Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Rip Hamilton, Rudy Gay and Shabazz Napier are among the former UConn stars expected to play at this year's Jim Calhoun Charity Classic game on Aug. 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Also expected to be in attendance are: Ben Gordon, DeAndre Daniels, Jeremy Lamb, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien, Taliek Brown and Scott Burrell.

Some notes and quotes from a special tribute to Jim Calhoun held at Gampel Pavilion Sunday night:

*** Among those who attended were Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, Kemba Walker, Rudy Gay, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Andre Drummond, Hasheem Thabeet, Jeremy Lamb, Scott Burrell, Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price, Stanley Robinson, Kevin Ollie, Andre LaFleur, Patrick Sellers, Glen Miller, Karl Hobbs, Tom Moore, Steve Pikiell and Eric Hayward. I’m sure I missed a few – more than a few. Gov. Dannel Malloy was there, too. As were the members of this year's UConn team (including Tyler Olander), Warde Manuel, George Blaney, Dee Rowe … you get the point. A tremendous outpouring of support for Calhoun.

*** There will be busts of Calhoun and Geno Auriemma inside the new practice facility.

*** It was also announced on Sunday that Stadium Road on campus will now forever be known as Jim Calhoun Way.

*** Some of what Calhoun had to say before the program:

“It’s an incredibly emotional thing for me, personally. Telling A.J. ‘Congratulations on the birth of your daughter.’ Jeff just got his contract. A long, long time ago, I said I wanted to get into coaching to hopefully affect some people’s lives. They’ve affected mine, I know for sure. I knew it would be an emotional day, but when I see them, it just does something to me, certainly.”

“It’s an incredible bond that never gets broken. As long as they’re fair with you and you’re fair with them, and they had my back, and I had their back … people always say, ‘Coach, you’re too tough on those guys.’ It’s because I love them. I suffer when A.J. didn’t do well, Scottie, Ray, whoever it may be. I jumped out of my chair this year when Ray hit the big 3-pointer for the Miami Heat. Those things don’t change.”

(on the state of the UConn program)

“I think it’s in very good shape. I never had any questions with the guy I wanted to be the coach. I think he’s done an incredible job, and he’ll continue to do an incredible job. The kind of support we had … I was thinking last night, how special the game was – not necessarily the game, per se, but the atmosphere. We used to have basketball games like that at the Civic Center, 16,000. We need to have that, and we will have that.”

*** Ray Allen a great story that defined how the bond among UConn players is built.

“One of the things that I always think about is Eric Hayward. He comes to mind a lot when I talk about our bond that we share. We used to start practice every year in the field house. The trash can was over in the corner, and it was over in the corner for one person. They said, at some point, Eric Hayward’s gonna throw up in the trash can. I was like, ‘Somebody throws up during practice?’”

“Over the course of that year, we’d run suicides we had to be at the line in 28 seconds. Early in the year, Eric never made it. Every time he didn’t make it, we’d have to run again. Coach didn’t care, he didn’t have any sympathy for us. It got to the point where we started running over to Eric, watching him and making sure we did what we had to do to get him over that line in 28 seconds. That was a moment where I saw true growth and I understood what Coach was doing. As much as, at that moment, we didn’t particularly like Coach, it created that bond and got us together. In order for us to grow into a team and be a unit, we had to help Eric get to the point where he could beat this suicide in 28 seconds. Once we got him over that line, it was like we had a sense of accomplishment.”

*** Of course, there’s been a rift in that UConn bond recently in the case of Tate George, who’s on trial for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that bilked clients out of millions. Among them, apparently, is Charlie Villanueva.

Asked about George, Calhoun simply stated: “I haven’t talked to Tate in five years.”

Burrell on the situation:

“It’s very sad to see it happen. You don’t know if he’s innocent, guilty until the trial … It’s sad to be in that situation. The last time I saw him, he said it wasn’t true. He sent an email to a lot of us saying it wasn’t true. So, we’ll see what happens.”

*** Sticks says he’s heading to Canada in a few weeks to play professionally for the Moncton Miracles of the National Basketball League of Canada.

Here’s Sticks talking about Calhoun as a “father figure”:

Classy, respected, calm in the eye of the storm, a brilliant basketball mind: this is how many from around the college basketball world were describing George Blaney this afternoon, after he announced his retirement after 43 years as a college hoops coach -- the last 12 at UConn under Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie.

We may know Blaney best as the guy who took over for Calhoun whenever the Hall of Fame head coach was sidelined by health problems (or, for three games in 2011-12, an NCAA suspension). By my count, UConn was 12-14 in games that Calhoun missed completely and Blaney took over. Obviously, that doesn't tell the whole story of Blaney's importance to the program. Though he didn't recruit, Blaney's basketball knowledge was key in breaking down opponents on game film, as well as with in-game strategy.

And, of course, he often bore the brunt of Calhoun's sideline rantings during games.

Here's what people from the basketball world, including some former UConn players, were saying about Blaney on Twitter this afternoon:

Congrats to Coach Blaney on his retirement. Taught me a lot during my college days. One of the best guys I've ever been around! #UCONN
— Kemba walker (@KembaWalker) June 13, 2013

Congratulation to Coach Blaney on his retirement. One of the best teachers to the game of basketball. #UConnHuskies
— Jeff Adrien (@Adrien4) June 13, 2013

I WAS COACH BLANEY FAVORITE TANZANIAN. LOL THE ONLY TANZANIAN HE KNEW AT THAT POINT. HAHAHA
— Hasheem Thabeet (@HasheemTheDream) June 13, 2013

George Blaney retires: cour.at/19vLYfS One of the truly great basketball minds and an even better person. No one I respect more.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) June 13, 2013

Congrats to George Blaney on retirement at UConn. If Holy Cross had joined Big East, he may have ended up in HOF. Great coach in his day!
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) June 13, 2013

Bonzie Colson, Jr., a 6-foot-6 (or so) Class of 2014 power forward out of St. Andrew’s in Barrington, R.I., took an unofficial visit to UConn today.

