As we bid adieu to Terrence Samuel and wait to see if UConn adds any new players, here's a little rundown of how UConn wound up with Shonn Miller.

Spoke with Miller's coach at Cornell, Bill Courtney. Great, affable guy who is happy to see Miller get this chance with UConn -- even if he realizes the grad transfer rules (particularly in the Ivy League) don't help programs like his.

Here's a few Cliff's Notes from the story:

*** Courtney is very familiar with UConn's coaching staff, having been an assistant under Dave Leitao at Virginia. Staff was telling him as early as last summer that they knew Miller would be a grad student and wanted him.

*** Courtney wouldn't let any schools contact Miller during this past season.

"If they talked during the season, they were gonna be out," said the coach.

Once the season ended, however, UConn was the first to call. Kevin Ollie met with Miller at his Euclid, Ohio home just before spring break.

*** Cal (as in California, not Calipari) was probably the runner-up in the Miller sweepstakes, as Cuonzo Martin recruited him hard. Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan called on him, he visited Michigan and Illinois and also heard from Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Indiana, among others.

"Duke, North Carolina and Ohio State -- surprisingly -- were the only three schools he didn't hear from," said Courtney, jokingly (I think).

*** Ollie established a great relationship with Miller's mom, which was big in his decision.

"She really valued that relationship she was able to establish with Kevin," Courtney noted.

*** Courtney on Miller: “He’s 6-7 and can guard any position on the floor, from point guard to center. He’s an elite-level defender. His offensive game has developed in his time at Cornell. He’s a terrific athlete and offensive/defensive rebounder, and he’s better than a 23-percent 3-point shooter. His driving is getting better, but his pull-up game is his strength. And his athleticism makes him strong in transition.”

"He’s a monster defensive rebounder, just goes and gets it. He's got an incredible knack. He and (Amida) Brimah should make a great combo."

*** Courtney doesn't love the Ivy League rule, or the grad transfer rules in general. But he's most interested in what's best for the players.

“Here’s a guy getting an Ivy League degree, and getting a chance to play basketball at another level. You’ve got to do what’s best for the kid. He gave me a lot, and now he’s going to play for a national-championship program. Who am I to keep him back?”

Ryan Boatright didn't practice at all on Thursday before UConn departed for Gainesville, but received treatment and reported feeling better. He's still considered day-to-day, and it's impossible to say whether he'll play against Florida on Saturday.

Speaking of which ...

Billy Donovan spoke with Florida beat writers in Gainesville today. Naturally, he was asked about facing UConn, and any kind of revenge factor there may be for his team.

His response:

"I've always believed that whatever words you want to use -- revenge, payback -- those games were there own individual, specific competitive matchups. The one at Connecticut, and the one at the Final Four. And they ended up on top in both of them. It's two totally different teams, two totally different set of guys. There are some returning players from both teams. But the reality is, this game has its own set of challenges, so to speak. I think what ends up happening a lot of times is this illusion that you get back something that happened a year ago, or last season. I've just never believed that. There's nothing to that. That game to go play in the national championship game was exactly what it was -- a game to play in the national championship game. We came up short. Over and done with. Now, it's on to this year right now. That's the way we're looking at it right now. Some of those guys may have been part of that game -- Kasey Hill, Chris Walker, Dorian Finney-Smith, Michael Frazier -- but other guys are different, in different roles, different teams. We've got to play against this year's UConn team, we're not playing against last year's UConn team. And probably the same could be said for them."

(on the defensive job UConn did last year against Frazier)

"They did do a very good job. I think one of the things is, he's got to really move without the basketball. I think what Michael's got to understand, in a game like that, is for him, personally -- when he gets guarded like that, it actually helps the other four guys on the court. It creates spacing, driving opportunities, frees things up."

Here's the video of Donovan speaking with local reporters on "Gatorvision." (The UConn stuff starts at the 2:37 mark):

The release of UConn's 2014-15 schedule means -- never mind football -- college basketball is just around the corner. Sort of.

The Huskies can actually start practicing on Oct. 3, per NCAA rules, though they likely will start after that. Teams can get in 30 practices in the 42 days prior to their first game (in UConn's case, on Friday, Nov. 14 against Bryant).

Anyway, here's a breakdown of UConn's 2014-15 schedule, with a look at some of the Huskies' opponents:

Tuesday, Nov. 4, vs. Southern Connecticut State University (exhibition): Huskies play Owls in an exhibition for second straight season. Won 93-65 last season at Gampel.

Sunday, Nov. 9 vs. Assumption College (exhibition): Greyhounds, Huskies have never met in an official game.

Friday, Nov. 14 vs. Bryant: Just second time programs have met. UConn demolished Bulldogs 88-58 in 2008 in Hartford.

Thursday, Nov. 20 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12:30 p.m.: Huskies open up against College of Charleston. Will UConn be going against current assistant Karl Hobbs, who is reportedly a candidate for the (amazingly) still vacant head coaching job?

Friday, Nov. 21 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: UConn will face either Texas A&M or Dayton. Flyers beat Ohio State, Syracuse and Stanford last year en route to Elite Eight, where they finally fell to Florida.

Sunday, Nov. 23 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Huskies could face Boston College for second time in as many seasons after not playing former Big East rivals for nearly 10 years. Steve Alford's New Mexico, which beat UConn in Paradise Jam finals in 2012, and George Mason (need we remind you) are other possible foes.

Sunday, Nov. 30 vs. Texas: Longhorns return all five starters and should be a preseason Top 15 pick – until Rick Barnes finds a way to mess it all up.

Friday, Dec. 5 vs. Yale: Huskies tamed Bulldogs 80-62 last year in the teams’ first meeting in 10 years.

UConn holds a 44-22 all-time advantage. Yale won't have Stratford's Brandon Sherrod, who'll be singing somewhere across the globe with the Whiffenpoofs.

Sunday, Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State: UConn is 5-0 all-time against Eagles, who will also play at Michigan this season.

