Kimani Young remembers the first time that he saw James Bouknight play basketball.

While on a recruiting trip in 2017, Young, an assistant coach at Minnesota at the time, stopped by an AAU combine in West Chester, Pa. He knew he was watching a special talent.

"I thought he was one of the best players that I saw that summer that nobody knew about," Young said. "His talent immediately jumped off the page. His shooting, how easy the game came to him. I loved him."

Everybody knows who Bouknight is now.

Recently named an Associated Press honorable mention All-American, UConn's sophomore standout will make his NCAA tournament debut on Saturday against Maryland in a first-round game at Purdue's Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Young, now an associate head coach on Dan Hurley's staff, will be there, too.

The Huskies will need their star to rise to the March Madness occasion if they're going to advance. They're 11-3 this season with Bouknight in the lineup, 4-4 when he missed time due to an elbow injury.

Hurley's message to Bouknight: Don't try to be a superhero.

"You don't have to put on your cape for us," Hurley said. "Great players in UConn's history had these great performances in big spots, they don't force it. It happens organically. James has got to let the game come to him a little bit more and not put that type of pressure on himself. When he dropped 40 on Creighton, he didn't go into that game (thinking) I'm going to get 40. That's the way the game broke for him in terms of opportunity.

"James has done so much for UConn. This place was in shambles when he got here. ... I couldn't be prouder of James."

Bouknight was clearly not himself in the Big East tournament semifinal loss to Creighton on Friday in New York. The previous night, he left the DePaul game in the second half suffering from cramps, needing to be carried down the Madison Square Garden hallway to the locker room.

Bouknight had what he called probably his worst game in a UConn uniform against Creighton, going 4-for-14 from the field and finishing with 14 points. He also had four turnovers.

After the crushing three-point loss, Bouknight beat himself up.

"I was down on myself," Bouknight said. "I didn't want to talk to anyone. I turned my phone off. I just stayed in my room in the dark looking at the ceiling just thinking. That's not me. If you talk to anyone on this team, I'm always giggly, I'm always laughing, I'm trying to have fun.

"The circle that I have around me, my family, my friends, my coaches, everyone in this program from the managers to the video coordinator, they just rallied behind me and they told me it was going to be alright. ... It's going to happen, you're not going to play your best game every night. We've just got to move on."

By the Selection Sunday, Bouknight's mood brightened considerably.

He will be back in the spotlight in the NCAA tournament, and certain has Maryland's attention. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon plans to have Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Darryl Morsell guard Bouknight on Saturday.

"Darryl will lock in on him," Turgeon said on Wednesday. "He's excited about it. ... They've got really, really good players. Bouknight is the best offensive player for them. He's terrific. Looks like an NBA player to me when I watch him play. Darryl looks forward to that."

Hurley is preparing Bouknight for the star treatment that Maryland has mapped out.

"The guy is the heart and soul of that team," Hurley said of Morsell. "He's a tremendous winner, a tough guy and a physical defender. ... James is going to play in the flow better on Saturday. He's got to play off his jump shot a little bit more. James is a big time shooter when he plays to it.

"Putting your head down and trying to strictly drive the ball against a guy of Morsell's physicality is going to be tough. James is an all-around scorer and he just has to play to that Saturday."

Bouknight says he'll do whatever it takes to win, whether that's scoring 30, grabbing 10 rebounds or dishing out 11 assists.

He felt that he let people down during the Big East tournament. He doesn't want to feel that way again.

"I'm ready to go out there and perform and play like everybody knows I can play," Bouknight said. "We watched the film and I saw the things that I did wrong in the (Creighton) game. I saw that down the stretch I played selfish. That's not me.

"I just know I need to make the right plays and just let the game come to me, don't force anything. I'm going to be ready for the game. Just expect a great performance, a bounce back performance."

News and notes

Starting point guard R.J. Cole, who's been in concussion protocol since being injured on Friday, will try to practice full go with the team on Thursday and then will be evaluated. ... UConn practiced at the Convention Center in Indianapolis on Wednesday. ... During his Zoom session on Wednesday, Turgeon compared UConn's style to Rutgers, which Maryland split with during the Big Ten season. "Very tough, very physical, defensive-minded, run a lot of ball screen stuff. They're a lot like Rutgers." Rutgers is coached by former Husky Steve Pikiell.

g.keefe@theday.com