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

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

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

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

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

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Andre Drummond, Ben Gordon and Rudy Gay are among the former UConn greats expected to participate in the seventh Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Other likely participants: Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, DeAndre Daniels, Khalid El-Amin, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, Scott Burrell, Taliek Brown, A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, John Gwynn, Lyman DePriest and Rod Sellers. Shabazz Napier is a "hopeful" at this point, we're told.

Howie Dickenman will coach one team and Tom Moore will coach the other. Kevin Ollie won't play, but instead will help assist Dickenman's team. Jim Calhoun, of course, will be there, as well (provided he doesn't take any bike rides earlier in the day). Typically, he floats around to both benches during the game.

Players on all four of UConn's national championship teams will be represented. Also in the house will be the four national championship trophies, on display up on the concourse.

The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ticket are $12 to $25 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster at 800-345-7000, at Ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun box office. All proceeds will benefit the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. Since 1999, the game has raised more than $6.5 million for cardiology research and life-saving care.

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

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

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

Well ...

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

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

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

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

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

Jerome Dyson was selected by the Delaware 87ers in the 2013 NBA Developmental League expansion draft.

All returning 2012-13 NBA D-League teams were able to protect the rights of up to 12 players each. The player rights available to Delaware in the expansion draft were comprised of unprotected players from 2012-13 NBA D-League team rosters. Delaware was able to select up to 16 unprotected players, with no more than two selections from any NBA D-League team.

 The 87ers, owned and operated by the Philadelphia 76ers, will debut this season in the NBA Development League and play their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware.

 

Following are the complete results of Delaware’s 2013 NBA D-League Expansion Draft:

Josh Akognon                            5-11              185                  Cal State Fullerton

Chris Cooper                              6-10              245                  Old Dominion

Jerome Dyson                            6-3                180                  Connecticut

Frank Hassell                             6-8                235                  Old Dominion

Darrington Hobson                    6-7                210                  New Mexico

Kyle Fogg                                  6-3                188                  Arizona

Jeremy Green                             6-4                195                  Stanford

Leo Lyons                                  6-9                235                  Missouri

Ramone Moore                          6-4                190                  Temple

Hamady N’Diaye                       7-0                240                  Rutgers

Reeves Nelson                           6-8                235                  UCLA

Jerome Randle                           5-9                170                  California

Ish Smith                                    6-0                175                  Wake Forest

Willie Warren                             6-4                200                  Oklahoma    

Tyler Wilkerson                          6-8                240                  Marshall

Sean Williams                            6-10              235                  Boston College

Oh yes, and this happened:

After much thought I've decided to pursue my dream as a Frier and play under coach big Ed Cooley # GoFrier
— paschal (@raphaelpchill) August 29, 2013

But then, it's looked for the past week or so like Chukwu wasn't going to choose UConn, anyway.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Harte Nissan beat Recycle Kings in Game 1 of the Greater Hartford Pro-Am finals on Monday. Game 2 is on Wednesday at 7 p.m., with Game 3 (if necessary) on Thursday at 7. Here are some nice photos from GHPA action this summer:

Clockwise: Jerome Dyson goes behind the back; A.J. Price and Ryan Gomes go head-to-head; UConn target Kuran Iverson throws down a dunk; Jeremy Lamb soars in for a slam.

Always good stuff from the pro-am. Unlike the video I've blogged here, I didn't take these photos. Dyson, Price/Gomes and Iverson were taken by Arthur Teal, and Lamb was shot by Ty Waterman.

A reminder that the Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. Many of the top UConn stars of the past (Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Rudy Gay, Jeremy Lamb, Hasheem Thabeet, etc.) are expected to be there.

Here's a little feature I did on Jerome Dyson, who's now a Phoenix Sun. He'll be at the game, too.



And remember, you can get autographs from most of the players once the game is over.

As Rod Sellers, Jerome Dyson and just about every other former UConn basketball player has learned, it pays to have Jim Calhoun on your side.

