I always find it fun to look back and see what was being said about UConn players back when they were being recruited or had just committed to the Husky program.

And with Shabazz Napier finally starting to generate the national buzz that he deserved last season, what better time to hark back to the blog files on when Napier first became a Husky.

*** Napier made his unofficial visit to UConn on Feb. 28, 2010, taking in the Huskies' 78-76 loss to Louisville at Gampel. Josh Selby was slated to visit that day, too, but had "car trouble." Later, after committing to Kansas, Selby was found to have received improper benefits and was suspended the first nine games of the 2010-11 season.

*** Napier committed to UConn on April 2, 2010. West Virginia, Florida, Miami and Memphis were among the other schools offering him scholarships. He was listed as Class of 2011 at the time, and he was attending Lawrence Academy. The hope was that he would be able to re-classify, however, and he did so after transferring back to Charlestown High (where he spent his first three years) late in the school year and graduating from there.

I found out later that day that Napier had, indeed, re-classified to 2010. It's funny, reading the comments on my blog from that day (back in the days before Twitter, when people still commented on my blog), there was so much concern that signing Napier meant the Huskies were going to miss out on Brandon Knight, Cory Joseph and Selby, among others.

All three wound up as one-and-dones, and none of them have an NCAA championship ring.

*** Kevin Wiercinski, Napier's coach at Lawrence Academy, had a lot of good things to say about him at the time of his commitment. A couple of quotes stand out:

"He’s a good kid and an exciting player, that’s for sure. He's probably one of the more dynamic point guards around. He's exciting athletically: as quick as they come, handles the ball real well, right hand/left hand, and he's a very good shooter with excellent range. He makes all the open ones and the tough ones, too. He's got a real ability to warm up in a hurry. And he's such a great penetrator."

"He's really dynamic on the offensive end, and you add that to how instinctual he is, his anticipation is off the charts, and he's a real gamer. When the chips are down, he doesn't shy away from that stuff at all."

Some things never change.

*** I thought this rivals.com post, linked to my blog at around the time of Napier's commitment, was very telling: "Napier eventually would nail 11 threes, and looked the part of a big time player. Most of Napier's shots were created by himself, and he was even well defended, but still there was nothing that could have been done."

*** Napier held a press conference to sign his national letter-of-intent on April 22, 2010, up at the Tobin Community Center in Boston's Mission Hill section. Me and the J-I's (then Connecticut Post's) Neill Ostrout went up for it, and I posted this blog entry (I really wish the video was still working. And no, the link doesn't work anymore, either.)

Anyway, it was obvious from the start that Napier didn't lack for confidence.

My favorite quote that day, after Napier was asked about being able to play with Kemba Walker for a season:

“He’s a great player. He’s fast, I’m fast. We’ve played against each other, it’s hard. I think it’s going to be good, because he can teach me some certain things, and I guess I can teach him how to shoot better.”

Hey, guess it worked, no?

Between Andre Drummond, Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels, UConn will be getting more contributions from its freshmen than most top-flight programs this season. Hard to believe that only about 18 months ago, some feared the Huskies would never be landing heralded recruits again.

Here's my story on how UConn and Jim Calhoun stayed the course, even as one top recruit after another was blowing them off back in the spring and summer of 2010.

"(The key thing was) losing a Josh Selby, losing some of the kids we did lose, and to not blink an eyelash, not panic," Calhoun told me. "Instead of moaning about who we didn’t get, what we got is pretty good. I think that’s what you’ve got to do. We stay involved."

Dave Beckerman tried.

Not in a pushy way -- he knows Brandon Knight already has dozens of hangers-on pushing and pulling him one way or another, so he'd never impose anything on him. But Beckerman, the New Haven native and longtime UConn fan who coached Knight at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, Fla., tried in his own way to persuade Knight to choose Jim Calhoun and UConn over John Calipari and Kentucky.

Didn't work. Knight, was we all know, opted for Lexington last April in a press conference at Pine Crest School that I attended (I was on vacation in Florida at the time).

