Andre Drummond is still just a big kid at heart. Case in point:

But he takes his status as an NBA star and a role model seriously, and he's always giving back. One of his chief beneficiaries is his hometown of Middletown, specifically the Middlesex YMCA. He was back there on Friday, handing out 300 backpacks stuffed with school supplies and signing 100 basketballs for a long line of local kids.

Here's the story we wrote about the event. (By the way, he'll be playing in the Osgood Shootout at New Britain High on Saturday at 3 p.m., if you're interested).

And here are a few more photos:

We're reminded again about what a good person Andre Drummond is.

Drummond will be at the Middlesex YMCA in Middletown on Friday, Aug. 18. The first 300 children in attendance will receive a backpack with school supplies, while the first 100 kids will receive an autographed basketball. The event, which will run from 6-8 p.m., is open to the public.

Drummond, who will be accompanied by longtime friend from Middletown Mike Boornazian, has previously donated $10,000 to the Middlesex Y. That money funded Andre’s Allstars, a program open to youth over the age of 12 which currently provides support to over 30 participants. All participants receive a complimentary membership and academic support with tutoring sessions on Tuesday evenings, during the school year, through a partnership with Wesleyan University Volunteer Tutors.

The funding has also provided an opportunity for additional programming such as basketball skill clinics and S.T.O.R.M.Y Nights (Spend Time Out Relaxing at the Middlesex Y), a program designed to bring middle school kids into the Y for supervised activities on select Fridays. Many Andre's Allstars scholarship recipients have also participated in this summer's youth basketball league.

“We’re very grateful for the opportunity Andre has created for youth in this community," said Middlesex YMCA teen coordinator Craig Chivers. "So many of the Andre’s Allstars Scholarship recipients really need a safe space to get away and focus their energy. It’s such an impressionable age, so it’s important that we continue to provide a positive outlet. I think we’re beginning to truly develop future leaders and establishing a sense of community for the youth here at the Middlesex Y."

Drummond also was recently named a global ambassador for the Special Olympics.

As you likely already know, the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game will be held on Friday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. As an added twist this year, women's players will also join the fun in some co-ed competition.

Here's the press release:

Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun is hosting an NBA sanctioned alumni all-star basketball game this summer – the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game presented by Cigna – as part of the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic.

Many of Coach Calhoun's greatest players will return for the eighth Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Basketball Game. NEW THIS YEAR, many of Connecticut's top women players also will join us for some coed competition. It will be a special night in Connecticut basketball history when stars from our national championship teams take the floor and compete against each other. 

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler, Andre Drummond, Donyell Marshall, Khalid El-Amin, and Rudy Gay among others, have played in past charity games at Mohegan Sun. On the women's side, we have 2016 event commitments from Connecticut stars Nykesha Sales and Svetlana Abrosimova among others.

The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, Aug. 12. Proceeds from the game and the entire Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic will benefit The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

“I'm excited about bringing many of the top men's and women's players from the Connecticut Basketball family together for this game for the first time this year. It should be a tremendous evening as we all reconnect with these stars and I know they look forward to gathering together and playing in front of their longtime fans. As important, I'm so pleased that proceeds from the game will go to fight America’s number #1 killer – heart disease,” said Calhoun.

Since 1999, the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic has raised more than $8 million for cardiology research and life-saving care at The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

Tickets are $12 to $25 and go on sale Friday, June 10th at 10:00AM. To purchase game tickets, call Ticketmaster at 800.345.7000, go to Ticketmaster.com, or visit the Mohegan Sun box office.

After a couple of years at Waterbury's Crosby High, the Greater Hartford Pro-Am officially returns to ... well ... Hartford on Wednesday night. Games will be played at the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy at 208 Huyshope Ave. in Hartford.

The GHPA's 2015 season kicks off at 6:30 p.m., with Attorney Deron Freeman (led by Tobin Carberry and a host of players from Central Connecticut) facing Pauly Chute Slamm (which will be led by a pair of terrific New Haven guards past and present -- Bobby Moore and Tremont Waters. Waters, a UConn target, won't be at Wednesday night's game. Stanley Robinson is also on the team).

At 8:15 p.m., New York's Hot 93.7 (last year's scoring champ Doug Herring, Anthony Cox) will face two-time defending champion BJM Law Firm (Ryan Gomes, Keith Cothran, Lamonte Ulmer, Kelvin Davis).

Other top players expected to compete in the 11-team league include Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins and A.J. Price. The league could get some special guest appearances: on Aug. 1-2, Nate Robinson is expected to play. Other possible players throughout the summer could include Andre Drummond, Rudy Gay, Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb and Wes Matthews.