Sellers recently got a job, thanks in no small part from a phone call from Calhoun to Sellers' interviewer. "The guy came in and he was so happy," Sellers recalled. "He was saying, 'Man, I can tell all my friends I got a personal call from Jim Calhoun.'"

Dyson, of course, ran into some trouble during his four years at UConn, including a 30-day suspension for a positive drug (marijuana) test. But Calhoun stuck by his side.

"A lot of times, Coach could have easily looked the other way and forgot all about me," Dyson noted. "There were some incidents where he could have just given up on me, and he didn’t. I think the opportunity he’s given me was big for me."



Dyson and Sellers will be among the many UConn alumni at Saturday's Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game. Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Jeremy Lamb, Khalid El-Amin, Hasheem Thabeet and Jake Voskuhl are among the many other ex-Huskies expected to play and/or participate.

Here's the info:

What: The Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Why: To raise money for the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the UConn Health Center

Who: Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Jeremy Lamb, Khalid El-AMin, Ricky Moore, Jake Voskhul, Hasheem Thabeet, Kevin Ollie, Travis Knight, Rod Sellers and Scott Burrell are among those expected to play and/or participate.

How: Tickets are $12 to $25 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-345-7000, going to Ticketmaster.com or visiting the Mohegan Sun box office.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many of the regulars -- Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, etc. -- are expected to be at the annual Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game on Saturday, Aug. 4 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. But there will be some new blood there, as well.

Kemba Walker will make his first appearance in the game. Jeremy Lamb, a Houston Rockets lottery pick just a month ago, is also expected to play, along with Hasheem Thabeet, Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards.  (Andre Drummond doesn't appear too likely, since his new employer, the Detroit Pistons, apparently would like him to attend a big man's camp around the same time).

Other likely participants include Kevin Ollie, Khalid El-Amin, Ricky Moore, Rod Sellers, Jake Voskuhl and Travis Knight. Of the big names, Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon don't seem too likely to appear. Neither do Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong and Stanley Robinson.

Allen, who underwent surgery last month to remove bone spurs from his ankle, will dress, but will only play depending on how his ankle's feeling. (He is, however, expected to play in the event's two golf outings, on Aug. 5 at the Mohegan Sun Golf Course and the following day at the Golf Club of Avon).

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Ticketts are $12 to $25 and are now on sale at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office. To purchase game tickets, call Ticketmaster at 800-345-700 or go to Ticketmaster.com or visit the Mohegan Sun box office.

Proceeds from the game and the entire Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic will benefit the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the UConn Health Center.

"I am excited to be able to once again bring so many of my former players back together for what should be a special reunion for them and for the fans of Connecticut," said Calhoun. "I am also pleased that proceeds from the game will go to fight American's No. 1 killer -- heart disease."

Since 1999, the Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic has raised more than $6 million for cardiology research and care.

Doing a UConn season preview for Lindy's college basketball magazine. The preview has to be done by mid-July. The issue comes out in October. Every year, it seems, there are numerous changes between July and October that happen too late to be edited for the final edition -- from the departures of Nate Miles and Ater Majok in years past to Andre Drummond's surprise arrival last August.

Will there be any such movement this year? Say, a certain Hall of Fame coach deciding not to return late in the summer? I doubt it. And with that in mind, I had a phone conversation with Jim Calhoun this morning about the 2012-13 team. Here's a little of what he had to say:

(on next year's team, in general)

"I'm not saying it's the most talent we've ever had, it isn't. But we have a chance to be a better team -- not record-wise -- but a 'team.' We won't be having that national championship hangover.

(on changing the team's philosophy, without a dominant, shot-swatting center in the middle)

"You could see DeAndre (Daniels), Niels (Giffey), Leon (Tolksdorf), Tyler (Olander), all could be playing the four-spot. Hopefully, it's an offensive spot for us. We've definitely gone over the whole 'four-out' series, even 'five-out' (meaning four or five players playing outside the paint)."

(on Omar Calhoun)

"He's been terrific. He's almost 6-6, 200. His shot's a little funny, but it goes in ... all spring, our best shooter has been Omar."

