Dave Beckerman tried.

Not in a pushy way -- he knows Brandon Knight already has dozens of hangers-on pushing and pulling him one way or another, so he'd never impose anything on him. But Beckerman, the New Haven native and longtime UConn fan who coached Knight at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, Fla., tried in his own way to persuade Knight to choose Jim Calhoun and UConn over John Calipari and Kentucky.

Didn't work. Knight, was we all know, opted for Lexington last April in a press conference at Pine Crest School that I attended (I was on vacation in Florida at the time).

Why did Knight go Blue? Beckerman thinks there were various reasons.

"The (Jasper) Howard issue, the issue of health with Jim Calhoun, his contract, the (NCAA) investigation. A lot of things added up, and at the end of the day may have even been used against UConn, which I’m not sure of.”

He also noted that Knight had relatives who lived in the Lexington area.

On Thursday, Knight talked about his decision to choose UK over UConn. "It was a tough decision, but Kentucky was my final choice. I liked UConn, but I just felt better off going to Kentucky," adding that Beckerman informed him about UConn, but "really just wanted the best for me.”

He also noted that Calipari's success with one-and-done point guards like Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and John Wall also played a role.

“It definitely weighed in my decision, just knowing that a lot of other guards that were pretty good in high school trusted Coach Cal to get them to the next level, and to help them get better individually. Also the fact that other players around those people got a lot better.”

Knight’s decision was crushing to UConn fans at the time. Around the same time, the program was being shunned by other top recruits (Josh Shelby, Corey Joseph and Doron Lamb, who’s also now a freshman guard at UK), and Knight’s nix seemed to hint that Calhoun was slipping on the recruiting trail.

Rather, it may have been a blessing in disguise. Had Knight committed to UConn, Shabazz Napier almost certainly wouldn’t have come to Storrs (at least for this season; Napier said he may have opted for another year at prep school had Knight become a Husky).



And though Jeremy Lamb had already committed to the Huskies, it’s doubtful he would have emerged as the dynamic, versatile scorer he’s become over the past couple of months.

It’s also hard to envision how Walker and Knight would have shared the same backcourt, even if both have proven quite adept at playing off the ball.

Still, Beckerman, who founded the former New Haven-based Starter sports apparel line and was the head coach at Hamden Hall for a few years, can’t help thinking of how life would have been different for Knight in Storrs.

“I think he clearly would have been a much more offensive threat,” Beckerman said. “I don’t know if that would have taken away from Kemba in terms of offense, and I don’t know if Kemba cares about that. Calipari is trying to mold him into a pass-first,shoot-second point guard. Jim Calhoun lets the natural instincts come out in a player. That’s his formula for success.”

Knight averaged 17.3 points and 4.2 assists per game as a Wildcat freshman. He’s reached double figures in all but three of UK’s 37 games, but has really risen to prominence in the NCAA tournament. Knight’s bank shot with two seconds left against Princeton (his only two points of the game) kept the Wildcats from an embarrassing first-round loss. And his jumper with 5.4 seconds left against Ohio State moved the Wildcats into the Elite Eight, where they beat North Carolina behind Knight’s game-high 22 points.

Knight’s Kemba-like ability in the clutch is nothing new to Beckerman, who recalled a regional championship game in Knight’s junior season. Pine Crest was losing, one of its best players had just fouled out and everyone on the bench – including Beckerman – had their heads down.

During a timeout, Knight turned to Beckerman and asked, “Coach, what time is practice tomorrow?” He then proceeded to go out and hit three 3-pointers and six straight free throws over the next three minutes, propelling Pine Crest into the state finals with a 52-point effort.

Now Beckerman, who winters in Boca Raton while coaching Pine Crest but spends his summers in Guilford, will be torn while watching the Final Four. He’ll root for Knight to have a good game, but root for UConn to win.

And deep down, he’ll still wonder what it would have been like had Brandon Knight become a Husky.

“It would have been great for UConn,” Beckerman said, “and, candidly, I think it would have been great for Brandon.”

Gotta admit, when we walked out of Gampel Pavilion on March 7, the day before the Big East tournament, I figured the only way I'd be back in the arena before summertime was if UConn had lost to DePaul in its BET opener and somehow had been relegated to the NIT. (And yes, I know, that wasn't going to happen).

