Tonight was about UConn avoiding its first 0-2 start in Big East play in 23 years and thumping a DePaul team that was missing two starters due to a violation of team rules.

It was about putting up 99 points (most in a Big East regular season game since a 99-57 win over Seton Hall on Feb. 11, 2006), it was about outrebounding the Demons by a whopping 49-29 (including 30 first-half boards and 19 offensive rebounds for the game).

And it was about Kevin Ollie's first Big East win as head coach.

But mostly, it was about DeAndre Daniels, who finished with a career-high 26 points. The sophomore forward sat out nearly all of the final 17 minutes of UConn’s overtime loss at Marquette a week earlier and finished with just one rebound that night.



Somewhat spurred by that poor effort, Daniels had a strong week of practice – even getting in a minor tussle with close friend Ryan Boatright – and emerged with a career effort on Tuesday. He shot 9-for-12 from the floor, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and helped hold DePaul leading scorer Cleveland Melvin ineffective for most of the night.

“I wasn’t angry, I just came back working even harder, just boxing out and trying to rebound,” Daniels said. “Obviously, if you rebound, you’re going to play a lot of minutes. That’s what I was focusing on, and being aggressive.”

Daniels, a slender 6-foot-8 swingman, often has the tendency to settle for 3-pointers and jumpers. But he was far more assertive taking the ball to the hole against the Blue Demons.

“Sometimes, I tend not to be aggressive and just try to get the ball to Bazz and Ryan,” Daniels said. “But I was pretty aggressive tonight.”

Added Ollie: “He wanted to score. He wasn’t just out there playing, he wanted to score. Hopefully, we can get this over a consistent period of time.”

Ollie insisted that Daniels' essential benching in the second half and OT at Marquette had more to do with what Niels Giffey was doing than what Daniels wasn't doing.

“I just told him – Niels was playing great. It wasn’t anything against DeAndre, it’s just Niels was playing great. He was doing everything I wanted him to do. I couldn’t get DeAndre back in the game. But, it was DeAndre’s turn, next man up, that’s how we’re going to play.”

And Ollie was impressed with how Daniels admitted to the media Monday in practice that the coach was right, and taking responsibility for his own subpar play that night in Milwaukee.

“If you have that attitude and take total responsibility, no matter if it’s your fault or somebody else’s fault, that’s how you become a great player and a great individual," Ollie said. "He took the onus on himself. He didn’t say, ‘Coach Ollie is dogging me,’ he didn’t blame Coach Blaney or anybody. He went out and played today.”

Added Tyler Olander: “DeAndre’s always focused. He’s one of the hardest workers, if not the hardest worker. He’s in the gym all the time. There are going to be games, like against Marquette, when you’re not as productive. But, I think he really turned it around and was really focused. He put up extra shots (in practice), and just had a great game.”

*** Boatright and Daniels, best friends and roommates, can't get out of each other's way lately. Daniels was sporting an ice pack on his shoulder after the game, a result of being kicked by Boatright (mistakenly) while the guard threw down a dunk during Tuesday's shootaround.

“We’ve been running into each other lately," Boatright quipped. "We ran into each other like four times (tonight).”

*** Tuesday night was also about Leon Tolksdorf -- a little. In the final seconds of the blowout, Tolksdorf found himself with the ball, put it through his legs and hit a jumper for his lone two points of the game. It seemed like piling on, and Ollie seemed displeased at first, but apparently forgave him.

“I wanted to stop him but deep in my heart I was like, ‘Go Leon,'" Ollie admitted. "He did a good job – through the legs, pull-up. I was happy to see everybody come in and contribute.”

Still, Tolksdorf got a talking-to from his teammates.

“We just told him, ‘You don’t really need that,'" Olander said. "We understand what he was trying to do, but it’s just not the right time. You’ve got to respect your opponents ... I think he was just trying to make the most of his minutes. You can’t blame him.”

*** Asked if Boatright was ready for the NBA, a pro scout in attendance emphatically said, “No,” but added that if he stays another year and keeps improving, he could be a lottery pick. Scouts love Boatright’s speed – and so does Ollie.

“He’s one of the fastest guys I’ve ever been around, and I played with Allen Iverson,” the coach said. “Not saying he’s as fast as Allen Iverson, but … he explodes. He's a little guy, with power."

*** The Notre Dame Prep team sat behind UConn's bench for the game, but the Huskies aren't recruiting anyone from that team this year. It was as much a goodwill move as anything.

Cleveland Melvin commited to UConn on Nov. 17, 2009, described by his prep coach as a "freakishly athletic player," and de-commited on March 4, 2010, desring to be more of a wing player rather than an interior guy. Here's a review of his brief, fleeting time "with" the Huskies.

Here's our blog when Melvin officially committed to UConn back on Nov. 17, 2009. Interesting to look at the comments, where we were asked if this eliminated the Huskies from Roscoe Smith contention.

A few days later, we spoke with Melvin at the National Prep Showcase in New Haven, where he was excited to get to UConn because it had "a lot of girls, and all that."