He’s somewhat of an under-the-radar recruit, though his name is familiar to me because his father was a standout forward at URI while I was there in the late-80’s/early-90’s. In fact, Bonzie Colson, Sr., helped lead the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1988, knocking off Missouri and Syracuse before being edged by a point by Duke in one of the best runs in school history. (Colson, Jr. also visited URI this afternoon. He said he'll make an unofficial to Georgetown this summer while at Kevin Durant's camp).

As for Colson, Jr., we mentioned him near the bottom of this recruiting post a few months ago. 

Here's what the kid had to say about his visit:

"I definitely did (enjoy it), the campus is nice. They know I'm an under-sized four, there's not really a right position for me. They said they'd make plays for me and I'll adapt to their offense pretty well, because they'll play four out, one in."

Colson, Jr. added that he's a "post player, very aggressive. I like doing the little things that other players don't like to do -- dive on the floor for loose balls. I bring a lot of effort and energy to the game."

Here’s what St. Andrew’s coach Mike Hart has to say about him:

“He’s kind of an old-fashioned, throwback type guy. He’s not going to ‘wow’ you when you see him play. The ‘wow’ factor isn’t there. You’re not going to see the big body, the unbelievable quickness. What he does is, he’s deceptively athletic and quick, and he knows how to play basketball and score in a lot of different ways.”

Hart said Colson, Jr., is “just a shade under 6-6”, but is very long and his body is still developing.

“He’s shooting the ball better from outside now,” Hart said, “but his game right now is definitely from 15 feet and in.”

Hart said he reminds him of Jeff Adrien, but not because he’s a physical banger like Adrien was.

“You walk in the gym, you’re like, ‘Aw, come on.’ He’s not a prototypical, high-Division 1 power forward. Physically, he’s not that. He’s very Jeff Adrien-like: an under-height power forward that just develops in college and is able to score in a lot of different ways.”

Colson said he "wasn't sure" if UConn actually offered him today. He said UConn, Pitt, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Florida State, Minnesota, Butler, Miami, Stanford, GWU, URI, Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Virginia Tech, Arkansas and Alabama are among the schools showing interest. His father, now the director of admissions at UMass-Dartmouth, coached under Al Skinner at URI and BC and under ex-URI coach Tom Penders at George Washington.

“He’s got a terrific family, a great support system,” Hart noted.

The coach was also happy to learn recently that the lone St. Andrew’s product to play at UConn, Tony Robertson, recently graduated. As for any potential future Huskies now at St. Andrew’s, Hart mentioned Terrell Brown, a rising 6-8 Class of 2016 center. UConn hasn’t expressed much interest yet.

“But they will,” Hart promised.

Kemba Walker went from being feted by the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce to getting his own, pre-ESPY dinner out in Hollywood on Tuesday. Walker is an ESPY nominee this year.

Here are a few photos from iRenew pre-ESPY dinner for Kemba:



This is Kemba surrounded by Tammy Brook and Bari Medgaus. (I'm honestly not sure if I'm supposed to know who these two ladies are).



This is Kemba with supermodel Selita Ebanks.



Oh, and old friend Jeff Adrien was in the house, too. Here's Jeff, Kemba and recording artist Estelle at the dinner.

Jim Calhoun used to refer to Jeff Adrien as a "warrior" about once a week back when Adrien was a power forward for the Huskies. Now, he literally is a Warrior, having signed with Golden State.

Here's the press release:

The Golden State Warriors signed forward Jeff Adrien of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for the 10th GATORADE Call-Up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season. Adien’s call-up increases the number of current NBA players with NBA D-League experience, including players currently on assignment to their NBA D-League affiliates, to 84.

In 27 games (21 starts) this season, Adrien has averaged 18.3 points and a league-leading 11.2 rebounds. The NBA D-League Player of the Month for January and an NBA D-League All-Star, Adrien has recorded 20 double-doubles, and has averaged 19.9 points and 12.2 rebounds in 22 games (20 starts) since joining Rio Grande Valley from the Erie BayHawks via trade on Dec. 30.

Adrien (6-7, 245) played 15 games with Golden State earlier this season, averaging 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.

A second-year pro out of Connecticut, Adrien finished his four-year collegiate career as the first Huskies player to record at least 1,600 points (1,603) and 1,000 rebounds (1,126). As a senior, Adrien averaged 13.6 points and 9.9 rebounds in 36 games, earning All-Big East Second Team honors and leading UConn to a Final Four appearance. In his junior season, Adrien averaged 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds in 33 games and was named an All-Big East First Team performer.

Adrien is expected to join the Warriors today, and should be available when they host the Atlanta Hawks tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Jerome Dyson of the Tulsa 66ers was named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Jan. 24.

Dyson, who spent the 2010 NBA Summer League with the Cleveland Cavaliers, led the 66ers to a 2-1 record on the week, averaging 28.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and three assists.

After scoring 21 points in Tulsa’s 107-101 win at Springfield on Jan. 27, Dyson shot 6-of-9 from three-point range, scoring a game-high 37 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 66ers’ 118-98 victory over the Armor the next day. Dyson also scored a team-high 27 points in Tulsa’s 109-106 loss to Maine on Sunday.

Among the league's honorable mention roll: Rio Grande Valley’s Jeff Adrien, who averaged 24 points, 14.5 rebounds and three assists.

