Went to Gampel tonight to watch UConn players run at the conclusion of the school's hoops camp, which is running this week and next.

Jerome Dyson and Taliek Brown were in the house, and Tony Robertson has been here the previous few nights. Kemba Walker was back from LeBron James camp (he said he had no idea which way LeBron would go in his decision). Jamaal Trice and Darius Smith are still here, taking summer courses to try to boost their GPA's in order to transfer. Trice confirmed that he is, indeed, transferring -- he just has no idea where yet.

Jon Mandeldove is here, too. Big Dove said he'll be pulling a Stanley Robinson next year -- in other words, paying his own way while taking classes and holding down a job. Mandeldove has an apartment off-campus so he said he'll be paying in-state tuition. He also said he's nearly done with classes, and hopes to be completely done after the first semester so that he can concentrate solely on hoops for the second.

A few other nuggets:

***Walker will play for the USA Select Team against the NBA-stocked U.S. national team from July 18-25 in Vegas. He's already earned rave reviews at both the Deron Williams and LeBron James camps this summer, and feels he's really emerged as a true leader.

“I was talking a lot (on the floor),” he said. “I think I showed I’m a leader. And my shooting, I think I’ve improved a lot in that aspect.”

Walker will be one of just three scholarship upperclassmen on this year’s UConn team and is a co-captain with senior guard Donnell Beverly. The Huskies have seven incoming freshmen this season, the most since the early 1990’s. I asked him if he feels this year’s team is his team.

“I don’t feel it, I know it is,” he responded. “I’m just looking forward to being a leader.”

***Dyson, who went unselected in last month’s NBA Draft, will head to Vegas next week to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers summer league team.

***Ater Majok looks pretty good. Yes, it's just summertime pick-up games, but he made some moves and finishes that I haven't seen him make before. Jeremy Lamb can play a little bit, too.

***New commit Enosch Wolf's father apparently played basketball at Ohio State and was a teammate of Detlef Schrempf's on the German national squad.

***The Huskies will have a slightly different ... um ... complexion this season. Walker has already noticed it. We're told that a few weeks ago, while German Niels Giffey was making an official visit, Walker dribbled up the court and saw Tyler Olander, Giffey, as well as African natives Majok and Charles Okwandu ahead of him. He stopped his dribble.

"Man," Walker said, "we've got some di-versity this year!"

Niels Giffey has always been a big Ray Allen fan, even when the former UConn star struggled at times during the NBA finals.

It’s that appreciation for Allen, and many of the other great wing players that have come through Storrs, that helped Giffey, a German native, decide to commit to the Huskies on Friday morning.

“I’m really excited to come to UConn,” said Giffey, who speaks fluent English. “I knew that UConn has a great basketball history. Coach Calhoun is a Hall of Fame coach, they’ve had Ray Allen and plenty of great wings. I like that fact. It’s a good team, a great coaching staff. I really felt comfortable.”

Giffey, who has been on an official visit to UConn the past two days, said he’s slated to graduate from the German equivalent of high school this week and will be on the Huskies’ team this season.

UConn assistant coach Andre LaFleur visited Germany in April to see Giffey play for the Alba Berlin youth team, which is coached by former University of North Carolina player Henrik Rodl. Giffey had attended an adidas camp in the United States a few years ago and attracted interest from several schools, including Louisville, Michigan, Gonzaga and UCLA. UConn was the only school he visited, however.

“I can play positions 1 through 4,” Giffey said. “I’m a very versatile player. I can shoot the ball, run. I like to win, I like to play defense, run the fast break. I’m a team player, and I like to put my teammates into good positions.”

Giffey ran with most of the current Huskies in scrimmages over the past couple of days. We're hearing Kemba Walker really enjoyed playing with him.

Giffey, a Berlin native, said Calhoun and the Huskies’ coaching staff told him he’ll get a chance to see a lot of minutes right away.

“They told me I will get a chance to play my game, to make the team better, just do what I can to make the team run,” he said.

A couple of other things:

***The Huskies now have six freshmen coming in: Giffey, Roscoe Smith, Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, Tyler Olander and Michael Bradley. They can do this because they have three seniors graduating (Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards) two players transferring (Darius Smith and Jamaal Trice) and one unused scholarship from last year. Even if the NCAA winds up docking UConn a scholarship or two (a decision that likely won't happen before January), it won't affect any of the incoming freshmen.

***Rodl apparently wanted to keep Giffey to play on his first division pro team in Germany, but Giffey's parents (his dad's a professor, mom's an architect) wanted him to get a college education.

***Giffey is said to have a great feel for the game and a high skill level.

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

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

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

***Beau Archibald to BYU? Maybe.

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

More later ...

Shabazz Napier, Tyler Olander and Michael Bradley were on campus today. Napier and Bradley are slated to begin first-session summer classes, while Olander will take second-session classes starting June 28. First, he's got to graduate from E.O. Smith High School right next door, on June 18.

Napier says his reclassification from Class of 2011 to 2010 is complete, and he'll be ready to go for UConn this fall. He says he had to withdraw from Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., about a month ago and re-enroll at Charlestown High, where he started his high school career five years ago. Had he stayed at Lawrence, Napier says he wouldn't have been able to re-classify. But the Roxbury native says he was able to return to Charlestown High and, recently, graduate from the school.

Napier spent three years at Charlestown High (he tried to transfer to Tilton School in New Hampshire as a sophomore, where he would have been teammates with Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Alex Oriakhi, but it fell through), then two at Lawrence Academy. When he first went to Lawrence, he was bumped down two grades and re-classified as a sophomore. He was a junior this past season, and would have been a senior next year at Lawrence.

Confused? Well, bottom line is, he's now at UConn, ready for summer courses and, of course, honing his game.

"My main focus is hitting the weights, getting my teammates better: getting them up real early to do running, doing stairs, and getting everyone focused," said Napier, a 6-foot point guard. "Even though I’m a freshman, I’m a point guard, which means you have to be a leader on the court, no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been in the game. It’s a big role when you take over as a point guard on a big stage like the Big East.”

(Yup, that's Geno Auriemma shooting hoops in the background)

He's certainly got a good example of that in new teammate Kemba Walker.

“He’s the teacher," Napier said. "He’s teaching me stuff, I’m learning from it. We play on separate teams, so I’m learning stuff on defense and on offense. I’m learning the way he gets in the lane. There’s a lot to learn from a guy like him.”

