No escalators at this Old San Juan castle:

As most of you know, Ryan Boatright once committed to Bob Huggins at West Virginia. Then, a few days later (after WVU also got a commitment from Jabarie Hinds), he de-committed. And a week or so after that, he committed to UConn.

And the rest is history.

On Sunday, Boatright faces Huggins in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament title game. It's not the first time the two have met since Boatright's de-commitment: Boatright played against WVU twice his freshman season, scoring seven points in a 64-57 win on Jan. 9, 2012 (then having to sit out the next three games as the NCAA renewed its look into his eligibility), and 10 points in a Big East tournament game on March 7. 2012 -- a 71-67 UConn win in OT.

That game was not only West Virginia's final one as a member of the Big East, it was also Jim Calhoun's final victory as a head coach.

Greetings from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where UConn will be playing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament this week, starting Thursday at 12:30 p.m. (EST) vs. College of Charleston.

A few early notes, quotes and videos from today's goings-on (we'll have many more updates later, after UConn's shootaround which ends at noon (EST):

*** This is the second season in a row Charleston will play against a defending national champion. The Cougars opened up the 2013-14 season at Louisville and were thrashed, 70-48.

“It’s always fun going out and playing some great competition like the defending national champion," said senior guard and leading scorer Anthony Stitt. "UConn has a great team, we watched some tape on them. They’re really good in transition, they’ve got some good guys. We’re looking forward to take the challenge.”

Head coach Earl Grant: “We’ve got some older guys. I’m sure they’ll look forward to the challenge. We know it’s a challenge, but that’s why you play the game -- you like to be challenged.”

*** If you remember, Grant was hired back in early September after a month-long coaching search. Also interviewed in that search? UConn assistant Karl Hobbs, who could have been coaching against UConn, not for them, on Thursday had things played out differently over the summer.

*** Along with UConn, fellow Big East expatriates West Virginia and Boston College are here. Of course, Ryan Boatright once committed to Bob Huggins at WVU, only to de-commit a short time later when he found out Jabarie Hinds had committed a day later.

Asked about the (granted, ancient history) on Wednesday, here's Huggins' classic Huggy-Bear response:



*** Charleston sophomore Canyon Barry is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Like his dad, Canyon shoots free throws underhanded. He's yet to go to the foul line this season, but here's hoping he gets to the stripe on Thursday. I really want to see this, for some reason.

*** Boatright said he's got "about 16" family members and friends arriving for the tournament.

*** Boatright and Rodney Purvis talked about the tournament and what they expect on Thursday:



*** The court at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente features double-rims, but that won't be a big deal, according to Kevin Ollie.

“It’s alright. That’s what we had in the park. It’s fine. It’d be a problem if we just had to shoot on the double-rims, but everybody’s got to shoot on them.”

Ollie seemed interested that Boatright had mentioned the double-rims to reporters.

“I’ll make sure I note that with the guys tonight," Ollie said. "No excuses.”

*** Purvis noted that Jim Calhoun pulled him aside in practice last week and told him to slow down a little bit and "just be ready to make a play, just be ready to catch and shoot, things like that."

Noted Ollie: “That’s the luxury of having Coach there, because he knows so much about the game, and how to get to players. I’m just glad that he’s there if they need him. It’s just another that’s got my players’ backs, and I welcome it every day.”

*** Ollie on Calhoun's ESPN debut Tuesday night: “He did a real good job. He explained things very, very well, right to the point. It was real good.”

*** Omar Calhoun didn't practice on Wednesday and would appear to be unlikely to play against Charleston.

*** UConn will stay an extra day and take part in some team activities on Monday before flying back home Tuesday morning.

Remember the story of Dwyane Wade surprising a girl at her high school senior prom last month? That was at Archbishop Coleman Carroll High -- same school Amida Brimah attended.

Brimah, however, wasn't at the prom. He was back in Ghana, visiting his parents. No big deal -- he had already met Wade at Wade's Fantasy Camp last August, and it's not often Brimah, who came to Miami from Ghana a few years ago, gets to see his folks.

It's been an interesting past few months for Brimah, the 6-foot-11 center, who's flying up from Miami to Storrs tonight to begin summer classes at UConn. This past spring, after a strong senior season on the hardwood, he figured he'd try his hand at high jump.

