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.

This we know: UConn's starting lineup for Wednesday night's exhibition opener with AIC will feature Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards.

Who's at center? All we can say right now is that his last name will begin with an "O".

It's between Charles Okwandu and Alex Oriakhi, obviously, but neither has been given the starting nod yet by Jim Calhoun – at least publicly.


"I told them a couple of days ago, over the next couple of days, whoever's the best player will start," Calhoun said. "I think they're going to be sharing their time, just because of foul situations alone. One is inexperienced, the other is very young."

Calhoun expounded on the foul problems of both players, particularly Okwandu, the 7-foot junior.

"I don't think either of them can play 30-something minutes of game, because of the foul situation. Charles is always fouling in practice, plus he's physical. Alex … the other night (during an intrasquad scrimmage), he had three fouls called on him just because he's a rookie. One time he was walking up the lane and they called a foul on him. You don't get the same type of whistle that you would … until you know how to play. Hasheem (Thabeet) could block a shot and maybe get a piece of your hand as a junior, than when he was a sophomore. I see it as two players for one spot, really."

Indeed, as far as the freshman Oriakhi is concerned, it doesn't really matter who starts.

"It's who finishes. That's what I go by," Oriakhi said. "When I go out there, (I just want to) be productive and hope for the best."

(Personally, I think Okwandu gets the start. Oriakhi is just a freshman, and I think Calhoun would like to give Okwandu the chance to prove he can be a 7-foot intimidator in the middle. But he won't have a very long rope. And, as Oriakhi noted, it really doesn't matter -- especially this early in the season).

Calhoun did note that Okwandu has been the team's leading rebounder in practices/scrimmages. But neither he nor Oriakhi are natural shot-blockers.

"Our best shot-blockers are Stanley, one, Gavin, two. When Ater gets eligible, he's probably our best shot-blocker."

***Ah, yes, Ater Majok.


"The best of the five new guys would be Ater (Majok) right now," Calhoun noted. "He's only played five days, but he's very talented – more talented than I thought he was. He doesn't necessarily know how to play yet. He could desperately need a game like this. There was a time when you could play two exhibition games and sit out rest of time."

*** With UConn stressing an uptempo, running game (and with several young guards expected to get minutes), Calhoun was asked if he will be able to live with a few more mistakes this season.

"It's always tough, but if we don't play fast, I don't think we'll be as good. It's not that much more complex than that … We may make a few more turnovers. As long as they're good turnovers, we can live with them."

Yeah, OK. When asked if he believes Calhoun will just "live with" more mistakes, Walker quickly responded: "Um, no. Coach is a perfectionist. That's something I'm trying to work on, too, to limit my turnovers, get my assist-to-turnover ratio down."

***Calhoun said freshman guard Darius Smith has been committing a lot of turnovers in practice.

***Who does Walker want to see taking a last-second 3-pointer to win a game?

"'Rome. He's been great in practice, scoring the ball the best."

But then, Walker thought a little harder.

"Maybe not even 'Rome, to tell you the truth. I'm going to go with Jamal Coombs, the freshman. He can shoot the ball very well. There was a play in practice where coach had us guarding each other and Coombs was on our team. There was a last-second shot, I got down the floor, he was wide-open. I through it to him and he made the game-winning shot. He's a great shooter."

***UConn should be getting an official visit from Doron Lamb on Nov. 15-16. That means Lamb could take in the Huskies' Nov. 16 bout with Colgate at Gampel.

The Huskies may also be soon getting another visit from Cleve Melvin.

***Denham Brown has practiced with the team the past couple of days. He'll be leaving in about a month to play overseas in South America. Rashad Anderson is expected to come up on Friday. Anderson turned down an offer to play in Italy and will look to play in the "D" League, with hopes that an NBA team will scoop him up at some point.

***New Haven's Chad Dawson, the undefeated two-time light-heavyweight champion of the world, will fight Glen Johnson in a rematch Saturday night at the XL Center. The fight will be broadcast live on HBO and will be simulcast to over 100 countries worldwide.

Dawson grew up a big UConn fan and got to meet Calhoun for the first time prior to today's practice.

"I go back to Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall. I go back to those days. I'm a big Ray Allen fan … whatever team he goes to, I'm always support that team."

Dawson was slated to address the UConn team before practice.

"I'll try to say a couple of encouraging words to them. Not that they need it. They've probably heard every encouraging word they'd need to hear from Jim himself, so I'll try to say something different."

Calhoun, a big fight fan, will be at Saturday night's fight, along with his son, Jeff.

"It'll be fun. I watched the first Johnson fight. Johnson's a brawler. He can hit you and knock you out, but (Dawson's) a terrific boxer. He's got great legs, he sticks and moves very well. He got suckered into it a few times in the first fight. I asked him what's his major role as far as change, and he said 'I want to discipline myself. That's harder to do sometimes. I don't like to get hit.' None of us do."