And, on March 4, 2010, here's our blog after Melvin de-commited. His Notre Dame Prep coach, Ryan Hurd, told me at the time:

"It's very mutual. There was open dialogue over the last few days. Cleve expressed his interest to be a wing player, and Coach Calhoun and Coach Sellers expressed interest in him being an interior player over the next four years. Cleve thinks his chance to play at a higher level was playing the wing.


"It's totally amicable."

UConn held a morning practice today at Gampel in preparation for Tuesday night's home game vs. much-improved DePaul, which is fresh off a nice win at Providence Saturday night and is 4-0 on the road this season.

We'll get to the Blue Demons and old (almost) friend Cleveland Melvin in a bit. But first, a couple of interesting tidbits.

The other day in practice, Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels got in a little scuffle during a box-out drill.

"We were just grabbing each other, one person got mad and it went from there," said Boatright.

Added Daniels: “We’re just out there having fun and competing, trying to make each other better.”


This is not a big deal, folks -- the two are great friends and, in fact, roommates. In fact, it might be a good thing for the team.

“I imagine they’re tired of hitting each other," Kevin Ollie said. "Nobody was going to fight, but it was good to see it … Being around each other for a week, you get testy a little bit. You don’t have classes, you’re living with each other, it’s like you’re around each other all the time. They love each other, we’ve been working hard, we’ve been having some outstanding practices. Today was off-the-charts … I really like their focus.”

Added Daniels: “Me and Boat are best friends. We came (to UConn) at the same time and have always been roommates. It’s all love. We were just on the court, trying to compete.”

*** Also, Ollie noted that both Big East commissioner Mike Aresco and head of officials Art Hyland called to apologize for the snafu in Tuesday's game, where the refs admitted the goaltend of Shabazz Napier's layup attempt at the start of overtime should have counted for two points for UConn.

“It’s overwith," Ollie said. "Satisfied or not, it doesn’t make a difference. I talked to the commissioner, the head of officials, they both apologized. I accept their apology. We move on, things happen. Hopefully, we learn from it, our guys learn from every situation. But like I’ve said before, the past doesn’t equal the future unless you live in it. We’re not going to live in that, we’re going to move on.”

*** As for DePaul, it's 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the Big East. The Demons lost a tough, one-point game at home to Seton Hall last week before beating the Friars at The Dunk.

“They really should be 2-0," said Boatright. "I feel like they’re a better team than last year. We’ve got to compete and don’t take them lightly.”

The Demons are led, of course, by Melvin, who averages 16.7 per game and scored 23 vs. PC. Melvin committed to UConn in the fall of 2009, only to decommit the following spring.

"Melvin's been doing what he does -- just getting buckets, getting buckets," said Ollie. "He's been an outstanding player in the Big East since he got here."

Daniels figures to find himself guarding Melvin quite a bit tomorrow night.

“I heard he’s pretty strong," Daniels said. "Obviously, every guy I play in the Big East is going to be way stronger than me.”

Brandon Young also averages over 16 per game for the Demons, who love to press and forced 23 Friar turnovers on Saturday.

That's all well and good with Boatright.

“When I see a press, my eyes light up," the guard sayd. "I call it ‘Layup City.’ As long as we do our job and break the press, we should be alright.”

*** Ollie and Geno Auriemma were filmed for a public service announcement regarding the Newtown tragedy after practice.

*** Looked like Tyler Olander was working with the starting five today.

*** Despite scoring a career high-matching 29 points vs. Marquette, Napier didn't even earn Big East honor roll recognition this week. Odd.

The Big East's annual Garden party will continue for years to come.

The conference announced on Wednesday that its annual Big East Championship Tournament continue to be held at Madison Square Garden for the foreseeable future. The Big East and Madison Square Garden have agreed to a multiyear extension of their contract.

(My main story from today's Big East Media Day)

“Madison Square Garden has been the Big East’s home for 30 years,” new commish Mike Aresco said, “and has produced some of the signature moments in college basketball history. We are happy that our teams will continue to bring the excitement of Big East basketball to the Garden.”

With the defection of Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference after this season, there has been some worry that the ACC may try to hold its championship tournament at MSG, at least periodically.

The Big East’s current contract with MSG doesn’t expire for another four years. There was no word on how many years the new deal will entail.



Of course, UConn won't be able to participate in this year's event. Or will it? While the chances are extremely slim, UConn is holding out a bit of hope that the league presidents change their mind on their decision last March to bar any postseason-ineligible teams from its conference tourney. The presidents meet again in a couple of weeks in Chicago for what would appear to be the Huskies’ last chance. UConn is hoping that, since the players responsible for the poor APR scores are long-gone (and, now, Jim Calhoun is gone, too), that the presidents may reconsider.

It's very unlikely, however.

“It’s possible that it could be discussed,” Aresco said on Wednesday, “but again, UConn hasn’t indicated yet what they want to do. It could be discussed, but I want to state that that’s our policy of our conference at this point.”

Big East Bonds

First-year UConn coach Kevin Ollie brought in a noted sports psychologist a few weeks ago to help the Huskies bond a little better, and by all accounts, it’s worked.

