Kwintin Williams

The Husky Run is a week away (Wednesday, Sept. 27, to be exact). UConn begins practice three days after that.

With that in mind, and with so many newcomers joining the Huskies this season (true freshmen, grad transfers, JUCO transfers), we thought we'd link some stories we've written on the newbies over the past few months so that you can get to know them a little better.

It's an intriguing, eclectic bunch: a wide-body with plenty of Southern charm; an athletic St. John's transfer; a high school teammate of Markelle Fultz; a grad transfer from Cornell; a wiry big man who bases his game on Anthony Davis's; the son of a former NFL linebacker;

Eric Cobb

• Eric Cobb is UConn's best big man in the preseason, we're told. He's had some past transgressions - getting booted out of South Carolina two years ago after an arrest. But the affable big man was one of the most engaging players at UConn's recent "Meet the New Huskies" media event, asking sincere questions back to reporters and shaking everybody's hand after his interviews were all done. And, at 6-9, 270 pounds, he's exactly the kind of wide-body UConn will need this winter.
• Antwoine Anderson is a Fordham grad transfer who has hit three buzzer-beating, game-winning shots over the past two seasons. He'll add experienced depth to the Huskies' already strong backcourt.
• David Onuorah, a grad transfer, joins Cobb as perhaps the most in line for early minutes as a big man. The 6-9 shot-blocker sat out almost all of last season at Cornell for personal reasons. He originally hails from Lithonia, Georgia, hometown of UConn redshirt frosh Alterique Gilbert.
• Josh Carlton, is a classic, back-to-the-basket big who was a teammate of NBA No. 1 draft pick Markelle Fultz at DeMatha High. He may be a year or two from being a major contributor for the Huskies.
• Tyler Polley is a small forward with a knack for the "lost art" of the mid-range jumper. His dad, Tommy, was an NFL linebacker for six seasons, and Tyler has memories of pops chasing down Brett Favre in the snow.
• Isaiah Whaley, a wiry, 6-foot-9 forward who models his game after Anthony Davis and has overcome some self-imposed adversity (a shoplifting incident) to become a truly "special kid."
• Of course, Sidney Wilson joins the Huskies after transferring from St. John's a couple of weeks ago. The athletic, 6-7 forward chose the Johnnies over UConn in May but was almost

  

  Sidney Wilson

  immediately unhappy in Queens. He left St. John's a couple of weeks ago, but not after having been enrolled in summer courses. Because of that, he's currently considered a transfer who must sit out the season. He's applied for a waiver to try to become eligible this year, but that seems highly unlikely.
• And, of course, last but not least there's Kwintin Williams, a 6-7 athletic freak with a 44-inch vertical leap. He's 23 and has never played a minute of D-1 basketball, so it remains to be seen just how good and productive he can be. But he sure should be fun to watch.

There may not be a First Night at UConn this year, but that doesn’t mean the school won’t be doing something to get students and fans revved up for the 2017-18 season.

What that will be remains to be seen, but the athletic department is in the early planning stages of putting together something – no one’s really sure what quite yet.

The main problem, of course, is the venue. While work on Gampel Pavilion’s roof is on schedule and will be completed by the time the schedule begins in early November, it likely won’t be done by the time First Night usually rolls around in mid-October. Hence, no First Night this year.

But be on the lookout for some type of announcement in the coming weeks. What that event will be, where it will be held, who will partake – all questions that remain to be answered.

Work on Gampel Pavilion's roof back in late-June. It's a lot better now.

Meanwhile, Tyler Polley and Eric Cobb, who had other things to take care of over the summer, have arrived on UConn’s campus. The rest of the team, including recent signee Kwintin Williams, who also hasn’t made it to campus yet, will arrive by this weekend. Classes start on Monday.

