James Bouknight


James David Bouknight is an American college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference. At the high school level, he competed for La Salle Academy and MacDuffie School, where he was a four-star recruit.

Early life and high school career

Bouknight grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in New York City. He played baseball for much of his childhood and started playing basketball in middle school. He began his high school career with La Salle Academy in Manhattan, New York. As a junior, Bouknight averaged 17.4 points per game, leading his team to the New York Federation Class B state championship, and was named tournament most valuable player. He earned Catholic High School Athletic Association B Division MVP and New York State Sportswriters Association Class B Player of the Year accolades.
After the season, Bouknight reclassified down and transferred to MacDuffie School in Granby, Massachusetts to gain more exposure. In his reclassified junior season, Bouknight averaged 19.3 points, five rebounds and two assists per game before suffering a season-ending torn meniscus in his left knee. After recovering, he played for the PSA Cardinals alongside Cole Anthony on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit. As a senior, Bouknight earned All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council AA honors.

Recruiting

Bouknight was a consensus four-star recruit and was considered the 54th-best player in the 2019 class by 247Sports. On September 18, 2018, before his senior season, he committed to play college basketball for UConn. Bouknight chose the Huskies over offers from Virginia Tech, Miami, Temple, Indiana and VCU, among others.

College career

On November 7, 2019, Bouknight was suspended for three games by UConn for allegedly fleeing a car crash on September 27. He had been charged with evading responsibility, interfering with a police officer, traveling too fast for conditions and operating a motor vehicle without a license. On February 9, 2020, Bouknight scored a freshman season-high 23 points in a 72–71 overtime win over Cincinnati. He scored 19 points in the second half and overtime and made the two game-sealing free throws. One day later, Bouknight was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. On February 29, he had his first double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 84–63 victory over East Carolina.
As a freshman, he averaged 13 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game and was a third-team All-AAC and AAC All-Freshman Team selection.