Why did Knight go Blue? Beckerman thinks there were various reasons.

"The (Jasper) Howard issue, the issue of health with Jim Calhoun, his contract, the (NCAA) investigation. A lot of things added up, and at the end of the day may have even been used against UConn, which I’m not sure of.”

He also noted that Knight had relatives who lived in the Lexington area.

On Thursday, Knight talked about his decision to choose UK over UConn. "It was a tough decision, but Kentucky was my final choice. I liked UConn, but I just felt better off going to Kentucky," adding that Beckerman informed him about UConn, but "really just wanted the best for me.”

He also noted that Calipari's success with one-and-done point guards like Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and John Wall also played a role.

“It definitely weighed in my decision, just knowing that a lot of other guards that were pretty good in high school trusted Coach Cal to get them to the next level, and to help them get better individually. Also the fact that other players around those people got a lot better.”

Knight’s decision was crushing to UConn fans at the time. Around the same time, the program was being shunned by other top recruits (Josh Shelby, Corey Joseph and Doron Lamb, who’s also now a freshman guard at UK), and Knight’s nix seemed to hint that Calhoun was slipping on the recruiting trail.

Rather, it may have been a blessing in disguise. Had Knight committed to UConn, Shabazz Napier almost certainly wouldn’t have come to Storrs (at least for this season; Napier said he may have opted for another year at prep school had Knight become a Husky).



And though Jeremy Lamb had already committed to the Huskies, it’s doubtful he would have emerged as the dynamic, versatile scorer he’s become over the past couple of months.

It’s also hard to envision how Walker and Knight would have shared the same backcourt, even if both have proven quite adept at playing off the ball.

Still, Beckerman, who founded the former New Haven-based Starter sports apparel line and was the head coach at Hamden Hall for a few years, can’t help thinking of how life would have been different for Knight in Storrs.

“I think he clearly would have been a much more offensive threat,” Beckerman said. “I don’t know if that would have taken away from Kemba in terms of offense, and I don’t know if Kemba cares about that. Calipari is trying to mold him into a pass-first,shoot-second point guard. Jim Calhoun lets the natural instincts come out in a player. That’s his formula for success.”

Knight averaged 17.3 points and 4.2 assists per game as a Wildcat freshman. He’s reached double figures in all but three of UK’s 37 games, but has really risen to prominence in the NCAA tournament. Knight’s bank shot with two seconds left against Princeton (his only two points of the game) kept the Wildcats from an embarrassing first-round loss. And his jumper with 5.4 seconds left against Ohio State moved the Wildcats into the Elite Eight, where they beat North Carolina behind Knight’s game-high 22 points.

Knight’s Kemba-like ability in the clutch is nothing new to Beckerman, who recalled a regional championship game in Knight’s junior season. Pine Crest was losing, one of its best players had just fouled out and everyone on the bench – including Beckerman – had their heads down.

During a timeout, Knight turned to Beckerman and asked, “Coach, what time is practice tomorrow?” He then proceeded to go out and hit three 3-pointers and six straight free throws over the next three minutes, propelling Pine Crest into the state finals with a 52-point effort.

Now Beckerman, who winters in Boca Raton while coaching Pine Crest but spends his summers in Guilford, will be torn while watching the Final Four. He’ll root for Knight to have a good game, but root for UConn to win.

And deep down, he’ll still wonder what it would have been like had Brandon Knight become a Husky.

“It would have been great for UConn,” Beckerman said, “and, candidly, I think it would have been great for Brandon.”

Tell us where you've heard this one before: Jim Calhoun says that signing a contract extension with UConn is just around the corner.

“It’s signaturable,” Calhoun said of the contract, while perhaps making up a new word along the way. “Right now, it’s up to the university. As soon as they say ‘go,’ as far as I’m concerned, it will be done.”

Of course, Calhoun said back in January that his extension was essentially done, and after a source with knowledge of the situation told me in mid-March that it would be a done deal in about a month, Calhoun said the same thing publicly.