And, as always, several current UConn players are expected to play throughout the summer.

Hit the Barclays Center Friday night for the Jordan Brand Classic regional all-star game, in which Jalen Adams and Steve Enoch participated. It's hard to gauge a whole lot from these defense-optional games (final score, Adams' Black Team 125, Enoch's White Team 112), but let's just say both incoming UConn recruits were quite impressive.

Adams poured in a team-high 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, doled out five assists against three turnovers and had a pair of steals and even a block. He was named his team's MVP.

Enoch, meanwhile, looked skilled, athletic and active, finishing with 15 points, nine boards and a block in 28 minutes.

Here's a feature we wrote on Enoch that details his rapid rise over the past two years, from an "awkward" JV player to a 6-10 man-child heading to UConn next season. Here's what each had to say afterwards:

ENOCH:



(on friendship with Andre Drummond)

“I see him when I see him. I know he has a whole season, he’s always busy and stuff like that. I always thank him for whatever he gives me.”

“Great influence, I look up to him. He motivates me, because a lot of people didn’t believe in him. To see him work hard now, be the beast he is right now, that’s motivation for me.”

(on going to UConn, which he'll do in June)

“I can’t wait to get up there and face the new challenges. You face new challenges in life all the time. I just can’t wait to see what’s in store for me.”

(advice he's received from Kevin Ollie)

“He said, just keep working hard. Coach Ollie said every time he sees me, I’ve improved in some area -- working hard-wise, he sees improvement every time he sees me.”

(on Jalen Adams)

“I think he’ll have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders coming in. But, at the same time, he has a lot of help because he has a lot of good, hard-working guards that know how to handle the ball. They’re experienced at the college level, so he’ll have a lot of help. But I think he’ll do just fine.”

“I didn’t really watch college ball or look into it too much. I just knew I wanted to go (to UConn).”

ADAMS



“Coach (Jason) Smith and Coach Lee, they got me in the weight room, eating healthy, just working out. Working out up at Brewster, I feel is a lot different than a lot of other high schools. We have seven high-major kids who are going to Top 25 schools, and the kids who aren’t committed, they’re still really good. Just competing with those kids every day, it gets you ready.”

(on being Enoch's teammate after playing against him three times this past winter in prep, and again on Friday night)

“I can’t wait. I think Steve’s really good. He protects the rim, and he’s getting a little back to the basket (game), and he can step out and shoot the 3’s. I think he’s really good. I like him a lot.”

(Adams has beaten Enoch all four times. Does he remind him of that?)

“Of course. We text a lot.”

(on what he expects from himself next season at UConn)

“Hopefully becoming a vocal leader on the court and off the court.”

“He thinks I’ll fit in pretty well. But he just wants me to come in and learn and get better and be a leader.”

“Just seeing how Shabazz is from my neighborhood, seeing what he did, now he’s on the Miami Heat. That just makes the dream more real.”

Ryan Boatright wore his UConn jersey with pride for four years, playing hard every time he took the floor -- with the scars to prove it.

On Thursday night, he'll put that jersey on one last time.

Boatright will compete in a 3-point shooting contest, as part of Final Four week's festivities. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN at 7 p.m. on Thursday from Butler University in Indianapolis.

"He was debating on if he should do this," Boatright's mom, Tanesha, said by phone on Tuesday night. "Then he was like, 'This is my last time putting on my Husky jersey. I've gotta try to represent one more time.'"

Boatright, of course, was in street clothes for UConn's season-ending loss to Arizona State in the NIT a couple of weeks ago. He had hurt his shoulder in the Huskies' AAC championship game loss to SMU a few days before.

He's still rehabbing the shoulder, and while he wasn't prepared to play in the college all-star game this week in Indianapolis, his shoulder is good enough to shoot.

"If somebody would've asked me a year ago, I would've said he'd be in the dunk contest," Tanesha said with a laugh.

Tanesha, her parents and Ryan's brothers and sisters are planning to make the drive down from Aurora, Illinois to watch Ryan compete. (And if you're wondering how Ryan is getting there despite Gov. Malloy's travel ban to Indiana, his flight and expenses are paid for by Intersport, the event's sponsor, and not with state funds).

"He gets to put on that Husky jersey one more time," she said. "He's walking away at peace, and enjoying it more than having to watch it from the sideline. I told him, 'I know you always compete to win, but as a mom, I'll just love to see you compete with a smile.'"

