Khalid El-Amin and the 1999 UConn national championship team each were inducted into the Huskies of Honor at halftime Sunday. Richard Hamilton, who hasn't come back to UConn a whole lot over the last 15 years, was in the house, along with the other four starters on the title team (El-Amin, Kevin Freeman, Jake Voskuhl and Ricky Moore) as well as Souleymane Wane, Beau Archibald, coaches Karl Hobbs, Tom Moore and, of course, Jim Calhoun.

Here's what Hamilton had to say:

 “The biggest thing I remember from that game is coach’s attitude at the beginning of the game. Usually, he was always on pins and needles. That was the first game he came in and told us, just relax and play. I think that really, really was the big thing for us, beacuse we really believed we could win the game. We thought we were the best team in the country. We thought Duke was getting all the praise, but we didn’t mind that. It was something exciting for us. I think when Khalid had the ball, running, and they were playing that ‘One Shining Moment’ song, and he was running with the ball, with his hands up, I think that’s the memory that sticks in my head.”

(on seeing Duke players over the years)

“They can’t even look me in my face. That’s how I like it ... to beat them – especially now, playing in the NBA and they've got so many great players in the NBA – you played against them and competed. I’m always hard on them, like, ‘Hey, you never beat (us), regardless of all the praise y’all got, whether you got the Wooden Award or not. We got the ring at the end.'”

“We were undefeated until the game that I sat out. I got hurt, Jake got hurt, and it was good that we actually lost that game, because it kind of gave us motivation to come out and play even harder. We came out and lost on Senior Night – I think it was Miami, here in Gampel. Coach came in and said, ‘Don’t think you’re as good as you are.’ We really had to go out and finish the work and we did.”

(on possibly still hooking up with an NBA team)

“I just want to go to the right team. I want to be on a team that has an opportunity to win. I don’t just want to be out there, going through the motions or anyting like that. I want to be in a situation where I can get an opportunity to get another ring. That’s how you build your legacy.”

(on Calhoun and SMU's Larry Brown both in Gampel on Sunday)

“Isn’t that crazy? You’ve got my two favorite coaches of all time in the same building. Both guys that I got an opportunity to win a championship with. That’s crazy. It’s one of those magic moments, something that couldn’t be planned or anything like that. It’s exciting for me.”

(on why he decided to return to UConn after '98 season)

“You know what it was? I put all my eggs in coach’s basket. I had one foot on the university campus and one foot out the door, and I put all my trust into coach Calhoun. Everything he told me in his office … after that 3-4 hour conversation that day, came true. When you’re 20 years old, sometimes you think people are just talking to be talking. But everything he told me came true.”

(on this year's UConn team)

“I think that KO’s done an excellent job. It’s hard to follow coach Calhoun. That’s huge pressure. But I thought that he came in and really put his spin on things. The guys respond to him very well. You can look at his record for the last two years. One thing I can look at with UConn, we always have great guard play. The guards have been doing great, doing a tremendous job of leading the team.”

Jim Calhoun:

“Of all the things I've done in my coaching career, I’ll never forget walking into this building in 1999 – the trip over, I still describe as probably the most remarkable trip, I have no idea how many people were on 84, they stopped cars, they were on buildings. Coming up here on 195 was absolutely incredible. But still, walking into this building, after the disappointment of nine years before, and this time having the hardware in my hands, is still the highest moment of my coaching career.”

“I always thought we were better when we had to dig our way back. But I always thought we had more experience, we were tougher. (Duke) could’ve been, if they had stayed together one more year – or if they hadn’t met us – been one of the greatest teams ever.”

“If you ever look back at the teams we played, the teams we beat – pretty special. Without injuries, you could make a case for 36-0. Is it the greatest team? I don’t know. But it was the best ‘team’, in the sense that they all worked with each other. Both point guards could pass, shoot, well, not Khalid, but defend. We had great answers, with Edmund, Souley, Albert Mouring. That was just a terrific basketball team.”

“When we lost to Carolina in Carolina, they went to the Final Four, we didn’t, they stayed together and it was just one of those kind of things. We had, without knowing, our eyes on the prize in ’98 to get to ’99."

“The first one is special. It was special for UConn. I don’t know if, like anything else in life, you can’t duplicate that first time. So, that makes it special. Is it better? No. I love watching Kemba making four foul shots to win, getting 31 last night to beat the Grizzlies. Watching any kind of those great things, that’s all great stuff, too. But, you can’t duplicate walking up here and bringing back that trophy. That’s not gonna be replicated in my lifetime or anybody else’s lifetime.”

UConn freshman forward DeAndre Daniels can be forgiven if his mind hasn’t totally been on basketball in recent days.

Daniels’ sister, Keirstyn Schumpert, had surgery on Sunday to remove a brain tumor. Doctors were able to remove the tumor and Schumpert is still resting in the hospital but could go home as soon as Thursday, according to Daniels.

He and his family were at the hospital for about seven hours on Sunday.

