After a couple of years at Waterbury's Crosby High, the Greater Hartford Pro-Am officially returns to ... well ... Hartford on Wednesday night. Games will be played at the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy at 208 Huyshope Ave. in Hartford.

The GHPA's 2015 season kicks off at 6:30 p.m., with Attorney Deron Freeman (led by Tobin Carberry and a host of players from Central Connecticut) facing Pauly Chute Slamm (which will be led by a pair of terrific New Haven guards past and present -- Bobby Moore and Tremont Waters. Waters, a UConn target, won't be at Wednesday night's game. Stanley Robinson is also on the team).

At 8:15 p.m., New York's Hot 93.7 (last year's scoring champ Doug Herring, Anthony Cox) will face two-time defending champion BJM Law Firm (Ryan Gomes, Keith Cothran, Lamonte Ulmer, Kelvin Davis).

Other top players expected to compete in the 11-team league include Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins and A.J. Price. The league could get some special guest appearances: on Aug. 1-2, Nate Robinson is expected to play. Other possible players throughout the summer could include Andre Drummond, Rudy Gay, Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb and Wes Matthews.

And, as always, several current UConn players are expected to play throughout the summer.

Greetings from Day 2 in NYC for the 2K Sports Classic. UConn faces Indiana and former recruiting target Noah Vonleh tonight. The game won't likely start until about 7:30 p.m.

UConn last faced Indiana on Jan. 26, 2008, a 68-63 victory at Assembly Hall that actually nearly brought Jim Calhoun to tears. The Huskies were down two key players (Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins) who were suspended after having been arrested a night or two earlier for underage drinking, but still pulled out a gutsy victory.

Wiggins returned soon after, but Dyson allegedly flunked a drug test and was gone for another month. I'll never forget when Calhoun & Co. walked into the team hotel to meet with the media the night before, we were informed that there were "no legalities involved" with Dyson and Wiggins.

Well ...

Still, it was a stirring victory, one that really had you start believing the Huskies could be better than expected that season. They wound up returning to the NCAA tournament after a one-year absence, though got bopped in the first round by San Diego.

UConn had lost to the Hoosiers the prior season, 77-73 in Hartford. I wasn't on the beat yet, but I'm told Calhoun was in rare form after that loss.

The Huskies are 5-3 all-time against Indiana.

*** In today's JV game, Washington squares off against BC. Washington features Mike Anderson, a Hartford native. Anderson, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, was an all-league player at Weaver High in 2009. He subsequently played at Taag Academy in Tampa in 2010, spent a year red-shirting at Iowa Western CC, transferred to Lincoln Trail College in Illinois before ending up at Moberly C.C. in Missouri. At Moberly last year, he averaged 17.2 points and 10 rebounds per game and was the No. 47 JUCO player in the country, according to jucorecruiting.com.

Anderson will get the chance to play his hometown team on Dec. 22, when UConn heads out to Seattle to face Washington in a battle of Huskies.

Former UConn guard Doug Wiggins had the highlight-reel dunk of the day on Saturday at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am, throwing one down over two-time Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year Tim Abromaitis, the Farmington resident who played professionally in France last year.

Couldn't make the Greater Hartford Pro-Am championship game Thursday night, but apparently I missed a good one as Recycle King Naughty Boyz came back for a 139-137 win over Harte Nissan to claim the title.

Jerome Dyson poured in 55 points to go with 12 rebounds to lead the way, while SMU-bound Danny Lawhorn added 32 and Doug Wiggins tossed in 22.

But here's the most interesting thing from the email I got from the league: Curtis Kelly had eight points and was named "Hero of the Game." Apparently, he hit the game-winning shot with about two seconds left. Good to hear that Kelly's back in the area.

To this point, he's best known around these parts as the guy who transferred out of UConn after failing to live up to his potential. And at the GHPA, his previous claim to fame was getting posterized by a dunk by Waterbury's Kelvin Davis a few years ago.

Here's a feature I wrote on Tharon Mayes, the former New Haven high school star who went on to a successful career at Florida State, then Europe.