After that, Ryan Boatright, who hasn't hired an agent yet, will focus on finishing up his classwork and preparing for his dream of the NBA. It'll be a tough road, and both he and his mother know it. The other night, Tanesha was on the phone with Shabazz Napier's mom, Carmen Velasquez, when Carmen put Shabazz on the phone.

"It's a process," Napier said of the NBA draft workout circuit. "People don't really understand until they get into it."

At least the Boatrights have a great "family" to go to for advice.

"I'm just thankful to have all the family -- Andre Drummond's mom, Kemba's mom Angela, Carmen, we're all like sisters -- for real," Tanesha said.

As expected, Steve Enoch has committed to UConn. The 6-foot-10 power forward from Norwalk announced his commitment on Twitter on Saturday night.

I will be playing College Basketball at The University of Connecticut as of next season #UConn #Huskies
— • Steven Enoch • (@Tallflow) September 14, 2014

Enoch, who starred at Norwalk High the past few years but will be playing this season at St. Thomas More, grew up a UConn fan. 

“Growing up in Connecticut I was surrounded by a major amount of Huskies fans, including my parents, so the team has always been in the atmosphere,” Enoch told the Register back in July. “Yes, I’ve been a fan of UConn and glad for the entire organization’s success.”

He really burst on the scene back in early June at the Pangos Camp out in Long Beach, California, where Enoch more than held his own against one of the top Class of 2015 big men in the country, Stephen Zimmerman. While out on that visit, Enoch stayed with Drummond, who had been coached by Enoch’s AAU coach, George Matthews, since he was 9 years old. 

“He’s someone I look up to,” Enoch said of Drummond, back in July. “I don’t get to see him often because he’s always on the grind but every time I see him it’s like family. I make the most of every time we hang out, whether it’s him giving me good tips and mentoring on and off the court, or getting scraped in a 1-on-1.”

Enoch made an unofficial visit to UConn in late June. He battled a thigh injury later in the summer after taking a knee to the thigh during a game, causing a contusion that kept him from playing in some of other top camps.

Enoch had been coveted by programs like Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia, Providence, UCLA, Seton Hall and URI, but it seemed a near-lock all along that he would eventually take his talents to Storrs.

Enoch joins Roxbury, Massachusetts point guard Jalen Adams as the Huskies’ two Class of 2015 commits so far. UConn will have at least one more scholarship to fill for next season.

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Andre Drummond, Ben Gordon and Rudy Gay are among the former UConn greats expected to participate in the seventh Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Other likely participants: Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, DeAndre Daniels, Khalid El-Amin, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, Scott Burrell, Taliek Brown, A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, John Gwynn, Lyman DePriest and Rod Sellers. Shabazz Napier is a "hopeful" at this point, we're told.

Howie Dickenman will coach one team and Tom Moore will coach the other. Kevin Ollie won't play, but instead will help assist Dickenman's team. Jim Calhoun, of course, will be there, as well (provided he doesn't take any bike rides earlier in the day). Typically, he floats around to both benches during the game.

Players on all four of UConn's national championship teams will be represented. Also in the house will be the four national championship trophies, on display up on the concourse.

The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ticket are $12 to $25 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster at 800-345-7000, at Ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun box office. All proceeds will benefit the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. Since 1999, the game has raised more than $6.5 million for cardiology research and life-saving care.

Had a brief interview with Norwalk's Steve Enoch the other day, via text messages, for a story I'm writing for later this week. Here's Enoch's highlights video (couldn't figure out how to embed it). And here's how the interview went:

Did you enjoy your most recent visit to UConn, on June 27?

“Yes, I enjoyed my last visit a lot. The thing I enjoyed most was meeting the players and seeing them work out, because I can use some of the drills they were doing.”

What do you like most about the UConn program?

“I haven’t come up yet with what I like most about the program, but overall I think UConn is a great program.”

How much are you enjoying the recruiting process so far?

“I definitely like the recruiting process and the looks I’m getting from colleges because I see all of the hard work paying off.”

Did you grow up a UConn fan?

“Growing up in Connecticut I was surrounded by a major amount of Huskies fans, including my parents, so the team has always been in the atmosphere. Yes, I’ve been a fan of UConn and glad for the entire organization’s success.”

How tight are you with ex-Husky Andre Drummond?

“He’s someone I look up to. I don’t get to see him often because he’s always on the grind but every time I see him it’s like family. I make the most of every time we hang out, whether it’s him giving me good tips and mentoring on and off the court, or getting scraped in a 1-on-1.”