Napier envisions sharing court time with Walker often this season.

“He told me he wants to be more of a two-guard. I think that’s better for him to be a two-guard. He gets in the lane and scores, his shot’s getting so much better. As you can see, in past history, UConn was good when it had two guards running the floor. I think it’s giong to be best for him, and also the team. My role is to basically do whatever I can to help the team out.”

Napier added that he's a born leader.

“You’ve got to have it in you. It comes from within. Not a lot of people have it, that’s why I think I separate myself from a lot of point guards.”

Oh, and as to the NCAA's recent findings that UConn has allegedly committed eight violations?

“It doesn’t affect me at all, it’s not really my ballpark," said Napier. "It’s not something I should be worried about. They brought me here for two things -- school and basketball. Anything else, I’ll leave it in their hands.”

Likewise, Olander isn't worried about potential sanctions.

"It’s nothing really with this team we have here," said the Mansfield native. "That’s the coaches’ deal, they’re going to deal with it. We’re just going to play and try to win a national championship. It doesn’t affect the team we have now at all.”

Olander, a 6-foot-9 left-hander, certainly boasts a sweet stroke -- as evidenced in this video during a workout on Tuesday at Gampel:
He calls himself a "face-up four," and while his shooting is something the Huskies certainly could use, he's ready to help the team in any way possible.

"I’m ready to experience the whole thing and ready to get going, so I can have as much impact as I can next season to try to help the team get going. Whatever I can (do), so I can be as versatile as I can: inside, outside, rebounding, whatever the team needs."

***Also, Jamaal Trice and Darius Smith were at Gampel today. Didn't get a chance to talk to them, but obviously neither has transferred, to this point

***Who sang the song "The Freshman," that's referenced in the title of this blog?

Tomorrow night's game could be a dogfight -- literally -- involving a pair of teams nicknamed the Huskies.

Northeastern's Huskies are no pushover. They went 20-12 this season, 14-4 in a competitive Colonial Athletic Association. They played four teams that are in this year's NCAA tournament, beating two of them (Utah State and CAA champion Old Dominion). And they're a senior-led team, four of whom played UConn tough two years ago in a 69-60 loss at Gampel, including Matt Janning, who poured in 29 points that night.

"We have our work cut out for us," said Jim Calhoun. "They're good. They're capable of beating us. If we give a C, C-plus game, they'll beat us."

Or, to put it another way: "Hypothetically, if we were in the (NCAA) tournament and we were a two-seed, we'd be playing a Northeastern-type team," Calhoun said.

Will the threat of suffering an ignominious home defeat to the team Calhoun began his coaching career with be enough to motivate a Husky team that has looked alarmingly lethargic in recent weeks?

"We have no choice, at this point," said sophomore point guard Kemba Walker. "What's happened was in the past, we've got to look at the future right now. Our future is Northeastern and the NIT, so we've got to make the best of it and play basketball."

But when asked what benefit UConn can get from playing in the NIT, Walker took a long pause, before finally saying: "I don't know. It's games, you've got to take advantage of it. Some teams already (ended) their season. We're fortunate to make the NIT. Things happen for a reason, I guess."

***Expect some of the younger kids to get more run tomorrow night. Donnell Beverly is out with a deep bone bruise in his right knee, so frosh Darius Smith -- who Calhoun said has looked good for the past 1 1/2 weeks -- will be the backup point guard.

If UConn wins tomorrow, it will play the winner of Wednesday night's Virginia Tech-Quinnipiac first-round game. If the Bobcats are able to pull off the upset down in Blacksburg, Va., Calhoun would go against his former longtime assistant, Tom Moore – at a site to be determined.

"We will play anyplace you want us to – East Catholic High School, anyplace, just for both of us to be living in the second round," he said.

***Now, to the juicy stuff. Calhoun was asked about his recent announcement that he has agreed in principle to a new four-year contract extension – something he more or less already announced back around Christmas.

"It's gone back-and-forth 1,000 times. A lot of issues going on in-state, with tuitions and all that. And Jeff (Hathaway), in the past 1 ½ months, roughly … when I said that, I wasn't trying to be a wise-ass … I haven't talked to him …The reason we announced something we already knew is that we were getting killed on the recruiting trails. So nothing drastic has changed, I'm just waiting to get a copy back of the signed contract."

When asked how "cut-throat" other coaches have been on the recruiting trail, Calhoun made a thinly-veiled reference to John Calipari.

"There's a certain coach out there who's big-time now who said Louie Carnesecca was dying of cancer. That's a rather tough one. His name is as big as anyone right now (that was) when he was a graduate assistant someplace. Is it cut-throat? Yes, but it's a cut-throat business.

"Do I like it? No. Do we do it? I hope that no one on our staff has ever done that. We might tell you the advantages of running, we might tell you the advantage of winning, we might tell you the advantage of going to a program, by inference, they may have one (player in the NBA) and we have 14. Sure. We'll say, 'check the other schools that you're involved with,' and they may have two players in the NBA."

Calhoun ended, with a smile: "I've always tried to control the world, and I never have. But my quest will never end."

***Did the Huskies watch the rest of the Big East tournament, or the NCAA Selection Show? Nope, according to Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson and Walker.

"I've been playing video games since I've been back," said Dyson. I went out and bought a couple of new ones."

'Call of Duty' and 'Super Mario Wii,' to be exact.

***Northeastern's roster spans the glove – Australia, Cape Verde, Bulgaria, France, Canada – but there is a bit of local flavor. Southbury's Brian McDonald, a Pomperaug High graduate, is a senior walk-on for NU.

***The way Calhoun sees it, UConn would definitely have been in the Big Dance had it won 19 games.

"But we needed to get those 19 wins, we didn't get them, so we're in another tournament that, this year, probably has more significance because there's more good teams."

Not so fast ... Jim Calhoun backed off Saturday's postgame proclamation that the same five players who ended the game will start in Tuesday's Big East opener.

"We kept changing it today, based on what guys are doing in different drills, I'm sure we'll change it by tomorrow, as I think more through it," Calhoun said. "I think it's more important, how we play the game, whoever's on the floor. That will be determined by watching how they're playing, quite frankly."

