Had a nice chat with Ryan Boatright today for a story I'm working on regarding UConn's backcourt.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a better backcourt in America next season. I may be forgetting a team or two, but is there anyone who could actually top Boatright, Shabazz Napier and Omar Calhoun (along with incoming grad student Lasan Kromah and freshman Terrence Samuel)?

I tend to doubt it, and so does Boatright.

"I'll take my (backcourt) against any backcourt," he said.

Maybe the best evidence is the fact that UConn was the only school with two players (Boatright and Napier) at the recent NIKE Guard Skills Academy in Union, N.J.

"It was fun, I played well," Boatright reported. "It was just fun getting a good workout in, playing against other kids from the West Coast and different conferences, the top competition in the country. It's always fun going head-up with the best."

Boatright was a teammate of Napier's on the first day of camp, then went up against him the second day. Who got the best of whom?

"Of course I'm gonna say me," Boatright said with a laugh. "We both got each other's number."

Truth is, Boatright and Napier didn't always get along swimmingly when Boatright first got to UConn two seasons ago.

"We had our differences, like everybody, but we're good friends," he said. "We get along great on the court, we know each other in and out. Back when I was a freshman, like any freshman, you're gonna bump heads. But we're all good now, we're on the same page. We just want to win."

Boatright said he's expecting more big things from Calhoun this season, and is looking forward to playing with Samuel, whom he hasn't met yet.

"He's gonna get a chance to learn from two very experienced guards, me and Shabazz, who are both ready for the NBA," Boatright said.

Boatright said he's already gained 10 pounds since March (up to 175 pounds) and that he'll be playing the point more often than Napier next season.

"In the NBA, I'm gonna be a point guard, I'm not gonna be a two," he said. "My natural position is point guard, but I'm able to score. I can score at any level."

Boatright will finish up summer courses in Storrs this week and head back home to Aurora, Ill., where he'll play in the NIKE/Jordan Brand pro-am. He'll attend Chris Paul's CP3 camp for the second year in a row in August before returning to UConn.

Once October rolls around, Boatright will be ready to join forces with what could be the best backcourt in college basketball.

"We all just play together, we're not scared of anybody, especially me and Shabazz," Boatright said. "We've got a lot of heart. Heart will take you a long way."

 

Kevin Ollie said he believes he beat Warde Manuel by a stroke in their pro-am round on Wednesday. Here's some of what he had to say about his UConn team:

"We’ve got a great team coming back. Guys are working tremendously hard, doing a great job in first-session, second-session summer school. I feel good about our freshman class. We’ve just got to come back with that same attitude."

(on Ray Allen's huge 3-pointer Tuesday night)

(on how he's handling his first off-season as head coach)

"I'm still trying to figure it out. I learned a lot from Coach (Calhoun). After we won the championship, I was about to book my trip to Tahiti and everything, and he said, ‘Monday, we’ve got a meeting.’ He said this is where you grind and do your grunt work and prepare for next season."

(on next year's schedule)

"We think we’ve got it close to last year, with the scheduling we have, with possibly playing Indiana, possibly playing Washington twice, we have Stanford coming here, playing Maryland, playing Florida. We think we kept it about the same. Then, getting to conference play, we want to play very well. It’s going to be different for us: different hotels, different flights, different states we’re going to. It’s going to be an adjustment."

Ollie said he hasn't heard from Enosch Wolf yet, and that there's no timetable for his decision:

"I wish him the best of luck. We’ll have him come back if he wants to come back. He did everything we can ask for. He did very, very well with his sessions, that he chose to do on his own. I wish him the best of luck, and when he gets back in that predicament, I know he’s going to make a better decision."

He added that the decision to allow Wolf back as a non-scholarship player was "a collaborative effort, coming from Susan, Warde and myself. We worked together on that."

Ollie said Shabazz Napier should be back on the court this week, Tyler Olander is still about a month away and Omar Calhoun is about 1 1/2 months away. Napier will head to the Point Guard Skills Academy camp in Newark and Chris Paul's camp, and DeAndre Daniels is heading to Kevin Durant's camp in Washington, D.C.

"I called KD and told him to take care of him, give him a couple of secrets there," said Ollie, Durant's former teammate.

Helps to have a head coach who's a longtime ex-NBA player and is so well-respected in the league, isn't it?