Ironically, UConn sophomore Ryan Boatright also spent a good part of the summer bonding with some of his Big East rivals. He went up against Louisville’s Peyton Siva, the preseason Big East Player of the Year, at Chris Paul’s CP3 Camp, and also teamed with Siva, Notre Dame’s Jack Cooley, Syracuse’s Brandon Triche and Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick at the adidas Nations camp in August.

At CP3, Boatright and Siva went at each other.

“Same thing as a Big East game,” Boatright noted. “Trying to rip each other’s necks off.”

But at adidas, Boatright got a chance to get to know his fellow Big East competitors a lot better. Bonds developed among all the Big East players.

“They’re all great guys,” Siva said. “Ryan Boatright is a funny guy. He’s very energetic, tough as nails as a guard.”

Added Cooley: “When you compete against somebody for four years, you should know a little bit about him. So it’s good to finally get to meet them and develop some friendships.”

The players teamed together on the court and hung out together off it for the week. Precious little of the talk amongst them dwelled on things like the Big East and its rocky future, or about UConn’s postseason ban – though the latter did come up at least once.

“Boatright kind of said an off-hand joke about how there’s not going to be enough bodies (on UConn’s team),” said Cooley, referring to the mass wave of defections from last year’s squad.

More often, it was the conversations were far more light-hearted fare.

“It was more about how are coaches are, some of the funny quotes our coaches would say,” Siva said.

No doubt, Boatright had some prime material for that after playing for Jim Calhoun last season.

Interestingly, Siva, Cooley and Dieng all earned first team all-Big East preseason honors, while Triche was a second team pick. Boatright received no recognition.

“I don’t really care, it is what it is,” he said. “I’m still going to prepare myself to be the best player I can be, and my team to be the best it can be.”

Sports Psychologist a Success

Ollie’s decision to bring in Dr. Joseph Carr, a sports psychologist who has worked with other college and NBA teams, seems to have been a success – even if UConn players were a bit skeptical at first.

“Nobody really felt like doing it but K.O.,” Boatright confessed, adding that the team spent about eight hours a day over a recent weekend in a circle, learning about each other’s lives.

But he feels the team emerged a better team because of it.

“Once we got it going and it was over, we appreciated that he made us do it, because it really helped a lot.”

Freddie Wilson Surprises

New Haven’s Freddie Wilson figures to be a key element for Seton Hall this season as a sophomore.

“Freddie’s probably surprised me more than anybody this year,” Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s coming in great shape. I think (our) summer trip to Spain really helped him. He’s understanding his role a little more. He’s done a great job of embracing what a point guard really needs to be. Last year, I don’t think he really understood what he had to do. Playing behind Jordan (Theodore), he didn’t have a great opportunity to do it. This year, I expect big things from Freddie.”

Wilson averaged 1.8 points in 8.1 minutes of action as a freshman last season. The 6-2 Hillhouse product will play both the point and shooting guard this season.

“He’s going to have to,” Willard said. “He understands what he likes to do offensively. Freddie’s biggest drawback (is) … I think they only play on the offensive side in Connecticut high school basketball. The more he understands the defensive side, the more playing time he’ll get. He’s got a great scorer’s mentality. He’s got a mentality of being in attack mode, which I like.”

Chicago Hope

DePaul’s Cleveland Melvin, a preseason second team all-Big East pick, committed to UConn while still in prep school but backed out and went to Chicago instead.

His decision was a mixed blessing for the 6-fot-9 junior out of Baltimore. Melvin was the conference’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman and averaged 17.9 points per game last season, making him the top returning scorer in the league. He is a preseason second team all-Big East pick.

Of course, he also missed out on UConn’s national championship run two years ago.

“I’m definitely happy to be in this position I’m at,” Melvin said. “I thought it was the best fit for me. I fit their playing style. I’ve had two successful years. Coming into my junior year, I’m just very excited to get this season started and winning some more games.”

UConn has been picked to finish ninth in the 15-team Big East this season by the league’s coaches.

Shabazz Napier has been picked for the preseason All-Big East Second Team. He is the only UConn player to earn any type of preseason honors.

Louisville is the consensus pick to win the conference, earning 14 o 15 first-place votes only because coaches can’t pick their own team. Rick Pitino apparently picked Notre Dame, which got the only other first-place vote, but the Irish finish third behind Syracuse in the preseason poll.

Louisville’s Peyton Siva is the preseason Player of the Year and Pittsburgh’s Steven Adams the preseason Rookie of the Year.


1. Louisville (14)
2. Syracuse
3. Notre Dame (1)
4. Cincinnati
5. Georgetown
6. Pittsburgh
7. Marquette
8. South Florida
9. UConn
10. St. John’s
11. Rutgers
12. Villanova
13. DePaul
14. Seton Hall
15. Providence


Player of the Year: Peyton Siva, Louisville
Rookie of the Year: Steven Adams, Pittsburgh

FIRST TEAM
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Giorgui Deng, Louisville
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
Vincent Council, Providence
Otto Porter, Georgetown

SECOND TEAM
Shabazz Napier, UConn
Brandon Triche, Syracuse
Cleveland Melvin, DePaul
D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s
Anthony Collins, South Florida

HONORABLE MENTION
Chene Behanan, Louisville
Trey Woodall, Pittsburgh
Jarien Grant, Notre Dame
C.J. Fair, Syracuse

Jim Calhoun needed a cane to walk around for several days before his back surgery a little over a week ago, but that had to end once he returned to the bench.