For the 45 minutes or so the media was able to watch practice, Stanley Robinson, Donnell Beverly, Gavin Edwards, Ater Majok and Darius Smith ran on one team, while Charles Okwandu, Jerome Dyson, Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Kemba Walker were on another.

How have Dyson and Robinson, in particular, handled Saturday's second-half benching?

"Stanley was very good on defense, came in with a very good attitude," Calhoun said. "Jerome was really good yesterday and today."

When asked about Dyson in particular, Walker gave a short pause, then said:
"I think he realizes what he's got to do. He's been real positive in practice, he's been talking, been going hard. Hopefully, he can transfer it to the game and be the leader that he is."

Dyson was not made available to the media today.

Both Walker and Edwards were asked if the team had lost any faith in its coach and/or, had the coach lost any faith in his team.

"I don’t think so," said Edwards. "Coach isn't one to give up on anybody. He's going to keep doing the best that he can. I don't think anybody has given up on the season, either. Everybody wants to play in the postseason and hopefully make the tournament but, if not, just keep playing somehow."

Added Walker: "Nah, not at all. We've always been together. Some nights, we just don't play hard. We all love each other, we're all cool. Nobody's not friends on this team."

But clearly, these Huskies are an enigma for their coach.

"If I could ever figure this team out," said Calhoun, "then I probably wouldn't be losing my mind."

It was all about Jeremy Hazell at practice today. The Seton Hall junior guard scored 41 and 38 points, respectively, in his first two Big East games this season and should be quite a handful tomorrow night for UConn.

"He's unguardable," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said of Hazell, who popped in 28 against the Huskies as a freshman two years ago. "I don't mean he's going to make every shot, I mean he'll take every shot … He's that kind of player. The game is never safe with him."

Jerome Dyson will get the honor of chasing the wiry, 6-foot-5 Hazell around the floor.

"I was watching the West Virginia game, and he was just shooting it from anywhere he catches it," Dyson said. "It's definitely going to be a tough game where I’m going to have to run around and guard him, no matter where he catches the ball."

***The Pirates are 10-3, 0-2. Their two losses came at home to West Virginia (in overtime) and Syracuse. Then they dropped another overtime bout with a tough Virginia Tech team. Are they due?

"In this league, it always seems like the team that needs to win seems to be able to put forth a great effort to get a win," said Calhoun, whose Huskies are 10-3, 1-1. "It doesn't mean they'll get a win, because we hope to have something to say about that. But, over the years, it seems when a good team is desperate – and they're a good team – when their back's to the wall, they get a win. They're hungry."

***Stanley Robinson (who should see some time on Hazell on Wednesday, too) was sporting an interesting hairdo today. It was combed out and up, sorta like Busta Rhymes (that's about as hip as I get). But don't expect to see it again.

"No, no, negative," he said. "This is a one-day thing."

MUSIC QUIZ: Who sang the originaly "Hazy Shade of Winter"? And who had a hit with it as a cover version in the late 1980's?

***Despite a career-best 10-point effort on Saturday against Notre Dame, Charles Okwandu will still be coming off the bench. Struggling Ater Majok will remain in the starting lineup, though both players will get some run and Calhoun will likely stick with the hot hand.

***UConn has won nine straight over Seton Hall and 24 straight over the three Big East tri-state schools (Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John's). The last time the Huskies lost to the Pirates was in March, 2001.

***Freshman guard Darius Smith didn't practice with the team on Tuesday since he had a tutorial session, but will be on the bench and dressed for tomorrow's game.

***Why the 9 p.m. start? Well, SNY is broadcasting the Rutgers-West Virginia game at 7 p.m. and backing it up with UConn-Seton Hall for a doubleheader.

So I pulled into a parking spot in the garage across the street from the XL Center today at about noon and who's stepping out of his car two spots over but Jon Mandeldove.

Apparently, big Jon isn't allowed to take the team bus from Storrs to Hartford during his "suspension". While the exact reason for Mandeldove's suspension has never been fully addressed, it apparently has to do with academics. Mandeldove promises, however, that he has straightened things out in that department and will be back in a UConn uniform come January. We'll see.

***Darius Smith was held up at Midway Airport in his hometown of Chicago for 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and missed UConn's practice. He wound up getting into Connecticut around 3 p.m., but not after a slippery landing for a connector in Baltimore that had him scared on an airplane for the first time in his life.

Friday the 13th. Thirteen 3-pointers allowed. Thirteen offensive rebounds allowed.

Coincidence? Of course. But that didn't stop Jim Calhoun from going all Jason Voorhees after the game and slashing his team – and particularly Gavin Edwards – to ribbons.

"I'd like to congratulate William & Mary for outplaying us," Calhoun said after the Huskies' lackluster, 75-66 win in their season-opener. "They did a terrific job. They beat us on the glass. I know it says 34-34 (in rebounds), but they had a 13-10 advantage on the offensive rebounding."

Calhoun was reduced to quoting an old heavyweight boxer not necessarily known for his verbal skills.

"Mike Tyson has a great saying: 'You don't know how tough you are until someone punches you in the face.' We certainly didn't get punched in the face tonight, but we had someone finally stand up to us, and we didn't react very well. I'm incredibly disappointed."

It kept coming. Here's Calhoun's synopsis of his players on Friday:

"Stanley (Robinson) had a little problem with my advice when I said stop taking contested shots. So then he passed on four shots and said, 'You don't want me to shoot.' That's a senior … "Stanley was awful, but he had good offensive numbers (17 points, seven boards)."

"Jerome (Dyson) was awful and good, all at the same time. But we needed him tonight. One thing Jerome's not going to do is not stand up when he gets punched."

"Kemba (Walker) was OK, Alex started off well … Jamaal Trice seemed like he was in a fog … After Alex, Darius (Smith) was probably the least bad."

Then there was Edwards, the 6-10 senior forward who was making the first start of his 90-game UConn career. He took just one shot in the first 34 minutes, wound up taking just three, scored six points and grabbed a mere four rebounds.


Worse, he allowed Tribe forward Quinn McDowell to go off for 20 points and put up a host of uncontested shots.

"We don't have a four-man," Calhoun said, never mentioning Edwards by name. "His guy got 20 tonight, because he continues to overhelp, as he's done for four straight years … The kid, McDowell, is still open, I think … the kid, if he's still on the court now, he's probably free."