(on having Ryan Boatright play point and moving Shabazz Napier off the ball)

"We'd like to do that more. Shabazz is probably our best pure shooter -- though it'll be interesting to see how DeAndre Daniels comes along."

(on R.J. Evans)

"R.J. is exactly what the doctor ordered. He came in not in as great shape as he would like to have been, but he's now 6-3, 210. When he's your fourth guard, you're in pretty good shape."

(on last year's "national championship hangover")

"We lost Kemba (Walker) and Charles (Okwandu), we lost the whole attitude we had the year before. It wasn't a bad attitude (last season), it wasn't that we weren't hungry anymore. But we turned to ourselves a little bit. That was obvious at the end of the season, and from some of the things that happened after the season was over."

(on the mass defections from last year's team)

"People make decisions in life, that's their decision. I wish them all the best. The two who left early, they should have gone early. Roscoe's a good kid, he wanted to leave, we would have liked him to stay. Same with Alex, he has a chance to play next year. Would Andre be better served (staying)? I think Jeremy should have gone. Those kids that want to leave, they have different pressures from different people. Life marches on. I'm gonna leave someday, too.

"Jerome (Dyson) came back and spent a couple of days with me. He was talking about what he did or didn't do when he was here. I told him, 'It doesn't make a difference. It's what you do today that matters.'"

The Greater Hartford Pro-Am is rolling again, after all.

Thanks to some last-minute intervention from Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, the best summer basketball league in the area kicked off on Saturday and will continue on over the next couple of months at Classical Magnet School at 85 Woodland St.

Up until the middle of last week, there was worry about where the league would play. The Sports & Sciences Academy, where the league ran the past three summers, wasn’t available this year.

The league is a great place to check out some of the past, current and future stars of Connecticut basketball, including many of next year’s UConn players. However, due to certification issues, Division 1 players can’t start playing until this Saturday.

Ex-UConn players like Kemba Walker , Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards should suit up this summer (Edwards and Dyson already have), as well as Ryan Gomes, Gary Forbes and other local pros.

The schedule should be up at ghpabball.com soon (though as of Sunday afternoon, it wasn’t up yet).

Games are on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., as well as Saturday tripleheaders at 3, 5 and 7 p.m. and Sunday tripleheaders at 2, 4 and 6 p.m.

Jim Calhoun won't be at UConn's practice today. Still possible he'll return Friday and be on sidelines for Saturday's bout with Pitt, but far from certain at this point.

*** UConn desperately needs a win Saturday against Pitt to keep its flickering hopes for an NCAA tournament bid alive. There's another reason it would behoove the Huskies to beat the Panthers, however: there's still a chance (however small) for UConn to earn the No. 8 seed in next week's Big East tournament and get a first-round bye.

This is hardly as important as keeping Big Dance hopes alive, but it matters to writers like me (and fans like you) who'd like to have an idea when we need to get to New York City for the conference tourney.

If the season ended today, UConn would be the tournament’s No. 10 seed and play No. 15 seed Providence at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Of course, the season doesn’t end today. It will end on Saturday, and the Huskies could finish as anywhere from the No. 8 to No. 11 seed.

For UConn to get the eighth seed, a lot of things would have to go its way. But it’s possible.

In a nutshell: UConn must beat Pitt on Saturday, Seton Hall must lose at DePaul (unlikely, but certainly possible) and West Virginia must lose at USF (fairly likely).

If that all happens, there’ll be a three-way tie for eighth between UConn, Seton Hall and WVU, all at 8-10. In the three-team “mini-conference” between the teams, Seton Hall and UConn would be 2-1, and WVU would be eliminated at 0-2.

Since Seton Hall and UConn split their two games, the next tiebreak would be each team’s record against teams occupying the highest position in the conference standings. Both teams lost to both Syracuse and Marquette. If Georgetown finishes in sole possession of third, Seton Hall gets the No. 8 seed since it beat the Hoyas on Feb. 21. If South Florida finishes alone in third, UConn is the eighth seed since it beat the Bulls on Dec. 28.