Thursday, Dec. 18 vs. Duke at IZOD Center, East Rutherford, N.J., 8 p.m.: Despite losing Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood to the NBA draft, Blue Devils will be a preseason Top 5, maybe even No. 1. Duke boasts the top-rated recruiting class in the land, led by 6-foot-10 center Jahlil Okafor. This should be a fun one, as great rivalry is renewed. Two of Huskies’ biggest wins in program history (the 1999 national championship game and the 2004 Final Four) came against Duke. The Blue Devils, of course, handed UConn a crushing, overtime loss in the 1990 Elite Eight, ending the Huskies’ “Dream Season” on a Christian Laettner buzzer-beater. Duke holds the overall series edge, 5-4, including the most recent meeting, a 68-59 win on Nov. 27, 2009 in the NIT Season Tip-Off championships at Madison Square Garden.

Monday, Dec. 22 vs. Columbia: UConn is 7-2 all-time against the Lions, most recently with a 70-57 win on Nov. 11, 2011 at Gampel.

Sunday, Dec. 28 vs. Central Connecticut: Huskies face former longtime UConn assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for first time in nine years. UConn has never lost in 12 meeting with these Blue Devils.

Wednesday, Dec. 31 vs. Temple: For first time in three years, UConn isn’t on the road for New Year’s Eve. Huskies open up AAC play against Owls, who finished ninth in the 10-team league a year ago at 4-14.

Saturday, Jan. 3 at Florida, O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida, 2 p.m.: Gators went 36-3 last season – 36-1 against teams not named UConn. The Huskies edged Florida on Dec. 2 at Gampel, 65-64, on Shabazz Napier’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer. Gator coach Billy Donovan called the play “luck,” and Florida had the chance to avenge the loss in the Final Four. But the Huskies’ clamped down defensively, frustrating SEC player of the year Scottie Wilbekin all night, and needed no “luck” to score a 63-53 win. This game finishes the teams’ home-and-home series.

Tuesday, Jan. 6 at South Florida, Sun Dome, Tampa, 7 p.m.: Huskies stay in the Sunshine State for an AAC bout with USF and its new head coach Orlando Antigua, the former John Calipari assistant at Kentucky. Antigua should help Bulls on recruiting trail, but that won't do them much good this season.

Saturday, Jan. 10 vs. Cincinnati, 11 a.m.: Sean Kilpatrick (the guy who was peeved he lost out to Napier for AAC player of the year honors) and Justin Jackson are both gone, but Bearcats should play their usual tough defense and be solid once again.

Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Tulsa, Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma: Huskies’ first-ever trip to Tulsa would’ve been more fun if Danny Manning were still head coach. But he bolted for Wake Forest, and instead former Missouri, Miami head man Frank Haith is at the helm. This could be a tough game for Huskies.

Saturday, Jan. 17 at Stanford, Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, Calif.: Cardinal handed UConn its first loss of the season last year, 53-51 on Dec. 18 in Hartford, and wound up advancing to the Sweet 16.

Thursday, Jan. 22 vs. Central Florida, 7 p.m.: Knights have lost virtually everyone from last year’s team that went 4-14 in AAC, including all-league pick Isaiah Sykes. Could be a long season in Orlando. Incidentally, this will be only time the teams play this season.

Sunday, Jan. 25 vs. South Florida, noon: Anthony Collins, a preseason all-AAC pick who missed almost all of last year due to injury, should be back at the point for Bulls. Corey Allen, Jr. and Chris Perry are also decent returnees.

Thursday, Jan. 29 at Cincinnati, Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, 8 p.m.: Are the Bearcats UConn’s biggest rival in the AAC?

Sunday, Feb. 1 at Houston, Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, 3 p.m.: Huskies return to site of their awful New Year’s Eve loss last season. Kelvin Sampson has taken over as head coach, but Ta’Shawn Thomas  (Oklahoma) and Danuel House (Texas A&M) have both transferred, leaving cupboard bare. Had those two stayed, Cougars may have been an NCAA tourney team. Now, they'll rely primarily on a bunch of JUCO's.

Wednesday, Feb. 4 vs. East Carolina, 7 p.m.: First meeting as league rivals between Huskies and Pirates. UConn actually holds a 3-1 all-time series lead, but haven’t played each other since 1978.

Saturday, Feb. 7 at Tulane, Devlin Fieldhouse, New Orleans, 6 p.m.: Green Wave will play most home games at 3,500-seat on-campus arena, but it’s possible this one could be switched to downtown arena where New Orleans Pelicans play.

Thursday, Feb. 12  vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.: Don’t sleep on Tulsa, which went on a late-season surge and won the Conference USA tournament last season. Golden Hurricane is led by James Woodard, a do-everything guard who could warrant preseason all-AAC honors.

Saturday, Feb. 14 at SMU, Moody Coliseum, Dallas, 9 p.m.: An ESPN College GameDay presentation, should be a rowdy night. Mustangs could’ve been preseason top 15 if No. 1 national recruit Emmanuel Mudiay hadn’t bolted to play professionally in China, but they still might be the AAC favorites. After all, SMU did beat UConn both times they met last season.

Thursday, Feb. 19 at Memphis, FedExForum, Memphis, 9 p.m.: Huskies went a perfect 3-0 last year against Tigers, including twice at FedExForum – the latter game a 72-53 dismantling in an AAC tournament bout.

Sunday, Feb. 22 vs. Tulane, 4 p.m.: Green Wave return 90 percent of its offense from team that went .500 overall (17-17) and in C-USA (8-8).

Wednesday, Feb. 25 at East Carolina, Williams Arena, Greenville, North Carolina, 7 p.m.:  Four of five top scorers are back from team that went 17-17 overall.  However, top scorer Akeem Richmond is gone.

Sunday, March 1 vs. SMU, 2 p.m.: A CBS-televised affair, could be marquee game of AAC schedule. Despite no Mudiay, Mustangs have all-AAC standouts Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy back, along with talented Keith Frazier and Xavier transfer Justin Martin.

Thursday, March 5 vs. Memphis, 9 p.m.: Tigers lost Joe Jackson and other top guards to graduation, but may have league’s best frontcourt, led by all-AAC pick Shaq Goodwin and AAC rookie of the year Austin Nichols.

