Jalen Adams was impressive at the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College on Sunday morning. He scored 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting (2-for-5 on 3-pointers) and was a bundle of energy all over the court in Brewster Academy's 100-69 win over Montverde Academy Prep (note: this was Montverde's postgrad team, not its more talented varsity team, which plays Monday and features the top-rated big man in the country, Ben Simmons).

Got a little frustrated at times when he was open and didn't get a return pass from a teammate, but overall he's a good kid, effervescent personality who can do a little of everything on the floor -- run the point, score, 'D' it up. He'll help UConn immediately next season -- and would be a help right now if he could.

Kevin Ollie and assistant coach Karl Hobbs, fresh off Saturday night's loss out in Stanford, California, were at the game to see their prized commit.

"He texted me, told me he was gonna take a red-eye, come see me play," Adams said of Ollie. "That's what I love about him, coming to support me ... I just like that about him. He's a real loyal guy."

Adams said he didn't see the Huskies' loss to Stanford.

"I couldn't watch it. I tried to get some rest."

Here's a quick snippet of Adams in action:



And here's what Adams and Brewster coach Jason Smith said afterward:

SMITH:

(on whether Adams can step right in and help next season as a freshman)



(on how Adams has progressed so far this season)

"I think that Jalen has definitely shown people that he's not just a scorer, he's able to run offense and facilitate and make great decisions to become more of a point guard. I think that's ultimately what he's gonna have to do for Coach Ollie at UConn. And he's been phenomenal doing that for us."

"I think that the fact that he knows, some games he can go off and score 25 or 30, but he's taken the mindset of, 'I have to make sure that I get others involved. I have a lot of these other pieces around me that I have to distribute the ball (to).' We're routinely six, seven guys in double figures. Very balanced."

ADAMS:



"Playing against the top talent every day is helping us a lot. Even the guys who aren't committed. The un-committed guys, they're tough, too. Every day, you're playing against tough competition, and that prepares you for the next level."

(on what Kevin Ollie has said to him lately)

"He says that at UConn, they don't have any positions. The guards all move around and shift. But I'm definitely gonna have to be a vocal leader and put guys in the right position."

(does being a vocal leader come naturally to him?)

"No, because I played on the wing growing up, so it's been tough. But last year, playing with Kaleb Joseph, he taught me a lot. And Coach Smith, he's a great coach. He's made that a big thing this year, so it's become a lot better."

(on comparisons to Shabazz Napier)

"I saw him play a couple of times at Charlestown, because that's where my father went to school. We went to a lot of games. He was unreal, shooting from halfcourt, practically. But I've never really idolized him that much or tried to compare my game to him. But, it's amazing how he went to UConn, did big things, and now he's in the NBA. And now, I have the chance to do the same thing."

DONOVAN MITCHELL, a Louisville commit and Adams' backcourt mate at Brewster:

"(Adams) might be the funniest dude I've ever met in my life. He's always making jokes, whether it's in practice ... he made Coach Smith even laugh, which last year I thought was the hardest thing possible. He manages to do it a lot."

UConn put in a somewhat light practice at Webster Bank Arena on Friday, after going hard on Thursday evening up at Gampel. The Huskies host Eastern Washington on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the WBA in Bridgeport.

Shabazz Napier sat out the latter part of practice, but expects to be full-go for Saturday. Here's what he had to say:



Said Kevin Ollie: “He’s alright. You know he’s a gamer, so he’ll be there.”

*** The Huskies seem to have tepid enthusiasm about playing a game in Bridgeport. But local fans see very enthusiastic: the game is a near-sellout, with only scattered single-seat tickets still available.

“It’s not home, but it’s not too far from home," said Ryan Boatright. "With us not having to be on a plane and being jet-lagged and stuff like that, I feel like that’s an advantage, always. Getting off the plane is always tough.”

Added Napier: “I don’t know why we came out here, but I guess we’re trying to get all of Connecticut with the UConn way. It’s good to play in front of different fans. They all love us. Sometimes they can’t get out to us, but we’re coming to them now so it’s much easier for them. It’s definitely good.”