When will you narrow down your list of schools, or make a decision?

“Whenever I feel like the time is right for me to decide the top schools that fit my list of requirements for them.”

Steve Enoch, the 6-foot-9 power forward out of Norwalk who's been generating a lot of buzz on the recruiting trail lately, will be taking an unofficial visit to UConn on Thursday.

The plan for now is for Enoch to head up there early in the day and meet with the coaching staff, then possibly play with current members of the Husky squad during an open run later at night. Whether Enoch plays depends on how he's feeling -- he took a knee to the thigh recently, causing a contusion that kept him from playing at the NBA Top 100 camp this past week in Virginia.

"UConn is high on him," said his AAU coach, George Matthews. "Others that haven't officially offered are high on him. VCU is very high, Virginia has been high, Providence has been calling a lot, UCLA, Seton Hall ... it's been getting hectic."

Matthews added that Enoch "likes UConn, but he wants to know what the pluses and minuses are, how he'd fit in."

Enoch is Class of 2015 and only 16. There was thought about him re-classifying to '16, but that appears unlikely. He really burst on the scene a few weeks ago at the Pangos Camp out in Long Beach, California. Enoch went up against Steve Zimmerman, one of the top '15 big men in the nation, and more than held his own in two games, outscoring him and raising a lot of eyebrows.

Enoch stayed with Andre Drummond during his visit out there (Matthews has known and coached Drummond since he was 9 years old). Enoch played some pick-up games against Drummond and Shabazz Napier, who was also out there getting ready for the NBA Draft, as well as the Warriors' Klay Thompson and some other top D-1 players.

*** Also, highly touted, Class of 2015 power forward Chance Comanche is making an official visit to Storrs on Monday, per reports. Comanche, 6-10, hails from Los Angeles.

Comanche apparently likes what he's seen so far:

At UCONN for my first official visit. The coaches are great guys and I'll see the campus tomorrow
— Chance Comanche (@comanche2414) June 23, 2014

Here's some info on Iowa State, which edged North Carolina on Sunday night to earn the right to play UConn in a Sweet 16 game on Friday night at Madison Square Garden:

Iowa State is led by Melvin Ejim, a 6-foot-6 senior forward who averaged 18.1 points per game, and DeAndre Kane, a senior guard who netted 16.9. The team suffered a huge loss in its Round-of-64 win over NC Central when 6-7, 240-pound sophomore Georges Niang broke a bone in his foot and was lost for the rest of the tourney. Niang averaged 16.7 points per game this season, and the Cyclones often ran their offense through him.

Ejim beat out Kansas’s Andrew Wiggins for Big 12 player of the year. He had 48 points and 16 rebounds in a win over TCU earlier this season. Anyone who can go for 48 and 16 in a game, no matter the opponent, is someone to be reckoned with.

History lesson (this will be brief): UConn and Iowa State have met just once in their respective histories, and it was recent. The Cyclones handed the Huskies a 77-64 loss in each teams’ NCAA tournament opening game on March 15, 2012. It proved to be Jim Calhoun’s final game as UConn’s head coach, as he retired six months later and handed over the reins to Kevin Ollie.

The Cyclones, led by soon-to-be NBA first-round draft pick Royce White, jumped out to as much as a 22-point first-half lead (keyed by a 16-0 run) and withstood UConn’s comeback bid to earn the win. The underachieving Huskies had two soon-to-be NBA draft lottery picks (Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond) as well as future second-round pick Alex Oriakhi on the team. But Drummond and Oriakhi each finished with two points and three rebounds. Drummond fouled out; Oriakhi would soon transfer to Missouri.
Shabazz Napier led the Huskies with 22 points in that one.

It's also worth noting that the game was played in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center, which has become a true House of Horrors for the Huskies in its brief history. UConn will be much happier playing before what's sure to be a rowdy, partisan crowd Friday night at the Garden.

Old pals: Kevin Ollie and ISU coach Fred Hoiberg are longtime friends, dating back to a recruiting trip to two took to the University of Arizona more than 20 years ago. They were also teammates with the Chicago Bulls for about half a season. And when Hoiberg was assistant general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he brought in Ollie to come in and play backup point guard.

Some notes, quotes and video from today at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, where UConn will face St. Joesph's in a "second-round" NCAA tournament game on Thursday at 6:55 p.m. (TBS).

DeAndre Daniels has been a lot more assertive lately. That could bode very well for the Huskies moving forward.