“It was real tough, just waiting until the doctor came out to tell us what’s going on,” he said.

Daniels added that right now, the right side of his sister’s face is numb, but she is cancer-free.

Schumpert is a standout guard at Manchester High. Daniels wasn’t sure what the surgery could mean for her basketball future.

*** Royce White is a matchup nightmare, but it's starting to feel like people are making him out to be the next Magic Johnson. No doubt, however, he's a big concern for UConn.

"I think the thing he does is he makes you -- you don't want to get polarized on him and get beat," said Jim Calhoun. "He can help facilitate that, so it becomes very difficult. But he's a heck of a basketball player. I was talking to a pro scout today who's seen him four or five times and just said he's got some (Kevin) McHale stuff inside. Right now, I wouldn't consider him a great shooter outside, but he just does things to help his team win."

Andre Drummond, Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriakhi could all see time guarding White.

"Just to give you an idea," Calhoun noted, "this morning at practice, we played four different guys on him -- small, big. We tried different sets trying to figure out which way he'd try to go after us.

Said Drummond: “He’s a big man that dribbles the ball, passes to his open teammate. A lot of focus is on him, because you’re not used to see a 6-8 big bring the ball up the court and run their offense. But we know what we’ve got to do to win this game.”

That means utilize the Huskies’ significant size advantage by rebounding and defending inside.

“If anything, it creates a matchup problem for them,” Drummond added. “(White is) shorter, you’ve got me and Alex down on the post.”
For what it's worth, UConn came off very confident today. Not cocky, but definitely confident.

*** And, of course, there's ISU's prowess on 3-pointers -- a bugaboo for UConn defensively most of the season.

“In some of the regular season games, I think we didn’t work as hard to defend the 3 as we could,” said Jeremy Lamb. “We let people get open shots, and they were able to hit a couple, and it gave them confidence to hit more. I think we’ve just really got to be ready to close out, no easy buckets.

In short, the Cyclones can be a matchup problem for UConn.

“They’re attacking two things that, during the year, have reared its ugly head for us,” Calhoun admitted. “We block shots down low very well, but we haven’t taken away the kind of penetration I’d like to see. And, at a particular point in seven or eight games, we were just God-awful (defending the) 3. We’ve worked hard and gotten better at it, but we’re going to be put to the ultimate test.”

*** Win and the Huskies should get the Saturday night date that everybody seems to want: a rematch with Kentucky, the No. 1 overall seed.

"You definitely hear it from the fans, they definitely want to see the UConn-Kentucky matchup," said Oriakhi. "Coach tells us to take it one game at a time. We're just trying to beat Iowa State and then play Saturday. If we win on Saturday, we want to play again."

There were about 8,000 UK fans at the Wildcats' open practice on Wednesday. There were about eight UConn fans.

*** Although UConn and Iowa State have never played each other, the Cyclones have two players who have played against the Huskies.

Chris Allen was a sophomore on the Michigan State team in 2009 that beat UConn in the Final Four. He scored two points in nine minutes off the bench in the Spartans’ 82-73 victory in Detroit. Allen also played on MSU’s Final Four team the following year before transferring to Iowa State. He has played in 14 NCAA tournament games, most by any player in this year’s field.

Also, senior guard Scott Christopherson was a freshman at Marquette in 2008 when the Golden Eagles lost at UConn, 89-73. He transferred to ISU the following season.

In fact, Iowa State has seven transfers on its roster, including ex-Michigan State standout Korie Lucious, who’s red-shirting this season.

“Did I plan on bringing six of them in my first year?” Hoiberg said. “No, it just happened to be a year where a lot of guys were leaving their schools.”

*** Brigham Young arrived in town on Wednesday after rallying from 25 points down to beat Iona the night before. The Cougars will face Marquette on Thursday.

BYU has a UConn tie: first-year BYU assistant coach Mark Pope is the brother-in-law of former UConn director of basketball operations Beau Archibald. Pope, a team captain on the 1996 national-champion Kentucky team, is married to Archibald’s sister, LeeAnne. The couple married in 1999 and has four daughters.

*** Some interesting stuff from John Calipari on how to alleviate the one-and-done situation (something he says he doesn't like) and Calhoun on whether Calipari might move on to the NBA, particularly if he finally wins a national title.

Said Calipari: "Here's what I would say. It starts with you get the NCAA in the room, and you say you give these kids the stipend they deserve. That's one.

Two, the insurance that they have to pay for themselves, which can be upwards of $15,000 per year, $20,000 per year that they have to pay for themselves. They're loaned the money, and then they have to repay it when they come out. The NCAA should pay that to encourage them to stay.

The third thing is families, the NBA, and the NCAA should get together and have a loan program for those families‑‑ we're only talking 30 kids. We're not talking 500 players. We're talking 30 kids that would be eligible for that insurance. They should be able to have a loan. To what level, I don't know.