“I can’t walk with a cane on the sidelines, because two officials might get hit,” he quipped after Tuesday’s 81-67 win over DePaul.

Cane or no can, Calhoun’s presence has certainly given UConn a lift the last two games – at just the right time.

“Having him there on the sidelines is great,” said freshman center Andre Drummond. “Just hearing his voice brings us a joy, even though he screams a lot.”

Added Alex Oriakhi: “He puts a fire in our belly. We know Coach Calhoun is no slacker out there, so we’ve got to go out and play with a sense of urgency.”

Calhoun didn’t accompany the team on its bus ride to New York after practice on Monday, instead coming down on his own. But that’s what he normally does, and had nothing to do with his back and being on a bus for three hours.

He opened up a little more about his surgery, how he feels right now and what he must do to keep feeling better.

“The pain is a different kind of pain, it’s a muscular pain,” Calhoun said. “Thank God it’s no longer a nerve pain … To alleviate that pain was incredible. It took us three weeks to find the right solution, which wasn’t to put rods and fibers and fuses and all that stuff. We had a 3 ½-hour procedure that was pretty intricate ut not transforming in the sense that it’s a hole in my back and it’s sore, but nothing like a win or two wins now to make that (better).

“But without question, I will definitely try to get more rest than I normally do.”

*** Believe it or not, there was a time not long ago when UConn couldn’t win a Big East tournament game.

From their four-point loss to Syracuse in 2005 to an embarrassing beatdown at the hands of St. John’s in 2010 – and with a certain six-overtime loss in between – the Huskies lost six straight conference tournament games.

Then came last year’s unprecedented five-wins-in-five-days run. Suddenly, the Huskies can’t lose at Madison Square Garden in March.

UConn has now won six straight Big East tournament games, the fourth-best streak in the event’s history. Ir has also won 12 consecutive postseason games overall.

“When we get into tournaments, obviously it’s a new season,” said Jeremy Lamb, who popped in a game-high 25 points. “All year we’ve been finding ourselves and everybody on the team has been stepping up. We’ve been preparing all year for this time. Now that it’s here, we just want to give it all we’ve got and don’t look back.”

*** Drummond finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks in his Madison Square Garden debut.

“It’s been great, a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play here.”

Drummond has also been displaying some improved low-post moves lately, including a few nifty spin moves for hoops on Tuesday.

“I’ve been working on that a lot, just trying to get myself better with my back to the basket, because I’m more of a face-up person,” he said. “Getting the basic spin move and trying to finish on somebody, I’ve been working a lot on that move.”

He even unveiled a nifty behind-the-back crossover in the lane, something not seen prior to Tuesday.

“I can’t show ‘em all, can’t show ‘em everything,” he quipped.

The lowlight: Drummond missed all six of his free throw attempts. He is now 4-for-26 from the charity stripe in his last seven games.

*** Less than five minutes into the game, Oriakhi was hit with a flagrant technical foul after shoving 5-foot-11 guard Worrell Clahar on the low post.

“I just got hit in my mouth and I reacted,” he said. “When anybody gets hit in the face, you just react. It was a dumb mistake on my part, but you’ve got to learn from it.”

Indeed, he did learn his lesson in the second half: “I got hit again (by Cleveland Melvin) but I just kept calm.”

*** Ryan Boatright, who hails from suburban Chicago (Aurora, Ill.), didn’t play well in his first bout against his hometown team a few weeks ago, shooting 1-for-9 with five turnovers. He rebounded on Tuesday, though, with 19 points and seven assists.

“The first time we played them, I felt like I pressed a little too much and just missed a lot of easy shots and (had) a lot of careless turnovers,” he confessed. “Coach talked to me more, said I didn’t play very well the first time but said at practice, ‘You’re going to have a great game.’”

*** Lamb’s layup with seven seconds left in the opening half made him the 46th player in UConn history to go over the 1,000-point mark for his career. He has also scored in double figures in all six of his Big East tourney games.

*** Calhoun has now won 34 Big East tourney games, passing John Thompson for sole possession of second place on the all-time list.

*** The win may also have punched the Huskies’ ticket to the NCAA tournament.

“We played, I believe, the most difficult schedule in the country, if not the second most difficult,” Calhoun pointed out. “Secondly, we played the most difficult schedule in the Big East. And third, only three teams in the country – Villanova, Vanderbilt and Connecticut – played 21 top-100 teams. So out of 31 games, we had 10 breathers. And who are those breathers? UNC-Asheville? Oh, by the way, they’re in the tournament, and I can keep on going.”

Still, it might behoove them to beat West Virginia (19-12) this afternoon to remove all doubt.

