Calhoun: 'Ridiculous' That Kemba's Not Unanimous

Jim Calhoun was asked at this morning's media availability about how Kemba Walker wasn't a unanimous first-team all-Big East choice.

“Ridiculous," he replied. "I don’t know what league they’re watching."

The all-conference team is selected by the league's coaches. That means at least one coach (can't imagine it was more than one) felt Walker wasn't among the top six players. Who was that coach? Doubtful we'll ever find out, but Calhoun seems to have a suspicion.

"Someone mentioned that before we played one team, that he had committed to, that they’re still upset three years later," he said. "My advice is, ‘Get over it.’ In the final analysis, in Kemba’s life it’s not going to make any difference. He’s a first-team all-Big East player. He’ll probably have a longer career than that coach who didn’t’ vote for him.”

Calhoun was apparently referring to Cincinnati, where Walker seemed headed to four years ago before UConn came into the picture.

Whether it was Mick Cronin or not (and we'll probably never know for sure), Walker isn't holding any grudges. Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough was the only unanimous first-teamer, which may indicate that he'll win conference player of the year honors, as well.

"I think Ben really deserves it," Walker said. "A lot of people don’t think that team is good, but he made them very good. I’m not disappointed. I felt teams did a great job stopping me at times. They (centered) their game plans against me ... Teams made sure that I didn’t hurt them, I commanded respect.”

It sort of sounded as though Walker already knows he isn't going to win Big East player of the year.

“I’m expecting (Hansbrough) to get it," he said later. "He had a great season, he took his team pretty far, they finished second in the Big East. That’s real good. If he does get it, I think he deserves it.”

Elsewhere:

Jeremy Lamb suffered a sprained MCL on Saturday against Notre Dame, didn't practice on Sunday and was going to test it out in Monday's practice. He seems to think he'll play on Tuesday, but nothing's definite.

Calhoun also reported that Jamal Coombs-McDaniel's knee has been bothering him a lot lately.