"The coach kept telling me to do it," Brimah said. "I didn't know I could do it. Back home in Ghana, we do it on bare ground and you can get hurt doing it. He was like 'It's different down here.'"

So Brimah gave it a shot and did pretty well. He won the Class 2A Region 4 championship with a leap of 6-2, then took third place at the states at the same height. And if 6-2 doesn't sound too high, think how tough it is for a 6-11, 215-pound kid to unfurl his body over that height. That's some pretty good athleticism.

Brimah also recently got to bond with two future teammates, fellow incoming freshmen Terrence Samuel (who'll arrive in Storrs on Wednesday) and Kentan Facey, while in New York City. He played with Facey in a game at the NIKE Pro City Summer League , and with Samuel at a tournament in Coney Island. He also got in a run at the famed Rucker Park in Harlem.

It looks like Brimah will be playing in this year's Greater Hartford Pro-Am (in Waterbury) for the Springfield Slamm, coached by Dr. Steve Sobel. He'll likely be teamed with Facey and possibly Samuel, though it hasn't been determined yet if Samuel will play in the pro-am this summer. Sobel also said there's an "outside shot" of DeAndre Daniels playing on his team, if he plays in the league.

Sobel said he's looking forward to the possibility of coaching Brimah, Facey and Samuel.

"As Kevin Ollie said, their attitudes and work ethic are going to be what's needed this year," Sobel said. "My role is to put them in the mental and physical place where they can utilize their talents get conditioned to where they can be contributors."

Interestingly, Sobel also draws some UMass kids to his team, and one of them will be Jabarie Hinds, who recently transferred from West Virginia. Hinds, of course, is one of the prime reasons why Ryan Boatright landed at UConn. Boatright had committed to Bob Huggins at WVU, only to find out a few days later that Hinds had committed, too. That persuaded Boatright to de-commit, and he soon wound up at Storrs.

*** Meanwhile, UConn announced on Tuesday that Lasan Kromah, the transfer from GWU, has officially joined the program.

"We're excited to have Lasan join our program," Ollie said. "He is the tyupe of player and person who is going to make us stronger as a team with his ability on the court, as well as his high character ... I think Lasan can be a great facilitator for us. I love his versatility on the court. He can help us in so many ways."

Despite his in-game histrionics, Jim Calhoun is usually pretty reserved during practices. Not today.

Calhoun, quite simply, was as vocal and animated as I've ever seen him in a practice in my five years on the UConn beat. The F-bombs flowed like wine, and while he was as hands-on and engaged as I've ever seen him in terms of individual instruction, he was equally as critical.

At times, the team's effort was questioned, it's "softness" pointed out. At other times, poor execution was the focus.

No one was spared -- not even little-used Michael Bradley and Enosch Wolf, the latter of whom Calhoun chastised for essentially getting the perks of traveling with and being on the team while hurting the team in practice.

“Why would I come out dead-ass, if I expect them to respond?” Calhoun asked, rhetorically. “Life’s all about getting up in the morning,” Calhoun said afterwards. “Hopefully it’s a good morning … other times you get knocked on your ass. It’s now how you get knocked on your ass, it’s how you get up and what you do after that. We got knocked on our ass the last couple of games a little bit, and we’ve got to get back on.”

And then, the strangest thing happened. When the 90-minute practice was over, Calhoun seemed happy with the team's overall effort.

“I thought they worked incredibly hard today … we really went hard," he said. "Today it was very good, effort-wise."

But Coach, what about all those F-bombs and ... ah, never mind.

Was today the worst Andre Drummond has seen Calhoun in his brief UConn career? No.

“I’ve been to games before, I’ve seen worse," Drummond said. "He wants to win, you can’t blame him. Who doesn’t like to win?

*** Ryan Boatright won't find it awkward tomorrow night playing against West Virginia, the school from which he de-committed.


“I don’t even think about it, especially coming off two losses," he said. "Just thinking about winning, I don’t even think about that stuff.”

Boatright committed to the Mountaineers, but a few days later fellow point guard Jabarie Hinds did, as well, miffing Boatright and his family. Boatright re-opened his recruitement and soon settled on UConn.

He said he doesn't know Hinds and hasn't talked to him about it.

“It’s in the past," Boatright said. "I’m where I want to be, it’s just the way it went. I’m here. I’m where I wanted to be the whole time. It worked out best for both parties.”