*** Caron Butler was in the house, and paid a visit to the UConn locker room after the game.

*** I’m not sure what this Calhoun quote means: “Someone said I only have two years left on my extension. I don’t know if I can make two more minutes. For them to think, I’m grateful about that. I don’t know if I have two more years in my contract, now it’s like I’m calling the shots. Someone better pay me for two more years. That’s what I’m saying.”

OK.

He did, however, thank (most) of the media for respecting his privacy during his medical leave and covering the process the right way. Hey, I only called him at home once.

*** Oh, and speaking of me, I predicted UConn would win the game, 82-68. You can check it on Twitter (@DaveBorges).

The Big East season officially kicks off tonight, with Pitt playing at Notre Dame and Providence at St. John’s. UConn’s conference season gets underway tomorrow night at South Florida.

As always, it’s going to be a fun couple of months keeping tabs on what I still think is the best conference in America. Some believe the Big East is a bit down this year, but I remember people saying that before last season, as well. The result: a record 11 teams invited to the Big Dance, with UConn, of course, emerging as national champion.

Not saying there will be 11 Big East invites this year, but the conference certainly has Final Four contenders in Syracuse, UConn, Louisville and possibly Marquette and Georgetown. Perennial contenders like Pitt and Villanova appear a little down, but we could see vast improvement from teams like Seton Hall, Providence and even DePaul.

And when it’s all said and done ... I like the Huskies to come out on top. Call me a homer, but I really like what I see here. They’re nine-deep (which is more than what you really need in college hoops), and that’s with Niels Giffey seeing sparse minutes lately and Michael Bradley yet to return from injury. They’ve got great size and athleticism up front (Alex Oriakhi really needs to step it up, however), they play suffocating defense and, more so than in years past, they can actually shoot the ball – fifth in the Big East at 49 percent, up from last year’s 43 percent. Heck, the Huskies lead the conference in 3-point shooting, as well, at 41 percent.

They’ve got a superstar (Jeremy Lamb) and a standout point guard (Shabazz Napier) to help make up for the loss of Kemba Walker. And they’ve got Andre Drummond, whose potential is limitless and who should only get better as the year progresses.

Anyway, here are my fearless predictions for the upcoming Big East season:

1. UConn (14-4) The potential to repeat is there, people. It really is.
2. Syracuse (14-4) I could tell you Syracuse isn’t a national title contender, but then Jim Boeheim might call me a liar who’s only out for money.

3. Louisville (13-5) Remember when Rick Pitino-Karen Sypher was the Big East’s most seedy scandal?
4. Marquette (13-5) Darius Johnson-Odom, Jae Crowder may be Big East’s best 1-2 punch.
5. Georgetown (12-6) Hoyas have won at Alabama, beaten Memphis twice already.
6. West Virginia (12-6) Think there’ll be some trash-talking when Jabari Hinds goes up against Ryan Boatright?
7. Seton Hall (10-8) New Haven’s Freddie Wilson (1.1 ppg) hasn’t had much of an impact thus far.
8. Pittsburgh (10-8) Remember when Pitt never lost at The Pete? It’s already lost there to Long Beach State and (gulp!) Wagner.
9. Cincinnati (9-9) If only Yancy Gates always played as hard as he punches.
10. Villanova (8-10) Wildcats still don’t have much up front. Now, even guard play is iffy.
11. Providence (7-11) People close to the program were bracing for the worst season in years this season. Looks like that won't happen.
12. South Florida (5-13) There’s some talent here, but it doesn’t seem to be coached very well.
13. DePaul (5-13) Who’s the better ex-UConn commit, Cleveland Melvin (18.5 ppg) …
14. St. John’s (5-13) … or Moe Harkless (14.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg)?
15. Notre Dame (4-14) Looks like loss of Tim Abromaitis for season is similar to Colts losing Peyton Manning.
16. Rutgers (3-15) Most non-descript team in Big East -- by far. But it does have the best team website in the conference, so there's that.

ALL-BIG EAST

FIRST TEAM
Jeremy Lamb, UConn
Darius Johson-Odom, Marquette
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Kris Joseph, Syracuse
Herb Pope, Seton Hall
Kevin Jones, West Virginia

SECOND TEAM
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Kyle Kuric, Louisville
Jae Crowder, Marquette
Shabazz Napier, UConn
Andre Drummond, UConn

THIRD TEAM
Jason Clark, Georgetown
Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
Dion Waiters, Syracuse
Cleveland Melvin, DePaul
Malik Wayns, Villanova

HONORABLE MENTION
Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
Vincent Council, Providence
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville

ALL-ROOKIE
Andre Drummond, UConn
Moe Harkless, St. John’s
LaDontae Henton, Providence
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Ryan Boatright, UConn
Jabari Hinds, West Virginia

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Lamb, UConn: I don’t see a candidate from either Syracuse or Louisville. West Virginia’s Kevin Jones and Seton Hall’s Herb Pope are 1-2 in the Big East in both scoring and rebounding, respectively, but let’s see if that lasts during conference play. Ashton Gibbs was the pre-season pick, but Pitt appears down this year. This could come down to Lamb and Johnson-Odom, and in the end, Lamb’s got the better team.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Kevin Willard, Seton Hall: We’ll find out fast if the Hall’s 11-1 start is legit (it opens at Syracuse, then home vs. West Virginia and UConn), but Willard certainly seems to have the Pirates on the right track. Cooley will win this award someday ... soon.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Andre Drummond, UConn: Yes, he’s still very raw in spots, but if he’s not the most gifted athletic specimen in the league, I don’t know who is. And here’s another thing: he just turned 18 in August, making him one of the youngest players in the entire conference!

