Kemba's legacy: rebuilding UConn?

The importance of Kemba Walker to the UConn Huskies this season cannot be overstated.

He is that team. He carried them early in the season to wins over teams like Texas and Kentucky. He led them to a title in the Maui Invitational. UConn, who barely cracked the top ten in the Big East's preseason poll, made it all the way into the top five in the country at one point this season. And in March, the month when reputations are earned and sullied, he has led UConn to eight consecutive tournament wins. Five came in a five-day span as UConn won the Big East Tournament title, and three have come in the Huskie's run to the Elite 8, capped by Thursday night's 74-67 win over San Diego State.

As good as Kemba has been, the Huskies are not a one man show. That said, while there is certainly no argument over who the leader is for this team, UConn hasn't exactly had a clear No. 2 emerge.

It sounds silly saying that now, after Jeremy Lamb scored 26 points and made arguably the two most important plays of the game against San Diego State, but early in the season it was Shabazz Napier who appeared to be ready to play the role of Kemba's sidekick. When he faded, it was Alex Oriakhi picking up the slack inside. When Oriakhi had his ups and down, Roscoe Smith stepped in and had a couple of big games.


As much as Kemba Walker has added to this team on the stat sheet, his biggest contribution has been largely immeasurable. And it will be Jim Calhoun and the UConn faithful that reap the benefits.

I don't think anyone expected this kind of season from Kemba Walker. I am certain that no one expected a year like this out of the Huskies, not with the talent they were losing and NCAA violations hanging over the program's head.

This was supposed to be UConn's rebuilding season. It was supposed to be the year where Kemba showed off his talents to NBA evaluators while helping to get his younger, inexperienced teammates seasoned to the rigors of Big East basketball.

And while the results have been more than anyone expected, those facts haven't changed.

Kemba is going to be paid to play next year.

The rest of his team will be back for their sophomore and junior and senior seasons.

Regardless of what happens over the course of the next 10 days, Kemba has already cemented his legacy in the annals of college basketball history. He's already ensured that he will be treated like a deity every time he steps foot in the state of Connecticut. A Final Four or a national title would be icing on the cake.

But his greatest contribution has been the fact that he is the anti-Jerome Dyson.

Kemba's leadership has done more than just win individual games for the Huskies. It has helped make the individuals on the UConn team better basketball players.

Jeremy Lamb has the skill set to be a pro. He's 6'5", he's got the wingspan of an 747, he's athletic, and he is a smooth and well-rounded offensive threat. He's also a passive, shy kid whose biggest flaw as a basketball player is his lack of aggressiveness. If it wasn't for the confidence that Kemba has helped to instill in him, would Lamb even be in a position to score 26 points in an NCAA Tournament game?

Would he be in a position where folks were talking about him potentially being a Big East player of the year down the road?

Shabazz Napier has gone from a turnover prone gunner to a freshman with the balls to take, and make, tough shots in the clutch. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel went from an afterthought sitting on the bench to an important asset at the forward spot that can player the three or the four and is capable of scoring 20 points in a game. Alex Oriakhi has gone from a big body in the paint to a post threat on both ends of the floor and one of the toughest players to keep off of the offensive glass. Roscoe Smith is now a defensive playmaker, an offensive rebounder, and a power forward that can get out in transition while being a threat from three.

All of those guys had that potential coming into the season.

But anyone that watches UConn closely knows that all of them developed and gained confidence over the course of the season. Its that growth and development that has UConn supporters feeling confident about next year's team with their star point guard playing in the NBA.

How much of the growth of the supporting case that can be attributed to Kemba is something we will probably never be able to put a value on. But that value, frankly, is irrelevant. At the end of the day -- at the end of the UConn season, whenever it comes -- it won't matter how or why the UConn supporting cast developed and grew the way they did.

It will only matter that they did.

Because without the production from the non-Kemba's, UConn wouldn't be where they are right now. They wouldn't be sitting in Anaheim preparing for the Elite 8 as Big East Tournament champions. And there wouldn't be the same kind of confidence about the 2011-2012 season.

Maybe that will be Kemba Walker's legacy as a UConn Husky.