Saturday, March 7 at Temple, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia: Owls lost top scorer Dalton Pepper to graduation, top rebounder Anthony Lee to transfer (Ohio State). Could be another tough one for coach Fran Dunphy, who'll rely on whole slew of newcomers.

Kevin Ollie will make $1.25 million this year, per his current contract. His base salary is $400,000, and he earns an extra $850,000 through public relations, consulting and media payments.

That’s about middle of the pack as far as college coaches go. It’s nowhere near Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who’ll make more than $9.68 million this year. It’s also the lowest among this year’s Final Four coaches: Kentucky’s John Calipari will make over $5.5 million this year, Florida’s Billy Donvan will make $3.9 million and Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan will make $2.28 million.

Still, Ollie will make more than established coaches like Creighton’s Greg McDermott ($945,725), Gonzaga’s Mark Few ($1.18 million) and St. Joe’s Phil Martelli ($902,651). He’ll make less than Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin ($1.5 million) but more than Providence’s Ed Cooley ($783,518).

And consider this: it’s about the same as Steve Masiello was due to make on a five-year contract with USF before it was learned that Masiello lied on his resume. With that in mind, it’s fair to say that Ollie is actually underpaid.

And it seems like AD Warde Manuel intends to do something about it, telling several outlets he intends to sit down with Ollie after the season and likely re-work the current deal. Of course, Ollie has made himself a little extra money over the past few weeks with UConn’s NCAA tourney run.

Per his contract, Ollie receives one-month’s base salary ($33,333) for reaching the tournament, another month’s salary for reaching the Sweet Sixteen and another for advancing to the Final Four. If UConn wins the whole thing, Ollie gets two months’ salary.

He also gets a $10,000 bonus if the team earns an APR of 930 or more (sources say the team will have a perfect 1,000 APR for the 2012-13 season), and possibly $10,000 more if the team reaches a certain GPA standard. So that means Ollie has already made an extra $110,000 this year, and is two wins away from $66,666 more.

Elsewhere:

*** We've got a bunch of UConn special section stories on our website right now. Do check them out.

*** Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua accepted the job as South Florida's new head coach earlier in the week. He met with the media throng on Thursday, and was asked how unfortunate it is for him that USF is in the American Athletic Conference, not the Big East.

"I don't know, because the American Conference is pretty good. I don't know if you noticed but there's a team in the Final Four that plays in that conference. I think it's a great conference. It's not the old Big East, but that conference is no longer together. I just think you've got very competitive teams in the conference, and I'm excited about the challenge to see how we compete in it."

*** Here's the transcript, from ASAP Sports, of some of the questions Ollie, Donovan and Niels Giffey were asked at Thursday's press conference:

Q.  Kevin, did that win over Florida do anything special for your team?  Was that a turning point of any kind? 
COACH OLLIE:  No, we were playing good basketball before that win.  But we have so much respect for the program of Florida and how hard we have to play to get a victory like that.  It really helped going forward playing against a different scheme and playing against a pressure that they apply each and every play.  It really allowed our team to understand what level we have to play and compete to ultimately get to a Final Four. 
They have been on a great roll since that time in Storrs and we respect their program immensely.  For us now, it hasn't done anything.  Coming out with the victory, that's four months ago.  They had a different team.  We're a different team.  They had some players hurt at the time, now they're back in the rotation with Kasey Hill and Chris Walker now. 
So we're going to have to play at a level five.  We're going to have to play with the energy and passion and we're going to have to play together to hopefully continue to play on until Monday. 

Q.  For both coaches, the depth perception out there on the court a little bit different than it is normally in college basketball in the Arena because of its size and configuration.  Did both you guys feel that your players are adjusting to that depth perception problem that that court might give you? 
COACH OLLIE:  Yeah, same.  I really appreciate the NCAA giving us this opportunity.  Back in 2011 down in Houston, we didn't have a 90‑minute practice.  It was the open practice that we're going to have tomorrow and then the shoot‑around.  So this really allows our players to see the ball going in.  We always want to see that.  Just seeing them get used to and relaxed and shooting in a venue like this is a great opportunity for us. 

Q.  Kevin, would you share with us what it's been like to have your mother, with all she's been through, along for the ride with you and now here at the Final Four. 
COACH OLLIE:  Yeah, it was wonderful.  Yesterday she got cleared to fly and that was great news.  I have her back in Connecticut with me, she's been going through chemo with me at home.  And my wife has done a beautiful job taking care of her and being there when I was able to continue to do my job.  Just to see her get cleared, and she can come back home.  She lives in Plano here, and to come back home before her next surgery has just been a wonderful thing. 
It's going to be great to see her.  She wanted to come down to Madison Square Garden, but I was, like, No, save up your energy for the Final Four.
So it's great to have her come down and she's going to come down with my wife today. 

Q.  For both coaches, all four teams have terrific back courts.  Is that a reflection on the old saying that it's a guards' game and is that what it takes to get to this level? 
COACH OLLIE:  That's the word I believe in.  Filling your roles and having your identity and understanding when you get to this point, don't go off script.  Don't try to be something that you haven't been the whole season.  You definitely want to take advantage of different things and different matchups, but at the end of the day, you want to play hard and you want to play for each other. 
Shabazz will be the first person to tell you that he can't do it without his teammates.  He can't do it without Phillip Nolan setting a screen for him to come off a screen and roll and get a wide open look, wide open shot.  He can't get an outlet to start a fast‑break if Amida don't block a shot or get a crucial rebound like he did in the St. Joe's game where we were down by three and he got an and‑one. 
So we rely on the team.  It's not an individual.  But Shabazz is a great player, a great leader, and that's the one thing I see, he's an extension of me.  I asked him to do a lot.  Not only be a facilitator, but score out of necessity when we get down to the thick of the thing, the thick of a moment when he needs to make a play.  He does a great job of that.
But it's all about a team and he'll be the first one to say that.  He's a humble kid.  Ryan Boatright is a humble kid and they know how much they're able to do their job because of the other guys playing their role and doing it at a great place. 