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall: I wouldn’t completely rule out Drummond in this category, either, but we’ll go with this 6-foot-6 swingman who leads the Big East in steals.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Herb Pope, Seton Hall: After a near-fatal collapse in the summer of 2010, Pope never got back on track last season. But he’s been dominant so far this year and could be a shoo-in for this award. Nice story, really.

SIXTH MAN AWARD
Dion Waiters, Syracuse: There are some (Jim Calhoun included) who believe Waiters is the Orange’s best player. Only thing keeping him from this award is if Boeheim decides to put him in the starting lineup.

A few more things I think I think:

*** Syracuse and Louisville are both deep and talented, but I don't see that superstar player on either roster that's going to lead them to the promised land. Wouldn't be surprised to see either team get popped earlier than expected from the NCAA tournament.

*** With Steve Lavin back healthy and on the sidelines, and with Amir Garrett now eligible, St. John's will progressively get better, despite having just eight scholarship players. I could be very wrong about this, though.

*** Cincinnati is 4-0 since the brawl with Xavier and seems to be playing better without Gates. I wasn't too high on the Bearcats to begin with, however, and don't see them doing much this season after he returns on Jan. 4.

*** It's really too bad Farmington's Tim Abromaitis has to miss his final season after tearing his ACL. Can he still win the postseason Scholar-Athlete Award? (I'd say not, because I don't believe he's taking courses this year).

*** Another (sort of) local kid is also out for the season: Louisville's Mike Marra -- like myself, a native Rhode Islander. Can see why his family wanted him to play for Pitino.

*** As if there wasn't enough disinterest in South Florida already down in Tampa, the Bulls won't even play in their home gym this season as it's under repairs. USF is playing all its home games this season in the St. Pete Times Forum -- site of UConn's stunning first-round loss to No. 13 seed San Diego in 2008. I'm guessing there'll be as many if not more snow-bird UConn fans in the building Wednesday night than USF fans.

*** Why 14-4 for UConn? I see the Huskies losing at Syracuse and Louisville, and there'll probably be at least one home loss along the way -- maybe vs. Marquette on Feb. 19, or Syracuse on Feb. 25. Wouldn't be shocked to see them get upset at Seton Hall on Jan. 3 in their final game without Jim Calhoun, either.

Lotta talk today about Jeremy Lamb's emergence as a Big East Rookie of the Year candidate, and deservely so.

Lamb has arguably been UConn's best player overall (yup, even better than Kemba) over the past few weeks. He's averaged 17.1 points in his last six games, shooting 57 percent from the floor in that span and upping his Big East average to 12.7 ppg. He's been the league's Rookie of the Week the past two weeks.

So it's hard to argue he's not right in the running for the league's top rookie award. Right now, he's got to be neck-and-neck with DePaul's Cleveland Melvin as the favorite. Melvin (a one-time UConn commit) has the better numbers, averaging 18.2 per game in Big East play, sixth overall in the conference. Melvin's also eighth overall in rebounding (6.7) and ninth in blocked shots (1.45).

Impressive stuff, no doubt. But it's important to note that he's doing it for a team that's 0-11 in league play. On a young, terrible team, Melvin is the focal point of the offense -- and while certainly making the most of the opportunity, it would be interesting to see what kind of numbers Melvin and Lamb would put up if they switched teams.

I'll agree with the opinion of Jim Calhoun, who never mentioned Melvin by name but clearly had him on his mind.

"(Lamb's) team has to win every night, his team is in the top 10. Every game he plays, there’s a great deal of pressure on him ... I give a lot more credit to winning than I do to anything else."

In other words, scoring 14 points in a win over Villanova or 10 in a key, comeback win over Seton Hall holds more merit than tossing in 24 in another double-digit loss. Kinda like debating whether Felix Hernandez of the last-place Mariners or CC Sabathia of the first-place Yankees should win the Cy Young award (of course, King Felix wound up winning that award in a big victory for the sabermetrics crowd).

For his part, the soft-spoken, unassuming Lamb isn't focusing too much on any potential individual honors.

“I haven’t really thought about it," he said. "Of course that would be a big accomplishment, but I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve just been trying to stay focused on what we’re doing right now.”

Lamb said that entering the season, “I wanted to average double-digit points. That was probably the only thing. I just wanted to come in, get stronger, and really just see if I could play on this level.”

He added that his improved play of late really just boils down to being more confident.

"You can have all the experience in the world, but if you don’t have confidence, you’re not going to do stuff you know you can do," he said. "My teammates, Coach Calhoun, have been telling me, ‘You can do this, you can do that.’ My dad talked to me. It’s confidence level."