The last two things are the NBA. And Billy Hunter and I have talked about these. One, if a young man stays more than two years, his contract, his rookie contract should be shorter. And if a young man graduates, his pay scale should be higher when he comes in. Now we encourage these young people. It's about them. You should stay because of the integrity of our school. Unless you're Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you guys leave and go change the world. But you guys, you stay in school because it's the integrity. It doesn't make sense to me.

My thing is these kids are chasing their dreams just like tennis players and golfers and geniuses and computer geeks and all the others. They're chasing their dreams the same way. And what we've got to do is come together and say, how do we do right by these young people? How do we make sure?

If the NBA says, no, we don't want to shorten their contract, well, then, it's on them. It's not on Billy Hunter, and it's not on the NCAA. If the NCAA says, no, we're not going to pay for this insurance. Those kids should pay for it themselves, disability insurance. Then that's on the NCAA.

But I think there's some things we can do, and hopefully people will come together and say these are simple things that would encourage young people to stay in school.

Let me say this. It's like last year. Brandon Knight. Brandon Knight was a 4.0 student and had 60 college credits after one year. He transferred in 23 honors courses, and he graduated with 60 college credits. That's two years of work in one year. But he was the seventh pick of the draft. How could you tell him to stay?

And Detroit, the Pistons, they love him. They want him to be what their whole organization is about. So it's not academic, and it isn't. It's what is right for these young people."

Say what you want about Calipari, but he makes some very solid points. Too bad it's unlikely the NBA Players Association would ever accept.

And here's what Calhoun had to say about Calipari:

"John at present rate, based upon numbers, is going in the Hall of Fame, assuming he stays in college basketball. And if he keeps‑‑ in 1990, we got beat by Christian Laettner's shot. For the next nine years, we were tortured that we weren't good because we couldn't win a National Championship, and we were good. Ray Allen, Donyell‑‑ we all know there's a lot of good players at UConn. We average 26 wins a year, the whole thing. A lot of final eights, just couldn't get there.


If you stick with it and you smell it enough, you'll get it. So I don't think it's a case of John winning or not winning a National Championship. Can I imagine John going in the NBA or anything else? Yes. Or anything else? Yes. I think John very simply marches‑‑ always has, even when he was a young guy. When he was at Pitt, marches to his own drummer, and I think that John has taken that and obviously done a very good job coaching‑wise and otherwise.

Let's put it this way. Maybe in your own set of mind, would you think it's some sort of standard, because I heard a lot of years until I won a few‑‑ you know, he's on the landscape now. You really don't have to look, find, and come up with a much better coach, quite frankly. I know he has a lot of very good talent. He does a lot with that very good talent.

My point being simply, if he feels that way, what you're talking, that's the difference. I've never had a chance to ask him, nor would I really. It's going to be his choice. He certainly can handle the players, that's one thing. And I've always said that some of our best teams are much more difficult to handle because of talent, and he's done a remarkable job doing that.

I don't think he has to prove anything more in college basketball if he got a very good NBA job, if that's what he'd want to do. I personally don't think he has to prove anything."

Three words sum it all up: No postseason ban.

Isn't that what it's really all about? Sure, the NCAA's sanctions against UConn are everything from minor to embarassing to legitimately hurtful. But when it's all said and done, the lack of a postseason ban is really what Husky fans care about the most.

And if you listen to committee of infractions chairman Dr. Dennis Thomas, a postseason ban could have happened.

“There are a lot of options the committee has in its quiver,”
said Thomas, who is the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. “Based upon all of those options, which is inclusive of a postseason ban, we decided to implement the penalties as said forth in the public release.”

Let’s break down what each of the NCAA’s sanctions against UConn means to the program and to Jim Calhoun, and how everything that transpired today affects the program going forward.

 Public reprimand and censure.

Little more than public embarrassment. Jim Calhoun takes his image, legacy and place in the history of the game seriously, so I’m sure he’s not happy about it. But it is what it is. Does anybody even remember that Charles Rangel was publicly censured a few months ago? Didn’t think so.

 Three years of probation from February 22, 2011, through February 21, 2014. The public infractions report further details the conditions of this probation.

The NCAA adds a year to what UConn already self-imposed. Hardly the end of the world.

 The head coach must be suspended from all coaching duties for the first three conference games of the 2011-12 season. He cannot be present in the arena where the games are played and cannot have contact with the coaching staff or student-athletes during the games.

Embarassing, no doubt. A little surprising, too, that the long arm of the NCAA extends into specifically suspending a coach from conference play. Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was suspended for the first eight SEC games this season for misleading NCAA investigators (sound familiar?), but that was levied by the SEC itself. The NCAA has yet to punish Pearl (who, ironically, coached against UConn, a non-conference foe, in the middle of that suspension last month).

 Two-year show-cause order for the former operations director (February 22, 2011, through February 21, 2013). The public report further details the conditions of this penalty.

This obviously only affects Beau Archibald. According to a source, Archibald will appeal this decision.

 Permanent disassociation of the involved booster. The public infractions report includes further details.

Did you really think the program would ever associated itself with Josh Nochimson again?