Q.  Billy, what's it like to coach against a shot maker like Shabazz Napier when you know that you can maybe play the greatest defense in the world and he can just negate that sometimes.  Then for Kevin, what's it like to coach a guy like that? 
COACH DONOVAN:  Well, he's obviously a terrific player.  But I think that the other thing, too, you got to realize, and Kevin touched on this, there's two things:  One, they do a good job of their team filling roles.  He's really smart, he knows when to go, when to pass.  I think he understands the length and time of a game.  He's played a lot of minutes over his career.  He's been in big events and big venues. 
But I also think that Kevin really puts him in some very, very unique situations that he can do the things that he does.  Because he can beat you with drives, he can beat you with shots, he can beat you from behind the line, and he can also beat you passing the ball.  I think with the way UCONN runs their offense and the situations Kevin's put them in, it makes it even that much more difficult dealing with him.  Because you can run and just go trap him, but he's going to go find one of those guys, and you're going to leave someone open for a three.  You can try to cover the three and someone's going to be rolling to the basket.
So I think Kevin has done a great job with his team putting all those guys in position to really be successful and play at the level he's been able to play at. 

Q.  Kevin, Ryan was saying the other day that couple weeks ago you guys watched the Florida game again.  I was wondering when that was, what was your reason for showing it and what do you think that your team got out of it going on to this run? 
COACH OLLIE:  I really thought that they got at what level of intensity we got to play at.  It's been written, we showed it after the Louisville game, and they thought I was going to come in and show that tape. 
But I have so much respect for Florida and what they did throughout this whole year and being on this streak and the consistency.  That's what I love.  They play one way and one way, that's it.  They don't play another way.  They play hard, they play together, they are unselfish.  I just wanted our guys to see how we were rotating, how we were playing, how we were challenging them and that they can have that same experience again and play that same type of way. 
Florida's No. 1.  We competed at a high level against them.  Don't think that losing to Louisville that we all are going to stay here.  We're going to move on.  We're going to get better from it.  I think that through struggle, you get progression.  And that was a struggle for us. 
But if you don't stay there and you keep believing in yourself, that this might happen.  Guys believed that and we had the team I wanted to put it in.  It wasn't no big thing.  We just showed a couple plays and we got to work and we got back on the practice court and we let everything happen that was going to happen.  But we were going to build off of it. 
I think everybody was looking at the 33‑point loss as a problem.  We were looking at it as a possibility for us to get better as a team.  I think that's the kind of mindset that we have to overcome different distractions that we have been having, not the Louisville game, for two years now.  Being band, not being able to go to the post‑season last year.  They always had the next play mentality.  I think it's great for a team to always have that mindset that can you get better from any distraction and it's not going to stop you from your destiny as a team. 

Q.  Kevin, twice you've mentioned how in this game Saturday your guys are going to have to perform at level five.  I wondered if you would define level five. 
COACH OLLIE:  It's just a championship mentality.  It's playing together, playing unselfish, playing as five and not just one.  Because sometimes you get to this stage and you want to play as one and you want to go off and be an individual.  But that's not going to work. 
The whole of our team is better than the sums of its parts.  We know that.  The only way that we can get here and perform at the best possible way is for everybody to be focused in on us.  And that's our ultimate goal each and every day is, us.  How can we improve as a team.  Hopefully we can do that Saturday night. 

Q.  A question about DeAndre Daniels for both of you guys.  Billy, what have you seen from him in the past couple games that he really seems to have stepped it up and become an offensive force for them more so than earlier?  Kevin, was there a light that kind of went on with him recently?  He's really stepped it up in the past couple games. 
COACH DONOVAN:  I think that Kevin would probably answer more than I can.  I would say this:  We recruited DeAndre some coming out of high school.  I was always impressed with his length, his offensive ability.  It looked like earlier on, and Kevin can probably talk to more to it, just struggled to find his way.  I think he's probably come to grips with who he is as a player and how he needs to play and how Kevin wants him to play to impact his team. 
But to me, he's really become extremely versatile.  He posts up, he shoots threes, he's putting it on the floor, he can start the break, he passes, he rebounds, he's playing really hard for their team.  I think watching UCONN now and getting prepared for them in December, there's no question he's really continued to progress and grow. 

Q.  For both coaches, with all the talk happening in college football about a possible union that may be developing, I'm wondering as far as basketball is concerned, if you feel like players deserve more benefits than they're already getting. 
COACH DONOVAN:  I think the players do deserve more things.  There are certain things that I think are outdated and don't make sense in a lot of ways.  What those things are, should they be paid?  I don't know what it is.  But there needs to be more done for the student‑athletes, in my opinion. 
They make an incredible investment.  They obviously are generating a lot of dollars on college campuses, and I don't know what the solution is.  I do know that there needs to be a better way to take care of them in a way that maybe would not jeopardize or violate them being considered professionals.  I think there's ways that we can do that. 
The idea that a kid can't get a free hamburger somewhere, it doesn't make any sense to me.  What's the big deal?  How is that hurting anybody.  I get, Well, then it leads to this and this and this.  I get some of those thoughts.  But there's some common sense things I think that we can do to insure that from a normal student activity life they can have money in their pocket and be able to do things. 
COACH OLLIE:  For me, pretty much the same thing.  Just think the game has changed.  This venue has changed.  I remember when I was playing in college when we went to the tournament, we wasn't playing in venues like this.  Everything has changed and evolved and in some way, somehow, the student‑athlete, that dynamic has to evolve and change. 
Like I don't know which way is going to lead, but some way, somehow we're going to all make a sacrifice and get in a room and see how we can make a change for the student‑athlete.  Just like Billy said, not flying the parents up to see a game.  And they allow their kids to come to the University of Connecticut all the way from LosAngeles, California, which I came.  Some things like that has to change.  Hopefully we can do that.  Hopefully we can keep the integrity of the NCAA and the student‑athletes, but everything in life is always evolving.  I think we have to get to a point where it's evolving. 
I love to see the student‑athletes when they graduate have some kind of medical benefits or something out there to give them a leeway until they're able to get a secure job with health benefits.  Just something like that or along those lines I would like to see that happen. 