If Notre Dame finishes alone in third, nothing is determined because UConn went 1-1 and Seton Hall went 0-1, an unequal amount of games played.

With Marquette at 13-4, Gerogetown, Notre Dame and USF all at 12-5 and Cincinnati at 11-6, however, it seems rather certain that there will be a multiple-team tie for third. At that point, the records of both UConn and Seton Hall against those multiple teams are compared. Far too many possibilities to detail right now, however.

Oh, and the Huskies could still finish as the 11^th seed, if Rutgers (5-11) beats Villanova at home tonight and St. John’s at home on Saturday and UConn loses to Pitt. Both Rutgers and UConn would finish 7-11, and Rutgers would get the higher seed since it beat the Huskies in their lone head-to-head battle.

Bottom line: UConn needs to beat Pitt on Saturday – for reasons far beyond Big East tournament seed. If the Huskies lose to Pitt, they pretty much need to win the Big East tournament (or at least get to the finals) to get the NCAA bid. If they beat Pitt, they may only need to win two, maybe three games in New York next week to earn a bid.

*** I’ve heard a lot of comparisons between this year’s UConn team and the underachieving 2009-10 squad that lost to Virginia Tech in the NIT.

While both teams have fallen far short of expectations, there are some marked differences. The ’09-10 team had talent (Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Gavin Edwards and a sophomore named Kemba Walker), but this year’s squad boasts two likely 2012 lottery picks (Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb) and plenty of other good players.

There is one glaring similarity between the two teams, however: an inability to win close games. The ’09-10 team was a wretched 1-8 in games decided by five points or less. This year’s team isn’t quite as bad – 3-6 – but that’s still a far cry from last season. A year ago, the Huskies were 6-3 in such games during the regular season, then 5-0 in the postseason, adding up to 11-3 overall.

Miss Kemba much?

On Dec. 7, 2009 (a day that will live in infamy?), Jeremy Lin dropped 30 points on UConn in Harvard's 79-73 loss at Gampel. Lin did a little of everything -- a resounding jam in traffic late in the game, a massive block of a Jerome Dyson shot, and a 3-pointer and tough, off-balance jumper over the final 1:07 that kept the game close.

Here's my game story from that night. It's interesting to see what Jim Calhoun had to say about Lin at the time, comparing him to "a little more athletic Doron Sheffer."

"What I really like about him," Calhoun continued, "is that he's athletic, more than you think, he controls his temperament to a real nice tempo, and he knows how to play. He's one of the better kids, including Big East guards, who have come in here in quite some time."

Somewhat prescient, I'd say.

Added Dyson: "He's a great player. He made a lot of shots for them and kept them in the game."

By now you've probably heard that UConn has applied for a waiver to be eligible for the 2013 NCAA tournament. Here's the AP story, which details the school's numerous suggested self-imposed sanctions, including cutting next year's schedule from 27 to 23 games and keeping Jim Calhoun from meeting prospective recruits during the 2012 fall recruiting season.

Not sure if the NCAA will buy this, but it's certainly possible. It is also likely UConn's last recourse to be eligible for next year's Big Dance (this year's, of course, is an entirely different story).

The school is hoping the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance changes its APR-reporting calendar. Currently, scores from the 2009-10 (an 826) and 2010-11 (about a 975) are used to determine the two-year rolling average. Susan Herbst (and many others) would like more recent scores (2010-11 and 2011-12) to be used, figuring that current players shouldn't be punished for past players' academic failings.

But according to committee chairman Walter Harrison, “There are lots of reasons why that’s going to be incredibly difficult.”

At issue: the fact that, while semester-system schools like UConn are able to report their APR scores in early September, there are many schools – particularly on the West Coast – that are on a four-quarter system, don't begin their school year until late-September/early-October, and would need more time to report their scores.