*** Ollie's wife, Stephanie, hails from Bridgeport, so he knows the city well.

“All her Filipino side of her family is gonna be here, so it’s gonna be exciting. They don’t usually get a chance to come up to our games, so it’s gonna be exciting for her to come out and share a special time.”

Sadly, Ollie's father-in-law, who passed away a few months ago, will not be there.

“It’s an unfortunate time," Ollie noted. "My wife is hanging in there. It’s a tough time for here, especially with the holidays, this is the first time her father is not there, and the father-in-law that treated me like his own son, is not here. But she’s making it through, she’s my strength, and I know he’s gonna be upstairs watching down on us.”

*** Ollie was asked if he'd be tempted to stick with the starting lineup -- Napier, Boatright, DeAndre Daniels, Omar Calhoun and Amida Brimah -- that got him a road win in Seattle on Sunday.

“I might be tempted, but we’re just gonna keep playing basketball. I’ll sit with the coaches and evaluate practice, and we’ll come up with the starting lineup. But, at halftime, if I see someone not playing or doing different things we want to get done – and it’s not Omar, it’s not anybody – we’re just going to get the first five out there. Our motto is, be fair to everybody, and everybody will get the opportunity. The best five, I thought, after halftime was that group we had out there. Then Omar came in and was good in the second half. All our guys have to come in and be live and be ready to play.”

*** Ollie and Boatright celebrated birthdays on Friday -- Ollie turning 41, Boatright 21. Both got mugged by their teammates after practice, though the players went a little light on the coach.

“We got him a little bit," Boatright noted. "We tapped him. But, you hit him a little too hard, he might put you on the bench.”

Ollie said the only gift he wants from his players is "to get a win and keep getting better. That’ll be a good birthday gift for me.”

He was reminded that, a year earlier, Ollie was rewarded with a long-term contract extension on his 40th birthday.

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen anymore – or hopefully for a couple more years," he said with a smile.

*** Asked what he wants his team to keep getting better at, Ollie responded, "Everything ... Tiger Woods still has his swing coach.”

*** Eastern Washington has three Germans on its roster. One of them, 6-foot-10 junior Martin Seiferth, is friends with Niels Giffey.

"I've known him since I was 12," Giffey said. "He's the younger brother of one of my real good friends back home who plays for the national team, too. It’s gonna be fun to see him. What are the chances, really, to play against one of the guys from Germany who you actually know pretty well. I’m on the East Coast, he’s on the West Coast. When we saw the schedule at the beginning of the year, he called me and said, ‘We’re coming over to Bridgeport to beat you guys.’”

*** Class of 2015 guard Donovan Mitchell, who lives in Greenwich (plays at Brewster Academy), will be at Saturday's game. So might New Haven's own Tremont Waters, a Class of 2017 guard who plays at South Kent Prep.

Spent the morning at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College. Many college assistant coaches were there, including UConn's Glen Miller and Ricky Moore, who were taking in the Brewster-South Kent game that featured 2015 Husky recruiting targets Donovan Mitchell and Jarred Reuter, both of Brewster, as well as a potential big star down the road: South Kent freshman Tremont Waters of New Haven.

Miller was there all day Saturday, watching kids like West Haven's Mustapha Heron, who poured in 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting in Wilbraham & Monson's 89-82 loss to Elev 8. Moore was slated to stay for most of the day Sunday, ostensibly to see Cushing's Jalen Adams play the tourney's final game at 6:30 p.m. And it appears Kevin Ollie showed up Sunday night, as well.

Here are some observations:

*** Waters, who's being touted as one of the top freshmen in the nation, seems worthy of that title. He popped off the bench about five minutes into the game and immediately knocked down a 3-pointer almost as soon as he touched the ball. Hit a few more treys as the game went on and finished with 17 points. On Friday evening, Waters, a 5-foot-10, 145-pound point guard, was 8-for-14 from the floor (including five 3-pointers) to score 26 points in a 94-91 win over Elev 8.



He's a quick, smart player with remarkable poise for a freshman. Perhaps just as important, his parents, Ed and Vanessa, are very protective and won't allow him to get swallowed up by all the hype. Waters is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.