 Reduction of men's basketball athletics scholarships from 13 to 12 for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

NCAA adds one more year to UConn’s self-imposed two-year sanctions. Not a shock, and certainly not a back-breaker. Consider: UConn has 12 scholarship players this season (per its own self-imposed sanctions). Seniors Donnell Beverly and Charles Okwandu are gone after this year, and in all likelihood, so is Kemba Walker to the NBA. That’s three spots open for next year, maybe more if there are any of the usual transfers, etc. One spot has been filled by Chicago point guard Ryan Boatright. The Huskies will have at least two spots open for next year and the year after, since everyone else on this year’s roster is a sophomore or freshman. That’s enough.

I’m going to lump these next four together:

 Ban on men’s basketball recruiting calls during the 2011-12 academic year until 30 days after the first day that phone calls are allowed.

 Reduction in the number of men’s basketball coaches allowed to make phone calls from three to two, not including the head basketball coach, for six months after the university’s response to the notice of allegations (self-imposed by the university).

 Reduction of the number of men’s basketball off-campus recruiting days by 40, from 130 to 90, for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 recruiting periods.

 Limit of five official paid visits for men’s basketball for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

None of these are good for the Huskies, particularly the reduction of off-campus recruiting days. But again, UConn has a host of good, young players already in stock, and it’s a good bet the Huskies will still be able to get good players despite these sanctions.

 The head coach, assistant coach and all members of the compliance staff must attend the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar.

Whatever.

Bottom line: Jim Calhoun says he is “very disappointed” in the NCAA’s findings. I’m sure there is a part of him – the extremely prideful part, the part that will never go down without a fight, the part that is very protective of his place in the history of the game – that is disappointed.

But there almost has to be another part of Calhoun that is a bit relieved that the sanctions weren’t worse. There is no postseason ban, which is about the only thing that most UConn fans really, truly cared about. The lack of a postseason ban and the cloud finally being lifted off the program should be enough to satisfy prospective recruits and limit any more negative recruiting that may be going around.

If nothing else, Calhoun is guilty of his overzealous pursuit of Nate Miles. Now, he’s paying the piper – but the price could have been a lot worse. UConn is going to the NCAA tournament this season and can for seasons to come, as well, provided it deserves a bid.

Groundhog Day doesn’t officially come for another 10 days, but college basketball’s version will transpire this afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford.

After sitting out the last four games, Tennessee men’s coach Bruce Pearl will emerge, cast his rather large shadow on the sideline in the Volunteers’ 2 p.m. (CBS) showdown with UConn, then crawl back into his hole for four more games once today’s matchup is over.

Back in November, Pearl was suspended for the Vols’ first eight Southeastern Conference games by league commissioner Mike Slive for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators. That came on top of the university’s self-imposed sanctions, which dock Pearl $1.5 million in salary over the next five years and banned him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year.

However, smack dab in the middle of those first eight SEC games is the non-conference test with the eighth-ranked Huskies (15-2). Pearl admitted it’s a bit of an awkward situation and said he considered sitting out the UConn game, as well, but quickly figured doing so would serve no purpose.

(By the way: didn't Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald get fired for lying to NCAA investigators? Count me as one who thinks Pearl got off fairly lightly).

Here's what Jim Calhoun had to say (or not say) when asked about meeting with the NCAA committee on infractions on Friday:

"I'm here to coach basketball, and that's what I'm doing right now – and will continue to do that."

And that's about it. When pressed for more details, or if his nearly 14 hours of meetings with the NCAA took longer than expected, he pretty much just repeated the "happy to be here" routine.

The deepest Calhoun got into anything about Friday in Indy was when he veered off-topic a bit while talking about new coaches Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller.

"I saw guys yesterday who I miss, certainly, guys who were here before who I miss as people," he said, referring, of course, to Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald. "They were great for the program. But, like a lot of things, the changes that occurred – how they occurred is not important – I think both guys have brought in a different kind of perspective, which is always good. The enthusiasm of Kevin, and the mind of Glen, you can't duplicate that."

Ah yes, Ollie definitely brings enthusiasm. That was evident at one point in practice as he preached defensive positioning. Quite frankly, he was as vocal as I've ever seen a UConn assistant coach in my four years on the beat.

"We've kind of put him in charge of that a little more, because he was such a good defender, at the highest level," Calhoun said of Ollie.

Some more notes 'n quotes from today's first practice:

***Calhoun said he arrived back from Indy around 2:30 a.m. and was at Gampel by 6:30for the 10:30 practice.

"I've looked forward to this day, because I think there are some interesting things that could happen. They didn't happen today, so I'm not going to make any kind of proclamation. But, I saw some things today. George (Blaney) keeps preaching patience. If George and I live another 10 years, I think in that 10th year, he'll still be preaching patience to me. I just want it all at once, obviously. That's who we are, and the way I'm built."

Did any particular player surprise Calhoun?