Ryan Boatright:



"We're confident. We know how good we can be. We know that we've got veteran leaders, on and off the floor. We've been practicing well, and we're just getting mentally and physically prepared to go to war. We know they're not going to go down easy. But we're prepared to take the challenge."

(lessons from 2012 tourney)

"Just refuse to let it happen again, man. Losing in the first round, then not being able to play last year, it sticks with you. We're going into this tournament hungry, as a collective group. We're looking forward to getting out there."

(more on '12)

"We were probably the most talented team in the country. The chemistry just wasn't there."

(were guys thinking more about the NBA at the end of that season?)

"Maybe. I was a young guy. I was best friends with (Jeremy) Lamb and (Andre) Drummond. They thought about it, but they really wanted to win the national championship. It just wasn't there, man. I think everybody was just worried about individual goals."

*** Talked to Phil Nolan a little bit on the art of taking a charge:

"I wouldn't say I worked hard on it. It just kind of comes naturally, because I know at the beginning of the year, coach was talking about how no one on the team takes charges and stuff. I was getting in foul trouble. Instead of jumping and trying to block everything, I was just going to stand in the way of somebody and let them run into me."

"Earlier, they were definitely calling them way more. But now, in the last couple of games, they were calling blocking fouls. I will continue to do it, though."



*** Shabazz Napier on that 2012 team:

"It was a team trying to find our way. I wouldn't say it was broken. I wasn't as capable a leader as I thought I would be, and that was one of the biggest reasons why. I don't blame anything on anybody besides myself. That team was talented as any other team you had in America. With me not being a great leader, with Coach Calhoun being out so many weeks, it was too tough for me to handle. But at the end of the day, I'm thankful for that. I learned from it a lot."

Some notes and quotes from a special tribute to Jim Calhoun held at Gampel Pavilion Sunday night:

*** Among those who attended were Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, Kemba Walker, Rudy Gay, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Andre Drummond, Hasheem Thabeet, Jeremy Lamb, Scott Burrell, Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price, Stanley Robinson, Kevin Ollie, Andre LaFleur, Patrick Sellers, Glen Miller, Karl Hobbs, Tom Moore, Steve Pikiell and Eric Hayward. I’m sure I missed a few – more than a few. Gov. Dannel Malloy was there, too. As were the members of this year's UConn team (including Tyler Olander), Warde Manuel, George Blaney, Dee Rowe … you get the point. A tremendous outpouring of support for Calhoun.

*** There will be busts of Calhoun and Geno Auriemma inside the new practice facility.

*** It was also announced on Sunday that Stadium Road on campus will now forever be known as Jim Calhoun Way.

*** Some of what Calhoun had to say before the program:

“It’s an incredibly emotional thing for me, personally. Telling A.J. ‘Congratulations on the birth of your daughter.’ Jeff just got his contract. A long, long time ago, I said I wanted to get into coaching to hopefully affect some people’s lives. They’ve affected mine, I know for sure. I knew it would be an emotional day, but when I see them, it just does something to me, certainly.”

“It’s an incredible bond that never gets broken. As long as they’re fair with you and you’re fair with them, and they had my back, and I had their back … people always say, ‘Coach, you’re too tough on those guys.’ It’s because I love them. I suffer when A.J. didn’t do well, Scottie, Ray, whoever it may be. I jumped out of my chair this year when Ray hit the big 3-pointer for the Miami Heat. Those things don’t change.”

(on the state of the UConn program)

“I think it’s in very good shape. I never had any questions with the guy I wanted to be the coach. I think he’s done an incredible job, and he’ll continue to do an incredible job. The kind of support we had … I was thinking last night, how special the game was – not necessarily the game, per se, but the atmosphere. We used to have basketball games like that at the Civic Center, 16,000. We need to have that, and we will have that.”

*** Ray Allen a great story that defined how the bond among UConn players is built.

“One of the things that I always think about is Eric Hayward. He comes to mind a lot when I talk about our bond that we share. We used to start practice every year in the field house. The trash can was over in the corner, and it was over in the corner for one person. They said, at some point, Eric Hayward’s gonna throw up in the trash can. I was like, ‘Somebody throws up during practice?’”

“Over the course of that year, we’d run suicides we had to be at the line in 28 seconds. Early in the year, Eric never made it. Every time he didn’t make it, we’d have to run again. Coach didn’t care, he didn’t have any sympathy for us. It got to the point where we started running over to Eric, watching him and making sure we did what we had to do to get him over that line in 28 seconds. That was a moment where I saw true growth and I understood what Coach was doing. As much as, at that moment, we didn’t particularly like Coach, it created that bond and got us together. In order for us to grow into a team and be a unit, we had to help Eric get to the point where he could beat this suicide in 28 seconds. Once we got him over that line, it was like we had a sense of accomplishment.”

