As you likely know by now, UConn is the No. 7 seed in the East Region and will face St. Joseph's on Thursday at 6:55 p.m. at First Niagara Bank Arena in Buffalo. Win and the Huskies will likely face another Philly team, ol' Big East pal Villanova, on Saturday.

And, if UConn wins its first two games, it advances to the East Regionals at Madison Square Garden.

Pretty good draw for the Huskies. For one, they don't have to leave the state of New York on their bid for an improbable run to the Final Four. And certainly, UConn can beat any of the teams it could face this week. Of course, there's little doubt that the Huskies could lose to either St. Joe's or No. 2-seeded Villanova, as well.

It's going to be that kind of tournament.

We'll have plenty more in the coming days. Here's tonight's story on UConn players tuning into the CBS Selection Show this year, as opposed to not watching a year ago.

And here's some video of Kevin Ollie and DeAndre Daniels talking about their tourney invites:

Another day, another list for Shabazz Napier.

The UConn senior guard was one of 23 players named to the 2014 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. Here's the press release:

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected 23 outstanding players for its 2014 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. Members of the association's board of directors chose the players to be included on the list as contenders for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

The award is to be presented to the national player of the year by its namesake at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 14at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the NCAA Men's Final Four.

Creighton's Doug McDermott, a first-team USBWA All-American last season, headlines the list, while teammates from six different schools – Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Syracuse and Wichita State – are also lauded. Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, the 2013 Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year and a second-team USBWA All-American a season ago, is also featured. Overall, 10 conferences are represented, led by the Atlantic Coast Conference with five players and the Big 12 Conference with four.

A pair of Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week from this season are included: DeAndre Kane from Iowa State and McDermott. The watch list includes 12 seniors to go with one junior, four sophomores and six freshmen.

Following is the complete watch list:

2014 OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
G Keith Appling, Michigan State (6-1, 185, Sr., Detroit, Mich.)
F Cameron Bairstow, New Mexico (6-9, 250, Sr., Brisbane, Australia)
F Cleanthony Early, Wichita State (6-8, 219, Sr., Middletown, N.Y.)
C Joel Embiid, Kansas (7-0, 250, Fr., Yaounde, Cameroon)
G Tyler Ennis, Syracuse (6-2, 180, Fr., Brampton, Ont.)
F C.J. Fair, Syracuse (6-8, 215, Sr., Baltimore, Md.)
F Aaron Gordon, Arizona (6-9, 225, Fr., San Jose, Calif.)
G Gary Harris, Michigan State (6-4, 210, So., Fishers, Ind.)
F Rodney Hood, Duke (6-8, 215, So., Meridian, Miss.)
G Nick Johnson, Arizona (6-3, 200, Jr., Gilbert, Ariz.)
G DeAndre Kane, Iowa State (6-4, 200, Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.)
F Doug McDermott, Creighton (6-8, 225, Sr., Ames, Iowa)
G Shabazz Napier, Connecticut (6-1, 180, Sr., Roxbury, Mass.)
F Jabari Parker, Duke (6-8, 235, Fr., Chicago, Ill.)
G/F Lamar Patterson, Pittsburgh (6-5, 225, Sr., Lancaster, Pa.)
F Casey Prather, Florida (6-6, 212, Sr., Jackson, Tenn.)
F Julius Randle, Kentucky (6-9, 250, Fr., Dallas, Texas)
G Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State (6-4, 220, So., Flower Mound, Texas)
G Russ Smith, Louisville (6-0, 165, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.)
G Xavier Thames, San Diego State (6-3, 195, Sr., Sacramento, Calif.)
G Fred Van Vleet, Wichita State (5-11, 194, So., Rockford, Ill.)
G Andrew Wiggins, Kansas (6-8, 200, Fr., Vaughan, Ont.)
G Chaz Williams, Massachusetts (5-9, 175, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

For those who love all things recruiting and watching high school prospects -- and you know who you are -- it doesn't get much better than on Thursday night.

The GEICO ESPN High School Basketball Showcase kicks off on Thursday, when it will feature five of the top seven senior players in the country, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU, when Seguin and faces Kimball in a battle of Texas heavyweights. At 8 p.m. on ESPN, Archbisop Mitty of California (featuring No. 7 national recruit Aaron Gordon) will face Travis of Texas (No. 3 Andrew Harrison and No. 5 Aaron Harrison) in Houston.

Then, at 9:30 p.m., top-ranked Simeon (Ill.) and No. 2 prospect Jabari Parker faces No. 19 Desoto (Texas) in Dallas. Desoto is led by No. 36 prospect Matt Jones.

The Showcase continues in January at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic in Springfield. Wiggins, New Hampton School's Noah Vonleh, Gordon and Parker will be among the top-rated players in that event. We'll have more on that later.

Greetings. Back from Adam Greenberg coverage over the past few days. If you're somehow not aware of it by now, it's a nice story. Check it out.

Back to UConn affairs, it appears Kevin Ollie's in-home visit with Jabari Parker went very well last week.

"It was a great home visit," Parker's father, Sonny, told ESPN Chicago.

Parker will make visits to Duke and Michigan State, and will soon decide which other schools to visit. Will UConn make the cut? Stay tuned ...

Elsewhere, former UConn forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel has been suspended four games by Hofstra for doing "stupid stuff", a source tells me - though that's not exactly how Hofstra describes it.

Just spoke with Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who was slated to make an official visit to UConn this weekend. Instead, he said he is in the process of re-scheduling the visit, and that he will "hopefully" still visit Storrs at some point.

Rathan-Mayes was vague as to why he postponed the visit, saying only that he "just had to be at Huntington (Prep) this weekend." He said he is still planning on announcing his collegiate choice at a press conference from his Toronto home on Oct. 13.

Asked again if he plans on still visiting UConn, Rathan-Mayes said: "I think so."

Elsewhere, according to Dom Amore of the Courant, Kevin Ollie is making his in-home visit to Jabari Parker tonight (Thursday).

UConn at least has a foot in the door in the recruitment of Jabari Parker, the most hyped high school basketball prospect since LeBron James.

Kevin Ollie will get an in-home visit with Parker sometime next week, according to ESPNChicago.com. Parker has also added UConn to his list of prospective landing spots.

Parker, a Class of 2013 forward, had previously listed his top 10 schools in July, and it included BYU (he is of the Mormon faith), DePaul, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Stanford.

His father, Sonny Parker, told ESPNChicago.com regarding the UConn upconming visit:


"It was Jabari's decision. He's picking all the schools for the home visits. He's talked to coach Calhoun previously before. That's one of the schools that showed some interest to him. He's had conversations with them previously. Of course, coach Kevin Ollie came in, and (Jabari) wanted them for a home visit."

Even if this is still a long shot, pretty impressive for Ollie to get a foot in the door.

*** Elswhere, as you've probably already heard, they're getting the band back together: UConn appears close to hiring Ricky Moore as an assistant coach.