"No. I can't say anybody shocked me, one way or another … You don't know if a kid is just trying to please you when you get on him. Anytime somebody plays to please you, it never works out. They've got to play within what you're trying to do, as opposed to pleasing you personally."

"Kevin's a little impatient, too," the coach added, "which I kind of like about him. There are a lot of things I like about Kevin Ollie, and I like the impatience."

***The Huskies will be back at practice today at 9 a.m. Wednesday is the annual Big East media day at Madison Square Garden. Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly and Alex Oriakhi are expected to join Calhoun for the trip.

***Oh, Calhoun did add this to reporters about missing First Night on Friday for the first time in his career: "I know you missed me last night, but I have to tell you, I can't reciprocate that feeling."

***Walker didn't think Calhoun was any feistier today than normal.

"He was intense, though," Walker said. "He was very intense today. I don't think it was more than any other time. He was just Coach."

Alex Oriakhi saw a little bit of a difference -- through the eyes of the team's six freshmen.

"I wanted to see how the freshmen react, because now they're getting to see the real coach," Oriakhi said. "He's not the nice guy they saw in the summer and preseason. Now, he's yelling a lot at the freshmen for making little mistakes. Hopefully, they'll learn from that, don't take it personal and just try to get you better."

***Walker on how the freshmen reacted to first practice.

"It's kind of what I expected. First day, a lot of guys were 'The Man' on their high school teams, did whatever they want, just like any other guy coming into college. It's different coming into college."

Freshman Tyler Olander definitely seemed a bit gassed by the end of practice.

"I'm not in high school anymore," he noted. "This is college, you've got to step up and be a man now."

Oh to be a fly on the wall for this one: Jim Calhoun and Joe Pesci chatting on the first tee at the Travelers Championship Celebrity Pro-Am this afternoon at TPC River Highlands.



What little I did hear from the conversation, Calhoun was talking to Pesci about the "now youze can't leave" line in 'A Bronx Tale.' I home Jim knew that it was Chazz Palminteri who uttered that line, not Pesci, who only appeared in one brief scene at the very end of the movie.

Oh, and it's worth noting that Pesci was introduced as an actor who played such iconic roles as "Danny DeVito in Goodfellas." Um, the character's name was Tommy DeVito.

As to the assistant coach search, Calhoun said: "We hope to have something done. Jeff Hathaway is away. He said he'd be back by 6 p.m. tonight and would go to the office so if we can sign some papers tonight or tomorrow hopefully by tomorrow night or Friday we'd have something done."

It has been widely reported that Kevin Ollie (assistant) and Glen Miller (director of basketball administration) are the top candidates to replace Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, respectively.

"They still have to sign contracts. After I make a recommendation, they still have to agree with the athletic director on the price and all that type of thing.

Financially, I know one of the candidates has got three other offers, not at this level. Obviously they aren't going to be able to outbid us."

Here's Calhoun teeing off on the first hole, where he heard mostly warm cheers (but I believe I detected a few scattered boos):



Calhoun added that every one of next year's players are on campus right now except Roscoe Smith and Niels Giffey.

Giffey is trying to make a decision on what he wants to do as far as playing with the German under-19 team or not this summer.

Meanwhile, "Kemba (Walker) will be leaving on July 17 to work out with the Olympic team. They announce 10 or 11 college kids will work every day with the Olympic team. It's a nice honor for him."

If Jim Calhoun is worried that the NCAA will come down hard on UConn, he’s hardly showing it. And it doesn’t appear to be simply a brave face he’s putting on. Calhoun seems to sincerely believe his program will come out of this without any crippling damage.

“I truly believe at the end, when it’s all said and done, the truth will win out,” he said at Tuesday's 25th Franciscan Sports Banquet, held at Southington's Aqua-Turf Club and his first public appearance since Friday‘s press conference. “I don’t go into this with great fear. There was an article written (by Yahoo ! Sports), the NCAA came in, looked at us for 15 months in every aspect of our program and made certain allegations. At the end of the day, I’m not telling you everything is going to be just fine and dandy, but … I think we had one of the better recruiting classes we’ve had in quite some time. People in our program our positive. A few mistakes were made, and we’ll go forward.”

He added: “There is nothing else to do in life, whether you fall off a bike and break a couple of ribs, you’ve got to get back on it. You’ve got to know who you are and what we’ve done. I know who I am, and I know what we have done. Do I know every single intimate detail? Obviously not. But I truly believe I know who I am …”

Numerous celebrities from the sports world were on hand on Tuesday, including Hamden’s George Grande, the former ESPN anchor and longtime baseball play-by-play man who received the Saint Francis Award. ESPN anchor Chris Berman, former UConn assistant and current CCSU head man Howie Dickenman and UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway were there, as well.

Oh, and this was interesting: also in the house was was Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore, the former UConn assistant.

There seems to be no ill will towards Moore, and no visible panic from Calhoun or Hathaway about the program’s future. Rather, Calhoun is upbeat about the future -- some of which has already arrived in Storrs.

