Jerome Dyson is in a bit of basketball limbo right now, but it's much better than where he was a year ago -- or even a few months ago.

Dyson was recently traded from Minnesota to Phoenix (shortly after being dealt from New Orleans to Minnesota), though nothing's official yet. Technically, he's still a Hornet.

"They're still trying to work out the numbers," he said on Wednesday, prior to a Greater Hartford Pro-Am game. "I haven't taken my physical yet. I'm waiting for a phone call from my agent. It is tough. I want to be able to tell people something. Everybody’s asking questions. A lot of information came out before that I was going to Minnesota, then Phoenix. Everyone’s been on Twitter asking me questions. It’s really hard, because I can’t say much.”

Most importantly, though, Dyson is an NBA player -- something that was obvious from the amount of autographs and pictures he had fans asking for on Wednesday. It's also something that, he admits, he wondered whther it would ever happen while toiling in the 'D' League the last two years.

“That first year (2010-11) was hard for me," he admitted. "Going from UConn to the D-League was a total 180 as far as how we travel, where we stay, practice – just the overall whole experience. I had thoughts of leaving and going overseas. I had talks with my mom about it, but I think my mom and my agent were probably the biggest supporters of me. My agent always told me I was an NBA player."

There was one other experience that convinced Dyson he wanted to remain Stateside, as well.

"I think the one thing that brought me back this past year is the fact that I got to go represent my country at the Pan-Am Games," he said. "That was probably the biggest (factor) in my decision of whether I was going to stay or go overseas. That experience is something I’d never give back for anything.”

Dyson certainly appears to be a more mature, content person than the sometimes aloof kid at UConn who once was suspended 30 days as a sophomore after flunking a drug test. (Ironically, Dyson was on the same team Wednesday night as Doug Wiggins, with whom he was arrested in that January, 2008 incident on campus).

Jim Calhoun recently told me that Dyson had expressed some regret to him about what he "did or didn't do" during his time at UConn. Calhoun told him it wasn't what he'd done in the past that was important, it was what he was doing right now.

Dyson agrees.
“I wouldn’t call them regrets. Everything’s a learning experience. I’m happy the way everything has turned out. I’m sure you can always go back and change things, but I don’t have any regrets.

"I don't focus on the past. I'm just focusing on the present right now."