*** Perhaps the biggest revelation of the day was South Kent's Schadrac Casimir, a 5-foot-9 guard from Stamford. Casimir was lightning-quick and athletic and draining 3's all game, finishing with 36 points on 13-for-20 shooting (4-for-6 on 3's). He had 22 points on Friday in the win over Elev 8.

Casimir, a postgrad who starred at Trinity Catholic, hasn't been getting much recruiting attention. That could very well change after Sunday, with possibly even some high majors taking a greater interest.

"It's been really quiet," said South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson. "I think what a lot of people are concerned about is his size. He's small, he's always going to be small. I love him. I saw him in high school, he was one of the top scorers, if not the top scorer, in Connecticut. I've seen him play AAU, he led his team to numerous championship games. And, I've seen him play here, and I think he's one of the best guards around. Regardless of size, all the kid does is put the ball in the basket, whoever he's playing against. I'm hoping that college coaches see what I see -- that he's a great point guard, he can put the ball in the basket, and he's got a lot of heart."

Casimir has another good guy on his side: ex-UConn guard Craig Austrie. Austrie is living in Fairfield and runs the Craig Austrie Basketball IQ Skills Academy in Stamford. Casimir is one of his prized pupils, along with several other high school kids from around the area. Austrie, who was at Sunday's game, said he'd like to get into coaching some day.

*** There are some good bloodlines on the South Kent team: Jordan Strawberry is the son of Darryl, who was also at the game. Meanwhile, guard Kalvin Hobbs is the nephew of UConn assistant Karl Hobbs.

*** Brewster won the game, despite just seven points from Mitchell and 10 from Reuter. On Saturday, Mitchell had netted 17 in a win over Kiski School.

Here, Mitchell drives to the hoop and misses, but Reuter is there for the rebound putback and foul:

UConn and Boston College resume their rivalry on the court tonight at Madison Square Garden. They could even play again next year in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tourney.

But one area where their rivalry has never ceased is on the recruiting trail. UConn won the battle for Shabazz Napier four years ago (though BC didn’t put up much of a fight for the Roxbury kid).

Currently, there are quite a few recruits both schools are in on – and some of those kids will be in New Haven this weekend, at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College.

Here’s a look at some of the players UConn is recruiting who’ll be playing in the tournament:

Jalen Adams, 6-2 G, Class of 2105, Cushing Academy: A Boston kid who was at the Huskies’ First Night festivities last month. UConn has offered Adams.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t know the staff there that well now, but they’re telling me and his AAU coach that he’s a priority for them,” said Cushing coach Barry Connors. “They’ve probably been up on campus multiple times this fall. They’re definitely pursuing him pretty good.”

Connors added that Adams is a combo guard, an undersized scoring guard, who’s playing off the ball more this year because Syracuse-bound Kaleb Joseph is manning the point.

“I think he kidn of is a UConn guard,” said Connors. “He’s good with the ball in his hands, being given free rein to make plays with the ball. He can definitely score it. He reminds me a lot of guys that they’ve had: Kemba, Shabazz is more a true point guard.”

When asked who else is recruiting Adams, Connors quickly responds: “Providence.” But the Friars aren’t the only ones: Kansas State, Minnesota, Creighton and VCU are all in on him, as well.

“Jalen’s a funny duck, he doesn’t talk much about (his recruitment),” Connors said. “I don’t know if he’s intimidated by the process or uninterested in the process, or he’s just not far enough along that he hasn’t given it a huge priority. It’s best to say that he is definitely wide-open.”

Kimani Lawrence, 6-6 G/F, Class of 2017, Cushing Academy: A Providence native who hasn’t been offered by UConn yet, though they’re believed to have interest. The two Rhode Island schools – PC and URI – have already offered Lawrence.

Donovan Mitchell, 6-3 G, Class of 2015, Brewster Academy: Mitchell, who recently moved to Greenwich with his mom, was slated to be at UConn’s First Night but wasn’t able to get there. Don’t put too much stock in that, however.

“I think he had the crazy notion that Midnight Madness would actually start at midnight,” Brewster coach Jason Smith joked. “I think that he’s just taking his time, going through the process, developing relationships with people.”