That could leave a very short window for such schools to report their APR scores, have the NCAA check them, and still have time to apply for a waiver if necessary – all in time to announce penalties well-ahead of March Madness.

Such a system would also treat fall sports differently than winter sports. Obviously, fall sports like football and soccer would still have to use, for instance, scores from '09-10 and '10-11 to determine postseason eligibility for 2012.

“The question of how we do all that is what we’re trying to figure out,” said Harrison. “The big issues are: can we do it fast enough, and is it fair to treat winter and spring sports different than fall and announce them differently.”

Harrison’s committee discussed the issue “for about a half-hour, 45 minutes” at its last meeting a few weeks ago and will discuss it further on Feb. 20. It’s possible no decision will still be reached by then, and it would be broached again at an April meeting.

Unless the committee decides to change its APR calendar, penalties will be announced some time in May.

*** Meanwhile, Jim Calhoun will miss Saturday's game at Syracuse (as expected) as he continues to battle spinal stenosis. Calhoun is scheduled to meet with specialists over the next few days to determine the best course of treatment.

“I’m feeling better, but as of now, I wouldn’t be able to coach,” Calhoun said Tuesday. “I’m trying to get the best assessment in order to find the best solution.”

*** Oh, and there's this: Jerome Dyson has been named a D-League All-Star. He'll represent the West Team at the game on Feb. 25 at NBA All-Star Jam Session in Orlando. The game will air live on NBA TV at 2 p.m.

Here are the teams:

West Team: Justin Dentmon and Lance Thomas (Austin Toros), currently a member of the New Orleans Hornets; Brandon Costner, Gerald Green, and Elijah Millsap (Los Angeles D-Fenders); Blake Ahearn and Andre Emmett (Reno Bighorns); Greg Smith (Rio Grande Valley Vipers); and Jerome Dyson and Marcus Lewis (Tulsa 66ers).

East Team: Tyrell Biggs (Canton Charge); Edwin Ubiles (Dakota Wizards); Keith McLeod (Erie BayHawks); Darnell Lazare and Walker Russell, Jr. (Fort Wayne Mad Ants), currently a member of the Detroit Pistons; Marqus Blakely (Iowa Energy); Charles Garcia (Sioux Falls Skyforce); and JamesOn Curry, Jeff Foote, and Jerry Smith (Springfield Armor).

Andre Drummond was asked about going up against Seton Hall's Herb Pope tomorrow night in Newark.

"I don't even know who that is," Drummond replied. "I'm not interested in who that is."

This has the potential to become bulletin-board material. It sounds as if Drummond, the precocious freshman, is dissing Pope, the senior center who is fourth in the Big East in scoring and second in rebounding.

I'm here to tell you that, as bad as what Drummond said looks in print, I truly don't believe he meant any disrespect. Drummond is not -- repeat, not -- a cocky kid. He's actually very respectful. He's honestly just completely invested in his own team and not worried about his opponents.

"I haven’t seen any other team besides my own," Drummond said. "I’m not interested in any other team besides my own. I’m worried about UConn, not anybody we’re playing.”

Pope might take this all differently if he hears about Drummond's quotes, of course. But if Drummond doesn't know who Pope is, George Blaney sure does.

"Right now, he’s an all-Big East first team, the way he’s been playing," Blaney said of the 6-9 forward. "I’m really impressed with the defense he’s playing. He’s hedging out on the pick-and-roll and stealing the ball, even, on the pick-and-roll. He’s always been a great rebounder, and obviously he’s got scoring talents. We’re just going to have to be solid with him and keep him off the boards as much as we can.”

Jordan Theodore has also picked up his game this season for the Pirates, who are fourth in the latest RPI rankings (UConn is third).

"Theodore has become a really, really good point guard, from sort of a careless point guard," said Blaney. "He’s gotten to 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, he’s really pushing it, he’ll take it all the way or create for others."

Shabazz Napier will be going head-to-head against Theodore. He has a bit more knowledge of Theodore than Drummond does of Pope. Sorta.