Calhoun wouldn't comment on colleague Dave Solomon's report that UConn is set to hire Kevin Ollie as an assistant to replace Patrick Sellers, who recently resigned.

“We’re not discussing any personnel matters. Right now, I think the job was posted. We’ve got to hope over the next 10, 11 days, we’ll have an opportunity to name somebody as an assistant. That’s the first place we’d head. I think we’ll have to look at that director of basketball operations position a little bit different. They have more contact with the university. We have some very experienced and very good people in their own positions right now.”

“It’s procedural right now, and any comment by anybody could hurt the process, because what happens then, someone could feel it was an unfair search. That’s happened before.”

“Right now, no one has been offered the job, no one has been named … I think we’re going to do a good job of replacing Pat, who I love dearly, and then Beau’s position will be replaced second.”

A few things we've been hearing through the grapevine lately:

***UConn has one official visit left to offer, and it appears it will be getting one from a recruit from Germany in the near future. (Sorry, no name to offer).

***The Huskies expect two players to transfer out of the program. It's looking like Jamaal Trice and Darius Smith, though nothing's official. Jon Mandeldove? Still a question mark for next season, as well.

***Beau Archibald to BYU? Maybe.

***Looks like the Huskies will open next season against Steve Pikiell and his Stony Brook Sea Wolves.

More later ...

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. Hope you all enjoyed this perfect day.

I'm willing to bet that, if you're reading this blog, you had a conversation or two about the Huskies over the grill or by the pool or at the beach (in Rhode Island, of course) over the weekend. It certainly came up with me, and the reactions by UConn fans were fairly predictable: "I can't wait 'til the NCAA goes after Kentucky," and, "These kind of things go on with almost every major program in the country." Those types of things.

While I have no idea whether there any probe into Kentucky's program is in the works (I've heard the rumors, but that's all they are -- rumors), I tend to agree with the latter comment. It's a pretty safe bet that many of the indiscretions UConn is accused of -- impermissable phone calls and text messages, dealing with unsavory characters (like Josh Nochimson) in pursuit of recruits, doling out a few extra tickets to AAU coaches and recruits -- probably happen at numerous other programs around the country, to varying degrees.

How rampant is it? No idea. But these things assuredly go on. UConn, however, became the target of a couple of journalists from Yahoo ! Sports, and got caught. Did these writers have it in for UConn? Again, no idea, but several people who've been around the program in different capacities for years swear that at least one of the writers has vowed to get Jim Calhoun for some 15 years now. Well, he got him.

Here's a parallel that might work: a football player using steroids gets busted by Mark Fainaru-Wada in his never-ending, exhaustive investigation into PED use by athletes. The player knows lots of other guys (maybe nearly every other guy) are using, but what's he going to do? He got caught, and he's got to take his medicine (so to speak) and move on. No sense finger-pointing and saying, "He's using, too!" That just comes across as babyish. (And, lest we forget, maybe most other guys aren't doing it -- just like with the NCAA. Maybe the vast majority of programs are squeeky clean. We just don't know).

So there's really no point in whining that everybody else is doing it. UConn got nabbed, and it must suffer the consequences. There's no excuse for breaking the rules, even if some of them seem rather minor and, possibly, the definition of some of the rules wasn't clear to begin with.

The biggest thing that stands out to me in this whole process is the scrutiny that UConn gets. Not long before the allegations against UConn were announced, Yahoo ! Sports reported that a high-ranking member of the Kansas University athletic department and the father of a prominent Jayhawk athlete allegedly made more than $800,000 in a ticket-scalping operation that was orchestrated by hoops power brokers David and Dana Pump. That could get real ugly.

And has anyone noticed what's going on over at Providence? Over the last month, three players have been booted out of school: two of them for allegedly beating up a fellow student for no apparent reason other than they felt like beating someone up, the other, we've been told, for involving some underage kids in some illicit activity in his dorm room (let's just say the player supposedly had a female friend who was very, umm ... giving). We hear Keno Davis (who just lost a key assistant, Pat Skerry, to Pittsburgh) was one of only two coaches not at the recent Big East coaches' meetings, for what it's worth. (Rick Pitino was the other).

Look around, though, and it seems it's UConn that gets the bulk of the focus by the national media. Or how many national writers have essentially rung the death knell for the Huskies' program over the past few days?

I have a few theories on this. For one, UConn is a major program that is held to a higher standard. That's why its alleged indiscretions make the ESPN scroll, while you see very little time devoted to Providence. (Seriously, can you imagine the media firestorm if three UConn players had been expelled from school over the past month? Calhoun may have lost his job).

Also, Calhoun has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way over the years. Now, as things look bad around him, many media types who have never particularly cared for him are sharpening the knives.