Why am I putting a story on Mayes on a UConn blog, you ask? Well, a quick look at his surname and you may be able to surmise that UConn fans may be very interested to hear what Mayes has to say.

Mayes is the father of Xavier Rathan-Mayes, the highly-touted Class of 2013 shooting guard who is a big-time UConn target. (Actually, Mayes is Xavier's stepfather -- he met Xavier's mom, Marilyn, when Xavier was about five).



According to Mayes, Xavier attended Cheshire Academy four years ago, as detailed in a nice story by the late, great Dave Solomon, but is now at Huntington Prep in West Virginia). Among the six schools he's "fond of", according to his dad: Florida State (Mayes's alma mater), UConn, Baylor, Alabama, Memphis and UCLA. There are others, as well. I apologize if I made it sound earlier like he had pared his list down to just those six.

Rathan-Mayes, who has made unofficials to both UConn and UCLA already, plans another unofficial to FSU sometime over the next couple of weeks. He'll narrow down his visits after taking the SAT's in September, according to Mayes. Xavier would like to commit early in November.

Tharon Mayes said that Jim Calhoun's coaching future is "a concern. He likes Kevin Ollie. Kevin’s been speaking to him, it’s definitely a school of interest. But that is something that’s a little scary.”

Here's what Tharon says about his son's game: "He can definitely stroke it. But I think, with him, what makes him tough is he plays both guard spots very well. It adds more to his game than him being a pure point guard or two-guard."

*** Meanwhile, Joey Natale of UConnBall.com caught up with Reggie Cameron after his visit to UConn on Tuesday. Guess what? The visit went "great."

*** Oh, and in the GHPA playoffs: Doug Wiggins had a triple-double (40 points, 10 boards, 10 assists) to lead Recycle Kings to a 152-145 win over Harte Nissan in Game 2 of the championship series. The decisive Game 3 will be tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at Classical Magnet School.

UConn target Kuran Iverson added 36 points and eight rebounds and Jerome Dyson 30 and 11 for Recycle Kings.

Ryan Gomes had 34 and 10, Lamonte Ulmer 28 and 12 and Keith Cothran 27 and seven for Harte Nissan.

Jerome Dyson is in a bit of basketball limbo right now, but it's much better than where he was a year ago -- or even a few months ago.

Dyson was recently traded from Minnesota to Phoenix (shortly after being dealt from New Orleans to Minnesota), though nothing's official yet. Technically, he's still a Hornet.

"They're still trying to work out the numbers," he said on Wednesday, prior to a Greater Hartford Pro-Am game. "I haven't taken my physical yet. I'm waiting for a phone call from my agent. It is tough. I want to be able to tell people something. Everybody’s asking questions. A lot of information came out before that I was going to Minnesota, then Phoenix. Everyone’s been on Twitter asking me questions. It’s really hard, because I can’t say much.”

Most importantly, though, Dyson is an NBA player -- something that was obvious from the amount of autographs and pictures he had fans asking for on Wednesday. It's also something that, he admits, he wondered whther it would ever happen while toiling in the 'D' League the last two years.

“That first year (2010-11) was hard for me," he admitted. "Going from UConn to the D-League was a total 180 as far as how we travel, where we stay, practice – just the overall whole experience. I had thoughts of leaving and going overseas. I had talks with my mom about it, but I think my mom and my agent were probably the biggest supporters of me. My agent always told me I was an NBA player."

There was one other experience that convinced Dyson he wanted to remain Stateside, as well.

"I think the one thing that brought me back this past year is the fact that I got to go represent my country at the Pan-Am Games," he said. "That was probably the biggest (factor) in my decision of whether I was going to stay or go overseas. That experience is something I’d never give back for anything.”

Dyson certainly appears to be a more mature, content person than the sometimes aloof kid at UConn who once was suspended 30 days as a sophomore after flunking a drug test. (Ironically, Dyson was on the same team Wednesday night as Doug Wiggins, with whom he was arrested in that January, 2008 incident on campus).

Jim Calhoun recently told me that Dyson had expressed some regret to him about what he "did or didn't do" during his time at UConn. Calhoun told him it wasn't what he'd done in the past that was important, it was what he was doing right now.