Anyway, we were back this afternoon as the Huskies met with the media for a good 2 1/2 hours before their practice. They'll fly out tomorrow and land at Houston's Hobby Airport around 7 p.m. local time.

Here are some notes 'n quotes from earlier today:

KEMBA WALKER:

On recalling the first time he walked into Gampel as a recruit and saw the Huskies' "Wall of Fame" in the hallway.


"I told myself, ‘One day I want to be on that wall.’ And one day I will be on that wall.”

Will he even bother to watch the game tape of UConn's win over a very different Kentucky team in the Maui Invitational in November?

"Of course. We’ll definitely look at some of that. I played fairly well that game, so I’ll see what I did, what I was able to do against those guys. I’m pretty sure they’ll watch film of that game, also, and make some corrections."

On if he ever thinks about how things would be different at UConn had Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb decided to become Huskies, rather than Wildcats:

“No. Honestly, I definitely would have loved to have those two guys, but I’m fine with the guys I have, honestly. It really didn’t matter, to tell you the truth. I’m glad we got the guys we got. I don’t know how coachable those guys are – I’m not saying they’re not, but I don’t know. But the guys we have are very coachable, they listen to me, they listen to Donnell, and they always come willing to learn new things. I’m fine with the guys we have."

On the UConn women:

"Best team in the country, in my opinion. They work extremely hard, every day. There was a point where they didn’t lose, until they lost to Stanford, but you would have thought they had lost 80 games in a row the way they practice every day.

For us to have two teams in (the Final Four) again would be pretty impressive. Hopefully, we can both bring it back home."

On his favorite current course, Racism in Sports:

"We're reading a book right now called '$40 Million Slaves' by William C. Rhoden. It talks a lot about basketball players, LeBron James, the recruiting process -- a lot of different things over the years. It's a pretty good book. It's helping me realize the world I'm probably going to get into."

He’s definitely been pretty impressive to watch this tournament. You could just see the development he had throughout this season. He’s been a great leader for his team. Something like me, a little bit, because you can tell he wants to take the last shot. When he takes it, he’s taking it to make it, and that’s what he’s been doing so far.

ALEX ORIAKHI:

On playing against fellow Boston-area native Shabazz Napier back in the day:

"I remember seeing him in AAU tournaments in 6th, 7th grade. I've known since 8th, 9th grade. I played against him in some little tournament in Boston. He killed us, we lost. But he got every call. He got every call!"


GEORGE BLANEY
on John Calipari:

"You always had to ask coaches to do things for charities and different coaching events. You’d be surprised about who does things and who doesn’t do things. John would always do what we asked him to do."

JIM CALHOUN

On not getting Knight or Doron Lamb:

"I'm very happy with the guys we got. We didn't get Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. Well, we got Jeremy Lamb, who's been real special already but is going to be very special, and we got Shabazz. he reminds me of that every day, actually."

On the Final Four two years ago in Detroit:

"It wasn't typical of a Final Four. When we were in San Antonio, we were riding boats on the canal. When we were in St. Petersburg, we went to see Sammy Sosa and the Cubs play. In Detroit, we went from the gym to the hotel. I think it's going to be a little different (in Houston), and that's no knock on Detroit whatsoever ... I’m for warm weather, it has nothing to do with Detroit. I wouldn’t want it in Hartford. We need warm weather – bad."

On if he's thought about perhaps riding off into the sunset after this run:

"If we win the national championship, standing at the podium would be a bad time to make any decision. And if things don’t go well, it would be a lousy time to make a decision. I mean, this has been fun."

JAMAL COOMBS-MCDANIEL


Said he had an MRI on his left knee yesterday that revealed "ligament issues." He may need surgery once the season is over, but until then he'll keep playing through the pain.


SHABAZZ NAPIER

On how Kentucky is different now than it was in Maui:

“Brandon Knight is a better point guard, Doron Lamb is a better shooter now. He knows his spots, where to shoot at. We’ve got to watch him, especially on transition, seeing that his favorite spot’s the corner. Harralson is tough now, you see how well he played against Jared Sullinger. Liggins, the veteran guys, they’re all stepping up now. It’s more of a team. Usually, before, it was just the freshmen doing something, and the older guys letting them do it. Now, it’s all of them combined, and that’s dangerous for us. Now, if you try to stop one person, they have four others, unlike (how) it was in Maui."