Q.  Niels, you're one of the few guys you, Shabazz, Tyler, that have actually been to a Final Four.  Does the atmosphere and all that goes into it, does that sort of equalize things?  Is everybody sort of as star struck, whether a senior, freshmen, sophomore, is it kind of hard to manage all that? 
NIELS GIFFEY:  It's kind of tough to manage these first days, just getting in here, taking care of the media.  You have to stay focused on what you got to done the court.  That's the most important thing, I think.  You can't be too impressed with everything that's going on, the gym, the different crowd that's going to be out there and all the attention that's focused on you. 
So just stay with your group as much as you can, stay with your teammates.  That's really what I'm trying to tell my younger guys that haven't been here before, just try to have fun, enjoy this moment as much as you can. 

Q.  For Niels and Scottie, there's so much attention paid on making it to the NBA.  How do you guys value just having a really great college career? 
NIELS GIFFEY:  I think it's interesting to see the different people, like Shabazz stayed for four years and he made that conscious decision to get his degree and wait for the next step for another year.  I think it's just a great opportunity to grow as a person and a player on a different level where it's not all about business, where it's not about money.  It's about family and getting together as a group. 
I think I had my personal experiences with the national team over the summer, and I talked to the guys and they told me all the time of stories, so I was really happy with all of the decisions that I made to play for four years and not go overseas. 
So it's just a great opportunity to build something at a university where you can always go back to.  You will always have that family and that basis.  I think that's why people should consider taking four years, getting their degree, and really making an impact on your university. 

Q.  For Scottie, what makes Shabazz so different and difficult to guard compared to some other point guards that you've guarded this season? 
SCOTTIE WILBEKIN:  I think that's his ability to pull up from anywhere and the quickness that he pulls up and with the efficiency that he makes difficult shots.  That's what makes him hard to guard.  He also has the ability to get in the lane with his quickness and his first step.  So just the different weapons that he has on offense is what makes it hard for him to be guarded. 

Q.  Scottie, wanted to ask you about Napier.  Can you relive the experience of that game.  I know you got hurt, too, and you lost and you watched him hit a winning shot.  How much does it means to you to get another crack at that defensive assignment? 
SCOTTIE WILBEKIN:  Well, I always like guarding guys that are challenging to guard.  But as far as getting another crack at playing them, it's really not about that at all.  I would be happy to play anybody in the Final Four, because I'm just happy to be here with an opportunity to advance. 
So they're a great team, they have obviously played great up until this point, so it's going to be a tough game for both of us.  Hopefully we'll come out with a lot of high energy and ready to play. 

Each of the Final Four head coaches were on conference calls this afternoon. We'll stick with what Kevin Ollie and Billy Donovan had to say:

DONOVAN:

(on Scottie Wilbekin vs. Shabazz Napier matchup)

"Napier is a great player. I, obviously, have an enormous amount of respect for him. Being a Big East guy, I've always followed Big East teams -- I know they were in the American this year -- but he's a gifted offensive player, a gifted leader as well. Scottie is a great defensive player, Shabazz is a great offensive player. I've always believed great offense beats great defense. So, it's not necessarily a situation where Scottie is playing Napier by himself."

(on Dec. 2 meeting at Gampel, which UConn won on Napier's last-second shot)

"It was a great game, a great environment. I think it was a game that helped our team going forward. Napier made some great plays ... there was a lot of ebbs and flows -- they took the lead, we took the lead back .. it went back and forth in a lot of ways. I thought (DeAndre) Daniels made a tremendous play, keeping the loose basketball alive. Napier got a great look at the free throw line and knocked it down for their team."

Keep in mind, Donovan labeled Napier's shot "luck" after the game that night. He meant that Napier was lucky to get the second shot, after Daniels had tipped back the rebound of his first, off-balance shot.

(on why the loss to UConn helped Florida)

"It was really our second road game. We had played Wisconsin early. When you play against a good team, you've got to battle, fight, go back and forth, it helps you understand just how hard you have to battle, fight and persevere. It was a great venue, a great crowd. Any time you play a game like that, you have the chance to learn and grow. Obviously, it was a tough loss for us, losing at the buzzer. We knew where we needed to get better and improve. We gave up some offensive rebounds down the stretch."

(on Kevin Ollie)

"I've always respected Kevin. Obviously, he was a terrific player, a first-class guy. He's done an unbelievable job. One of the things I respect more than anything else is he was a guy that plays at UConn, was an assistant coach there, he's taking over for a Hall of Fame coach. No question, Kevin is comfortable with who he is, what he stands for, how he wants his team to play. I'm sure there are differences between he and Jim (Calhoun). He put a stamp on the team, what's the best way for his team to play. He's done a magnificent job coaching them all year long."

OLLIE:

(on how he was prepared to be a head coach despite no prior experience)

“I’ve always been a coach on the floor. Being around Larry Brown ... and what helped me, I played with 11 different teams, so I’ve seen different offenses, defenses, different ways a coach can communicate with his players."

"I used to keep scouting reports. Teammates would be like, what are you doing? I had to watch tape and film, scout my opponents. I was getting in there 10 minutes, five minutes, so I had to know exactly what I was doing so I could make those five minutes meaningful.”

“I tried to be an extension of the coach, so he didn’t even have to call a play, I knew exactly what he wanted at the end of the game.”

(on the AAC's postseason success)

“I’m glad our American flag is being raised. We lost six games in our conference, and we’re going to the Final Four. That just shows how great our conference is.”

(on the lack of African-American coaches at high-level programs right now)

“It’s definitely a concern. We don’t want to look at ourselves as African-American coaches. Hopefully, our coaching ability doesn’t have to do with the color of our skin … I just admire John Thompson, Nolan Richardson, they paved the way for me, that I can have a job and do it successfully.”

(on the exchange between him and Calhoun after Sunday's win)

“He just said, ‘I’m very proud of you. Just keep doing what you’re doing, keep battling.’ I was trying to hold back tears, because I always want to look tough in front of coach. But I just wanted to say thank you for believing in me. There were a lot of doubters, but Coach always believed in me.”