Finally, I truly believe the fact that UConn's location leads to a lot of its publicity -- bad or good. It's proximity to ESPN (and its location in the East Coast media market, less than two hours from New York City) helps make UConn one of the most exposed programs in the country. Why do you think seemingly every ESPN anchor knows Stanley Robinson's nickname is "Sticks," yet probably couldn't tell you more than two starters from Gonzaga, or even UCLA? Why do you think Calhoun appears on Mike Francesa's show seemingly as often as Joe Girardi? Why do you think fans still -- still! - to this day chant "Where's my laptop?" at UConn games, and why Calhoun's rant at Ken Krayeske made national headlines for several days?

Bottom line: UConn almost certainly did wrong, and must pay the piper. The general consensus is probation, loss of a scholarship, certainly recruiting restrictions are in the offing. It's already cost Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald their jobs. Maybe the penalties will be a little stiffer.

But UConn definitely seems to get scrutinized and criticized on a national level far more than other programs. And if that sounds like a homer talking, think again: I didn't grow up a UConn fan and still am not, but rather an impartial beat writer who covers the team. I was born and raised in Rhode Island and lived there for 37 years. If I were a "homer," I'd be defending Providence's program -- which no one in their right mind would do at this point in time.

OK, it was more than just about 30 improper phone calls over a four-year period. It was actually at least 160 impermissable phone calls and 191 text messages that the NCAA alleges UConn's coaching staff to have made from June, 2005 to February, 2009.

According to the notice of allegations, Beau Archibald made 114 impermissable phone calls and 181 texts between Aug. 9, 2007 and June 13, 2008; Andre LaFleur made 13 improper calls and eight texts; Patrick Sellers placed 19 impermissable calls and one text; George Blaney (not named specifically but referred to as "then assistant and current associate head men's basketball coach") made at least five impermissable phone calls; Tom Moore made four improper calls and Jim Calhoun placed two impermissable calls.

There are also numerous allegations that then-agent Josh Nochimson provided impermissable benefits to recruits.

So what will it all mean for UConn? We won't know for at least a few months, but it still appears that the likely punishments will be recruiting restrictions and loss of a scholarship or two.

"If it’s a recruiting case, then you look for recruiting sanctions," said Rick Evrard, UConn's legal counsel in NCAA-related matters. "If it’s a competitive-advantage case, where a student-athlete has competed while ineligible, then you look for vacation of contests, wins, participation in NCAA tournaments. If it has to do with academic fraud, you’re going to look institutionally at the systems in place."

Nate Miles, who appears to be the subject of most if not all of the improprieties, never played for UConn. Hence, the Huskies wouldn't have to worry about an ineligible player having played for them.

In his opening statement at Friday morning's press conference, Calhoun labels the process as the NCAA's "inquiry into our recruitment of a particular student-athlete," which, of course, would be Miles. However, it's possible some of the violations involve kids who have played at UConn.

Either way, UConn has 90 days to review the NCAA's allegations and institute self-imposed penalties. At the end, the NCAA can either concur with UConn's suggested penalties -- or treat them more harshly.

"It’s a balancing act," Evrard said, "trying to evaluate making sure that you self-impose meaningful penalties, versus the committee of infractions evaluation of what you do … does this institution get it? If you’re too light on yourself, you risk the possibility of having additional penalties imposed by the committee. If you hit it on the mark, and the institution and committee on infractions are lock-step and say ‘This is about right,’ then sometimes the institution will question itself, ‘Did we hit ourselves too hard?’"

Some statements from Jeff Hathaway and Jim Calhoun:

HATHAWAY:
“Let me be clear: the University of Connecticut is fully committed to NCAA rules compliance, and takes this matter very seriously. With regard to Coach Calhoun, he personally has a long-standing history of demonstrating commitment to NCAA compliance. We appreciate his continued commitment, as well as the full cooperation and support that he has provided throughout this process.

“These are serious matters. We have a demonstrated commitment to NCAA compliance … we’re proud of our record of compliances. It’s a serious matter, we understand that, but we’re fully engaged to resolve this situation.”

CALHOUN:
"We all have to comply by the same rules and regulations, so that we all have the same chance to compete, to recruit, to run programs. It comes down to a level playing field. We all have the same rules, and we’re all expected to comply. That’s why I would consider it very important that we all comply by the rules.

"I pride myself, my love of the university, my players, the program, the institution and, quite frankly, the state. It’s certainly one of the lowest points (of my career), any time you’re accused of something. It’s a very serious matter. Conversely, I’m not defeated. I don’t get defeated by things. As a matter of fact, I’m going to be educated by certain matters if, in fact, we did make mistakes – which I think I said 15 months ago – and we’ll finalize some of that over the next 90 days. And we will go forward.

“No one wants this to happen. Did I see it happening? No. But it happened, therefore we’re going to handle it the way we’ve always handled things – upfront, transparently, and do the best we possibly can if we have made mistakes.

"We are steadfast in our beliefs that we operate a program deeply committed to complying with NCAA guidelines. In my 38 years as a collegiate head coach, 25 of which I’ve been at the University of Connecticut, I look with particular pride on our strong record of compliance, and the impact we’ve made on the young people who have come through our program.