I always prefer to lay out my annual Big East prognostications just before the conference season begins. That gives us a couple of months to take a look at each team, get a feel for what incoming players will have an impact, which players have improved and what teams seem to be on the rise -- or on the decline.

The conference slate couldn't get off to a better start on Monday when UConn takes on Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center. This has become one of the Big East's best rivalries over the past several years. Who could forget two seasons ago, when DeJuan Blair flipped Hasheem Thabeet over his back (and Thabeet was called for the foul), and Pitt handed UConn two of its three regular-season losses before being bounced from the NCAA tourney in the Elite Eight while the Huskies cruised to the Final Four.

It should be another showdown on Monday. I expect the Panthers to win the game, but I think UConn will keep it close. Let's say Pitt wins, 87-81.

Even if the Huskies lose, it won't derail what should be a nice season. Obviously, a 10-0 start, with wins over Michigan State and Kentucky, and a national No. 4 ranking bode well. Are the Huskies really the fourth-best team in the country? I don't think so. They may not even be the fourth-best team in the Big East. But I like their chances of having a strong season and making a nice run in the NCAA tourney.

Why? Two reasons: Kemba Walker and Jim Calhoun.
With these two leaders, I don't see UConn losing too many games it shouldn't lose, while it'll win some games it might not be favored to win. The biggest concern is Walker getting worn down during the grind of the Big East. He's not the biggest, strongest guy in the world, obviously, and if teams continue to harass him and throw junk defenses at him and essentially force him to play 37, 38 hard minutes every night, it will take its toll.

That's why I envision UConn hitting a rut somewhere in the middle of the season -- maybe that Villanova-Tennessee-Marquette-Louisville-Syracuse stretch from Jan. 22 to Feb. 2. Maybe PC-Georgetown-Louisville-Marquette from Feb. 13-24. Somewhere in there, I see a few double-digit losses.

But I also believe that, because of Walker and Calhoun, this is a team that can make runs in tournaments -- both the Big East (finally) and the Big Dance. What makes a good tourney team, after all? Guard play, leadership and good coaching. UConn's got all three.

Anyway, here's how I see the Big East playing out this season:

1. Pittsburgh (14-4) Befitting of their city, Panthers are toughest defensive, rebounding team in conference.

2. Syracuse (13-5) The Orange's 2-3 zone is always long, but this year's overall team wing span is ridiculous.

3. Georgetown (13-5) Has anyone ever seen Chris Wright and Jamie Foxx in the same room together?









4.UConn (12-6) Junior Walker & the All-Stars? Other players besides Kemba must step up.

5. Villanova (12-6) Jay Wright says he doesn't think his team deserves to be ranked No. 8 right now. He's probably right.

6. Louisville (11-7) Rick Pitino. The KFC Yum! Center. There's gotta be a Karen Sypher joke in there somewhere.

7. Notre Dame (10-8) Tim Abromaitis is the type of player fellow Nutmegger Tyler Olander should someday hope to be.

8. West Virginia (10-8) After a great 2008 NCAA tourney, Joe Mazzulla has never really returned to form.

9. Marquette (9-9) Buzz Williams seems to get the most out of his teams.

10. St. John's (8-10) Give Steve Lavin a pretty good, deep, veteran (10 seniors) team and see the Red Storm improve this season.

11. Cincinnati (8-10) Along with Syracuse and UConn, Bearcats are currently only other current undefeated Big East team (11-0).

12. Providence (8-10) After an offseason even worse than UConn's, frosh-laden Friars aren't nearly as bad as many predicted.

13. Rutgers (6-12) Mike Rice may turn this program around. Just not yet.

14. Seton Hall (5-13) So much depends on when Jeremy Hazell returns from wrist surgery. Probably not 'til mid-January, at the earliest.

15. South Florida (3-15) Gus Gilchrist, suspended due to "philosophical difference" with Stan Heath, returns to lineup in time to crucify Huskies (again) on New Year's Eve?em>

16. DePaul (2-16) Cleveland Melvin, who de-committed from UConn last fall, averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 boards for Blue Demons.

ALL-BIG EAST
First Team
Kemba Walker, UConn
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Corey Fisher, Villanova
Kris Joseph, Syracuse
Rick Jackson, Syracuse

Second Team
Corey Stokes, Villanova
Jimmy Butler, Marquette
Casey Mitchell, West Virginia
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame
Peyton Siva, Louisville

Third Team
Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
Marshon Brooks, Providence
Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame
Chris Wright, Georgetown
Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh

Honorable Mention
Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
Alex Oriakhi, UConn
Dwight Hardy, St. John's

AWARDS:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kemba Walker, UConn: He probably won't end up leading league in scoring (PC's Marshon Brooks is my bet), but has there been a player more valuable to a program in recent years?

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jim Calhoun, UConn: No homer bias here. After being picked to finish 10th in conference, a top-five finish should cement Calhoun's first COY since 1997-98.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Vander Blue, Marquette: Tough one to call. Fab Melo has been anything but Fab for Syracuse. We'll go Blue, who's averaging 10.3 points and 1.73 steals thus far.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Rick Jackson, Syracuse: Shabaz Napier will win this award some day.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Casey Mitchell, West Virginia: Averaged 3.7 ppg last year; netting 17.8 ppg this year (fourth in Big East).

SIXTH MAN AWARD: Dominic Cheek, Villanova: But really, your guess is as good as mine on this one.

A few awards that won't be handed out at the Big East tournament:

THE 'PLAYER WHO SHOULD BE BETTER THAN HE IS' AWARD: Yancy Gates, Cincinnati: His heart hasn't matched his body size (6-9, 265 pounds) ... at least not yet. (Runner-up: Gary McGhee, Pittsburgh).

THE JEFF ADRIEN AWARD: Rick Jackson, Syracuse: Already has eight double-doubles this season.