Here are some concrete dates for UConn fans to mark on their calendars:

Week of Sept. 4 – The AAC should release its schedule sometime this week. UConn's will likely follow a day or two after. The league met with officials from CBS and ESPN last Thursday to lock up some national games. Now, it’s just a matter of going over with athletic directors, coaches, etc. about whether those dates and times work, or if anything needs to be shifted. One complication this year is that Houston and Cincinnati will both be playing all their games away from home due to arena renovations. Houston will play most of its games on the Texas Southern campus but a few at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston, home of the Rockets. Cincy, meanwhile, will play all its games on the Northern Kentucky campus.

Also this week, UConn will be holding a "Meet the Newcomer" event for the press. This will give media types a chance to find out a bit about the new players and tell their stories to interested readers.

Wednesday, Sept. 27 – The annual Husky Run should take place on this date. This year’s route around campus may be a little different, due to construction.

Saturday, Sept. 30 – First practice. Teams begin practicing six weeks before their first game. That actually means the Huskies could start on Friday, Sept. 29, but Kevin Ollie typically likes to start that Saturday morning.

Monday, Oct. 16 – AAC Media Day. This will be held in Philadelphia for the second straight year. The general public probably doesn’t care, but it’s a good time for media to talk to players and coaches from around the league as the season approaches.

Monday, Oct. 30 – UConn’s first exhibition game. No, not against the University of St. Joseph. It’ll be against Merrimack, though not sure if it’ll be in Storrs or Hartford just yet.

Tuesday, Nov. 14 – The Huskies will play Stony Brook in their only previously-unannounced non-conference game. Again, not sure if it will be in Storrs or Hartford yet.

Meanwhile, on the recruiting front, UConn will be getting a visit from coveted point guard Jalen Carey out of New Jersey. The Huskies were in on Carey early so they should feel good about where they stand with him.

Other potential visits over the next few weeks include Tyron Brewer of Mississippi, Keyontae Johnson out of Oak Hill Academy and Andrew Nembhard out of Montverde Academy in Florida.

Had a nice chat with Kevin Ollie and Josh Carlton today. Look for story on Carlton in Wednesday's Register.

Here's some of what Ollie had to say about a number of different topics:

Kevin Ollie

(2017-18 outlook)

I think our ballhandling’s gonna be much improved, especially with Alterique coming back and Jalen coming off an outstanding season.

(Looking back on last season's disappointment, injuries)

“It happens, it’s part of the game, we’re not making any excuses about it. I’m just glad to see those guys healthy.”

“Two weeks left in the season, we were fighting for third. Then we kind of had a letdown at the end of the season.”

“I was proud of the guys overall. Proud of the coaching staff. We just learned a lot. I know I learned a lot. I had never been through anything like that in my career as a head coach or an assistant.”

(Alterique Gilbert)

"He's still not 100 percent. We're still kinda cautious with everything, He'll do some contact, then lean off that a little bit. In July, we're gonna allow him to go full-contact, 5-on-5."

"He’s a tremendous leader. He has a great work ethic, and just seeing him out there, I think it really helps our team and our psyche, just to see that leadership out there. He’s a pit bull on the basketball court. He loves what he does, and you can see it in everything he does – every behavior he does, he’s kinda like a quiet leader."

(Will next year's team try to run more, go with smaller lineups?)

“That’s got to be the game plan. We don’t want to go down and face set defenses all the time. But that goes back to defensive rebounding. If you want to be a great running team, you’ve got to play good defense and rebound the basketball.”

(Mamadou Diarra)

"Mamadou’s been going full strength, getting up at 6:30 a.m., working out with Carlos Daniels, coming back to practice center doing individual work. No swelling in the knee, no bad feedback, every day he's recovering and coming back stronger."

(Terry Larrier)

Terry Larrier

"Terry’s doing great. He’s a man on a mission ... Terry’s really stepping up vocally, in workouts, going above and beyond the things we ask. I think the switch has really flipped on by him.”

(Will it be good for UConn to go into next season with lesser expectations, a bit under the radar?)

“I’d love to be No. 1. I don’t run away from expectations. I don’t care if we’re eighth or 10^th in the preseason – in Connecticut, they expect us to win. That’s the expectations that we come into each and every year, and that’s how we’re evaluated. I understand that pressure. I played here, I coached here. I like that pressure. I think that’s a privilege. If people want to call us an underdog, this and that, it is what it is. We want to just come in and play.”