Here's that exchange:

(on Ryan Boatright)

“He’s meant a lot. Ryan is growing up. I’m very passionate about my point guards ... Ryan’s allowing us to coach him now. He’s opening up and trusting us more. That’s always difficult sometimes, the trust issue. Does coach have my back, maybe I should pass this shot up for Amida (Brimah) to have a better shot? The big thing for me, in the Iowa State game, they cut lead down to four, Ryan took two dribbles left handed, kicked it to Niels (Giffey) in the corner for a 3 that really stemmed that tide. That shows his maturity as a point guard … what he’s done in practice, being more vocal, being a leader, really helping our team, helping Niels and DeAndre getting better shots."

Didn't want to do it, but had to write another column about how clutch Shabazz Napier is. Seriously, what else was there to write about? UConn's incredible 40-year unbeaten streak in non-conference, on-campus games in November/December? Well, that was my plan, until Napier's latest heroics blew that out the window.



DeAndre Daniels playing big and coming up big against a team and coach that heavily recruited him, with the huge tip to Napier that allowed him to hit his game-winning shot? That was under consideration, too.

But no, had to go with Shabazz.

Here are some notes and quotes from tonight:

Kevin Ollie: “We’re not the biggest team in America, but man, I wouldn’t trade our heart for anything.”

The Daniels tip to Napier for the game-winner "kinda reminded me of Richard Hamilton, Sweet 16"

*** Daniels, showing his sense of humor, on his tip to Napier: “Yeah, I was trying to tip it. I think they should put that in the books as an assist.”

On the rowdy, sellout crowd:

“Three years I’ve been here, that’s the best I’ve seen Gampel.”

On Napier:

“He’s amazing, he’s the best in the country, in my eyes. He’s a senior, and he wants it so bad. We’re going to follow the lead of Shabazz.”

Daniels was recruited heavily by Florida.

"I was very close to going there. I was very close to Billy Donovan. He's a great coach, a great guy. I'm actually looking for him right now, just to talk to him, see how he's doing."

Why UConn?

"When I talked to (Jim) Calhoun and Kevin Ollie, I just felt like this would be a better situation for me."

*** Napier, on his latest heroics: “As a kid, you want to be that hero. Who doesn’t? You always see highlight films of guys hitting the last shot, guys at the free throw line making the free throws. You want to be the hero, you want to be the guy that’s known as the hero at the end of the game. Who doesn’t? Growing up, I wanted to be Superman. Everybody wants to be the hero. I just felt like I was fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Was he Superman on Monday night?

“Nah, Superman does it on his own, I can’t do it without my teammates. They made sure I got the right picks, DeAndre put a good hand on the ball the last second. We found a way to win.”

*** Florida coach Billy Donovan:

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Napier at the end of games. I think he’s a big shot-making guy. We actually did a really good job. We made the decision that we were going to trap him. We did trap him, we got him to take a very, very difficult, off-balance shot."

"The guy that won the game for them was DeAndre Daniels. He made an unbelievable tip-out, off-balance, which kept the ball alive. We had guys on Napier that kind of ran to the rim to go defensive rebound, which left space for Napier. We needed to keep a guy there and we didn’t. But his shot really was luck, in the fact that the ball was tipped to him. If it’s tipped anywhere else, it’s out.”

On Napier's four-point play with 33 seconds left: “Watching it on film, there was no foul. But we had two opportunities to rebound the basketball.”

*** UConn's last November/December, on-campus, non-conference loss was Dec. 5, 1973, in a loss to Holy Cross. 

Maybe you have to be from a certain time and place (say, Rhode Island in 1987) to fully appreciate Billy Donovan.

He hasn't always been the Rick Pitino clone with the slicked-back hair and New York accent who's patrolled the Florida sidelines for the past 18 seasons (wow, it's been that long). Once upon a time, he was the angelic, droopy-socked, Irish-Catholic point guard who played for Pitino on the 1987 PC Friars -- sort of Rhode Island's version of the Dream Team three years beforehand.

He was Billy the Kid.

Led by Donovan, Delray Brooks and Ernie "Pop" Lewis (they called them the Rainbow Coalition), Pitino and the Friars brilliantly exploited the new 3-point shot all the way to the Final Four, where their dream run was eventually snuffed by Syracuse.

Songs were written in their honor ("The PC Rap Attack" ... I'm serious), and they captured the small state's imagination like no other Friar team had since Ernie D. and Marvin Barnes led them to the Final Four in 1973, and certainly no team since.

Donovan, of course, was the team's leader, it's heart-and-soul. I'm not sure there's a great comparison to him on UConn's 1990 Dream Team (Chris Smith? Nadav Henefeld? Tate George?). The better comparison might be to Steve Alford, who led Indiana to the national title over Syracuse that year. But Alford, though worshiped eternally by Hoosier fans, never went from a pudgy freshman at the end of the bench to one of the best players in college hoops as a senior, the way Billy the Kid did.

I was a junior at Barrington (R.I.) High School that year, and it remains among my fondest memories of college hoops: Donovan's yeoman's effort in an overtime win over Austin Peay; Lewis's game-winning trey in a regular-season win over Georgetown at the Civic Center (before it was The Dunk); Pitino and John Thompson nearly coming to blows on the sidelines (I think I know who'd win that one); Mary Conlon's head fakes ... I could go on and on.

Pitino utilized the run to skip out of town that summer, after just two seasons at PC, to take the Knicks' job (about a week after I attended his basketball camp). I remember he picked up Donovan at some point in his first year at the helm, but Billy the Kid's game didn't translate to the NBA and he lasted only a handful of games.

He'd soon become an assistant under Pitino at Kentucky, take over at Marshall in 1994, then at Florida two years later. He won consecutive national titles in 2006 and 2007, surpassing Pitino's national-title count at the time (though Slick Rick tied him up last season).

On Monday night, Donovan leads Florida into Gampel for what promises to be an electric atmosphere in a battle between two top-15 teams. He's now a 48-year-old, wizened veteran of 20 (!) collegiate head coaching seasons.

But to some, he'll always be Billy the Kid.

A few more tidbits from Sunday's practice:

*** DeAndre Daniels went down hard near the end of practice after apparently being hit in the jaw. He was down on the floor for a few minutes as trainer James Doran tended to him, but eventually got up and finished out practice. Afterwards, he was in the training room getting work on his back, which has also been bothering him.