Noted Kemba Walker: “He’s just more aggressive. He just knows how to score now. He knows how to pick his spots, where his hot spots are. He’s just really finding out how to put the ball in the hole.”

The Huskies will see a (somewhat) familiar face on Saturday when they play at DePaul. Freshman Cleveland Melvin leads the Blue Demons in scoring at 13.5 ppg, including a 21-point effort in Wednesday night's loss to Seton Hall.

In what was called a "totallly amicable" situation by Ryan Hurd, Melvin's coach at Notre Dame Prep, Melvin de-committed from UConn last March after having verballed to them the prior November. First-year DePaul coach Oliver Purnell quickly swooped in to land the 6-foot-8 jumping jack.

“He was the first guy I went up to see at Notre Dame Prep,” said Purnell, whose previous stops have included Clemson and Dayton. “I saw for myself in an open gym, I knew he would fit us, athletically. He had a couple of other visits lined up, but fortunately for me, he had already seen DePaul and liked it I knew he would be a great fit in our style.”

For those of you (and I'm not sure if there are many) who are hand-wringing over Melvin as "one that got away," be careful. Certainly, the kid's been good for DePaul. Melvin averages 4.3 rebounds per game, and the Huskies could certainly use his size and athleticism up front.

“He’s a talented young man, he’s athletic, and he’s now starting to understand and gotten comfortable with what we’re doing, offensively,” said Purnell. “He’s doing a much better job at the point of our press. He’s just gaining some experience, and he’s been able to get an awful lot early, make adjustments to our style and system that has allowed a very fine athlete to play well.”

But averaging double figures on a terrible team, where he's a focal point of the Demons' offense, is different than doing so on a top-10 team led by perhaps the best player in the country.

Consider: Melvin leads the Blue Demons in field goal attempts (166), nearly twice as many as Roscoe Smith (91) or Jeremy Lamb (99) have hoisted up for UConn. Would he be tossing up that many shots and scoring 13.5 per game with Kemba Walker at the helm? In a word: No.

UConn's freshmen wing men (Smith, Lamb, Niels Giffey) have been asked to more or less fill roles, to compliment Walker. For the most part, they've done a pretty good job of that. Melvin may have done a good job of that, too, but there's almost no way to believe he'd be outscoring Alex Oriakhi and even Shabazz Napier on the Huskies' roster.

So don't necessarily look at Melvin as a star that got away. If Smith or Lamb were at DePaul right now, they might be putting up big numbers, too. But it would be for a team that's 6-10 overall and 0-4 in the Big East, not the 10th-ranked team in the nation.

***Oh, and did you notice that Jeremy Hazell was back for Seton Hall and scoring a game-high 23 points in the win over DePaul on Wednesday, just a few weeks after suffering a gunshot wound around Christmas? That was quick, and it's good to see him back (though Rick Pitino might have wanted to choose his words more carefully after referring to Hazell as a "lethal weapon" on Thursday's Big East coaches conference call).

Cleveland Melvin, who de-committed from UConn in the fall of 2009 and wound up at DePaul, has been named the Big East's rookie of the week after scoring 23 points in a win over Florida Atlantic.

Not trying to rub it in at all to UConn fans. The Huskies appear to have done just fine with their freshman class. Just pointing it out.

Cleveland Melvin, the 6-foot-8, "freakishly athletic" Class of 2010 forward out of Notre Dame Prep, has backed out of his committment to attend UConn.

"It's very mutual," said Notre Dame coach Ryan Hurd. "There was open dialogue over the last few days. Cleve expressed his interest to be a wing player, and Coach Calhoun and Coach Sellers expressed interest in him being an interior player over the next four years. Cleve thinks his chance to play at a higher level was playing the wing.

"It's totally amicable."

Melvin, a Baltimore native, had verbally committed to the Huskies in November. According to Hurd, Melvin has already heard from many of the same suitors he had before committing to UConn: South Florida, Seton Hall, Miami, Marquette, Oklahoma State, TCU.

"Cleve has a ton of respect for the guys at UConn," Hurd added. "Probably even more now that they realized it wasn't the right fit. How much courage does it take to say to Coach Calhoun, 'UConn's a great basketball program, but I'm looking for something different.' That's a bold statement on his part."

Stopped by the National Prep Showcase today at Albertus Magnus College, and saw Cleveland Melvin in action.

He was impressive. In the short time I was there, Melvin hit a nice baseline floater, had a monster blocked shot, missed a 15-foot baseline “J” then had his most impressive sequence of the night: a steal, and on the other end of the floor, a sweet low post spin move and hook shot for a hoop.

Melvin definitely looked active and athletic. Seemed a little frustrated at times not getting the rock enough on the high post in the middle of Champlain St. Lambert’s 2-3 zone. I swear, it must be the baggy uniforms, but out on the floor he doesn’t seem to be 6-foot-8. Up close, however, he is every bit 6-8.

“It’s a good choice for me, the best fit,” he said of his decision to commit to UConn earlier in the week. “I’m guaranteed getting a lot of minutes, coach Calhoun told me.”