THE 'WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?' AWARD: Oliver Purnell, DePaul: Always seemed to underachieve at Clemson. He'll have a lot less talent to work with here.

THE 'UZI' AWARD: Marshon Brooks, Providence: With Jeremy Hazell sidelined for the foreseeable future, Brooks -- who never met a shot he doesn't like -- gets this one.

From Korea, to the Ukraine ... now to Springfield for ex-UConn forward Gavin Edwards.

Edwards has been added to the roster of the Springfield Armor, an NBA development league team.

Edwards most recently played with the Anyang KT&G Kites of the Korean Basketball League, averaging 5.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in seven games. He then moved on to Khimik-OPZ Yuzny of the Ukrainian Basketball Super League, averaging 5.3 points and 2.3 boards in three contests.

This past summer, Edwards played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in five games.

“Gavin is an athletic and versatile front court player and we’re excited to have him here in Springfield,” Armor head coach Dee Brown said.

Edwards will join the Armor for weekend road games in Fort Wayne on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Maine on Sunday (5 p.m.). Both games can be seen live on www.nba.com/futurecast.

Edwards will also prepare to face former UConn teammate Jeff Adrien and the Erie BayHawks on Fri. Dec. 31st (7 p.m.) and Sun. Jan. 2nd (5 p.m.) at the MassMutual Center

To make room for Edwards, the Armor waived Jamar Brown due to injury.

No Jeremy Lin to go dunking and scoring 30 points on UConn this time around. He's now a Golden State Warrior, where he was a (brief) teammate of ol' pal Jeff Adrien.

Still, Harvard is no team to sleep on. The Crimson whipped Colorado by 16 and played Michigan tough before losing by three. They're coached by Tommy Amaker and led by 6-8 junior forward Keith Wright, who averages 15.7 points and 8.8 boards and “is a terrific player,” according to Jim Calhoun. “Guys think he’s a pro prospect. He can play.”

The Crimson was picked to finish second in the Ivy League, and four of their starters were also key members of last year’s team, which gave the Huskies all they could handle in an eventual 79-73 UConn win.

So if you thought tomorrow night was just one more pesky weak sister to take care of before the Huskies' real schedule begins, think again.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” said Calhoun. “Harvard presents, not necessarily a tune-up, but a step into reality (against) a team that can play. They’re a top-100 team, they move the basketball. They’re closer to maybe a Notre Dame-type team – not individual players, but a team that spreads the floor and spaces you, gets four out and one in, moves the basketball and can shoot the basketball.”

Calhoun included the Crimson when he noted that UConn’s next 21 games – 18 Big East contests plus non-conference bouts next month with No. 18 Texas and No. 19 Tennessee – will all be difficult. Nearly half of those games (10) will be played against teams currently ranked in the top 25.

In truth, Harvard may represent more of a challenge than Big East opponents like DePaul and South Florida.

***After tomorrow, UConn will have a couple of days off before practicing on Christmas Day eve, then flying out to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Who was that masked man?

Alex Oriakhi sure didn't look like the player who was often a bit overmatched a year ago as a freshman, kicking off his sophomore campaign in style on Friday night.

For one, there's that protective face mask he has to wear after getting his nose broken by a Charles Okwandu elbow in a pick-up game over a month ago.

Then there's the fact that the Big O snared a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 11 points in UConn's season-opening 79-52 trouncing of Stony Brook. Granted, the Seawolves' leading rebounder from a year ago (Tommy Brenton) is out for the season, and they feature only a couple of players taller than 6-foot-7.

But 18 rebounds is 18 rebounds, especially with Oriakhi playing with a bit more of an edge.

"Last year Alex, unlike his coach, was a terrific person to be around, jovial," said UConn coach Jim Calhoun. "I told him that's great on bus trips, etc., but not when you're going for a rebound."

So Oriakhi has made it a point to be a bit meaner this season.

"You can't be a nice guy in this game," said the 6-foot-9, 240-pound center. "I'm just trying to listen to what (Calhoun) says and follow guys like Jeff Adrien. He was real mean on the court. I'm just trying to change my demeanor on the court, because it's only going to help me.

"You've got to tell yourself, whoever you're going against can't outwork you."

And no one outworked Oriakhi on Friday night.

"If he's a double-double guy, which I believe he can be ... then we're a different team," said Calhoun.

Oriakhi's tip-in of a Donnell Beverly missed jumper at the first-half buzzer gave UConn a 39-31 lead entering the break. He kicked off a game-breaking, 12-0 run early in the latter half with a dunk off a Kemba Walker feed. Oriakhi also blocked a pair of shots and did his damage despite sitting out the final 8:18, as the Huskies had things well in hand.

Oh, and as for that face mask? Oriakhi has been cleared to shed it after Wednesday's bout with Vermont. Maybe.

"I might keep it," he quipped.

Some other opening night observations:

***UConn started three freshmen (Tyler Olander, Niels Giffey and Jeremy Lamb), believed to be the first time ever under Calhoun in a season-opener. Hasheem Thabeet, Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price each made their collegiate debuts in the Huskies' season-opener in 2006, but Price was technically a sophomore.

***Shabazz Napier scored 12 points in his collegiate debut and hit 4 of 6 3-pointers, including one from about 25 feet out and another seemingly ill-advised trey that banked in.

"That was a tough shot, I was kind of lucky, I guess. If I didn't bank that shot, I would have gotten yelled at, but I felt like it was coming off my fingers (well). I got a shooter's role, I guess."

Clearly, the kid's not afraid to put the ball up.

"That's what they want me to do. They offered me a scholarship to shoot the ball, so I'm going to shoot the ball. They're tough shots, but that's what I'm here for, to make tough shots."