PC, BC and UConn have been recruiting Mitchell the longest, Smith noted, while St. John’s, Iowa, Maryland, Kansas, Florida and Syracuse have also jumped aboard recently.

Mitchell is more of a combo guard, according to Smith.

“As a kid, he’s tremendous, off-the-charts, extremely high-character,” the coach said, “somebody any community would love to have. From a basketball perspective,  he’s a tremendous athlete, very explosive. He shoots the ball very well.”

Jarred Reuter, 6-8 C/F, Class of 2015, Brewster Academy: It’s appeared that UConn has cooled off on Reuter’s recruitment recently, though that may not necessarily been the case. Again, it’s been PC, BC and UConn who’ve been in on him the longest. Northwestern, Iowa, Virginia and Nebraska have also joined the fray.

Smith said Reuter has lost about 35 pounds since last June and now tips the scales at about 230.

“When people see him this weekend, they’ll see a noticeable difference in how athletic he is, how well he moves,” the coach noted.

Devonte Graham, 6-1 PG, Class of 2014, Brewster Academy: Now that UConn has received a commitment from Sam Cassell, Jr., it no longer appears to be in on Graham, who still hasn’t been released from his letter-of-intent from Appalachian State. He’s currently in the process of his final appeal.

Terance Mann, 6-4 G/F, Class of 2015, Tilton School: It seems BC, Georgetown, George Washington, Florida, Iowa State and VCU are most interested in Mann, though UConn has shown interest, as well.

“We’ve heard from them about Terance,” said Tilton coach Marcus O’Neil. “It’s still just the start of his junior year, I don’t think he’s come out and said his final list. We have tremendous respect for UConn. We’ve had a couple guys go there, win a national championship with Calhoun. Kevin Ollie’s done a tremendous job, he’s a world-class guy. Anybody they recruit out of here is gonna give it serious consideration.”

Indeed, just because the UConn careers of Tilton grads Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel didn’t end well, doesn’t mean there’s any negative feelings about UConn up at the New Hampshire school.

“I don’t, personally or professionally,” O’Neil said. “Alex went a long way towards graduating (at UConn), he built a lot of important friendships he maintains with players, coaches that were there. It’s a high-pressure situation. It would have been nice for them to cross the finish line, but we had two guys go there and win a national championship.”

Mustapha Heron, 6-4 G/F, Class of 2016, Wilbraham & Monson: A Meriden native who now lives in West Haven, he’s getting serious looks from major programs all over the country. More on him this weekend.

Tremont Waters, 5-10 G, Class of 2017, South Kent School: It’s never too early to start inquiring about a New Haven kid who is projected to be one of the top freshmen in the nation this season. And UConn has inquired, according to South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson.

“He does a lot of things well,” said the coach. “He’s got a really high IQ, he understands the game. He’s one of those guys that makes it look easy. Not too many guys who can do that, but he can make shots, really pass ball, sees a couple plays ahead, and he really, really handles ball. He’s a talented kid.”

More on him this weekend, as well.

On Nov. 22, while UConn is playing either Indiana or Washington in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, some of the program's most sought-after recruits will be playing at the prep basketball season's unofficial kickoff in New Haven.

The National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College runs Friday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 24, and will feature some of the top prep players in the country, some of whom are prime targets for the Huskies.

Among the large amount of underclassmen talent in the tourney will be Cushing Academy's Jalen Adams, a Class of 2015 point guard who attended UConn's First Night festivities last month; Brewster Academy's Donovan Mitchell, another '15 point guard whom UConn is recruiting; and Terance Mann of Tilton School, a Class of 2015 small forward.

As for the Class of 2016, there will be Meriden's own Mustapha Heron, a 6-4 shooting guard who's now at Wilbraham & Monson Academy. And it's never too early to start thinking about Class of 2017 players: South Kent point guard Tremont Waters, a New Haven native, is truly one to watch.

Many of the top Class of 2014 players who have already committed will also be on-hand, including Ray Kasongo, who recently was down to UConn and Oregon before selecting the Ducks, then seemingly backing out, then selecting them again.