A Wall Street Journal story on Wednesday noted that questions surrounding Calhoun’s unsigned contract, coupled with health issues that sidelined him for seven games this past season, had scared off potential recruits, including Josh Selby, the McDonald’s All-America guard who recently signed with Kansas University.

In fact, over the last couple of weeks, the Huskies have whiffed on some of the most sought-after recruits in the country. Selby, Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Doron Lamb (Kentucky), Corey Joseph (Texas) and C.J. Leslie (North Carolina State) all were heavily recruited by UConn but ultimately chose to go elsewhere.

Still, when reached on his cell phone this afternoon while he was on his way to a round of golf with his son and George Blaney, Calhoun said he is “thrilled” with the five members of the program’s incoming freshman class, which is ranked No. 17 in the nation by scout.com and includes Roscoe Smith, the scouting service’s No. 6-rated small forward.

“I like the kids we have here,” Calhoun said. “We didn’t get everybody we started out after, no. But we got more guys than we expected.”

Calhoun apparently is referring to the fact that two players – 6-foot-9 power forward Tyler Olander of Mansfield and 6-foot point guard Shabazz Napier of Cambridge, Mass – were originally slotted as Class of 2011 recruits. But Olander elected to graduate from E.O. Smith High this spring rather than return to prep school for a year. Napier has been awaiting word from his prep school, Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., on whether he’ll be able to re-classify from Class of 2011 to 2010. According to one source, Napier received word on Wednesday that he’s good to go for next season. However, sources around the program said it wasn't a done deal yet.

If Smith, Napier, Olander, 6-4 shooting guard Jeremy Lamb and 6-9 center Michael Bradley are all to suit up for the Huskies next season, something must be done to make room for them. UConn has nine returning players, which would give them 14 players for 13 scholarship spots.

Calhoun said he’s had discussions with freshman guard Jamaal Trice, who didn’t see a single second of action in Big East play this past season, about playing time next year and a possible transfer, though nothing has been determined.

Asked if senior center Jonathan Mandeldove, who effectively red-shirted last season after struggling with academics, is definitely in the mix for next year, Calhoun said: “Talk to me after finals.”

Read more on the potential NCAA investigation into UConn's alleged recruiting violations in tomorrow's Register.

Brandon Knight, arguably the No. 1 recruit in the nation, will announce his collegiate decision Wednesday at 4 p.m. It will be televised on ESPNU. After that, the rest of the dominos (Josh Selby, Cory Joseph, C.J. Leslie, Doron Lamb, etc.) will fall.

For UConn fans crossing their fingers for Knight to come to Storrs, here's a bit of news: there has been contact between Knight and the UConn staff within the last day or two. That may not mean anything, but it's all we've got right now.

Stay tuned ...

Intrepid Register reporter Jim Fuller was out in Dayton, Ohio covering the women's team earlier this week, then took a drive down to Columbus to cover the boys and girls McDonald's All-American games.

Here's what some of the UConn men's prospective recruits -- Josh Selby and Doron Lamb, in particular -- had to say about the UConn program.

Josh Selby was unable to make his slated visit to UConn for today's game. "Car trouble," we're told.

The Huskies do have a recruit in the house, however: Shabazz Napier, a 5-foot-10 guard out of Boston. He's listed as a Class of 2011 by scout.com, but apparently he's in his fifth year of school, so he could be ready to enroll in college next fall.

It was a little odd.

Jim Calhoun was surprisingly (for him) upbeat. Or, more accurately, he didn't appear as outwardly upset over UConn's stunning, 72-69 loss to Georgetown as one might expect.

Meanwhile, Jerome Dyson, the eternally stoic (if always pleasant) senior guard, was downright downtrodden.