"Though we may have made some mistakes in the recruiting process, UConn has never wavered in terms of fostering and maintaining a strong culture of compliance, and has always strived to meet the highest standard possible, and the highest standard expected of us."

A few other interesting tidbits:

***Calhoun, Hathaway, faculty athletics representative Scott Brown, LaFleur, Sellers, Archibald and director of compliance Marielle Van Gelder are requested to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Oct. 15-16.

***Evrard said he believes this is the first time UConn has ever received a letter of allegations from the NCAA.

***He also said the resignations of Sellers and Archibald were "probably just coincidental, to the fact that it’s the end of the academic year or perhaps the end of (their) contract … In this case, it’s just a matter of timing.”

***Archibald resisnged on May 20; Sellers this past Sunday.

***The process for finding replacements for Archibald and Sellers began today, simply in terms of filing paperwork to human resources to get approvals to post for the jobs.

***According to Evrard, similar past cases (Kelvin Sampson, anyone?) are "very relevant. The committee on infractions relies on its case precedent to evaluate cases that are coming up the pike and the ones that they hear. All cases that have any relations – circumstantial relations, similar patterns of allegations or violations – they evaluate all of that and prepare a response accordingly.”

***These are considered major violations, but that could be more semantics than anything else. Violations that are viewed as isolated or inadvertant are labeled as secondary. Virtually everything else is deemed "major."

"If you move out of scope of secondary violation, you become involved with every other major case that’s ever come down the pike," Evrard said. "There’s no levels of major, which I think is unfortunate for many institutions, because they get lumped into … I’ll harken back a long time ago to a Florida State case. They had four elements of a lack of institutional control, and they put it into a major category. But the four elements that comprised the lack of institutional control were relatively minor. Standing alone,they all would be secondary. The facst of the matter is that that case is in the same category of SMU and Alabama and some other major cases.

UConn assistant coach Patrick Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald have resigned from the program over the past week, according to a source.

Their resignations stem from a letter of allegations that UConn recently received from the NCAA, alleging that the men’s basketball program committed infractions. UConn has 90 days to respond to those allegations and implement self-imposed sanctions. The NCAA would then either accept or change those suggestions.

It looks like the Huskies could be looking at a reduction of one or two scholarships, probably not for next season but spread out over the next few seasons, and potentially fewer recruiting visits, as well.

Sellers and Archibald are the only two members of UConn’s current staff that have been and will be let go. Apparently, Tom Moore is completely in the clear, according to his lawyer.

It appears that the resignations of Sellers and Archibald may have less to do with the alleged recruiting violations, but rather with their dealings with the NCAA during its investigation.

George Blaney and Jeff Hathaway met with the media for about 10 minutes this evening to address the last 24 hours. Not a whole lot new was learned: Calhoun's medical condition is still undisclosed, and there is no timetable for his return.

"I have nothing to share, really," said Blaney, regarding Calhoun's health situation. "(It's) exactly what the doctor said. The doctor told him to take time off. (Calhoun) said, 'he finally told me I needed to do this … I'm listening for once.' It's not heart, it's not cancer."

Added Hathaway: "There's only one timetable here, and that is when Dr. Schulman talks with Jim and tells him that it's OK to go back. That is our primary concern, that's Coach Calhoun's primary concern. He has tremendous trust in Peter Schulman as a physician. When he and Dr. Schulman feel they're at the point of a complete recovery, he'll come back. Until then, George will coach the team, and we'll put no artificial deadlines on anything."

Hathaway did add that he has no reason to think that Calhoun's ailment is career-ending.

Blaney said Calhoun called him yesterday and told him he was going to take practice off, and probably the St. John's game, as well. After Calhoun was told by Dr. Schulman to take time off, he called Blaney back.

Blaney first broke the news to Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker, Gavin Edwards and Stanley Robinson, and asked them to help explain the situation with the younger guys, "because they'd been through it before, they knew the program the best. We went out and practiced, and it was fine."

Blaney said of the players' reaction: "I think some of them were very surprised, but they were very good, as I would expect they would be. It's his team, he has shown them how to deal with adversity. I think that's what each kid will pick up right away. They'll learn how to deal with something that's hard. That's one of the lessons he teaches as well as anyone in the country."

And how did Calhoun sound?

"He was his usual cantankerous self. Don't print that, please."

Sorry, George.

Hathaway spoke to Calhoun today, as well.

"His status is same as any other coach who wants to be coaching his or her team, but understands that his health is the most important thing right now," said the AD.

Both Hathaway and Blaney said they saw no signs of any medical situation with Calhoun coming. Hathaway wouldn't elaborate on where things stand with a potential contract extension with Calhoun.

"People that cover this beat know, when we have contracts that are signed, we release them," he said.

Director of basketball operations Beau Archibald has been bumped up as an assistant for the time being.

The press conference was held where the media usually does its pregame dining.

"I understand that this is the room for the food," Blaney said at the start. "That's why everybody showed up. I'll buy cheeseburgers for you if you're really hungry."