*** Of course, there’s been a rift in that UConn bond recently in the case of Tate George, who’s on trial for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that bilked clients out of millions. Among them, apparently, is Charlie Villanueva.

Asked about George, Calhoun simply stated: “I haven’t talked to Tate in five years.”

Burrell on the situation:

“It’s very sad to see it happen. You don’t know if he’s innocent, guilty until the trial … It’s sad to be in that situation. The last time I saw him, he said it wasn’t true. He sent an email to a lot of us saying it wasn’t true. So, we’ll see what happens.”

*** Sticks says he’s heading to Canada in a few weeks to play professionally for the Moncton Miracles of the National Basketball League of Canada.

Here’s Sticks talking about Calhoun as a “father figure”:

What if the next great professional athlete out of UConn wasn't Andre Drummond, Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb ... or even a basketball player at all?

What if it's George Springer, the New Britain product and 2011 first-round pick by Houston? It certainly could be. Check out these minor-league numbers this season between Double-A and Triple-A: .315, 26 homers, 72 RBI, 28 steals in 90 games. Here's Springer taking BP and talking at Sunday's Futures Game at Citi Field (he went 1-for-3, beating out an infield single and nearly breaking the glass windows of the third-deck Acela Club with a foul-ball home run):



I didn't have the heart to tell him I've got him on my Fantasy Baseball team. Or current Rock Cat Miguel Sano, either. I shouldn't be in last place in coming years.

The Greater Hartford Pro-Am kicks will have a new look to it when it begins play on July 10.

For one, the league -- for a variety of reasons -- will be based at Crosby High in Waterbury this year.

There will be a few new teams in the league, as well, including one entered by Andre Drummond. The former UConn and current Detroit Piston standout will be put in his own team, according to league co-founder/CEO Peter Higgins, and Higgins is hoping Drummond may bring some of his new NBA friends (like Brandon Knight, etc.) to play from time to time.

Also, the perennial powerhouse team from Waterbury run by Ryan Gomes and Wayne Simone will be split up. Gomes will run with his New Haven buddies, Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer, while Simone will coach a team with some younger players.

Higgins is also trying to get a Bridgeport team in the league, though that's not a done deal yet. There will be three Hartford-based teams, as well as Cambyland and the Springfield Slamm. The Slamm has Jeremy Lamb on its roster and hopes to have two or three of UConn's incoming freshmen (Amida Brimah, Kentan Facey and Terrence Samuel) as well. The frosh are only likely to play on weekends, however, since UConn's freshman summer program has 7 p.m. study halls Monday through Friday.

The league is slated to begin July 10 (though there may be a game or two before that date).

Although Omar Calhoun averaged 11.1 points per game and earned Big East all-rookie team recognition this past season, his father says fans never truly got to see the “real Omar.”

That’s because Calhoun was bothered by hip soreness throughout his freshman campaign. Over the past six weeks, Calhoun had surgeryon both of his hips (on March 26 for his left hip and about a month later on his right hip) that will keep him sidelined for about 3-4 months.

The surgery was performed by UConn team physician Dr. Michael Joyce.

“He played through it,” Omar Calhoun, Sr., said of his sone. “He had a little pain and discomfort, and he played through it and still had a solid freshman year. We’ve got a lot of faith in Dr. Joyce and the UConn training staff. They’re saying he will be even better than he was (before the surgery).”

Calhoun was treated for femoral acetabular impingement (FAI), which is a fairly common condition in athletes. The procedure essentially shaves bone to alleviate discomfort and potentially avoid future problems.

Calhoun, Sr. said his son’s struggles with his hip issues manifested themselves most with his ballhandling.

“He struggled with his handle, that’s where you saw the difference the most,” he said. “He was in pain. To have good handle, you’ve got to get down low. He was in pain at times doing that. He’s a lot more explosiveness (than what he showed).”

Calhoun was also hampered by a sprained wrist, causing him to miss UConn’s season finale March 9 against Providence, but that is now 100 percent.

Calhoun will be on crutches for the next 3-4 weeks, his father said. He’ll stay at UConn to begin summer courses on Monday and rehab with the Huskies’ training staff, and should be ready to resume basketball activities by mid-August.

And it looks like Calhoun will have company on campus from a guy he never got a chance to play with.
Andre Drummond is planning on returning to UConn this summer to continue working on his degree, he told a Detroit sports talk radio station on Wednesday.