Among the other future college stars in action will be: Blair Academy’s Marial Shayok (Marquette); Brewster Academy’s Isaac Copeland (Georgetown) and Jared Terrell (Oklahoma State), Cushing Academy’s Kaleb Joseph (Syracuse); Fishburne Military Academy’s Jabari Craig (USC) and Robert Harris III (Kansas St); Hargrave Military Academy’s Donte Grantham (Clemson); Massanutten Academy’s Dwayne Foreman (Rutgers); New Hampton’s Tory Miller (Colorado) and Tyler Lydon (Syracuse); Notre Dame Prep’s Daxter Miles (West Virginia); Our Savior New America’s Damon Wilson (Pittsburgh); and Wilbraham and Monson Academy’s Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV) and Max Hoeztel (Indiana), in addition to a host of other unsigned prospects.

Among the underclassmen that UConn doesn't appear seriously involved with are (from the Class of 2015) Our Savior New American big man Cheick Diallo is ranked among the top 10 juniors in the countrym New Hampton’s A.J. Turner and Jeremy Miller and Brewster's Jarred Reuter and Northfield Mount Hermon’s Aaron Falzon. And from 2016, Our Savior New American big man Kassoum Yakwe.

Here's the schedule:

Friday, Nov. 22

10:30a.m. Fork Union Military Academy vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)
12:00p.m. Hargrave Military Academy (VA) vs. St. Thomas More (CT)
1:45p.m. ELEV-8 Prep (FL) vs. Brisbane Academy (SC)
3:30p.m. ELEV-8 HS (FL) vs. South Kent (CT)
5:15p.m. Fishburne Military Academy (VA) vs. Bridgton Academy (ME)
7:00p.m. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP) vs. Massanutten Military Academy (VA)
8:30p.m. St. John’s NW Military Academy (WI) vs. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)

Saturday, Nov. 23

9:30a.m. St. Thomas More (CT) vs. Fork Union Military Academy (VA)
11:15a.m. Notre Dame Prep (MA) vs. Hargrave Military Academy (VA)
1:00p.m. New Hampton School (NH) vs. Fishburne Military Academy (VA)
2:45p.m. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) vs. ELEV-8 Prep (FL)
4:30p.m. Kiski School (PA) vs. Brewster Academy (NH)
6:15p.m. St. John’s NW Military Academy (WI) vs. Bridgton Academy (ME)
8:00p.m. Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA) vs. ELEV-8 HS (FL)

Sunday, Nov. 24

10:00a.m. Brewster Academy (NH) vs. South Kent (CT)
11:45a.m. Massanutten Military Academy (VA) vs. New Hampton School (NH)
1:30p.m. Brisbane Academy (SC) vs. Kiski School (PA)
3:15p.m. Blair Academy (NJ) vs. Tilton School (NH)
5:00p.m. Vermont Academy (VT) vs. Our Savior New American (NY)
6:30p.m. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP) vs. Cushing Academy (MA)

Fun night at Gampel on Friday for First Night. Big crowd that was packed to the rafters and seemed to enjoy the whole thing.

Team Geno won, 51-49, thanks to Omar Calhoun's 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds left. Shabazz Napier and Rodney Purvis each netted 11 points, while Kentan Facey and Calhoun had 10 each. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was the top female with seven points and Breanna Stewart added five.

Here are some quotes and video from First Night festivities:



*** Purvis, who must sit out this season as a transfer, seemed particularly active in the scrimmage, knowing it's his one time to shine this season.

"KO told me, just go out and have fun. This will be the first and last time the fans can see me until next year, so I had to go out there and have a little fun."

Purvis is a real nice and engaging kid, and he truly seems to be falling in love with Storrs.

"I love the fans here," he said. "They’re committed fans, they’re great ... I’m getting accustomed to everything. The guys here play really fast. I had to get used to this – practices are very long and hard. I’m ready now, I got in pretty good shape, so I’m ready.”

*** All the players seemed to enjoy the chance to play with and against members of the men's and women's teams.

Calhoun: "It was definitely fun, seeing both sides. We’re all friendly and cool. We all support each other at the games."