As Calhoun looked down the list of his starting five by class, he added: "Senior (Robinson), I guess senior (Edwards), freshman (Oriakhi), senior (Dyson), sophomore (Walker)."

Yeah, he was none too pleased with Gavin Edwards. And neither was Edwards himself.

"I don't think I played well at all," he said. "My man averaged like nine points last year and he went off for 20 tonight. I just played terrible defense, and I didn't play very well on offense."

Of course, he wasn't the only UConn player to turn in a subpar effort on Friday.

"This is definitely an eye-opener for the whole team," Edwards added. "There's not any individual person that could really take anything out of this. As a team, nobody really played that well."

***My own analysis:

Robinson did force a few too many shots, but at least he was looking for his shot -- something he didn't do enough of for great stretches last season.

Edwards was as bad as Calhoun said. Appeared at times that he didn't want to be here. Really needs to get tougher.

Oriakhi hit his first three shots within the first 3 1/2 minutes of play, two of them on nice lefty hook shots, then attempted just one more shot the rest of the way as the Tribe collapsed their zone on him. He was 4-for-4 from the floor.

Dyson appears to be the guy UConn will go to when the chips are down. He led all scorers with 27 points, to go with eight assists and four steals. Dyson personally engineered a 10-2 UConn run midway through the latter half, sandwiching a pair of 3-pointers around an alley-oop pass to Robinson, then hitting a slashing lay-in to give the Huskies a 57-43 lead with 11:57 remaining.

"He just sort of took the game over at times," Tribe coach Tony Shaver said of Dyson.

Walker was OK -- 12 points, three turnovers, just two assists. He picked up his second foul 6:01 before halftime and sat out the rest of the half.

Donnell Beverly played three minutes, made one nice pass to Dyson for a basket, then threw the ball away, never to return.

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel had two points and three boards in his first seven minutes as a Husky.

Trice did nothing. Smith hit a key trey early in the latter half after the Tribe had closed to within four points.

Charles Okwandu? Three minutes, bagels across the board.

It doesn't quite rank with some other infamous sports injuries, like the strained eyelid that once sidelined former San Francisco Giant third baseman Chris Brown. But if Jerome Dyson had missed his long-awaited return to the hardwood with a toenail injury -- well, let's just say his coach wouldn't have been too pleased.

Here's what happened: Walking through the players' entrance at Gampel Pavilion about two hours prior to UConn's exhibition bout with UMass Lowell, Dyson, who was wearing flip-flops, caught the big toe of his right foot on a piece of metal on the bottom of the door. It ripped the nail straight off his toe, causing profuse bleeding and pain.

"He stubbed his toe, as he has on many other occasions, but this was actually a physical stubbing of the toe," Calhoun explained after UConn's 88-50 dismantling of UMass Lowell in Sunday's exhibition game at Gampel. "Jonathan (Mandeldove), Charles (Okwandu), OK, but Jerome -- you wouldn't think that he would rip off a toenail. It was bleeding like crazy. They didn't know if he was going to play, I said 'He has to play.'"


So, UConn team doctor Jeff Anderson stitched the toenail back on and numbed the toe with a pain-killer. Dyson then went out and delivered a mind-numbing performance.

The senior guard poured in 32 points on 12-for-17 shooting (including all five 3-pointers) as UConn rolled to victory. At one point, he scored 12 straight points as the Huskies turned an 18-17 lead into 30-17. Dyson had six assists against no turnovers, along with four steals in a truly inspired performance – inferior competition or not.

It was enough to have Calhoun jokingly suggest maybe Dyson's other big toenail should get torn off for the Huskies' official season-opener later this week against William & Mary.

"We're going to do the same thing next Friday night … it seems to work, I guess," Calhoun noted. "He shot the hell out of the ball, took good shots. The kid played great."

Added Dyson: "They're starting to think that they're going to rip a toenail off every game."

In truth, just about everyone in a Husky uniform looked pretty good:

***Kemba Walker had 15 points, seven assists and three steals and ran the UConn fast break beautifully. When he wasn't doing so, freshman Darius Smith (nine points, six assists) was up to the task.

"He's more comfortable in the break," Calhoun said of Smith. "He's much more comfortable when he plays in a fast-paced game. Now we've got to get him to look good in the halfcourt game."

Said Smith of UConn's uptempo style: "I love it. Me and Kemba being so quick, when we're on the floor, you either step up on us and let 'Rome and Sticks do their thing, or let us score. It's a lose-lose situation (for opponents)."

***Frosh center Alex Oriakhi had nine points and 14 rebounds. That's 30 boards in his first two collegiate exhibition games -- both against Division II foes.


"Can he do that against Kentucky? Can he do that against (other good teams) – my impression is that he can. It may not be 16 and 14, it may be 10 and 11, but he still can rebound against most anyone."

Oriakhi easily got the better of his cousin, UMass Lowell senior Kingsley Onyechi (four points, two boards).

"He's a talented kid, strong and athletic," Onyechi said. "I've known him since he was young, so obviously he's made a lot of physical changes, but he's made serious leaps and bounds as a basketball player. It's good to see him playing at this level ... I used to push him around as a little kid, but now it's a little different. He's about 6-9, 250, so it's a little different now. He's really grown."

Oh, and he can shoot from the perimeter, too, according to Onyechi.

"Calhoun won't let him shoot, but he can shoot."

***Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards played steady, understated roles with nine points apiece. Freshman Jamaal Trice took a step back (one point, two turnovers), but played some solid "D".

***The Huskies outscored UMass Lowell 32-2 on fast-break points, and outrebounded them 48-22.

"UConn is very, very fast, very, very athletic," said River Hawks coach Greg Herenda, a former assistant to George Blaney at Seton Hall. "I was in the Big East back when Ray Allen, Travis Knight, Nadav (Henefeld), all those guys (played at UConn). This is as fast and as quick a team … maybe I'm blinded, but they're very fast, great in transition, and an excellent basketball team defensively. In transition, (they're) probably as good as I've seen in a long time – much better, I think, than they were last year."

Added Calhoun: "We ran well, obviously we rebounded well, and Jerome just had a terrific game. And when the game got open, Kemba and some of our other guys got the game spaced, which is how we're going to have to play the game. We play the game very well in space."

***As coaches do, however, Calhoun was able to find a negative. Okwandu, the neophyte junior center, contributed just four points, two rebounds and four fouls in 10 minutes – a slight improvement over Wednesday night's two-point, one-rebound clunker, but not much.