*** Kevin Ollie on Florida:

“Great team, great opportunity for us. It’s a ranked team, and it’s in our house. We want to protect our house, we want to build on what we’ve already created, and just keep playing good basketball.”

“We’ve got to keep them out of the paint, make them take contested 2’s and 3’s, challenge them on rebounds and we’re going to fast break on them.”

(on senior forward Casey Prather, who's averaging 19.1 ppg)

“He’s just a super athlete, he gets a lot off of transition, cutting off the basket. He’s just a slasher, he gets to the paint, but he gets there with force and authority. He’s not just going there to make a play, he’s going there to embarrass people.”

Ollie noted that Lasan Kromah should see plenty of time guarding 6-4 guard Michael Frazier II, who's scoring at a 14.4 clip.

*** Here's Donovan talking about UConn with the Florida media contingent. Sounds like Kasey Hill and DeVon Walker, both of whom were out of Friday's win over Florida State due to injury, may not be available Monday night, either.

(on UConn's three practices since the Thanksgiving break)

“We worked the turkey out of them, the stuffing out of them. It was good."

Ollie on Omar Calhoun, who's shooting just 6-for-26 from the floor and 2-for-13 on 3's the last four games:

“Gotta make his teammates better. Don’t concentrate on your shooting, you make your teammates better. It’s funny, when you try to make your teammates better, everything works out for you. I’m not a shooting guru ... be ready to shoot, be positive, be confident, but don’t get bogged (down) that you’ve got to shoot to be on the court. You’ve got to play defense, rebound and help your teammates be better.”

*** Ollie was a junior on the last (and only other) UConn team to face Florida: the 1994 team that lost to the Gators in the East Regional semifinals in Miami, 69-60 in overtime. Donyell Marshall missed a pair of free throws that would have won it in regulation for the Huskies, but he missed both.

“We thought Donyell would make one free throw," said Ollie. "He didn’t make it, they took it to us. It happens … It wasn’t Donyell’s fault, we had many plays before that, and it happened to end up in his hands like that. We’re fine, me and Donyell are cool, we keep moving on, Coach won three national championships. All is well in UConn land.”

*** Ollie on Donovan:

“We haven’t taken each other out to dinner or anything, but I see him, I say hi. I recognize he’s a great coach. It’s hard to do this job. I respect every coach that’s doing it … Especially a guy that wins national championships and is going to be a Hall of Fame coach. You want to respect him, definitely. I’d love to spend more time with him, if possible. But in the recruiting wars, you don’t get that opportunity all the time. I respect him, and I respect how hard his team plays. That’s the sign of a good coach.”

*** on UConn's home-and-home with the Gators, which will take them to Gainesville next season:

“I know they’re going to be strong, it’s stood the test of time. I know they’re going to be good next year. It’s just good for us to have these kind of opponents on our schedule. Especially to go down there, play in front of a hostile crowd, try to get a win. It’s just a great opportunity. Hopefully, we can win this game, go back down there and try to win next year. This year, we’ve got to take care of business here. It’s just a great venue, I love this place. It’s gonna be loud, it’s gonna be packed, and it’s gonna be a nice experience for our guys.”

*** Ryan Boatright on the Gators:

“They’re a great team. They’ve got a beast in the middle in Patric Young, they’ve got good guards, they’re long, they’re athletic. They slipped up and lost that one game, but other than that, they’d be a top 10 team.”

“It’s gonna be crazy. If anybody has seen a ranked game in Gampel, it’s ridiculous. The students have been waiting for a game like this at Gampel. It’s gonna be exciting, man. It’s gonna be fun.”

Sounds like Terry Larrier, the 6-foot-7 small forward out of the Bronx, is legitimately torn between UConn and VCU.

"I think he's on the fence," said Jeremy Pridgen, who coaches and trains Larrier's AAU team, Team SCAN. "If he could give half of himself to one, half of himself to the other, he'd do it."

But Pridgen added: "I think he pretty much knows what he wants to do. It's more of a situation of, 'How am I gonna call this one coach and tell him I'm not coming?' He's gonna fit in great, wherever he goes."

Larrier's decision could come over the next few days. If he lands in Storrs, Kevin Ollie is getting a good one that could offset some of the misses (Abdul Malik Abu, Quentin Snider, Paul White) the Huskies have had over the past couple of weeks.

"He's one of the best kids we've had in the program," Pridgen said. "He's come so far in a very short amount of time. He's worked hard, grown a few inches, and has come far. And he's got so much further to go.

"He's got a lot of talent. He's hungry, too. When you put those two things together, he can actually do it."

Pridgen compares Larrier to DeAndre Daniels, except "Terry is a much better shooter." He noted that VCU head coach Shaka Smart has been "on him from minute-one. He's been on him really hard."

However, Pridgen added, "UConn is creeping up on him."

Larrier visited Storrs a few weeks ago.

"That meeting went well," Pridgen said. "He loves Rudy Gay. He sees himself fitting in there really well ... He looks at UConn's wings like him -- long and lanky -- and who made it to the next level. And he likes Coach Ollie. He thinks he's going to have it rockin' like when (Jim) Calhoun was there."

Now, it's just a matter of making a very tough decision.

"He loves Kevin, he loves Shaka," Pridgen reported. "He loved Billy (Donovan, Florida's coach), too, but he hasn't really been on him like the other two."

Whatever the decision, one thing is certain: UConn definitely has a fan in the Team SCAN ranks in Pridgen. And that could help in the future with a kid like Thomas Bryant, a 6-9 Class of 2015 power forward, or even (way down the road) Tremont Waters, a Class of 2017 point guard who played for Team SCAN and is now at South Kent School ... and who happens to hail from New Haven.

"When they start winning this year, all the (Class of) 2015 kids are gonna be like, '(Ollie) really lets those guards play,'" Pridgen said. "Once he puts one of his own guys in the league, when they see the kind of year Shabazz (Napier) and Ryan (Boatright) are gonna have, they're going to be very intrigued about going there. UConn is gonna do very well."