Melvin, who checks in at 205 pounds, says he can play both power and small forward but prefers power forward.

“I finish well, and I rebound well, too,” adding that he needs to work on “my handle, and work on my strength, too.”

When asked what player he would compare himself to, Melvin didn’t have to look too far.

“Stanley Robinson. (UConn coaches) said (they) look forward to me playing like Stanley -- athletic, runs the floor, grabs boards.”

Melvin said things are going well academically, and that he recently got a good score on his SAT. He said he thoroughly enjoyed his visit to UConn Nov. 7-8, going out for dinner with assistant coach Patrick Sellers and talking to his future teammates about what life is like at Storrs.

“They were telling me how school’s going to be great, a lot of girls and all that,” he said with a smile. “I’m just happy and excited to be a part of UConn.”

***Plenty of other top-notch talent in the house, including the following Big East commits: C.J. Fair (Syracuse), Austin Carroll (Rutgers), Dashaun Wiggins (Seton Hall), Isaiah Epps (Pitt), Ron Giplaye (Providence), Russell Smith (Louisville), J.J. Moore (Pitt), Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse), Gerard Coleman (Providence) and Markus Kennedy (Villanova).

Among the coaches in attendance while I was there were Sellers, URI head coach Jim Baron and Michigan assistant (and former Penn State head coach) Jerry Dunn.

UConn has received a verbal commitment from Cleveland Melvin, a 6-7 Class of 2010 power forward who plays at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. He's a Baltimore native who played at Lake Clifton High, as well as with the Cecil Kirk AAU program that has delivered numerous players (Reggie Lewis, Rudy Gay, etc.) to Jim Calhoun over the years.

Melvin is a high-energy player with terrific athletic skills and great ability around the rim.

"That's what separates him from other kids," said third-year Notre Dame Prep coach Ryan Hurd. "He's got a ton of bounce, he finishes extremely hard at the rim."

Melvin made an unofficial visit to UConn on First Night (Oct. 16) and an official on the weekend of Nov. 7-8, taking in the Huskies' exhibition game with UMass Lowell. He had also visited DePaul earlier, and had more visits slated -- including one to Seton Hall this weekend.

But he surprised Hurd and decided to commit to UConn on Thursday.

"He's excited," Hurd said. "He's a great kid, laughs all the time -- 90 percent of the time he doesn't even know what he's laughing at."

Hurd said that Melvin is at about 200 pounds right now and is responding well to the school's strength and conditioning program. He'd like to see him continue to get a little bulkier, as well as work on his shooting range.

"I'd like to see his jump shot become more consistent, all the way to the arc," Hurd said. "He's working on stretching his jump shot out. He's a huge fan of the dunk shot, and we're trying to expand that."

Melvin is on-target academically.

UConn has received national letters of intent from both Michael Bradley, a 6-foot-10 power forward out of Chattanooga, TN, and Jeremy Lamb, the 6-4 combo guard out of Norcross, Ga., according to a school spokesman.

***Doron Lamb, the Class of 2010 shooting guard (and no relation to Jeremy), is slated to make an official visit to UConn this weekend. He'll come on Sunday and leave Monday morning, missing the Huskies' 9 p.m. game with Colgate that night.

***The Huskies got an official visit earlier this week from Cleveland Melvin.

***Indulge me for a moment: The Who is my all-time favorite rock band, even ahead (barely) of The Beatles and Stones. When I heard the rumor (not yet confirmed) that they would be playing this year's Super Bowl halftime show, I was thrilled. Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day.


But now I'm wondering if it's a good idea. Is the target audience for the Super Bowl halftime show a Who crowd? Does the audience even know who The Who is? Maybe they're familiar with "Baba O'Riley" (Teenage Wasteland!) and "Won't Get Fooled Again" as the CSI theme songs. Maybe that's one of the reasons why The Who were asked (CSI and the Super Bowl, after all, are both on CBS).

But do young kids really dig The Who? Minorities? Those audiences may not be Stones, Springsteen or McCartney fans, either, but at least they likely know who those guys are. The Who? I don't think so.

Either way, let's hope we don't get another one of these type outbursts from Pete Townshend at the Super Bowl.

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."

Greetings from the Bronx, where it's cold but not raining … yet. Looking like the rain is going to hold off and we'll get in Game 2 of the ALCS tonight.

I didn't make practice today because I was driving down to the Bronx to cover tonight's game, but check out colleague Chris Hunn's story on UConn's first official practice in tomorrow's Register. I did learn that the Huskies are hosting Cory Joseph on an official visit this weekend. He was at First Night last night.

Joseph is a 6-foot-3 guard out of Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV, who is ranked as the No. 6 point guard in the Class of 2010 by scout.com.


Also at First Night last night was frequent UConn visitor Andre Drummond and a new name – Cleveland Melvin, who plays at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. Melvin is a 6-7, Class of 2010 forward.

As mentioned last night, Maurice Harkless, a 6-6 junior forward from Forest Hills (N.Y.) High, was in the house, as well. And, of course, Roscoe Smith, who we talked to last night.

(Quiz question: What all-time comedy classic features the line, "Hello, Cleveland!"