A little more on Amida Brimah, who is sitting behind UConn's bench tonight, along with his legal guardian, Nana Baafi, and Fairfield Prep 7-footer Paschal Chukwu:

According to Juan Hernandez, Brimah's high school coach at Archbishop Coleman Carroll in Miami, Brimah is a good student who scored about an 18 on his ACT. That score is good enough to qualify him for virtually any school, so he doesn't have to take the SAT, according to Hernandez.

“He’s just a great kid, an extremely hard worker," Hernandez said. "He’s very, very dedicated, he’s focused. I’m not surprised at all about the success he’s had … or is going to have in the future.”

Brimah's frontrunners were UConn, South Carolina, La Salle (the three schools he visited officially) and Florida International. Lately, Villanova and St. Louis had been calling frequently. Hernandez said he heard NC State was going to call, too, but never did.

So why did Brimah commit on Sunday night, so early in his official visit?

“He said he was very comfortable when he got there. He always got along very well with the coaches. They’ve got a good history with the big guys. His biggest thing is having the opportunity to play in the NBA at some point. One of the criteria was getting him prepared for that, from a playing standpoint and an exposure standpoint.”

“Two main things: having the opportunity to play right away – obviously nobody can guarantee playing time, but knowing there’s at least an opportunity. He didn’t want to be red-shirted, nor did his guardian. And, to be somewhere that prepares him to play in the NBA, hopefully. We all think he can get there.”


Glen Miller and Kevin Ollie had each been to see Brimah play once, but Karl Hobbs had been to numerous games and practices.

Brimah played AAU ball for Each 1 Teach 1, Amar'e Stoudamire's outfit.

*** It's silly to make too big a deal out of the fact that Louisville's scheduled flight to Hartford was cancelled Sunday night and the Cards didn't arrive in town until around 2 p.m. on Monday -- about seven hours before tip-off.

But it's not a stretch to say this could hurt Louisville. Teams get used to routines, and for college basketball teams, that routine includes getting into town the night before, having dinner, breaking down some film, then having a shootaround the next day.

Louisville wasn't able to do any of those things. Will it all have an affect on a bunch of elite, 19, 20-, 21-year-old athletes? Maybe not. But definitely maybe.