Napier: “I enjoyed going against Moriah, seeing Stephanie step back and take a 3. We hang around each other a lot, but we don’t actually play each other, so it was actually good for us to do that. It shows we’re in it together.”

Stefanie Dolson: “I think it was definitely my favorite out of the four years I’ve been here. The environment was insane, playing with the guys was fun. We kind of let them do their thing, and then had our moment to shine. It was a great night.”

*** Calhoun said he's going full-contact in practice, doing everything everyone else is doing, and is "about 80-percent" right now. He says he's a head of schedule and believes he'll be able to play in UConn's exhibition opener on Oct. 30 vs. SCSU.

*** Nolan said there's a real battle going on for the starting center spot.

"Everyone’s going at each other every single day," he said. "Literally, it’s like a three-headed monster in practice. We all want that starting spot. We’ll see who’s going to get it at the end of the day.”

*** UConn had numerous recruits in the house, including (among others) Jessie Govan, Malachi Richardson, Will Jackson and Jalen Adam. It appears Brewster Acadmey's Donovan Mitchell and Jared Reuter were not able to attend, however. Hearing Mitchell headed home for the weekend to southwestern Connecticut but couldn't get a train to get to the event on time.

With no commitment from Sam Cassell, Jr. on Friday, UConn was back down in the Florida panhandle watching Cassell play in a JUCO Jamboree tournament on Saturday. It's possible a decision could come in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, add Brewster Academy's Donovan Mitchell and Jared Reuter to the Huskies' First Night guest list. Possibly Jessie Govan, a 6-10 center out of Queens, as well. And Devin Robinson still expected to attend, as well.

UConn is looking at another point guard who would, ostensibly, join the team for 2014-15.

Devonte' Graham, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Raleigh, N.C. is currently at Brewster Academy. He signed with Appalachian State last fall, but in February requested a release from his national letter-of-intent. That was denied, as was his appeal, so he opted to do a postgraduate year at Brewster.

(Photo by Greg Mintel, Raleigh News-Observer)

"He could have done the easy thing, what kids have done for a long time, and withdrawn from class (at Raleigh's Broughton High), which would make him a non-qualifier and a fifth-year senior at Brewster, and his letter-of-intent would have been voided," Brewster coach Jason Smith said.

Instead, Graham graduated from Broughton and is taking a full load of courses at Brewster with hopes that he's released from his LOI at some point by Appalachian State. He has one more appeal, but if it is rejected again by the school, Graham would have to sit out next year at whatever school he ends up going to.

Smith doesn't know for sure why Appalachian State is preventing his release, though he believes the school feels Graham had been tampered with following his commitment last September.

UConn, Providence, Pittsburgh and URI are the schools that have expressed interest in him, but none can talk to Graham directly yet because he hasn't been released from his LOI. UConn has been up to Brewster to see him once, and has been checking in with Smith periodically to see what Graham's situation is.

"He's very athletic, explosive," Smith said. "He shot the ball extremely well yesterday and the day before. He had a great summer, as well. He played in the North Carolina pro-am and was named player of the year for high school/prep kids."

Which leads to the question: no disrespect to Appalachian State, but, well ... why did he wind up committing to Appalachian State?

"He wasn't really sure how the recruiting process worked," Smith explained. "His only visit to App. State was early in September, and the coaches did their best job to get the player to commit, put a little pressure on him."

Graham committed on his visit and never visited anywhere else. He had been slated to visit URI last fall.

As for where Graham may have interest in going, Smith isn't sure right now.

"He's just a little bit stressed out about the whole App. State situation," the coach said. "He's uneasy not knowing how his future's going to lie."

*** Graham isn't the only Brewster Academy player that UConn has interest in. The Huskies have offered 2015 guard Donovan Mitchell, who recently transferred from the Canterbury School in Connecticut and whose mother recently moved to Connecticut. UConn is one of the first schools to offer Mitchell; BC, PC, St. John's are others, and Maryland is coming to see him today.

Mitchell, a 6-3 guard who hails from Elmhurst, N.Y., has been compared favorably to Ben Gordon by a few coaches who've seen him, Smith said.

The Huskies are also interested 6-8 2015 forward Jared Reuter.