UConn announced yesterday what the Washington Post had reported last week -- that the Huskies will open their 2013-14 season at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn against Maryland on Friday, Nov. 8.

A lot of people have noted that UConn's press release regarding the game had the following words:

“We are looking forward to opening our 2013-14 basketball season in such a wonderful way, playing a great program like Maryland in a beautiful facility like Barclays Center,” said UConn Coach Kevin Ollie, who expects to return his top six scorers and top five rebounders, including All-Big East first team pick Shabazz Napier. “I know all our student-athletes, but especially the ones from the New York City area, are very excited about the opportunity.”

While it would appear that the Huskies are expecting Napier (and Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels, not to mention Enosch Wolf) back in uniform next season, it's important to point out that those weren't Ollie's words. Nothing is set in stone yet.

That said, it looks highly likely that UConn will have no NBA draft defections this year. Napier is still in a walking boot, so even if he did get the chance to work out for NBA teams, he'd be extremely limited (if able at all to do so).

*** UConn does not currently have a game scheduled with Texas next season. In November, 2008, the schools signed a four-game contract over six seasons, with games schedule for 2009-10 at UConn, 2010-11 at Texas, no games in 2011-12 or 2012-13, 2013-14 at UConn and 2014-15 at Texas.

This year's game isn't a certainty yet, but that's not to say it won't happen. Right now, all we know for sure is that the Huskies will open the season with Maryland, then play either Boston College, Washington or Indiana on Nov. 21-22 at Madison Square Garden in the 2K Sports Classic.

UConn will play two of those three teams, though it's not known which ones yet. It will also play two prior 2K Classic games in Storrs against yet-to-be-determined opponents. Even if UConn (or BC, Washington or Indiana) lose one of their opening two games, all four of those teams will still go to the Garden. Apparently, the tournament is trying to avoid a situation like it had a few years ago, when Gardner-Webb popped Kentucky in Lexington and the Wildcats didn't get a chance to go to MSG.

UConn was supposed to play Washington in Seattle next season, after hosting the Huskies on Dec. 29 in Hartford. But because the teams may meet in the 2K Sports Classic, that game is likely to be put off for another year.

*** Andre Drummond was back in Storrs on Tuesday. Drummond's Pistons play the Celtics tonight.

It’s fun -- yet really impossible -- to speculate where UConn would be right now if it was postseason-eligible. After all, if the Huskies had been postseason-eligible this season, would Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith still be on the team?

Still, it’s an intriguing question: based on what the Huskies did this year, would they be solidly in the NCAA tournament field at this point, or on the bubble, with work to do this week at the Big East tournament (if, of course, they were allowed to play in that tourney).

We asked a couple of noted “bracketologists” – ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and Yahoo Sports’ Brad Evans – and their opinions were surprisingly varied. Lunardi has the Huskies as a No. 10 or 11 seed, probably needing a win this week in New York to assure themselves of a Big Dance ticket, while Evans has UConn as a 6 or 7 seed – with the potential to climb as high as a 5 or fall as low as 8.

Here’s what they had to say:

LUNARDI:

“For the record, you’re the first person that’s asked me today, but I’ve been asked every day, all season about UConn. I’ve been evaluating them as if they were eligible, and right now they’d be around the cut line, between a 10 and an 11. Kind of where Villanova and Cincinnati are. I’ve got Villanova at 40, Cincinnati at 41. They’d be in the field. Not by a lot, but by enough to feel comfortable.”

EVANS:

“Right now … I’d have them on a 6 or 7 seed line, probably a back-end 6 seed. Their record isn’t gaudy by any stretch, but they’ve got RPI wins, quality wins akin to a Wisconsin or an Illinois. They’ve got 10 losses, but enough accrued quality victories worthy of a 6 seed, or at worst a 7 seed.

“Now, if they lost the opening game of the Big East tournament, they may slide to an 8 seed. But that’s rock-bottom for them. Conversely, if they won three in a row or took the Big East tournament title, they have a ceiling of a 5 seed.”

So why the discrepancy between Lunardi and Evans?

“I usually weigh strength of schedule (they’re top 30), quality wins, but (if you) look at is other metrics – UConn’s KenPom ranking is 53, they’re Sagarin is around 55," said Evans. "Every committee’s different. If you look at secondary metrics and cling to those, they could be a 10 seed. But if you use traditional measurements like RPI, quality wins, strength of schedule, which I’m endeared to, they’d be higher.”