"We’re leaving that game behind us. I can tell you right now, it’s not going to be a 17-point game. We’re not going to win by 17, and hopefully we don’t lose by 17. It’s going to be a hard-fought game."

Remember a few years ago, when UConn played Memphis in a preseason NIT game at the Garden and Jim Calhoun and John Calipari tried to pretend everything was cool between the two of them?

Didn't buy it then? Me neither. And don't buy whatever the two coaches say over the next week, either. They still don't like each other.

No further proof needed than this bit from a good Sports Illustrated story on Calipari a few weeks ago:

If the Wildcats' spring ends early, there will be matchups Calipari won't watch. There are rivals he can't abid, and vice versa; even without being asked he gives you a list: Pitino, Pearl, Connecticut's Jim Calhoun.

No worries, John. Guaranteed the feeling is mutual.

Here's a little piece I did today on Kemba Walker's leadership skills. Plenty more coming over the next week.

Here's a few snippets from today's conference call with the coaches from the Final Four teams:

JIM CALHOUN

On the three other coaches in this year's Final Four:

"My two sons, and my problem child."

On what he takes from UConn's win over Kentucky for the Maui Invitational title back in late November:

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. Except I remember the last four minutes of the first half. It was not any indication of what they've become, or what we went through. I don't think that game means absolutely anything."

On his public perception:

"There's no way that you're going to please everybody. If I please my God, my family, that's important to me. And if I please my players and my university, then I'm fine ... What I'm sometimes perceived as, I don't recognize that person. YOu get stuck with something, and that becomes you."

On losing out on recruits Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, both now at Kentucky:

"Yes, there was a great deal of disappointment. At one time, we were recruiting Brandon Jennings ... loved the place and wanted to come here. We determined Brandon Jennings hadn't made his mind up, and we went after a kid we thought we could get. A kid named Kemba Walker.

When we got Shabazz (Napier) and Jeremy Lamb, we thought we got two pretty good players.

You get a lot more no's than yeses.

It's kind of ironic that we're playing against two kids we really went hard after.

If I spent all my time on the kids we lost, I guess we would have won a lot of championships. I'm much more interested in the kids we get. Kemba and Shabazz: how have they worked together? Shabazz has been sensational, has taken a lot of pressure off Kemba this year and allowed him to play (off the ball)."

On if he's thought of his place in the game if he wins a third national championship:

"Any legacy stuff, I can look at later. I just can't wait to get this team to the Final Four."

JOHN CALIPARI:

On key to Jim Calhoun's success over the years:

"I think he's a battler, he holds the bar high, doesn't accept anythying but their best ... and he has talented players. He got talented players to buy in, and has done a great job throughout his whole career ... He is as good as they get."

On growing and improving as a coach:

"Let me explain to all who are listening: I do not have this figured out."

Tell us where you've heard this one before: Jim Calhoun says that signing a contract extension with UConn is just around the corner.

“It’s signaturable,” Calhoun said of the contract, while perhaps making up a new word along the way. “Right now, it’s up to the university. As soon as they say ‘go,’ as far as I’m concerned, it will be done.”

Of course, Calhoun said back in January that his extension was essentially done, and after a source with knowledge of the situation told me in mid-March that it would be a done deal in about a month, Calhoun said the same thing publicly.

A Wall Street Journal story on Wednesday noted that questions surrounding Calhoun’s unsigned contract, coupled with health issues that sidelined him for seven games this past season, had scared off potential recruits, including Josh Selby, the McDonald’s All-America guard who recently signed with Kansas University.

In fact, over the last couple of weeks, the Huskies have whiffed on some of the most sought-after recruits in the country. Selby, Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Doron Lamb (Kentucky), Corey Joseph (Texas) and C.J. Leslie (North Carolina State) all were heavily recruited by UConn but ultimately chose to go elsewhere.

Still, when reached on his cell phone this afternoon while he was on his way to a round of golf with his son and George Blaney, Calhoun said he is “thrilled” with the five members of the program’s incoming freshman class, which is ranked No. 17 in the nation by scout.com and includes Roscoe Smith, the scouting service’s No. 6-rated small forward.