***Lamb hoisted up 14 shots, making only five of them, but had a good all-around debut with 11 points, five boards, two blocks and two steals. He's a keeper.

***Olander got into early foul trouble and played just 10 minutes, scoring just four points. It was a better night than fellow frosh Niels Giffey, who went scoreless with one rebound in 12 minutes.

"Niels had just the worst night a guy could possibly have in every imaginable way," Calhoun said, as only Calhoun could.

***Jamal Coombs-McDaniel chipped in with nine points and seven boards and looked better after failing to graze the rim with his first few shots of the night. Kemba Walker led the way with 18 points.

***The Huskies held Stony Brook to a measly 15 percent (5-for-33) from the floor in the latter half.

"Fifteen percent is a pretty good half (defensively) for anybody," Calhoun noted.

***Seawolves coach Steve Pikiell, the former UConn guard and assistant coach, likes what he saw from the young Huskies.

"They play well together, they're a better passing team," Pikiell said. "You can tell (Calhoun is) excited about these guys. They've got good size, they play hard, they're kind of intriguing. I think people are going to be surprised. Coach will do a good job of coaching 'em up."

Here's who's expected to play in Saturday night's Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game (in alphabetical order): Jeff Adrien, Ray Allen, Rashad Anderson, Hilton Armstrong, Craig Austrie, Taliek Brown, Scott Burrell (may not be able to play), Caron Butler, Dan Cyrulik, Lyman DePriest, Jerome Dyson, Khalid El-Amin, Kevin Freeman, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, John Gwynn, Richard Hamilton (maybe), Rudi Johnson, Kirk King, Travis Knight, Oliver Macklin, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Ricky Moore, Ed Nelson, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Ollie, Stanley Robinson, Rod Sellers, Charlie Villanueva, Souleymane Wane, Murray Williams and Boo Willingham.

Not sure how the team's will be divided quite yet. Last time it was sort of a pre-1999, post-1999 battle, if I remember correctly.

Tickets are still available to the event at the Mohegan Sun Casino by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. You could probably walk up to the ticket window at Mohegan Sun and buy them then, too. Doors open for the public at 6:30 p.m.

Also, there will be a lengthy autograph session with the players and coaches directly after the game.

It wasn't as impressive as Alex Oriakhi's monster jam last night, but here's Roscoe Smith on a breakaway dunk in Greater Hartford Pro-Am action on Wednesday:



In fact, Smith wasn't that impressive overall. He and Oriakhi arrived about midway through the first quarter of the Doc Hurley All-Atars game with Fairview Capital. Once he got in the game, it took a while for Smith to get on track. He missed nearly every field goal and free throw attempt he tried, made some embarassing turnovers and had just three points at the break. He regrouped a bit in the latter half, however, as things got a little more wide-open and showed some open-floor skills (including the above dunk). Also made a couple of tough jumpers.

And here's an interview I did afterwards with Roscoe, as he talks about his expectations for the upcoming season:



In other news, here's a story in today's Register catching up with Jeff Adrien, who had a harrowing first pro season in Spain and is determined to latch on with an NBA team this upcoming season.

And finally, here's a podcast with Dave Solomon and me, as we discuss baseball, Red Sox, Yankees and, of course, UConn hoops.

Earlier today I caught up with Jeff Adrien, who is back home in the Hyde Park section of Boston after a difficult first professional season in Spain.

Adrien will be playing in his first-ever Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star game on Aug. 7.

"It’s a game that, before I stepped on campus, I wanted to be a part of," Adrien said. "I’m very excited to be on the same court with basically every (major) player in Connecticut history."

Adrien had a tough rookie season with Leche Rio Breogan, which competes in Spain's second division. He averaged about 12.5 points and 7.5 boards a game ("some people might be pleased with that," he said), and enjoyed the people and the food. The basketball? Not so much.

"It's a completely different style of play, a different way of callilng the game," Adrien said. "Normal plays here are a travel out there. It was frustrating at times."

With that in mind, Adrien has informed his agent he has no plans on returning to Spain. He's going to do whatever he can to get to the NBA. Adrien played in the Orlando summer league (with the Magic) and the Las Vegas summer league (with Memphis), and believes he's opened some eyes.

"Right now, I’m really trying to focus on making the NBA," he said. "I think I have a good chance of making it, either through (training) camp or through the ‘D’ league. If I have to go through the ‘D’ league route, I’ll go through the ‘D’ league route. I’m just going to stay focused on making the NBA."

Here's a few other interesting tidbits from my conversation with Adrien:

***Jeff's mother, Linotte, hails from Haiti, and she was vacationing there when the catastrophic earthquake hit the island nation in January. For about 12 hours, Jeff wasn't able to get in touch with his mom and had no idea how she was doing.

“I couldn’t sleep that night, really,” Adrien recalled. “I didn’t go to practice the next morning, I just waited to hear from her.”

Finally, after about 12 hours, Adrien finally heard from his mom. She was fine, never really in harm’s way. So was her family, most of whom Jeff has never met. They were extremely lucky, avoiding damage from an earthquake estimated to have killed 230,000 people and left 1 million homeless.

***Adrien teamed with Stanley Robinson on the Magic's summer team.

"Everything's new for Stanley. It's an adjustment," Adrien said. "He did fine."

***Which ex-UConn player influenced Adrien the most before and during his Husky career?

"You know what, I can say almost all of them, really. It’s my dream school. To go to Connecticut was great, a dream come true."

***Adrien on the NCAA's investigation into UConn's alleged recruiting violations: "I haven’t kept track of it as much. I can’t really speak on it because I don’t know too much about it. It's very unfortunate to see two good coaches (Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald) go, though. Those guys were great, very helpful, great coaches. It’s very sad to see them go like that."

