Dan Hurley and his staff are shoring up the Huskies’ depth for next season. They’ve landed a commitment from Oskar Giltay, a 6-foot-10 forward who was the No. 183 recruit in the country in the Class of 2025 before playing for Stanford as a freshman.
Giltay hails from Bilzen, Belgium, and previously played for Hubo Limburg United in the BNXT League, the top division in Belgium and the Netherlands. Like his future teammates and fellow transfers Najai Hines and Nik Khamenia, Giltay is a rising sophomore
and has three years of eligibility remaining.
Giltay averaged 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for the Cardinal last season, appearing in 32 games and starting five of them. He shot 63% from the floor without attempting a three. He also averaged 1.2 blocks per game in his 14.6 minutes per game, showing great flashes in limited minutes. Giltay scored double figures just once – 15 points against Portland – and had four games of double-digit rebounds.
The combination of Giltay and Hines shows that the staff has a clear vision for the center position. Both transfers were two of four players in the country last year that bring elite combinations of rebounding, shot blocking, and overall impact on the defensive side of the floor. Once Eric Reibe entered the transfer portal, a new backup big man became at the top of the list for UConn this offseason.
With Giltay now in tow, Hurley has his first bench piece from the portal, with Hines and Nik Khamenia likely to be starters. With Reibe, Jaylin Stewart, and Jacob Furphy all in the portal, there are plenty of minutes to go around in the second unit for the Huskies, especially with the news earlier this week that Solo Ball will miss the whole season recovering from wrist surgery.