*** Jeremy Lamb is finding that being a preseason first team All-American leads to special attention by opponents. Lamb seems to be getting grabbed and bumped a lot during games to keep him from getting the ball, but Jim Calhoun says he must adjust to it,“because I can guarantee the officials aren’t going to adjust to us.”

*** Niels Giffey gets another start despite going scoreless in 22 minutes vs. Rutgers. Roscoe Smith continues to struggle for playing time as Calhoun searches for a position for him. The coach would like Smith to play more at power forward.

*** Shabazz Napier is still banged up. He practiced Sunday and participated in most drills (though was on the stationary bike at times, as well), but had to be helped back to the locker room by trainer James Doran when practice was over.

*** Drummond was asked how the bus ride home from Pisacataway was last night.

“You heard a lot of crickets," he said. "You couldn’t really hear any talking at all. Everybody was pretty quiet.”

UConn freshman Ryan Boatright will be held out of intercollegiate competition while the school works cooperatively with the NCAA in a review of his eligibility, a review that is not related to academics.

Boatright will continue to practice with the team and may sit on the bench during games, but will not dress or see action while the joint review takes place.

Boatright, an electrifying guard out of Aurora, Ill., is expected to back up Shabazz Napier at point guard this season. Last week, the Huskies welcomed a new walk-on, Brendan Allen of Windsor, on the team, and Allen has been seeing a lot of practice time at the point. Jim Calhoun said he expected to see Allen garner some minutes in the exhibition opener against AIC.

Boatright committed to UConn in October, 2010, after having given West Virginia's Bob Huggins a verbal commitment a couple of weeks earlier. The reason: Jabarie Hinds, another point guard (and UConn target) committed to WVU a couple of days after Boatright had, creating a logjam at the position in Morgantown.

And that wasn't the first time that Boatright seemed poised to attend a school but wound up not doing so. Remember when then-USC coach Tim Floyd created a stir when he recruited a 13-year-old kid out of Aurora, Ill.? That kid was Boatright.

Here's what we've got so far from this year's Big East media day at the Madison Square Garden theater:

***As we're sure you know by now, UConn was picked by the league's coaches to finish 10th out of 16 teams. Their reactions:

JIM CALHOUN

"First time in a long time I've got a chance to be coach of the year. That's the way you've got to do it. You've got to be No. 8 or below, otherwise it's not going to happen."

"We're probably where we belong. Seton Hall has more known answers than we do at this particular time. We could have been 11th or 12th … today.

"If we were 12th, that would have been OK. I wouldn't tell my players that. We are Connecticut, we have won a couple of games. But right now, the people beyond Kemba … you don't know.

"Not as much respect for the name as I would have liked. Conversely, if you made us 12th … whether I live with it or don't live with it, you picked us third last year, and we weren't third. We should have been fifth, and we screwed it up. We're a better team than what we played.

"We're the most unknown team in the league. I truly believe that.

"I like to be first, though. You guys aren't that smart, but you aren't that dumb, either. You've got a pretty good idea that you have some talent up there and you're going to win some games. Right now, you're saying we're not going to make the NCAA tournament – they're not going to take 10 teams. You're saying that maybe we can qualify for the NIT. I think we can do more than that."

(Umm, coach … when you say "you guys," you do realize that this it the coaches' poll, not the media poll. But I digress)

KEMBA WALKER:

"It's going to make us work harder, just give us the will to win.

(Is 10th place fair?) "Yeah, I think so, just because we have a lot of freshmen who aren't ranked as high as a lot of other freshmen. I think it's fair enough. I expected us to be 12th or something. I'll take 10th, and hope we have the chance to win some games."

DONNELL BEVERLY:

"We've got a lot of young players, a lot of guys that people don't really know. To me, we have a lot of guys that can play. I think we might surprise a lot of people this year."

ALEX ORIAKHI:

"I love it. We use that as motivation at the gym. We just have to play with a chip on our shoulder every night."

***Calhoun had a few poignant moments regarding the NCAA investigation and all it's entailed.

He was asked what the worst part of the entire ordeal has been, and he said there was only one thing that truly bothered him.

"At Ford Field in Detroit (at the 2009 Final Four), 72,000 people and hearing a chant of 'Cheater' by the whole Michigan State section. My grandchildren were in the crowd, not in that particular section, probably didn't hear a word. But I did. I was very sensitive to that. I may be a lot of things – profane, I can give you a lot of different things I am. But that word, I'm not. That was, to me, the worst thing."