***Adrien is producing a documentary on the "journey of my basketball career, starting in Brookline ... it's a work in progress. Hopefully, it has a good ending. It mght not come out for a while, when I'm in the NBA, or in five years if things didn’t work out."


***Adrien remembers fellow Boston native Shabazz Napier, an incoming UConn freshman, when he was "very small."

"He used to come to our AAU games, hang out with us. I'm excited for him to be out there, another guy from Boston representing Boston in the family of UConn."

Most of the same players who attended the event two years ago are expected to play in the 2010 Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game on Saturday, Aug. 7, at Mohegan Sun.

That is to say Rip, Ray and Emeka, two Browns (Taliek and Denham), two Williams (Marcus and Murray), two Marshalls (Donyell and Donny), a Butler (Caron), a King (Kirk), a Knight (Travis) and appropriately, considering the venue, a Gamble (Phil) are expected to be in the house. New UConn assistant Kevin Ollie and Ricky Moore, who was recently named an assistant at Dartmouth, will also play.

And a few newcomers to the game are expected, as well: Jerome Dyson, Jeff Adrien, Craig Austrie and Stanley Robinson.

About the only big-name player who participated two years ago who won't likely be there next week is Rudy Gay, who seems on the verge of earning a spot on the Team USA roster.

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 and $29 and are available by calling 800-745-3000, or visiting the Mohegan Sun box office.Ticket revenues go to the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the UConn Health Center.

After the game there will be an autograph sesson on the floor of the arena.

While UConn is at its scholarship limit of 13, don’t be shocked to see another slot or two open up over the coming weeks via transfer, etc. The Huskies are still in pursuit of some of the top Class of 2010 recruits in the country, but like their competitors on the recruiting trail (Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, Syracuse, Florida, etc.) they are at the whim of the decisions of a bunch of 17, 18-year-old kids. Once one major recruit (Brandon Knight?) makes his decision, the dominos will all start to fall over the next month.

So what’s UConn’s sales pitch to elite recruits? Well, here’s a good one: since Ray Allen in 1993-94, there have been (by my count) 17 players who started right off the bat as freshmen at UConn. Of those 17, 11 wound up being NBA draft picks, and many emerged as NBA stars. And that list doesn’t even include Ben Gordon, who didn’t start for most of his freshman season despite being the team’s second-leading scorer (12.6 per game). The others not on the list: Kevin Freeman, Ajou Deng, Taliek Brown, Rashad Anderson and Jeff Adrien.

Translation: if you come to UConn and play immediately, there’s a great chance you’ll wind up making lots of money in the NBA one day.

And there are definitely minutes to be had next season for the Huskies. Starter’s minutes. Incoming frosh Roscoe Smith could certainly be one. Can UConn land another?

***Totally unrelated, but here’s a feature from today’s Register about New Haven’s Keith Cothran, who’ll lead URI into action against North Carolina tomorrow night in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Nice story (whether well-written or not) about a nice kid who’s overcome a lot and has truly used college basketball as a ticket to an education and a better life.

Somehow -- a product of good, tough teams and gritty, physical battles, etc. -- UConn-Pitt has emerged as the Big East's best rivalry, at least over the past decade.

As Pitt's game notes eagerly point out, the Panthers and Huskies, respectively, are the Big East's two winningest programs over the past 10 years. Pitt is 233-58 (.801 winning percentage) overall and 99-36 in the Big East, while UConn is 218-67 overall and 98-38 in league play. During that period, Pitt has made eight NCAA tournament appearances and UConn has made seven. The schools have met in three of the last eight Big East championship games (with UConn winning two of them), and both boast five Sweet 16 appearances in the last eight years.

(Pitt's notes conveniently neglect the fact that the Panthers have yet to reach a Final Four, while UConn has been to three and won a pair of national titles).

Over the series' last 10 games, it's tied at 5-5, with each game decided by 10 points or fewer. In nine of the last 10 matchups, both teams entered the game ranked in the AP Top 25, as they do again tomorrow night (UConn at No. 15, Pitt at No. 16).

Their battles over the past decade have left indelible images on the college hoops landscape – from double-overtime classics in the Big East tournament championship game to DeJuan Blair flipping Hasheem Thabeet over his back last February.

Both teams suffered huge defections to the NBA last spring (Thabeet and A.J. Price from UConn, Blair and Sam Young from Pitt) and other key losses (Jeff Adrien, Craig Austrie, Levance Fields, Tyrell Biggs).

“Jamie Dixon probably has done as good a job of getting his team ready (as anyone in the country),” Jim Calhoun said of the Panthers’ seventh-year head coach. “They lost some very, very good players, certainly – as we did ourselves … We have some good players back, they have some good players back. They’ve been able to avoid a couple of losses that we haven’t been able to avoid.”

The Panthers, who entered the Top 25 for the first time this season this week, have topped No. 5 Syracuse on the road and won at Cincinnati on Jan. 4. The Huskies, of course, lost at Cincy in their Big East opener.

The Panthers have won six straight and nine of its last 10. After early-season losses to No. 1 Texas, as well as a double-overtime set back to Duquesne and a loss to struggling Indiana, Pittsburgh has been bolstered by the return four games ago of Jermaine Dixon (right foot injury) and Gilbert Brown (academic suspension).

Pitt has won four straight road contests and nine of its last 12 away from home. A win over UConn would give the Panthers three straight Big East road wins for the first time in school history.

***It's hard to believe, but tomorrow night will be just the second time Jerome Dyson has ever played against Pitt and the first time since his freshman season. Dyson was sitting out a suspension two years ago when the Panthers came to Hartford and missed both of last year’s battles after suffering a season-ending injury against Syracuse.