With 6-11 freshman Ater Majok not eligible until mid-December, and with some big-time foes (Kentucky, possibly Duke or LSU) on the Huskies' schedule before then, Calhoun is desperate to get more production out of the 7-foot Okwandu.

"I hope he can. Physically, I know he can," said the coach. "The biggest thing I'm worried about is the four/five right now. I like what we did defensively in both games. Overall, we're encouraged with what we've seen. The only discouraging note would be the fact that we've got another big man in the rotation."

Calhoun insists that Okwandu has shown flashes in practice.

"Trust me. Whether it ever turns out in a game, and I think it will, he's a better player than what he's showing," the coach said. "And he's certainly not showing very much."

***Calhoun said he "hopes" Jamal Coombs-McDaniel could be cleared early this week.

Oriakhi said of Coombs-McDaniel, his good buddy: "I don't even know his situation, but I'm pretty sure he told me that he'll be good to go come Friday against William & Mary."

The biggest – and most surprising – news of the night came about 45 minutes prior to the opening tap, when we got an e-mail from UConn stating that Jerome Dyson, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Donnell Beverly would not be playing "pending evaluation of recently submitted paperwork pertaining to their annual eligibility certification."

Dyson and Beverly were awaiting "routine educational document review for eligibility certification," and the school was anticipating a resolution as early as Thursday.

A source told the Waterbury Republican-American, however, that the NCAA has requested "documentation" from Dyson and Beverly regarding alleged recruiting violations in UConn's recruitment of Nate Miles. The source told the paper that Dyson and Beverly had yet to turn over that documentation.

Jim Calhoun strongly rebuked the report.

"You're so far off-base, it's unbelievable," he said afterwards, without naming any names. "If you feel like you need to speculate and throw dirt at us, that's fine … the university has already made a statement about what happened, and you need to understand that if you take that side, that's fine, but stay on that side, because you will not be coming back on my side … If you want to write anything to get it out there nationally, that's great – it really helps our recruiting and all aspects of our game when you speculate on something that you have no knowledge of, and quite frankly, couldn't be farther from the truth."

Okie dokie.

Asked if he believes the trio will be all set to play in Sunday's exhibition game with UMass Lowell, Calhoun responded: "I can't answer that, but right now, I do anticipate that. I'm speaking what I think, but that's not always the way it goes."

So, limited to just seven scholarship players – three of them freshmen, one of them Charles Okwandu – the Huskies went out and laid a 106-67 beatdown on outmanned AIC. UConn shot 68 percent (42-for-62) from the floor and outrebounded the vastly outsized Yellow Jackets, 47-19. Kemba Walker had 28 points and 12 assists, Stanley Robinson netted 25 on 12-for-16 shooting, Gavin Edwards had 17 and freshman Alex Oriakhi notched 16 points and 16 boards before an announced crowd of 10,770 that was more like 5,000 (presumably mostly Red Sox fans).

"I'll take that effort for the first time out," said Calhoun. "You need a starting point, and this is a starting point."

Added Robinson (as only Stanley can): "Overall, we played a great game. That team's the easiest team we're ever going to play in our life. We know the Big East play is going to be harder, 10 times more physical. It's going to be hard for us just to get shots off in the Big East. We can always just build off it and say we did play a good game."

In fact, Robinson wasn't overly impressed with his performance.

"I don't think I played very well. I wanted to score more points, I wanted to get more rebounds. I felt like there was so much more I could do, but I didn't know I had 25 points until I looked at the scoreboard."

***What prog rock band recorded the album 'Pictures at an Exhibition'?


*** It was the performance of the three freshmen that may have been most pleasing for Calhoun. Jamaal Trice, starting in place of Dyson, netted nine points, as did Darius Smith, who also contributed six rebounds and five assists off the bench.

But it was Oriakhi, the hulking 6-9, 240-pound center, who raised the most eyebrows.


"It was a nice initiation for people to see Alex," Calhoun said. "I understand with the World Series, not too many people saw him, but … it was a good way for him to start."

Oriakhi wasn't concerned that it was just an exhibition.

"I don't care what it was, I was excited like it was the first game," he said. "My thought was to just go out there and grab as many rebounds as I can. I'm happy, but never satisfied. Coach said it's only going to get harder from here, so I've got to work on things, go back to practice and get better."

About the only negative was the play of Okwandu, the junior center who had two points and one rebound (in the final 10 seconds) in 18 minutes of action.

"I thought Charles was good on defense," Calhoun insisted, "but he was just horrendous on offense He dropped the ball about six times. He didn't have a particularly good game."

Calhoun isn't about to give up on Okwandu, however – in part because Oriakhi is just a freshman.

"(Referee) John Cahill said to me, 'that big young kid (Oriakhi) understands how to play – which is nice to hear. But he still is going to get into foul trouble, because he's going to go against the (Luke) Harangodys and those kind of guys who can draw fouls better than a 6-4 kid can. If we don't have Charles, that means our fifth big guy becomes Stanley. I don't want that, he's too good on the wing. We need Charles to play a lot better. He's better than what he's shown."

***Le Moyne's shocking upset of Syracuse in an exhibition at the Carrier Dome the night before was on the Huskies' minds.

"We didn't want that to happen to us," said Robinson, "so we just had to come out and play as hard as we can play, and just leave it out on the court. I thought we did that."

Added Calhoun: ""Le Moyne's becoming a buzz word to everybody, I guess. Right now, Jimmy (Boeheim) is 0-0. He does have a point in practice to bring up for the kids."

***Senior center Jonathan Mandeldove also didn't play due to academic issues, according to a team spokesman.

***AIC didn't grab its first rebound until there were 9 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half.

***Calhoun had the World Series on his mind. He closed out his postgame presser saying, "Let's hope that Pedro wins, for the Red Sox."

So much for that.

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."

Some notes & quotes from UConn's media availability this afternoon:

***Jim Calhoun sat in on a meeting this morning regarding a potential new basketball practice facility, and he came out of it rather optimistic.

"We're looking at what it would look like, and where it may be," Calhoun said. "I think it's a positive step. The biggest step we'd have to take would be from a fiscal standpoint … how much money would we actually need, in-hand, to start something? It appears to me over the past two years, it looks like we've identified a site. I think we're going to start doing something over the next couple of weeks to look at that site."