UConn's full 2013-14 schedule was released today. Kevin Ollie called his out-of-conference schedule "second-to-none," and while that's open for debate, there's no doubt UConn will face plenty of quality opponents, both in and out of conference, this season. By my count, five opponents (Indiana -- assuming they meet in the 2K Sports Classic -- Florida, Louisville twice, Memphis twice and Cincinnati twice) could be preseason Top 25 picks this year.

Anyway, here's UConn's regular-seson schedule, with breakdowns of each opponent (the Huskies will also host exhibitions with Southern Connecticut on Oct. 30 and Concordia University on Nov. 4):

NOVEMBER

• 8 -- Maryland (6:30 p.m. at Barclays Center, Brooklyn): Terps were NIT semifinalists last year behind 7-foot-1 center Alex Len, who was No. 5 overall pick in draft. Now led by Dez Wells, who's suing Xavier for wrongful expulsion after a bogus July, 2012 sexual assault charge led him to be kicked out of school.
• 11 -- Yale: First time Huskies face Bulldogs in 10 years (Nov. 17, 2003). Watch for Stratford's Brandon Sherrod, who led Greater Hartford Pro-Am in scoring this summer.
• 14 -- Detroit (7 p.m.): First game of 2K Sports Classic. Detroit has won only prior meeting (67-61 in second-round NIT game). Titans were 20-13 and an NIT team last year and are led by guard Jason Calliste.
• 17 -- Boston University (noon): Second 2K Sports Classic game. Terriers return all five starters and top seven scorers from last year's 17-13 team, including first-team all-America East guard D.J. Irving.
• 21 -- Boston College (7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden): First meeting since BC's departure from Big East to ACC led to nastiness between Jim Calhoun and ex-BC AD Gene DeFilippo. Huskies own 54-35 all-time advantage and have won 28 of last 31 meetings, including 23 in a row at one point.
•  22 -- Indiana or Washington (5 p.m. or 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden): Hoosiers lost a lot but still have sophomore Yogi Ferrell and a terrific incoming freshman class, led by big man Noah Vonleh.
• 26 -- Loyola (Md.) (7 p.m.): Greyhounds went 23-8 overall last season and earned second straight postseason berth (to CollegeInsider.com Tournament).

DECEMBER

• 2 -- Florida (7 p.m.): Billy Donovan's Gators lost top three scorers from Elite Eight team but have plenty of talent returning, led by Patric Young. Just second time schools will ever meet and first time in Connecticut (though Florida did play at Yale last season!).
• 6 -- Maine (7 p.m.): Black Bears are coached by former Calhoun assistant Ted Woodward.
• 18 -- Stanford: (9 p.m.): Cardinal went 19-15 and were an NIT team last year.
• 22 -- Washington (at Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle): Could be the second Battle of Huskies in less than a month, as teams could meet in 2K Sports Classic. Washington features Mike Anderson, a 6-5 junior guard out of Hartford's Weaver High.
• 28 -- Eastern Washington (1 p.m.): Craig Ehlo, the former NBA guard best known for being constantly posterized by Michael Jordan, is an assistant coach. 
• 31 -- at Houston (9 p.m., Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston): Huskies first-ever American Athletic Conference game is New Year's Eve in Houston.

JANUARY

• 4 -- SMU (2 p.m., Moody Coliseum, Dallas): Larry Brown may have a sleeper team on his hands in the Mustangs, who return all five starters from last year's 15-17 overall team.
• 8 -- Harvard (7 p.m.):  Crimson won third straight Ivy League title last season and again appear to be the team to beat in league.
• 11 -- Central Florida: Like UConn, Knights were barred from last year's postseason, though not due to low APR scores but rather for recruiting violations.
• 16 -- at Memphis (7 p.m. at FedExForum, Memphis): Tigers could give Louisville, UConn run for their money for AAC title. Led by point guard Joe Jackson, who averaged 13.6 points per game last season.
• 18 -- Louisville (9 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion): An ESPN College GameDay presentation and certainly the Huskies' marquee home game of the season, as Rick Pitino's defending national champions invade Storrs.
• 21 -- Temple (7 p.m.): Owls could be a bit down after last year's 24-10, NCAA tourney third-round season. But don't ever count a Fran Dunphy-coached team out.
• 25 -- at Rutgers (7 p.m., RAC, Piscataway, N.J.): New coach (Eddie Jordan), new AD (Julie Hermann) as Scarlet Knights try to undo stain of Mike Rice before heading off to Big 10.
• 30 -- Houston (9 p.m.): UConn is 2-0 all-time against the Cougars.

FEBRUARY

• 6 -- at Cincinnati (7 p.m., Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati):  Bearcats could be a Top 25 team, and Sean Kilpatrick should be in the running for AAC Player of the Year.
• 9 -- at UCF (6 p.m. at CFE Arena, Orlando, Fla.): Huskies lost to Knights on Nov. 25, 2011 in Bahamas.
• 12 -- USF (7 p.m.): Big East holdover boasts tough guard Anthony Collins, who plays as low to the floor as anyone you'll see.
• 15 -- Memphis (noon): UConn's played Tigers just once before, losing on Nov. 16, 2007.
• 20 -- at Temple (9 p.m., Liacouras Center, Philadelphia): UConn hasn't played Owls since 1965.
• 23 -- SMU (2 p.m.): UConn's only prior game against Mustangs was also in 1965 (an 80-68 Husky loss).
• 26 -- at USF (7 p.m.): Huskies' loss last season in Tampa was just second time Bulls have beaten them in 12 tries.

MARCH

• 1 -- Cincinnati (noon): Bearcats have beaten UConn two of the last three and four of the last seven times they've played.
• 5 -- Rutgers (7 p.m.): UConn has beaten Scarlet Knights 20 of the last 22 times they've played.
• 8 -- at Louisville (2 p.m. at KFC Yum Center, Louisville): A tremendous way to end the American Athletic Conference's first regular season. Could be battle for conference player of the year (Shabazz Napier vs. Russ Smith), too.
• 12-15 -- American Athletic Conference Championship (FedExForum, Memphis): After a one-year break, Huskies return to postseason play.