Cochrane Experiences ‘Dream Come True’ With National Champion Huskies

By Andy Hutchison

It’s funny how things turn out. PJ Cochrane’s athletic focus was on baseball and he never thought he would be playing college basketball. One day, while working at the Jim Calhoun Basketball Camp at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, the Newtown resident’s basketball-playing ability caught the attention of some of UConn head coach Calhoun’s assistant coaches. When they found out he was attending UConn, they asked Cochrane if he would try out to be a walk-on member of the team.

Three years later, the UConn junior was on the court with his teammates, celebrating the Huskies’ NCAA championship victory over Butler in Houston.

Cochrane and the Huskies, who won the school’s third national title on April 4, were honored during a ceremony prior to the New York Yankees-Baltimore Orioles game on April 13. The team’s victory parade was held in Hartford on April 17. “That was pretty cool seeing some of our fans come out to cheer for the team,” Cochrane said.

Sure, Cochrane was far from new to the game of basketball by the time he got to UConn — he played for three seasons at Newtown High before graduating in 2008 and first got involved with basketball when he was 5 years old. But baseball was Cochrane’s passion, even in the winter, before he put down his glove and left his center fielder position to take the game on the hardwood a little more seriously.

Cochrane’s father passed away three weeks into his freshman year at UConn, and he missed a few weeks of school time and decided to drop a class he had fallen behind in without knowing it would make him ineligible to try out. So, still wanting to be involved with the team, Cochrane worked as a manager for the Huskies for a short time. But his heart was in being out there, competing on the court, and Cochrane was determined to try to make the roster.

The 6-foot-2 player, a center at Newtown High, went to the tryouts in his sophomore year and made UConn’s practice squad. This year, his junior season, Cochrane made the team and suited up for a bulk of the games. Although he did not see game action, the opportunity to be part of a national powerhouse program — practicing with and against some of the top players in college ball — is something that makes all of the hard work in practices, and in juggling class work and team travel requirements, worthwhile. “It’s an experience. It’s a lot different than playing in high school,” said Cochrane, adding that he will have a good story to share with his grandchildren some day.

“Obviously, I would love to play but I know I am not Kemba,” said Cochrane, referring to UConn star Kemba Walker, a junior considered by many to be the best player in college basketball, who is leaving school a year early to enter into the National Basketball Association draft.

“Hopefully, next year, I will get to play a few games,” Cochrane added. “I did this with the intent of maybe getting a few minutes out of it.”

That’s quite a commitment — and show of determination. After all, it’s required some six-plus-hour days of practice time and workouts early in the season, and plenty of missed classes to travel with the team. Cochrane has had to play catch-up with his school work and do some of course work online, like his teammates.

If Cochrane knew his game would improve as much as it has since high school, he might have taken a different path and pursued playing college ball at a smaller school. “I really didn’t expect to be playing college basketball,” he said. “I wish I had more God-given size — then I’d make it even more a part of my life.”

Cochrane says he owes a lot of his success to John Quinn, Newtown High’s varsity coach, and Gregg Simon, NHS athletic director/freshman team coach, both of whom recognized his ability and pushed him to play when he was on the verge of quitting early on in high school. “I owe a lot to them,” Cochrane said.

“He was a great, great kid,” Quinn recalls. “He just worked so hard and became one of our key players.” Quinn added that given Cochrane’s natural athletic ability and work ethic he is not at all surprised about how far he has come.

A sport programming major, Cochrane is hoping to work in the front office of an NBA or Major League Baseball team when he’s done with school.

Cochrane and the Huskies had a good season but really heated up at the right time — winning both the Big East Tournament and NCAA title. Many people were surprised, but Cochrane says he and his Husky teammates weren’t.

“We knew we could do it. As soon as we beat Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament [in the quarterfinals] I can’t say there was a game in the rest of the postseason I thought we would lose,” Cochrane said. “We just had a certain confidence about us that nobody could beat us.”