Dyson agrees.
“I wouldn’t call them regrets. Everything’s a learning experience. I’m happy the way everything has turned out. I’m sure you can always go back and change things, but I don’t have any regrets.

"I don't focus on the past. I'm just focusing on the present right now."

So you thought there were celebrities in the house at Tuesday night's women's game? Well, we've got Doug Wiggins in the second row behind press row tonight.

Wiggins is averaging 12.8 points per game for 9-2 Mountain State, an NAIA program located in West Virginia.

As for this game: went to a men's game and a women's game broke out. UConn leads 48-21. Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier have nine points apiece. UConn shooting 55 percent from the floor, including 5-for-8 on 3's.

Harvard missed its first 12 shots and is shooting just 23 percent (7-for-30) overall and 1-for-15 (!) from Trey Land. Crimson have 11 turnovers.

Another gentle reminder: please feel free to follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DaveBorges

The Greater Hartford Pro-Am basketball league will kick off its 14th season on Saturday at the Sports & Medicine Sc iences Academy in Hartford (yes, it’s air-conditioned). Games will run throughout the summer on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday and (occasionally) Fridays. Schedules should be available on GHPAonline.com within the next few days.

The league annually features some of the best past and present high school, college and even pro players of Connecticut, and this year is no different. While rosters are still in a state of flux (league CEO Peter Higgins is still putting it all together as we speak), numerous UConn players are expected to play.

The Springfield Slamm team, sponsored by the Palace nightclub, should feature newcomers Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb and Michael Bradley along with Ater Majok. Kemba Walker and Alex Oriakhi may also play, and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel told me a few weeks ago he was thinking about participating.

Another entertaining team to watch should be Fairview Capital, which should have Andre Drummond, Doug Wiggins and Maryland-via-Torrington’s Jordan Williams on its roster.

Other intriguing names who will play when their AAU, national and/or summer pro schedules will allow them to will be Ryan Gomes, Jerome Dyson, Allen Chaney (Virginia Tech via New London), Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer (the latter two URI-via-New Haven), not to mention stars from U-Hart, Quinnipiac, CCSU, UNH and other local schools.

The Sports & Medicine Sciences Academy is a sparkling, two-year-old facility that (as previously mentioned) is air-conditioned, giving fans a comfortable (and free) setting to watch some good hoops – and other entertainment. Higgins hopes to have halftime singing and rap acts, in a “Connecticut’s Got Talent” type of forum.

In another nice touch, there will be a heart defibrillator on-site, donated by Gomes’ Hoops For Heart Health program. Gomes’ program distributes defibrillators to college, high school, boys & girls clubs, YMCA’s and other gyms across the country.

Tyler Olander, a 6-9 power forward from Mansfield who attends E.O. Smith High, has committed to UConn, per scout.com.

Olander, who transferred to E.O. Smith (right at the foot of the UConn campus) from Worcester Academy last fall, is a good athlete who can also shoot from distance. He made an unofficial visit to UConn to take in the Huskies' win over Texas on Jan. 23.

It's interesting that the Huskies have gone local to find a big man who can shoot (something they very much need). UConn hasn't had great results with local kids in the recent future, with Doug Wiggins being the latest example.

However, the Huskies have also missed on a couple of kids from the area over the last few years -- Farmington's Tim Abromaitis, who was one of the Big East's leading scorers this season at Notre Dame, and Jordan Williams, who just finished a terrific freshman season at Maryland.

More to come ...

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.

Still up after watching A-Rod actually come up with a clutch hit, so might as well blog ...

Jerome Dyson had 37 points and eight rebounds to lead Next Level to a 116-100 win over Looters Magazine Friday night in Greater Hartford Pro-Am action. Ex-Husky Doug Wiggins added 27 points and seven assists. Providence-bound Kyle Wright of Hartford had a triple-double: 24 points, 11 assists and 12 boards. Friar fans will like Wright. Kid can do some things.

In the nightcap, heavily-recruited (including UConn) Andre Drummond (a 6-9 sophomore) had 28 points and 13 boards, but it wasn't enough to prevent Cambyland from falling to Harte Nissan, 122-115.