grad transfer) and Devin Carter (freshman).
In terms of personal accounts, I have seen Floyd on four occasions. The first came when he was a sophomore at Roselle Catholic when his team went up against then-PC commit Jyare Davis and Villanova pledge Nnanna Njoku in Dec. 2019. Roselle was led by veterans Cliff Omoyuri, CJ Wilcher, and Niels Lane, so Floyd played more of a secondary scoring role. The game was tied at 11 after the first quarter, but Sanford was shut out in the second quarter, as Roselle ran off a 17-0 run.
While watching Massachusetts-based AAU programs BABC and Expressions Elite, I caught two of Floyd’s best games of last summer. He shot 7-16 from the field, including 4-6 from three, in scoring 20 points in a 65-62 win over future UConn teammate Alex Karaban and company. Floyd’s 20 points in that game were a team high.
Floyd was nearly as good versus BABC, putting up 16 points on 6-11 shooting and 2-6 from deep in a 66-51 victory.
Floyd came out firing in the EYBL Peach Jam championship against a Brad Beal Elite team with a pair of five star prospects in the class of 2022 in Nick Smith Jr. (#6 in the 2022 class per 247) and Brandon Miller (#11). He got Team Final going early in their 64-61 victory, making 5-14 from the field and 2-6 from three.
Team Final head coach James Johns spoke highly of Floyd to Adam Zagoria: “Corey is an elite athlete. He can play either guard spot. He has a great understanding of the game, but what sets him apart is his competitiveness. When I first started coaching him, he was quiet, he would just do what I asked of him. But there was more there. I asked him did he want to be ‘Batman or Robin’? He said he wanted to be Batman. He wants to be the guy. He accepted the challenge and was a huge part of a team that went to the EYBL [U15] Championship.
“He reminds me of Tyrese Martin in that way. It’s this quiet toughness. He wants to be great. He’s a winner. Coach Hurley is going to be great for him. Corey will accept the way Coach Hurley challenges his guys and holds them accountable.”
As it turns out, Floyd never played a minute for Hurley at Connecticut.
Like his father, he is now a Friar, and a potential building block for Ed Cooley and Providence.