Calhoun didn't indicate where the site is, only noting that it would be near Gampel Pavilion. He looked at images of what the facility might house -- from a 1,800-square foot study hall (which would be about six times the size of UConn's current one) to areas that can showcase the program's success over the years -- and was happy with what he saw.

"We need it desperately, for a whole bunch of reasons," he said. "We want to be able to tell our story as loudly and boldly, when you walk on this campus, about UConn basketball. I felt good coming out of the meeting. When I see the pictures and diagrams, at least I think we've identified where we want to be and what we want to do."

***Of course, a new facility would be an absolutely huge recruiting tool, one at which that schools like Duke and Louisville already boast a huge advantage over UConn.

On the recruiting end, Calhoun noted that assistants Patrick Sellers and Andre LaFleur are currently on the road -- in Las Vegas and Florida -- working hard on the recruiting trail. Normally, they might not be out on the road at this time of year, but the program is intent on restocking talent after the Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson -- and possibly Kemba Walker -- depart after this season.

***What's that about Kemba, you ask?

"I'm not planning on Kemba going or staying," Calhoun said. "If he has a great year, I think you know what my advice is going to be for him."

***Walker, incidentally, hyperextended his right knee during practice last week and missed four days of practice before returning on Tuesday.


Walker said he was trying to block Darius Smith's shot on a fast break, "and Jerome (Dyson) came out of nowhere, blocked his shot aggressively and just knocked everyone down. My knee kind of went back."

He said he's fine now, however.

"I don't usually miss sophomores," Calhoun quipped, "but I did miss him.

***There is no doubt in Calhoun's mind who UConn's best player has been in the early goings.

"Stanley's our best player right now, there's no question. The other day he had the third-most rebounds, most points, most blocked shots. He can guard the two, three or four, he's a jumping jack. It seems like, from somewhere in March, into April, he hasn't lost any of that enthusiasm and hard play. He gives effort and productivity, which is very, very nice."

Added Walker: "He's looking like he did in the NCAA tournament last season. He's doing everything for us – scoring, rebounding. Every day, he's playing well."

***Freshman Jamaal Trice has been an early-season eye-opener for Calhoun.

"The guy who jumped back into the scene from day one has been Trice. Jamaal's a much better all-around player. His biggest problem is, he's a right-wing conservative. (Not politically ... it's a pun, and a reference to former guard Craig Austrie's play). I called him Craig the other day, 'is Craig Trice here?' Craig Austrie didn't make a lot of mistakes, because he didn't take a lot of chances. He was a terrific player for us, but there were times when you wanted him to initiate a few more things."

Walker noted that Trice and fellow freshmen Alex Oriakhi "are probably the two most physical guys on the team. The aggression on the team, we didn't lose any of that, definitely."

***Calhoun did note that Oriakhi "has got to be better. I think Alex will be better. I think it's just a matter of time with him, because he's strong enough to play in this league."

The coach still isn't certain whether Oriakhi or junior Charles Okwandu will start at center for next week's exhibition game opener. Gavin Edwards will start at the four, Calhoun promised, but there's plenty of room for improvement there, too -- noting that he was seventh on the team in rebounding in scrimmages so far.

"He's running the floor very well, he's a guy who knows how to play, but he's got to get back into rebounding," Calhoun said.

***Dyson has missed a little of nearly every practice with nagging injuries. Ater Majok (stress fracture) is slated to return to the practice floor this afternoon. He'll run for about 45 minutes today and increase his workload a bit tomorrow.

***Calhoun watched six UConn alums play against each other the other night when Memphis (Hasheem Thabeet, Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams) faced Detroit (Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva).

"It's fun, but it's a little bit depressing," he joked, "because (we) don't have them anymore. I was wondering why I was such a good coach, and then I see Ben and Rip doing what they do, and realize that's the real reason."

***New Haven boxing native Chad Dawson, who will square off in a championship bout at the XL Center on Nov. 7, will be at UConn's practice on Tuesday in Hartford to talk with Calhoun and some of the players.

Don't know about you, but this is a baseball Sunday for me. Red Sox-Angels now, Yankees-Twins later, Phillies-Rockies even later. That beats the NFL any day, in my book -- especially this week, when there are so many bad games. But I'm probably in the minority on that one.

Anyway, had some free time and got to thinking what we can expect from this year's UConn team in terms of individual statistics. I've always loved projecting this kind of stuff, so much that I'm even breaking down their scoring, rebounding, etc. averages by the decimal point. Makes it more interesting than just saying "16 ppg, 8 rpg," and wouldn't it be wild if I actually nailed any of the numbers right on the money?



So, here's what I project from this year's group in terms of scoring, rebounding and assists, taking into account playing time and things like that (and obviously barring any injuries):

Jerome Dyson 17.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.4 apg
Stanley Robinson 13.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.2 apg
Kemba Walker 12.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 6.3 apg
Gavin Edwards 8.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
Ater Majok 8.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, .8 apg
Alex Oriakhi 4.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .3 apg
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel 4.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.5 apg
Darius Smith 2.1 ppg, .5 rpg, 2.1 apg
Donnell Beverly 2.0 ppg, .8 rpg, 2.0 apg
Charles Okwandu 1.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .2 apg
Jamaal Trice 1.4 ppg, .7 rpg, .8 apg
Jonathan Mandeldove .5 ppg, 1.2 rpg, .1 apg

I don't think there's any question that Dyson's the leading scorer. I see him with some big scoring nights this season, with a few of those 3-for-13 clunkers thrown in. I doubt Robinson gets into the 15-20 ppg range, simply because of his inconsistency. While I think Stanley will be more consistent this season, for every 33-point outburst he's bound for this winter, there's likely to be an 8-point clunker to balance it out.

Gavin Edwards is offensively skilled, but I wonder how much playing time he gets as the season progresses and Ater Majok joins the lineup and Alex Oriakhi (presumably) gets better. If Edwards can be a fourth double-figure scorer for UConn, that's big. Then again, maybe Majok is that guy once the Big East season starts.

Rebounding will be an issue, too. As big and strong as Oriakhi is, he won't be able to duplicate Jeff Adrien's nightly double-double potential. I almost see a "rebounding-by-committee" approach for UConn, if that makes any sense. Guys like Oriakhi, Majok, Edwards, Robinson, even Dyson can all attack the boards. I don't see Charles Okwandu as being a big factor this season, though I think the coaching staff is holding out hope. Jonathan Mandeldove? Nope.

