First, the bad news: Amida Brimah's left shoulder bothered him for most of his freshman season. On Wednesday, he will meet with doctors to determine whether he needs surgery.

Nothing's been determined yet, and Brimah will discuss his options with doctors, as well as his guardian and others. If surgery is necessary, he would be sidelined for about four months -- or until August. He'd essentially be on the same rehab regimen as Rodney Purvis, who had shoulder surgery this past December. Purvis said he was just cleared for all basketball-related activities a few weeks ago.

That could be one of the factors in determining whether or not Brimah has surgery. This is an important offseason for his development, and losing four months of it would obviously affect that.

*** Some scenes from Fenway tonight, where Shabazz Napier threw out the ceremonial first pitch and Big Papi showed some UConn love:





*** Kevin Ollie had an in-home visit with Jessie Govan on Friday. Govan's AAU coach, former UMass standout Dana Dingle, said it went well, but that Govan is in no rush to make a decision.

"He's still wide-open," Dingle said. "So far he's had four home visits, and they've all gone pretty well. Now, college coaches get to come and see him."

Govan, a 6-10 Class of 2015, has had in-homes from UConn, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Stanford the past couple of weeks.

Dingle was once a highly recruited player himself, so he's giving him the best advice he can.

"All I can do is tell him, make sure you’re comfortable, no question’s a dumb question, make sure the school, the situation are everything you're looking for. And make sure you have a good relationship with the coach."

As for UConn: "He likes it. He likes Coach Ollie, likes the staff. They’re in a good place right now."

Things are slow in UConn territory -- and, for that matter, all over college basketball -- as most schools are in the midst of exams. The Huskies don't play again until Dec. 18, when they host a good Stanford team at the XL Center.

Until then, we passed the time by getting in contact with Dana Dingle, the former UMass standout. No, not to talk about his nationally-ranked Minutemen, but rather about Jessie Govan, the 6-foot-10 Class of 2015 forward who is on UConn's wish list.

Dingle has coached Govan the past two seasons for the New York Lightning AAU program. He says that whichever program winds up with Govan will get a good one.

"He's a throwback guy," Dingle said. "He plays inside to outside, an old-school throwback with post moves and skills on the block, like Tim Duncan. He's highly-skilled ... one of the best skilled big guys in the country."

Defensively, Govan, who visited for UConn's First Night festivities in October, "alters more shots than he blocks. Against high-level competition, he'll get a few blocks and he'll alter a lot of shots. And he rebounds the ball extremely well on the defensive end. His best attribute is rebounding."

Govan, a solid 6-10, 250, just turned 16 at the end of July and is very early in his recruiting process.

"He's pretty much open right now, no set list, no set favorite right now," Dingle noted. "The schools that showed interest early, the schools he's visited, he'll keep an eye on those schools more."

Govan, who hails from Queens, is currently playing at Wings Academy in the Bronx.

Added Dingle: "He's a great kid, great personality, great student, high academic kid. He's anything and everything you can ask for as a kid and player. He has the whole package."

Fun night at Gampel on Friday for First Night. Big crowd that was packed to the rafters and seemed to enjoy the whole thing.

Team Geno won, 51-49, thanks to Omar Calhoun's 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds left. Shabazz Napier and Rodney Purvis each netted 11 points, while Kentan Facey and Calhoun had 10 each. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was the top female with seven points and Breanna Stewart added five.

Here are some quotes and video from First Night festivities:



*** Purvis, who must sit out this season as a transfer, seemed particularly active in the scrimmage, knowing it's his one time to shine this season.

"KO told me, just go out and have fun. This will be the first and last time the fans can see me until next year, so I had to go out there and have a little fun."

Purvis is a real nice and engaging kid, and he truly seems to be falling in love with Storrs.

"I love the fans here," he said. "They’re committed fans, they’re great ... I’m getting accustomed to everything. The guys here play really fast. I had to get used to this – practices are very long and hard. I’m ready now, I got in pretty good shape, so I’m ready.”

*** All the players seemed to enjoy the chance to play with and against members of the men's and women's teams.

Calhoun: "It was definitely fun, seeing both sides. We’re all friendly and cool. We all support each other at the games."

Napier: “I enjoyed going against Moriah, seeing Stephanie step back and take a 3. We hang around each other a lot, but we don’t actually play each other, so it was actually good for us to do that. It shows we’re in it together.”

Stefanie Dolson: “I think it was definitely my favorite out of the four years I’ve been here. The environment was insane, playing with the guys was fun. We kind of let them do their thing, and then had our moment to shine. It was a great night.”

*** Calhoun said he's going full-contact in practice, doing everything everyone else is doing, and is "about 80-percent" right now. He says he's a head of schedule and believes he'll be able to play in UConn's exhibition opener on Oct. 30 vs. SCSU.

*** Nolan said there's a real battle going on for the starting center spot.

"Everyone’s going at each other every single day," he said. "Literally, it’s like a three-headed monster in practice. We all want that starting spot. We’ll see who’s going to get it at the end of the day.”

*** UConn had numerous recruits in the house, including (among others) Jessie Govan, Malachi Richardson, Will Jackson and Jalen Adam. It appears Brewster Acadmey's Donovan Mitchell and Jared Reuter were not able to attend, however. Hearing Mitchell headed home for the weekend to southwestern Connecticut but couldn't get a train to get to the event on time.

With no commitment from Sam Cassell, Jr. on Friday, UConn was back down in the Florida panhandle watching Cassell play in a JUCO Jamboree tournament on Saturday. It's possible a decision could come in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, add Brewster Academy's Donovan Mitchell and Jared Reuter to the Huskies' First Night guest list. Possibly Jessie Govan, a 6-10 center out of Queens, as well. And Devin Robinson still expected to attend, as well.