But he insisted that the entire process has only emboldened him.

"The worst thing to do, at least my friends tell me, is to come after me. I'm usually better coming out of a corner than I am up on a pedestal. I'm a natural underdog, I guess – sometimes for no apparent reason. And if I can't be the underdog, I'll make myself the underdog, some way or another."

***Oh, there's another thing Calhoun isn't too pleased about: opening the Big East season on Dec. 27, at Pittsburgh.

"I don't like playing two days after Christmas, I don't care where it's at. And then playing New Year's Eve (at home vs. South Florida) … I don't like it. It puts us in a hole. No one designed it that way, but we're a young team.

"How do you eliminate that? I'll eliminate it: 16 games. I think we should have a preseason. We need to protect the properties of the terrific institutions throughout our league. I just don't think that Connecticut should be playing Pittsburgh – or anybody – on Dec. 27. For us, it happens to hurt more, but that's not malice. We've got to get those games in.

"I don't like New Year's Eve, anyway. I don't know what the fuss is all about."

***Due to some overcrowding at different tables, Calhoun met with the media at a table that had the West Virginia banner behind it (Bob Huggins would take the seat for the second half of the session).

This led to the "Oops!" moment of the day. A young female reporter, perhaps still in college, asked Calhoun: "Coach, despite the graduation of Da'Sean Butler, do you think you can get back to the Final Four like you did last year."

Obviously, she thought Calhoun was the West Virginia coach. Calhoun handled it with aplomb – and certainly a lot better than if someone like me had asked the question – pointing out that UConn had been to the Final Four two years ago and essentially ignoring the fact that Da'Sean Butler never played at UConn.

However, maybe this explains why Jabarie Hinds chose West Virginia over UConn. Maybe he thought he was committing to Calhoun, not Huggins! OK, maybe not.

More to come later ...

Jim Calhoun seemed a bit weary and a bit grumpier than normal at UConn's first practice of the season on Saturday. No doubt, part of it had to do with his long, long day of meeting with the NCAA the day before in Indianapolis, followed by a late-night flight home and an early arrival at Gampel Pavilion that morning.

But part of it may also have to do with what he sees -- or doesn't see -- in his program right now. The Huskies are extremely young and inexperienced this season and will be forced to rely heavily on players who have either never played or played very little at this level.

Then there's the lingering recruiting issues with the program. The Huskies swung and missed at a half-dozen top recruits over the past six months. Yes, they landed Roscoe Smith, a highly-touted forward out of Baltimore. But today -- not long after losing out on Jabari Brown to Oregon -- they missed on another recruit who looked like a pretty good bet to be a Husky.

Jabarie Hinds, a product of Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High, chose West Virginia over the Huskies. Hinds is said to be one of the top two players to play under Bob Cimmino at Mount Vernon. The other? Ben Gordon. But apparently, Gordon's influence couldn't sway Hinds to Storrs. Kevin Jones, a sophomore forward at WVU who also went to Mount Vernon, apparently wielded more influence.

So, the Huskies strike out on the recruiting trail once again. A lot of this can be remedied if they're able to land Andre Drummond, the 6-foot-11 stud out of Middletown. While Drummond seemingly spends more time on the UConn campus than some professors, it's no sure shot that he'll ever even attend college. Some believe Drummond may turn pro after a year at prep school.

Anyway, it's my belief that Jim Calhoun is gearing up for one more run at a Final Four, with Drummond being the centerpiece. If UConn doesn't land Drummond, I'm not sure how much longer he's prepared to coach this team. But that is 100-percent my opinion and not based on any inside knowledge.

While most local college basketball fans will be focused on UConn's bout with PC tonight, there's an intriguing high school matchup that will unfold in New Haven.

Mount Vernon High takes on Hillhouse tonight at the New Haven Athletic Center. Mount Vernon features a top-notch talent in 6-foot point guard Jabarie Hinds. He's getting serious interest from schools like Louisville, Wake Forest, Seton Hall and St. John's (though apparently not UConn). His high school coach, Bob Cimmino, says Hinds "may be the best player I've ever coached."

Cimmino, of course, also coached Ben Gordon at Mount Vernon.