“I feel like I’ve watched a lot more games than I’ve played in,” Dyson noted. “This time last year, I was looking forward to the big game, and I got hurt. It’ll be nice to get out there. We definitely need the win.”

***It will be interesting to see how UConn responds in its first game since squandering a 19-point lead Saturday in a loss to Georgetown. Jim Calhoun said he’ll know if his team is over that loss “somewhere around 9 p.m. (tonight),” adding that the team had a decent practice Monday after Sunday’s day off. According to Dyson, the Georgetown loss “is still tough for me, even now … It’s definitely still lingering around us.”

***Calhoun was asked today at practice about the recent firing of DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright, who hasn't won a league game over the past two seasons.

“It’s hard to believe that, all of a sudden in the middle of January, it’s going to change anything. If you have those plans, you’re going to be able to execute them in the first week of March. It doesn’t make anybody look good – the university, college basketball. I happen to know both the A.D., who I like very much, and Jerry Wainwright, who I have great respect for, one of the best guys in the business. If you pull the plug in mid-season, it’s not exactly the best example to make."

Lots of stuff from today's Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden. As you likely know by now, UConn has been picked to finish third in the Big East, being Villanova and West Virginia.

That comes as a surprise to Jim Calhoun.

"My fellow coaches have made a vow going back 12 years of making sure I never got coach of the year by making us third or better preseason," Calhoun said. "There seems to be a pact. New coaches come in and are told that, I think."

He was kidding. Pretty much. We think. (Calhoun has, incidentally, won the league's Coach of the Year award four times -- but not since 1997-98).

Calhoun was equally astonished that the Huskies even got a first-place vote from one coach.

"I couldn't believe that someone picked us first in the league, after losing the No. 2 guy in the draft and the most dominant defensive player in the league," he said, before adding, "I'm not saying we can't (be the best team)."

***Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker have been selected to the preseason All-Big East second team. Stanley Robinson made Honorable Mention.


Dyson said he knew Jasper Howard, largely through Dyson's cousin, Anthony Davis, who is on the UConn football team.

"He just went out to have a good time after winning a game, and to have that happen is just tragic. It leads you to question what can you do on your own campus? Do you have to watch your back at every moment?"

***Could UConn have gone to last year's national championship game if Dyson had been healthy? Dyson thinks so.

"I think we could have beat Michigan State. It would have been a great game between us and North Carolina. I really can't say who would win that game, because we both had great players."

***Most people probably know that Dyson was a standout football player at Proctor Academy, but did you know he also played baseball? Center field, to be exact.

"I was alright," Dyson reported. "I liked playing."

He's a Yankees fan, if you care to know.

***Robinson said he's had surgery on a deviated septum a short while ago. He's tried to keep it somewhat under wraps, however.


"I don't want anybody aiming for my nose," said Sticks.

And he doesn't want to play with the face mask, a la Richard Hamilton.

"I'm not coming out with a mask. Can't do the 'Rip'."

***Calhoun said that Tuesday was the first time so far that Dyson and Robinson have dominated in practice. The Portland Trailblazers and Charlotte Hornets were at practice, monitoring Robinson in particular.

"I guess they watched TV last spring," Calhoun said, referring to Robinson's superb run through the NCAA tournament.

*** Calhoun said he's quickly coming to the realization of "how much the big fella (Hasheem Thabeet) meant so us. Jeff (Adrien) was a good player, A.J. (Price) was a very good player, Craig (Austrie) was a solid veteran. But any game we went into, the other team's power forward or center, most times was negated, if not eliminated. So, that's a great concern of mine.


"It's a whole new group, a whole different kind of team. This is the first team in a long time where I don’t even know how many shots we're going to block. I used to book it with most of our teams, a lot (of blocked shots)."

Charles Okwandu? No-can-do. At least not yet.

"He hasn't put together a practice yet," Calhoun noted. "He hasn't even put in a solid hour together yet. He's got to be better. He's big, strong, he's in the best shape of his life. He should be getting more done than what he is. Some of that's confidence."

Is it unfair to expect Okwandu to step in and be that 7-foot, shot-blocking presence in the middle the Huskies have had for much of the past decade?

"It is (unfair). He should be close to it. I don't think he'll be a double-figure scorer, but he should be that guy who plays 15, 18 minutes a game, along with Alex (Oriakhi). Alex has looked more ready than he has, and Alex is a freshman."

***Calhoun said Oriakhi has been the team's best newcomer so far. He.was asked if Oriakhi compares to Jeff Adrien.

"No. He's more of a post player. I think he'll be a better shooter than Jeff. And … I don't remember anybody coming in with as good post moves. He's got to be more assertive. He's a really nice kid, which really doesn't count much in the Big East. "

***Over the first four days of practice, freshman Jamaal Trice has been the biggest surprise so far.

"Of our six perimeter players, he might be the best defensive player," said Calhoun.

***Naturally, Rick Pitino drew a huge crowd of reporters. His offseason travails – a revealed extramarital affair, which resulted in an alleged extortion attempt – were, of course, brought up.


"You all have tough periods in your life, as I do in my life," Pitino said. "We all know how to get through tough periods the right way. The best part about basketball is, we're so tuned into our goals right now, these players – Sosa, Smith, Reggie Delk – it's their last opportunity. Six months from now, they'll never put on another college basketball uniform in their life again."

Addressing the media, Pitino insisted "I like and respect all of you, and I really do. That's not patronizing in any way. You have a job to do."

However …

"In case you all misread my press conference, that's the only mistake you've made, because I wasn't chastising you at all, in the slightest way. I had just had enough, my family had had enough, and I needed to step up for my family and for myself, get something off my chest. It's your job to evaluate me, it's not my job to evaluate you."