“It should be fun, I guess, I’m not sure," Napier said. "I haven’t watched him play, besides (one game) … it was a Little League team, two weeks ago probably. He played real well in that game. Me and Ryan are going to do our best job to stop him. We know he’s the captain of that train. If we make sure he doesn’t do anything offensively, we should be alright.”

In truth, these players don't pay much attention to their Big East foes, for the most part, so Drummond's comments can be taken with a grain of salt.

“For myself, I don’t really," Napier said. "When I get my game data of who I’m playing, that’s when I really look at it and dig deep into it. I don’t follow anybody, really. It’s not like I have any friends on other teams. The people I root for are my AAU teammates, stuff like that. I don’t follow, unless they’re on ESPN and did something spectacular. When Marshon Brooks scored 52, I was like, ‘Wow.’ That’s really the only time I follow somebody. Other than that, I barely watch TV, to be honest.”

A few other items:

*** Roscoe Smith practiced on Monday and looked fine, even with his wrist still heavily taped. Blaney said Smith is still sore, but could see more than the four minutes he saw Saturday against St. John's.

Michael Bradley also had a full practice Monday and is "day-to-day," according to Blaney, who said Bradley's ankle is still bothering him a bit.

*** After tomorrow night's game, UConn will spend some quality time in New Jersey until the Rutgers game on Saturday. The Huskies will stay overnight in Newark tomorrow, then move to a hotel closer to Rutgers on Wednesday, where they will reunite with Jim Calhoun to prepare for Saturday's game.

Also on Wednesday, the Huskies will also venture into New York City for some sort of academic project.

*** Four players are currently averaging in double figures for UConn: Jeremy Lamb (18.9), Napier (14.7), Ryan Boatright (12.1) and Drummond (10.0). It's the first time UConn has had four since 2009-10, when Jereome Dyson (17.2), Kemba Walker (14.6), Stanley Robinson (14.5) and Gavin Edwards (10.6) were in doubles.

Who would have guessed that one of UConn's four double-figure scorers this year wouldn't have been Alex Oriakhi (7.0)?

*** Drummond may not know who Herb Pope is, but he does know Hall frosh point guard Freddie Wilson of New Haven. Why? They were AAU teammates on the Connecticut Basketball Club.

Wilson's playing time has been sparse (7.3 minutes per game in 12 contests), and he's averaging just 1.3 points. But word out of Orange, N.J. is that Wilson's toughness and grittiness has impressed the Pirates staff. As a true freshman, the Hillhouse product is still just a little green.

*** After practice, Drummond was practicing shooting free throws one-handed with assistant Glen Miller.


“It helps me get muscle memory and not have to rely on my left hand," Drummond said. "That’s really my problem, I had my left hand on the ball way too much.”

*** UConn is looking to start off 3-0 in Big East play for the first time since 2003-04.

The NBA Developmental League has set its opening day rosters for all 16 of its teams. The season begins on Friday when defending champion Iowa Energy (including Stanley Robinson) face the Canton Charge at 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV.

Besides Robinson, ex-UConn guard Jerome Dyson is back on the Tulsa 66ers roster. And Charles Okwandu, who was drafted last month by the Maine Red Claws, winds up with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Here are the rosters, for those interested:

AUSTIN TOROS
Solomon Bozeman
Justin Dentmon
Carldell Johnson
Myles McKay
Omar Reed
Lance Thomas
Tristan Thompson
Dan Vandervieren
Terrance Woodbury
Luke Zeller

BAKERSFIELD JAM
Brian Butch
Osiris Eldridge
Mustapha Farrakhan
Justin Graham
Damian Johnson
Adam Koch
Renaldo Major
David Palmer
Juan Pattillo
Adrian Thomas

CANTON CHARGE
Tyrell Biggs
Jonathan Blake
TJ Campbell
Travis Franklin
Antonio Graves
Tyrone Kent
Keith McLeod
Anthony Newell
Jamine Peterson
Marcus Relphorde