“In February, when we’re coming back from SMU and you’ve got to get up for school at 8 a.m. and then come back in for practice – can you be committed then? That’s when I’ll know if we have a championship-caliber team.”

(Jalen Adams)

"Just being more consistent in big games – SMU, Cincinnati games. Stretch the defense more. He's a fantastic open-court basketball player. I want him to be known as one of the best defensive guards in our conference. That’s an area he can improve on.”

"His ankle was messed up the last three weeks. The way he gutted it out for us and gutted it out for me, and it’s not like we pushed him or anything. He wanted to play. That was big-time. Now, just giving him a little time to rest his ankle, get it back to full strength, that’s kind of what we’re doing with him now. But what he did those last three weeks … people didn’t write about that, but we knew about it. His ankle was bothering him. But he wanted to push through for the team and give it his all.”

(Does he think the program is still in good shape?)

“I don’t think, I know. Guys left, made their own decisions. It happens. I wish them the best of luck, but we have to move on. I don’t have time to be looking back. I’m running towards my destiny, and I think this program is running towards their destiny. We don’t have time to go back. We learned from it, we got through it. We’re focused on a new task this season to get the guys that are putting these jerseys on and going out here playing for this great university.”

“I know this program is in a good state. We’ve graduated guys, we did a remarkable job academically. On the basketball court, yeah, we took a step back. Everybody understands the different circumstances that happened. But, at the end of the day, I thought we played hard, we competed.”

“We have to win. I can’t keep going 15-17, we all know that. But I really admire the men that they’ve become. I hope everybody sees that, too.”

“We have a great program. It’s not for everybody. If you want to be here, come in with the mentality, you’re going to be successful. A lot of guys on that wall have done it, and it’s not all based on talent.”

(Will Antwoine Anderson help compliment Adams, Gilbert and Christian Vital in the backcourt?)

"(With a smile) Compliment? He’s gonna make them compete a little bit more, too. He’s really good. He’s what we need. He’s a push guard, he loves to play defense, he’s got a chip on his shoulder. Those guys stepping up a little bit want to prove themselves. He’s kind of what we need. He’s got the veteran leadership, but then he also has the tenacity to get out there defensively. He’s very shifty with the ball, he’s gonna give us another ballhandler.”

(Josh Carlton)

“Very skilled, big body. It’s not like we’re telling Carlos to put 25 pounds on him. We want to get him more lean and physically in shape, condition-wise. Very talented around the rim, can rebound. He’s just got a big body. I expect him to compete for minutes. He could be, eventually, a person that we can throw it down low to. He can command a double team, eventually. But I really think his skill level is close to (Steve) Enoch’s. Enoch is better skilled than him now, but I kind of compare those two, skill-wise. Great touch around the basket. Hopefully, he can come in and compete for some minutes.”

"We want to get him more athletic, boost his jumping ability, his fast-twitch muscles, being able to react on defensive end. Only way they get on court is if they pick up defensive schemes. Hopefully, he can do that."

(Eric Cobb)

"He went through an ordeal at South Carolina, took whatever punishment came his way, then went to JUCO and proved himself there and did great academically. Now, he’s coming back to get his second chance to play Division I basketball. I really think he has that motivation in his heart to say, ‘Man, I went through some stuff, but I’m better now.’ I think he has a toughness that we kind of lacked sometimes last year against the bigger teams.”

"His fault, not his fault – he was part of it. I think he took that under consideration, how he needs to change his life, the circle that he was running with. Now he’s a better man for it. I’m very intrigued by him.”

(Keeping two scholarship spots open)

“Just in case Andre Drummond falls out of the sky. We’re working. Some 2018’s that can be 2017’s, and still some guys transferring, we might bring in transfer and have him sit out and be a part of our system while not playing. That would be ideal.”

Ollie said that Amida Brimah will likely play for Miami in the Orlando Summer League, then with Chicago out in Las Vegas. It seems the Bulls have the most interest in Brimah.