Pitino was asked if his situation will result in distractions for the team.

"It won't be. There'll be no more distractions. I owe it to my team. There may be, for a few hours one day, a personal distraction on my part. But there won't be any team distractions.

"In recruiting, it hasn't come up one time, in one phone call. You're interested in it, because it's your job … the players and the recruits, all they're interested in is their future and making their lives better for their families someday, becoming the best player they can possibly be, and winning games. That's really what they're tuned into."

Noting that he's coached in New York and Boston, Pitino quipped: "I'll hit the Triple Crown someday if I ever decide to take a job in Philadelphia … if I ever take the Drexel job, I'll have the Triple Crown."

***Madison Square Garden has agreed to continue hosting the Big East men's tourney through 2016.

***Jim Boeheim was informed that Calhoun said he missed the old days, when every team played each other twice per season.

"Well, Jim says a lot of things," Boeheim said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, I miss high school."

I don't speak Spanish. Took French in high school, not exactly sure why. Spanish probably would have helped me a lot more in life. Certainly would have helped me understand this video of Jeff Adrien, being introduced as the newest member of the Leche Rio Breogan team in Spain.

Went over to the Golf Club of Avon for the 11th annual Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic this afternoon. Among those playing in the scramble tournament: Calhoun, Ray Allen, Scott Burrell, Dana Barros, Travis Knight, Sam Jones, Dee Brown, Donny Marshall, a bunch of ESPN personalities and many more.

It was hot, but the weather couldn't have been much better. Many of the golf swings could have been better, though not necessarily those of Calhoun and Allen (a 4-handicap), as you'll see in the following videos:

Calhoun hitting a fairway wood:



Calhoun teeing off on a par-3:



Allen smoking a stogie and teeing off on a par-3:



Including a tournament on Sunday at The Mohegan Sun C.C. and a gala event afterwards at the casino, the event raised about $300,000 for the Jim & Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Endowment Fund for the UConn Health Center. That's down about 20 percent from the norm, but still very strong in this economy.

"We are lucky," said Calhoun, "in the sense that we have great loyalty from the people who show up."

The event has raised about $3.5 million over the past 11 years.

Talked with Calhoun about some basketball news, as well. Here's what we've got:

***There's been some negative recruiting against the Huskies on the summer circuit, but as Calhoun pointed out, "That's every year. Last year it was cancer, this year it's 'I'm going to retire.' I haven't heard much NCAA stuff. We've been upfront with all the people we need to be. We fully expect we'll be fine, but we can't make that decision, obviously."

***To this point, no real progress has been made on Calhoun's contract extension with the university. His current six-year contract, which will pay him $1.6 million this year, expires next summer. It was thought that by now, negotiations would have started on an extension. But save for some preliminary conversations between Calhoun's agent, Jeff Schwartz, and UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway, it doesn't appear much has transpired.

"Nothing that I've heard about," said Calhoun. "I'm not sure why that is. I'm sure something will be worked out, but right now, there's nothing to report."

Calhoun isn't worried, though he'd like to have things ironed out before the 2009-10 season begins.

"I think that would be a good idea," he said. "It's not one of those things, between everything else – recruiting, resolving other situations, etc. – I don't think it's as much as a top-burner issue as it might normally be. And you're also talking about being creative, fiscally, because of the situation in the state.

"For everybody's benefit, it might be better that we have something going forward," Calhoun added. "But, I'm not worried about not being at UConn."

***Calhoun is excited about the upcoming season. He knows Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie will be tough to replace, but he believes several of the incoming freshmen – Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice – will be able to contribute right away.

"It would be hard to believe that Alex won't be able to do some of the muscular things we'll be asking him to do right off the bat," Calhoun said. "Darius certainly can play between the one and two. We are going to depend upon them, but we're going to really depend upon, 'Can Gavin Edwards now take his game to maybe a little different level?' And, 'Will Charles (Okwandu) or someone else stand up and be the guy in the middle?'"

***Calhoun isn't too concerned about the leadership vacuum created by the loss of Price and, to a lesser extent, Adrien and Thabeet.

"Jerome (Dyson), when healthy, was always a leader. Kemba, this year, I think, will not defer as much to the older guys. We get on him about that. At times he deferred to them."

Calhoun added that's nothing new in the program.

"Caron was subservient to Edmund Saunders, and there was no reason for it. He was stronger, tougher …"

*** Coombs-McDaniel hasn't been on campus this summer. He's been finishing up work at the Tilton (N.H.) School – a result, apparently, of one of his teachers getting sick and not being able to give him his last grade. Calhoun said the 6-foot-6 swingman "should be" ready to enroll at UConn in September.

***The coach figures Villanova and West Virginia to be the toughest challenges in the Big East this season.

*** As mentioned in the post below, UConn is expected to get an official visit this weekend from Jeremy Lamb, a 6-foot-4, Class of 2010 shooting guard out of Norcross (Ga.) High.

Lamb, who also has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Kentucky, Marquette and Xavier, didn't start last year for Norcross, which had about six Division 1 players and is one of the strongest programs in the nation. He averaged about 14 points per game, however, and was said to be the second or third-best player on the team. A long, rangy 6-4 and 165 pounds, Lamb has been one of the surprises of the summer.

The Huskies should have about another half-dozen unofficial visits over the next couple of weeks, as well. Presumably, those will involve some of these players.

***Funny story from Allen, who was at Calhoun's charity bike ride in June when Calhoun collapsed due to exhaustion and broken ribs.

"The EMT arrives, and the guy is about 22, 23," Allen recalled. "He's nervous already, and now he's going over to Coach to see what's wrong. Coach says to him, 'Here's what you're gonna do …'"

Always coaching, that Jim Calhoun.