DAKOTA WIZARDS
Mike Anderson
Maurice Baker
Marcus Dove
Shy Ely
Mickell Gladness
Anthony Goods
Joe Harden
Edwin Ubiles
Travis Walton
Curtis Withers

ERIE BAYHAWKS
Tirrell Baines
Chris Daniels
Kyle Goldcamp
Jeff Graves
Cory Higgins
Jamael Lynch
Chaz McCrommon
Donald Sloan
Kyle Spain
Mychel Thompson

FORT WAYNE MAD ANTS
Corey Allmond
Ron Howard
Tory Jackson
Cameron Jones
Darnell Lazare
Justin Neuhaus
Marvin Phillips
Sadiel Rojas
Walker Russell
Antonio Smith

IDAHO STAMPEDE
Mildon Ambres
Tony Bobbitt
Eric Devendorf
Jason Ellis
Will Foster
Cheyne Gadson
Kevin Galloway
Willie Jenkins
Reginald Larry
Seth Tarver

IOWA ENERGY
Jake Anderson
Thomas Baudinet
Andrew Drevo
Moses Ehambe
Brandon Ewing
Jarrid Famous
Nick Murphy
Stanley Robinson
Ben Strong
Michael Tveidt

LOS ANGELES D-FENDERS
Zach Andrews
Jordan Brady
Brandon Costner
Courtney Fortson
Otis George
Brian Hamilton
Eniel Polynice
Terrence Roberts
Franklin Session
Jamaal Tinsley

MAINE RED CLAWS
Jamar Abrams
Justin Brownlee
Darren Cooper
Kenny Hayes
Anthony Kent
J.R. Reynolds
Tyc Snow
Durrell Summers
Mike Tisdale
Chris Wright

RENO BIGHORNS
Blake Ahearn
Chris Ayer
Cedric Bozeman
Reuben Clayton
Nick Fazekas
Zach Graham
Chris Matthews
Taj McCullough
Donald Sims
Doug Thomas

RIO GRANDE VALLEY VIPERS
Stanley Asumnu
Marshall Brown
Sam Coleman
Terrel Harris
Lee Humphrey
Tyren Johnson
Kelvin Lewis
Charles Okwandu
Jay-R Strowbridge
Josh Tarver

SIOUX FALLS SKYFORCE
Dominique Coleman
Brian Evans
Charles Garcia
Anthony Mason Jr.
Casey Mitchell
Anthony Moody
Will Pratt
Gabe Pruitt
Dominique Scales
Greg Stiemsma

SPRINGFIELD ARMOR
David Akinyooye
Jamar Brown
Travis Cohn
JamesOn Curry
Dennis Horner
Lance Hurdle
Jerry Smith
Eugene Spates
Jonathan Thomas
L.D. Williams

TEXAS LEGENDS
Ron Allen
Vance Cooksey
Ramon Dyer
Lawrence Hill
Dominique Johnson
Matt Rogers
Jamal Sampson
Anthony Vereen
Derek Williams
Booker Woodfox

TULSA 66ERS
Xavier Alexander
Brian Barkdoll
Dwight Buycks
Benjamin Colon
Jerome Dyson
Marcus Lewis
Brady Morningstar
Ryan Reid
Billy Rush
Curtis Sumpter

NBA TV is scheduled to air 34 regular-season games during the 2011-12,
including four live telecasts featuring Iowa at Canton (Friday, Nov. 25),
the Los Angeles D-Fenders at the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Friday, Dec. 2),
Sioux Falls at Iowa (Friday, Dec. 9), and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at
the Austin Toros (Friday, Dec. 16). Additionally, more than 80 NBA D-League
games will air across seven Comcast regional sports networks. Any games not
available on NBA TV will stream on NBA FUTURECAST at nbadleague.com.

Former UConn guard Jerome Dyson is on the U.S. men's Pan American Games roster. He's joined by former St. John's standout Anthony Mason, Jr., ex-Villanovan Curtis Sumpter, former Notre Dame center Luke Zeller and 17 others, as of now.

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.