Ater Majok is heading off to Europe tomorrow, with hopes of hooking up with a professional team. Majok said he’s had offers from several teams, but the problem is that most Euro squads have already started their seasons.

Indeed, leaving UConn at the time he did really put Majok behind the eight-ball in terms of finding a pro team. Which, of course, leads to the $64,000 question: Why did Majok leave UConn?

The answer: we still don’t really know, or at least no one's saying. But it wasn't Majok's decision.

“I didn’t want to leave,” he said. “I’m not stupid. Why stay around here all summer, miss the NBA circuit, and then leave? At the end of the day, I had no choice.”

But he wouldn’t elaborate, instead referring the question to his agent, Mike Lelchitski, of the Washington, D.C.-based Sports International Group. Lelthitski wasn’t any more helpful.

“From what I understand, it wasn’t his decision,” Lelthitski said. “I don’t know what was behind it, but it’s pretty clear that it wasn’t his decision – or it wasn’t all his decision. It was his decision to go pro. He could have transferred to another school.”

Majok has been spending most of his time in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, working out with numerous NBA players (John Wall, Chris Paul, to name a few), as well as at the University of Maryland-Baltimore. He’s slated to fly over to Europe tomorrow, with hopes of eventually hooking up with a pro team – perhaps with help from the Contonu Agreement, which helps players from developing nations find a slot on European pro teams.

“He’s had a lot of offers,” said Lelthitski. “We feel that Ater has a very, very bright future. Being that he’s 23 years old and he’s going to be in the (NBA) draft next year, this next step he’s taking is probably the most crucial one of his career. Is he going to position himself to be a high draft pick in the U.S., or is he going to have an overseas career?”

Don't expect UConn's response to the NCAA's allegations of recruiting violations to be released to the public today ... or any time before early next week (Sunday is a possibility). Let's just say it's a long process for all the various parties to review and re-review everything that will be released.

When the response is released, it apparently will be done so solely on the UConnhuskies.com website. No press conferences or teleconferences are expected.

Jabari Brown will be visiting UConn on an official visit this weekend and will apparently be at the UConn-Buffalo football game Saturday afternoon.

Brown, a 6-5 shooting guard out of Oakland saw his stock skyrocket this summer. He was the MVP of the Fab 48 in Las Vegas.

Here's the 2010-11 UConn men's basketball schedule:


NOVEMBER
Wed 3 American International (exhib.) Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn. 7:30
Sun 7 Bridgeport (exhib.) XL Center, Hartford, Conn. 1:00
Fri 12 Stony Brook Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
Wed 17 Vermont XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
EA Sports Maui Invitational, Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina, Hawaii
Mon 22 vs. Wichita State espn2 3:00
Tue 23 vs. Michigan State or Chaminade ESPN/espn2 2:00 or 7:00
Wed 24 vs. tba ESPN/espn2/ESPNU
Tue 30 New Hampshire Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
DECEMBER
Fri 3 Maryland-Baltimore County XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Wed 8 Fairleigh Dickinson Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
Mon 20 Coppin State XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Wed 22 Harvard XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Mon 27 *at Pittsburgh espn2 Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. 8:30
Fri 31 *South Florida ESPNU XL Center, Hartford, Conn. 6:00
JANUARY
Tue 4 *at Notre Dame Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Ind.
Sat 8 at Texas ESPN Irwin Center, Austin, Texas 3:30
Tue 11 *Rutgers XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Sat 15 *at DePaul Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.
Mon 17 *Villanova ESPN Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn. 3:30
Sat 22 Tennessee CBS XL Center, Hartford, Conn. 2:00
Tue 25 *at Marquette Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis.
Sat 29 *Louisville Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
FEBRUARY
Wed 2 *Syracuse ESPN/espn2 XL Center, Hartford, Conn. 7:00
Sat 5 *at Seton Hall ESPNU Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. 7:00
Thu 10 *at St. John’s ESPN/espn2 Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y. 7:00
Sun 13 *Providence Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
Wed 16 *Georgetown XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Fri 18 *at Louisville ESPN KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky. 9:00
Thu 24 *Marquette ESPN XL Center, Hartford, Conn. 7:00
Sun 27 *at Cincinnati ESPNU Fifth/Third Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio Noon
MARCH
Wed 2 *at West Virginia ESPN/espn2 WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W. Va. 7:00
Sat 5 *Notre Dame ESPN/espn2 Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn. 2:00
2011 BIG EAST Championship, Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
Tue-Sat 8-12 BIG EAST Championship ESPN
*— BIG EAST Conference Opponent
gp- Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.; XL- XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
All times Eastern Standard
Complete schedule information including local television and all game times
will be released in the coming weeks and can be found by visiting UConnHuskies.com.
2010-11 University of Connecticut Men’s Basketball Schedule

Or just go here: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/
w

On vacation this week, but word from Phil Chardis of the Journal-Inquirer is that Enosch Wolf won't be a Husky this year -- or at least until the second semester. That leaves UConn with 11 scholarship players heading into the season.

**UPDATE** Hartford Courant reporting that Wolf will be able to enroll for second semester.

Interesting situation with Bruce Pearl, who'll be docked about $1.5 million over the length of his current contract after admitting to lying to the NCAA. That's a lot of dimes back. His original crime? Excessive phone calls to recruits. Sound familiar? (Yes, I know, there is a lot more to UConn's situation -- most notably, the program's association with Josh Nochimson).

It's worth wondering whether Pearl should actually keep his job. Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, after all, each "resigned" after allegedly lying to or misleading NCAA investigators.

Pearl will still get paid handsomely, and still have multiple avenues to make up for his lost wages. While this seems like a severe penalty, I'm inclined to believe he'd prefer to lose this money than to give up multiple scholarships or suffer a postseason ban, thus hurting his product on the basketball court. The NCAA could still impose stiffer penalties, but I highly doubt it.

Anyway, we'll see Brucie in Storrs this winter. Could be an interesting pregame chat with Jim Calhoun.

UConn's been given another extension to submit their response to the NCAA committee on infractions, this time to Sept. 7 (my birthday!).

The responses must be received by the committee by that date. Per State of Connecticut law, the documents and materials will also need to be reviewed by the University Office of Audit, Compliance and Ethics in accordance with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and its regulations, and the provisions of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act under Conn. Gen. Stat. secs. 1-210(b) (11) and (17).

It's not known how long that process will take. When it is complete, a public release and media availability will be scheduled.

In other words: we won't find anything out next Tuesday, and likely not next week.

Niels Giffey, the 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward from Berlin, Germany, has officially been added to the UConn roster. He'll wear No. 5.

Ater Majok has withdrawn from UConn, according to a press release from the school. Majok played in 26 games last year as a freshman, averaging 2.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.