Of course, if Alex Oriakhi or Roscoe Smith (or Andre Drummond) were here … and if they were eligible for the Big East tourney … etc., etc.

If it seems as if I've written this story before, it's because I have ... sorta.

Whether it's been Jim Calhoun's health and/or age, the possible negative ramifications from Nate Miles or APR, or Kevin Ollie working on what amounted to a seven-month contract, there has been plenty of fodder in recent years for opposing coaches to recruit negatively against UConn. And, make no mistake, they have.

Now it's conference realignment and UConn's status in no-man's land, with no Big East brand name or conference tourney at Madison Square Garden to fall back on, as early as next season.

It's always interesting to hear what prep and AAU coaches (not to mention recruits) have to say about possible recruiting impact, and that's what we get in today's story from Jere Quinn (head coach at St. Thomas More, where Andre Drummond went for two years) and Kareem Memminger (coach of the highly-touted AAU program New York Rens, who featured current UConn commits Kentan Facey and Terrence Samuel). We also get Samuel's opinion on the matter.

While the opinions were varied (and both Samuel and Facey are still signed, sealed and delivered and optimistic about UConn), Memminger's opinion was particularly interesting, as he hails from New York, where UConn has mined some of its greatest players in recent years.

Said Memminger: “The 2014, 2015 guys, those are the guys it’s going to affect. I talked to one recruit — I don’t want to mention his name — that UConn has recruited. Basically, his camp told me he likes (UConn) a lot, but they don’t know what conference they’re going to be in.”


Memminger added: "Let's face it, man. It's Conference USA."

Kevin Ollie wasn't overly pleased with his starting 5 as they played defense during a 5-on-5 drill late in Wednesday's practice

"We can go through the motions and get our (butt) kicked again," he shouted at DeAndre Daniels, Shabazz Napier, Tyler Olander, Omar Calhoun and Ryan Boatright.

Later, when asked if his team's been practicing well since Saturday's 70-61 home loss to Villanova, Ollie said: "Yup. Not enough, though. We’ve got to get better, and hopefully we can continue to do that. But we’ve got to be at another level."

Here's a few more notes 'n quotes from Wednesday's practice, in advance of UConn's 7 p.m. bout with Cincinnati on Thursday at the XL Center (the team's last game of the season in Hartford):

OLLIE:

on how 'Nova keyed in on and shut down Boatright and Napier on Saturday:

"I don’t think they were the first team that really honed in on our guards. I think every team's been doing that. But they’ve got to adjust, they’ve got to make improvements … Offensively, they’ve got to choose their spots, they’ve got to use their teammates. I think it’ll be a learning experience. I think they’ll take from the Villanova game and be better.”

on how Boatright's been in practice this week:

"He looked real good. Everybody’s going to have tough games like that. We watched tape, and I thought he performed very well in practice. That kid’s been through some adversity in his life. That’s not the first time he’s been through adversity. I believe that he’s going to respond very positively."

on the spark that Leon Tolksdorf gave vs. 'Nova, popping off the bench for a quick pair of 3-pointers:

“I thought we needed a spark. I brought Leon in, I wanted some effort, and he contributed. He’s making my drive back to Glastonbury a little bit more interesting when I’m thinking about (playing time)."

Take that, Andre Drummond and Arinze Onuaku: UConn and Syracuse are tied for tops in the Big East (league games) in foul shooting at 75.3 percent apiece. Ollie said it's a tribute to ...

“(Hard work and) getting the right guys on the free throw line, of course. Our guards are shooting almost 80 percent, Niels (Giffey) and DeAndre are shooting well. Those guys got the ball in their hands most of the time. They’re doing a great job.

“That’s how we’ve been kind of overcoming our rebounding issues: knocking free throws down, shooting a good percentage and having a low turnover rate.”

Indeed, the Huskies have been even better at the line when it really counts. In the last 10 minutes of all games, plus overtimes, UConn is 187-for-225 (83.1 percent) from the foul line. In the last five minutes plus overtimes, the Huskies are shooting 83.9 percent (151 of 180).

Will Enosch Wolf return this season?

“I have no idea. He’s suspended indefinitely. I said my comments to him, and my comments to the paper, and I’m sticking by them.”

BOATRIGHT:

on 'Nova game:

"We played so bad, I feel like we owe ourselves and the fans a better performance ... I wasn’t Ryan Boatright that game. I just had a bad game. It happens to everybody in basketball. You’ve got to bounce back and move on."

Boatright said he's pretty tight with Cincy leading scorer Sean Kilpatrick. The two attended the CP3 and adidas Nation camps together this past summer.