“I like the kids we have here,” Calhoun said. “We didn’t get everybody we started out after, no. But we got more guys than we expected.”

Calhoun apparently is referring to the fact that two players – 6-foot-9 power forward Tyler Olander of Mansfield and 6-foot point guard Shabazz Napier of Cambridge, Mass – were originally slotted as Class of 2011 recruits. But Olander elected to graduate from E.O. Smith High this spring rather than return to prep school for a year. Napier has been awaiting word from his prep school, Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., on whether he’ll be able to re-classify from Class of 2011 to 2010. According to one source, Napier received word on Wednesday that he’s good to go for next season. However, sources around the program said it wasn't a done deal yet.

If Smith, Napier, Olander, 6-4 shooting guard Jeremy Lamb and 6-9 center Michael Bradley are all to suit up for the Huskies next season, something must be done to make room for them. UConn has nine returning players, which would give them 14 players for 13 scholarship spots.

Calhoun said he’s had discussions with freshman guard Jamaal Trice, who didn’t see a single second of action in Big East play this past season, about playing time next year and a possible transfer, though nothing has been determined.

Asked if senior center Jonathan Mandeldove, who effectively red-shirted last season after struggling with academics, is definitely in the mix for next year, Calhoun said: “Talk to me after finals.”

Read more on the potential NCAA investigation into UConn's alleged recruiting violations in tomorrow's Register.

Brandon Knight, arguably the No. 1 recruit in the nation, will announce his collegiate decision Wednesday at 4 p.m. It will be televised on ESPNU. After that, the rest of the dominos (Josh Selby, Cory Joseph, C.J. Leslie, Doron Lamb, etc.) will fall.

For UConn fans crossing their fingers for Knight to come to Storrs, here's a bit of news: there has been contact between Knight and the UConn staff within the last day or two. That may not mean anything, but it's all we've got right now.

Stay tuned ...

Intrepid Register reporter Jim Fuller was out in Dayton, Ohio covering the women's team earlier this week, then took a drive down to Columbus to cover the boys and girls McDonald's All-American games.

Here's what some of the UConn men's prospective recruits -- Josh Selby and Doron Lamb, in particular -- had to say about the UConn program.

Doron Lamb is making an official visit to UConn this weekend. He arrived late last night and will leave tomorrow morning.

Lamb says his list of schools is down to five: Kansas, Kentucky, UConn, Arizona and Oklahoma. He's visited all but Arizona so far, and will be visiting that school soon.

Lamb says he will commit in the fall but wait until April to sign.

"I’m just looking for a good coaching staff, a winning school, good players that I can work around," he said. "A school that's basketball-first."

He added that he doesn't have a frontrunner right now. Lamb is teammates at Oak Hill Academy with Roscoe Smith, whose final three schools are down to UConn, Georgetown and Duke. Smith said last night that he has a frontrunner, but wouldn't hint at who that is.

"He's a good player," Lamb said of Smith. "When he went to Oak Hill, he didn't realize it was strict and all that, in the middle of nowhere. But he realized what he's got to do out there, so he's doing better now."

In other news ...

***While Jim Calhoun noted that the same five players – Gavin Edwards, Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Alex Oriakhi – are likely to start in tomorrow night's 9 p.m. bout with Colgate at Gampel, freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel started at small forward in practice on Saturday, with Robinson moving to power forward in place of Edwards.

***Hofstra faces Yale in the opener of the North regional tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., followed by UConn-Colgate. The finals are scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m., with the consolation game preceding it at 4:30 p.m. Unless, of course, Colgate manages to spring the upset on UConn. Then, for local television purposes, the Huskies will play the consolation game at 7 p.m., meaning the 4:30 p.m. championship game would actually precede the consolation.

The winner of the region moves on to the semifinals on Nov. 25 at Madison Square Garden. The top seeds in each region are Duke, Arizona State, LSU and UConn, meaning that the Huskies could conceivably face LSU the night before Thanksgiving, then either Duke or Arizona State the night after at MSG.

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***Ah, yes, Ater Majok.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But then, Walker thought a little harder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dawson was slated to address the UConn team before practice.

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

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

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