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel is another wild card. Haven't seen him play much yet, but the reports have been pretty positive. If he can come in and be a strong all-around contributor -- scoring, rebounding, distributing, playing solid 'D' -- that will be huge for the Huskies.

Anyway, there you have it. One man's opinion, anyway. Back to baseball Sunday. Play ball!!!

Checked out some pick-up games at Gampel today. Everyone was accounted for, as the players had their media guide pictures taken beforehand. Here are some observations:

***Ater Majok, now sporting corn rows, looked real good around the rim with some nifty putbacks, a few nice moves and some alley-oop jams. He could be the wild card for the Huskies this season once he's eligible in mid-December. But then, that's not exactly a news flash.

***Jerome Dyson looked good, knocking down some long-range jumpers. Didn't take it to the hole too much. He hurt his ankle early on and got some medical attention, but continued playing after that and seemed fine (though he did seem to be limping a bit when he was all done).

***Alex Oriakhi is a Man. Capital "M."

***I've been singing the praises all summer in this space of Darius Smith, and I'll continue to do so. He looked good, particularly defensively, made some nifty passes (and a few freshman mistakes). One thing is beyond doubt, however: Smith has got to put on some muscle. If he's more than 160 pounds right now, I'd be shocked.

***Kemba Walker knocked down a few outside jumpers, but missed badly on a few, too. If he can improve his outside shooting this season, that's a big plus.

***The games were pretty intense, particularly for pick-up games in early September. Lots of disputed foul calls, and some hard-nosed defense.

***Smith, Oriakhi and Jamaal Trice are rockin' the Mohawk look. Is it a freshman thing?

***Doug Wiggins played in the games. Looked good, for what that's worth.

***I'm not sold on Charles Okwandu as the starting center yet, but it was just a small sample. And no miracle improvement from Jonathan Mandeldove, either. Gavin Edwards didn't do much today. Again, a small sample.

***The Huskies' 2009-10 schedule will likely be released tomorrow (Thursday).

***Some interesting words from Stanley Robinson, on whether he ever intended on going to the NBA after last season: "I always wanted to come back, because I felt like I owed something to the program that I haven't shown them yet. I'm not in a rush, the NBA's going to be there. But Coach Calhoun, at the banquet (in May), he was saying, 'The scouts keep calling me, it's crazy, (saying) you're a top-15 prospect.' He was like, 'I'm glad I told you now, so you won't put your name in the NBA draft,' because the deadline had passed … But I was going to come back anyway."

Check out tomorrow's Register for a mini-feature on Stanley.

While word out of Storrs at this time of year should always be taken with a grain of salt, the UConn coaching staff is really liking what it sees from some of its incoming players. In fact, it appears the Huskies could get significant contributions from all four freshmen – Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriakhi, Darius Smith and, if he can shoot a little better, Jamaal Trice – this winter.

It's Coombs that could be the pick of the litter. A good – though not great – athlete, he's shooting the ball well and establishing himself as a natural leader.

"He's like a 6-foot-7 ½ A.J. (Price)," said UConn assistant Patrick Sellers. "He can almost run a team. He knows how to play, he talks to everybody."

While Coombs will be listed as a small forward, he can play the two and even the point, and can guard any position on the floor but center. (And there are no academic issues with Coombs, who had to take a couple of courses this summer at the Tilton (N.H.) School before enrolling at UConn).

The staff also is really high on Smith, the tough little Chicago guard – particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

"He's a defensive menace," said Sellers. "Guys can never be comfortable with the ball in their hands when he's around."

Smith needs to put on some weight. He's at 170 right now, and the Huskies would love for him to put on even just five pounds of muscle as weight-lifting sessions get underway. But there's no doubting his athleticism – Smith apparently dunked over 7-foot Charles Okwandu in a scrimmage the other day.

***Rod Odom, the 6-8 Class of 2010 forward out of Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., did not visit UConn on Thursday, as originally intended. Odom will likely visit the school on an upcoming weekend, however, when he can take in a UConn football game and get in some run with some current Huskies players.

In the "Can You Believe First Night is Less Than Two Months Away" Dept., here are five questions (and some potential answers) surrounding UConn this season:

1.) Can the team overcome the loss in production and, perhaps just as importantly, in leadership from Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price and Craig Austrie?

A: They won't be able to completely replace Thabeet's shot-blocking prowess and defensive presence, Adrien's toughness and Price's all-around game. But they'll make up for those losses in other areas. It also says here that the leadership vacuum created by the loss of Price (vocal), Adrien (by example) and Thabeet can be filled. Jerome Dyson has vowed to be a more vocal leader, and he always leads by example with his hard-nosed play. And Kemba Walker, who at times deferred to the veterans last season (much to the coaching staff's chagrin) is a born leader who should embrace the reins as a sophomore point guard.

2.) Who will step up in the frontcourt?

A: With Walker, Dyson and a bevy of talented newcomers, the Huskies should be fine in the backcourt. (Maybe it's time for Donnell Beverly to contribute, too). It's the frontcourt where the most question marks surface.

Gavin Edwards has never started a game in his three seasons at UConn, but the starting power forward position is his to lose this year. He's supposedly bulked up to about 248 pounds, though he'll never replace Adrien's toughness and physicality. Still, I've always liked his offensive game -- he's a good passer, good around the rim and a terrific athlete. Most importantly, his teammates (guards) love it when he's on the floor.

Charles Okwandu, the inexperienced 7-foot junior, is said to have improved greatly over the past six months -- but we've heard that before. Still, with four potential double-digit scorers around him, all he'll be asked to do is provide intimidating defense in the middle (and stay out of foul trouble).

Alex Oriakhi is "built like a blacksmith," according to Jim Calhoun. Ater Majok, a long, athletic 6-10, won't be available until mid-December, but is very talented. Both, however, are freshmen. Jonathan Mandeldove is 7 feet tall.

It says here a few of these players will step up and Calhoun will find the right mix come January.

3.) Can Stanley Robinson put together a consistent season?

A: It hasn't happened yet. He showed flashes of potential as a freshmen and was great down the stretch as a sophomore. After sitting out the first semester last year, Robinson took a long time to find a groove. Once he did, he was one of the more explosive players in the country.