Calhoun labeled Saturday's loss "the most heart-breaking loss this year, it's not even close." He lamented his team's "awful, awful" second-half offense and its inability to find its hot hand (Stanley Robinson) compared to the Hoyas' ability to find theirs (Austin Freeman, career-high 33 points). He recognized the first five minutes of the latter half, in which Georgetown sliced its deficit from 17 to four, essentially decided the outcome, long before Robinson misfired on a 25-foot 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

But there was no shouting or podium-stomping from Calhoun. No railing at the officials, or any of his individual players, and very little visible frustration.

"I'm not, by any stretch, disappointed," he insisted, "except for the first five minutes of the second half where we took our 20 minutes of work, threw it away and said, 'Now let's play an even game.' That doesn't make much sense, but that's exactly what we did."

But he added that the 13th-ranked Huskies are "a better team today than we were a week ago," and surmised: "Credit to (Georgetown). I don't say discredit to our kids, because I still think we have a chance to be a very good basketball team."

Dyson, on the other hand, seemed disconsolate – no doubt in part due to a disappointing homecoming for the Potomac, Md. native (and the recent death of his cousin, whose funeral Saturday kept most of his relatives from attending the game).

"I think this one, I'm more mad than any of the other ones," he said, the brim of his Yankee cap nearly covering his eyes. "We definitely shouldn't have lost this one."

No, they shouldn't have. Not after leads of 19 late in the first half, 15 at the break and 17 two minutes into the latter half. But they did, and Georgetown nabbed its biggest comeback win in 32 years.

"I thought we got beat, we didn't lose," Calhoun insisted. "I think we're a better team today than we were a week ago. The biggest disappointment is we had a great opportunity to win that game. We just have to stay with things longer, be it defense or anything. We really have some talent."

And there was Calhoun, trying to stay as upbeat as possible on a day when absolutely nothing was normal.

***UConn has now lost close games to Kentucky (64-61), Cincinnati (71-69, on "a 0.7-second something, I'm not sure what it was," according to Calhoun) and now the Hoyas.

"I had no control over what happened the last .7 seconds in Cincinnati, nor did our kids," Calhoun said. "I had no control when John Wall made a play of plays to get to the rim. This one, we had control because we had the lead."

***It's Georgetown's biggest comeback win since rallying back from a 22-point deficit to Manhattan in the 1977-78 season. Oh, and the Hoyas are now a perfect 4-0 against Dyson, Robinson and UConn's senior class.

*** The Huskies' halfcourt offense has been particularly stagnant for much of this season, and never more so than in the second half on Saturday.

After running and gunning their way to a 40-25 halftime lead, the Huskies slowed down in the latter half and ran what Calhoun termed "an awful, awful offense."

"That is becoming very difficult for me, personally," the coach added. "That is one thing we continue to do. I don't have a solution."


While Calhoun refused to pin the blame on any individual player, it's clear that a bulk of it falls on Kemba Walker, the team's sophomore point guard. Walker finished with nine points (2-for-7 shooting) and five turnovers on Saturday as he continuously drove into traffic to poor results – a habit he's had all season.

"He's got to find open people and stop trying to challenge everyone in the world," Calhoun admitted. "It's not working out, it hasn't worked out. Kemba's a very talented kid, you know he's going to make good plays at the end of games, you know he's going to make foul shots … it's not just Kemba, (but) I don't think Kemba's playing as well as he should."

For his part, Walker acknowledged he has to "find guys. I've got to do a better job. I've got to penetrate more and be more under control."

Specifically on Saturday, Walker – or any UConn player – didn't find Robinson enough in the second half. After scoring 12 first-half points, Robinson took just six shots and scored only four points in the latter.

"I would have liked Stanley to take 25 shots, in and around the basket where he's almost unstoppable," Calhoun said. "We didn't do that, and three times I saw him wide open. They did a better job of getting their players the ball when they needed to."

No one more so than junior guard Austin Freeman, who scored 28 of his career-high 33 points in the second half. Freeman's prior career-best scoring output had been 21.

***Ex-UConn star (and current Washington Wizard) Caron Butler addressed the team in the locker room after the game.

"He just said keep your heads up because it's a long season," said freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel. "Last year, this team lost to Georgetown, too, and ended up going to the Final Four. Hopefully, it's another special season ahead."