The Huskies will surely be looking for about 13-14 points and 6-7 rebounds a game this season from "Sticks." If he does that, he'll be a first-round NBA draft pick.

4.) Which freshmen will step up?

A: Oriakhi? Majok? Swingman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel? Guards Darius Smith and Jamaal Trice? This is a pretty talented lot. Without question, UConn will need significant contributions from at least a few of them. It says here they will get just that.

5.) Is there a shooter in the house?

A: Not in the zone-breaking, 3-point gunner sense. But then, UConn went to the Final Four last year without one. In fact, when's the last time the Huskies really had one?

Price was their best shooter last year, but he's gone. Dyson can get hot, Robinson, too. Walker can be a better shooter than you'd think and spent this summer working hard on his jumper. Smith and Trice are said to be able to fill it up, as well.

***The Huskies got an unofficial visit on Sunday from Cory Joseph, a 6-3 Class of 2010 combo guard out of Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV.

***What was ? & the Mysterians' only big hit?

***Jim Calhoun will also apparently be making home visits to Josh Selby (Sept. 10) and Tobias Harris (Sept. 12), according to Adam Zagoria's blog.

Went over to the Golf Club of Avon for the 11th annual Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic this afternoon. Among those playing in the scramble tournament: Calhoun, Ray Allen, Scott Burrell, Dana Barros, Travis Knight, Sam Jones, Dee Brown, Donny Marshall, a bunch of ESPN personalities and many more.

It was hot, but the weather couldn't have been much better. Many of the golf swings could have been better, though not necessarily those of Calhoun and Allen (a 4-handicap), as you'll see in the following videos:

Calhoun hitting a fairway wood:



Calhoun teeing off on a par-3:



Allen smoking a stogie and teeing off on a par-3:



Including a tournament on Sunday at The Mohegan Sun C.C. and a gala event afterwards at the casino, the event raised about $300,000 for the Jim & Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Endowment Fund for the UConn Health Center. That's down about 20 percent from the norm, but still very strong in this economy.

"We are lucky," said Calhoun, "in the sense that we have great loyalty from the people who show up."

The event has raised about $3.5 million over the past 11 years.

Talked with Calhoun about some basketball news, as well. Here's what we've got:

***There's been some negative recruiting against the Huskies on the summer circuit, but as Calhoun pointed out, "That's every year. Last year it was cancer, this year it's 'I'm going to retire.' I haven't heard much NCAA stuff. We've been upfront with all the people we need to be. We fully expect we'll be fine, but we can't make that decision, obviously."

***To this point, no real progress has been made on Calhoun's contract extension with the university. His current six-year contract, which will pay him $1.6 million this year, expires next summer. It was thought that by now, negotiations would have started on an extension. But save for some preliminary conversations between Calhoun's agent, Jeff Schwartz, and UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway, it doesn't appear much has transpired.

"Nothing that I've heard about," said Calhoun. "I'm not sure why that is. I'm sure something will be worked out, but right now, there's nothing to report."

Calhoun isn't worried, though he'd like to have things ironed out before the 2009-10 season begins.

"I think that would be a good idea," he said. "It's not one of those things, between everything else – recruiting, resolving other situations, etc. – I don't think it's as much as a top-burner issue as it might normally be. And you're also talking about being creative, fiscally, because of the situation in the state.

"For everybody's benefit, it might be better that we have something going forward," Calhoun added. "But, I'm not worried about not being at UConn."

***Calhoun is excited about the upcoming season. He knows Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie will be tough to replace, but he believes several of the incoming freshmen – Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice – will be able to contribute right away.

"It would be hard to believe that Alex won't be able to do some of the muscular things we'll be asking him to do right off the bat," Calhoun said. "Darius certainly can play between the one and two. We are going to depend upon them, but we're going to really depend upon, 'Can Gavin Edwards now take his game to maybe a little different level?' And, 'Will Charles (Okwandu) or someone else stand up and be the guy in the middle?'"

***Calhoun isn't too concerned about the leadership vacuum created by the loss of Price and, to a lesser extent, Adrien and Thabeet.

"Jerome (Dyson), when healthy, was always a leader. Kemba, this year, I think, will not defer as much to the older guys. We get on him about that. At times he deferred to them."

Calhoun added that's nothing new in the program.

"Caron was subservient to Edmund Saunders, and there was no reason for it. He was stronger, tougher …"

*** Coombs-McDaniel hasn't been on campus this summer. He's been finishing up work at the Tilton (N.H.) School – a result, apparently, of one of his teachers getting sick and not being able to give him his last grade. Calhoun said the 6-foot-6 swingman "should be" ready to enroll at UConn in September.

***The coach figures Villanova and West Virginia to be the toughest challenges in the Big East this season.

*** As mentioned in the post below, UConn is expected to get an official visit this weekend from Jeremy Lamb, a 6-foot-4, Class of 2010 shooting guard out of Norcross (Ga.) High.

Lamb, who also has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Kentucky, Marquette and Xavier, didn't start last year for Norcross, which had about six Division 1 players and is one of the strongest programs in the nation. He averaged about 14 points per game, however, and was said to be the second or third-best player on the team. A long, rangy 6-4 and 165 pounds, Lamb has been one of the surprises of the summer.

The Huskies should have about another half-dozen unofficial visits over the next couple of weeks, as well. Presumably, those will involve some of these players.

***Funny story from Allen, who was at Calhoun's charity bike ride in June when Calhoun collapsed due to exhaustion and broken ribs.

"The EMT arrives, and the guy is about 22, 23," Allen recalled. "He's nervous already, and now he's going over to Coach to see what's wrong. Coach says to him, 'Here's what you're gonna do …'"

Always coaching, that Jim Calhoun.

Well, three on Sunday night, anyway. It was a good night for incoming UConn freshmen at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am.

Darius Smith had 27 points and five assists and Ater Majok added 19 points, eight boards and 12 blocks to lead Springfield Slamm to a 135-109 win over Top Dog Entertainment.

Alex Oriakhi had 25 points and 14 boards for Top Dog.

I've been impressed with all three players so far (as well as Jamaal Trice). I think UConn fans are really going to love Smith right off the bat. The kid just seems to be a natural leader and winner. He just seems to have "it" -- whatever "it" may be.