Coombs-McDaniel gave the Huskies a big boost off the bench in the first half, scoring 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. But he played just five minutes and scored just one point over the final 20 minutes.

***As previously mentioned, Dyson lost a cousin to cancer a week earlier, and most of his family attended the funeral on Saturday. Only his mother, Julie Harriday, was at the game.

Dyson finished with 12 points and five turnovers.

***The Huskies are expected to get an official visit next month from Josh Selby, a highly-touted shooting guard from Baltimore.

In the "Can You Believe First Night is Less Than Two Months Away" Dept., here are five questions (and some potential answers) surrounding UConn this season:

1.) Can the team overcome the loss in production and, perhaps just as importantly, in leadership from Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price and Craig Austrie?

A: They won't be able to completely replace Thabeet's shot-blocking prowess and defensive presence, Adrien's toughness and Price's all-around game. But they'll make up for those losses in other areas. It also says here that the leadership vacuum created by the loss of Price (vocal), Adrien (by example) and Thabeet can be filled. Jerome Dyson has vowed to be a more vocal leader, and he always leads by example with his hard-nosed play. And Kemba Walker, who at times deferred to the veterans last season (much to the coaching staff's chagrin) is a born leader who should embrace the reins as a sophomore point guard.

2.) Who will step up in the frontcourt?

A: With Walker, Dyson and a bevy of talented newcomers, the Huskies should be fine in the backcourt. (Maybe it's time for Donnell Beverly to contribute, too). It's the frontcourt where the most question marks surface.

Gavin Edwards has never started a game in his three seasons at UConn, but the starting power forward position is his to lose this year. He's supposedly bulked up to about 248 pounds, though he'll never replace Adrien's toughness and physicality. Still, I've always liked his offensive game -- he's a good passer, good around the rim and a terrific athlete. Most importantly, his teammates (guards) love it when he's on the floor.

Charles Okwandu, the inexperienced 7-foot junior, is said to have improved greatly over the past six months -- but we've heard that before. Still, with four potential double-digit scorers around him, all he'll be asked to do is provide intimidating defense in the middle (and stay out of foul trouble).

Alex Oriakhi is "built like a blacksmith," according to Jim Calhoun. Ater Majok, a long, athletic 6-10, won't be available until mid-December, but is very talented. Both, however, are freshmen. Jonathan Mandeldove is 7 feet tall.

It says here a few of these players will step up and Calhoun will find the right mix come January.

3.) Can Stanley Robinson put together a consistent season?

A: It hasn't happened yet. He showed flashes of potential as a freshmen and was great down the stretch as a sophomore. After sitting out the first semester last year, Robinson took a long time to find a groove. Once he did, he was one of the more explosive players in the country.

The Huskies will surely be looking for about 13-14 points and 6-7 rebounds a game this season from "Sticks." If he does that, he'll be a first-round NBA draft pick.

4.) Which freshmen will step up?

A: Oriakhi? Majok? Swingman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel? Guards Darius Smith and Jamaal Trice? This is a pretty talented lot. Without question, UConn will need significant contributions from at least a few of them. It says here they will get just that.

5.) Is there a shooter in the house?

A: Not in the zone-breaking, 3-point gunner sense. But then, UConn went to the Final Four last year without one. In fact, when's the last time the Huskies really had one?

Price was their best shooter last year, but he's gone. Dyson can get hot, Robinson, too. Walker can be a better shooter than you'd think and spent this summer working hard on his jumper. Smith and Trice are said to be able to fill it up, as well.

***The Huskies got an unofficial visit on Sunday from Cory Joseph, a 6-3 Class of 2010 combo guard out of Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV.

***What was ? & the Mysterians' only big hit?

***Jim Calhoun will also apparently be making home visits to Josh Selby (Sept. 10) and Tobias Harris (Sept. 12), according to Adam Zagoria's blog.