Does UConn win its fourth national title and second in four seasons without Amida Brimah's conventional 3-point play on March 20 in its "second round" NCAA tournament game against St. Joe's?

Maybe. But probably not. Most say definitely not, including Ryan Boatright.

"I'll say every day for the rest of my life," Boatright said, "Amida saved our season last year with that play."

Talked to Boatright, as well as St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli; Brimah's legal guardian, Nana Baafi; Brimah's high school coach, Juan Hernandez; and others for a story on that fateful play. We also look ahead to what Brimah's sophomore season could bring for both him and the team.

Amida Brimah made it official today, signing his National Letter of Intent to attend UConn. He'll send it back to Storrs by the end of the week.

Here's a picture of Brimah (second from right), along with his Archbishop Coleman Carroll High teammates Gianni Garcia, Brandon Lima and Diego Cohen, each of whom signed LOI's to attend Webber University. Carroll coach Juan Hernandez is on the far right.

And here's Brimah and Hernandez, with Brimah sporting a UConn t-shirt.

Spoke with Amida Brimah this morning for a story that will run in tomorrow’s Register. Yes, he watched the UConn game last night, as he tries to do for every UConn game.

Why did he choose UConn over other suitors like Wake Forest, South Carolina and even Miami?

“I love the environment,” he said. “Coach Ollie is a very family-oriented guy, and (there’s an emphasis) on education.”

Brimah (it's pronouncd Ah-MEED-ah BrAYE-mah) added that he feels like he can make an immediate impact next year at UConn, and loves the team’s prospects, though he noted: “I hope Shabazz and Boatright come back.”

So do UConn fans everywhere.

Brimah plans on studying hospitality management when he gets to Storrs in June. The goal is for him to have added about 10-15 pounds to his 210-pound frame by then, as well, thanks to an off-season weight-lifting regimen he just began on Monday.

Brimah’s got an interesting story. He came to the States from Ghana three years ago at the age of 16, “recruited” by Nana Baafi, a native of Ghana who has lived in the States for over a decade and played college ball at Texas State and St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Brimah played soccer in Ghana (he was a striker) before converting to hoops, largely on Baafi’s suggestion. Baafi is now his legal guardian.

Anyway, here's my feature on Brimah.

*** Meanwhile, another UConn commit, point guard Terrence Samuel out of Brooklyn, announced Thursday on Twitter that he's been invited to play in the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game.

*** Finally, here are a few videos from Wednesday night's Georgetown game. When I asked Kevin Ollie whether or not he could appreciate what a great game it was, despite losing in hearbreaking fashion, I was thinking about how Jim Calhoun failed to appreciate the greatness of the six-OT loss to Syracuse during his postgame press conference -- and, indeed, still to this day.



And here's Otto Porter, with some nice words about DeAndre Daniels:

Amida Brimah, the 6-11 shot-blocker from Miami, will make an official visit to UConn this weekend. He'll head up to Storrs on Saturday night and take in Monday's bout with Louisville at the XL Center in Hartford. Brimah, a native of Ghana whose parents still live in that African country, will make the trip with his legal guardian.

Brimah has previously made official visits to South Carolina and La Salle. He has shown great improvement over just the past few months and is drawing a lot of interest from other schools right now.

Here's what Brimah's high school coach, Juan Hernandez, told me about the Class of 2013 big man last week.

Meanwhile, the Huskies face Notre Dame on Saturday at the Joyce Center. It's another chance for UConn to snap an Irish winning streak, and this time Ryan Boatright gets to play along.

UConn is using this weeklong break from game action to hit the recruiting trail, and while the Huskies are scouting players of all classes, they are honing in on a big man and a guard from the Class of 2013.

Yes, the Huskies already have 6-9 shotblocker Kentan Facey in the fold. But the more the merrier.

One of their prime targets is Amida Brimah, a 6-foot-11 shot-blocker from Miami's Archbishop Coleman Carroll High. Karl Hobbs went to see Brimah play on Thursday, and Kevin Ollie attended a home game a few weeks ago.

Hobbs had to have liked what he saw Thursday, as Brimah posted his fourth triple-double of the season with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 13 blocks against Charlotte High. He's had four games of at least 10 blocks thus far.

"They definitely like him," Archbishop Carroll coach Juan Hernandez said of the Huskies. "UConn is definitely one of the schools he's seriously considering."

Meanwhile, Ollie was at Fairfield Prep's game Friday night, ostensibly to see Prep's 7-2, Class of 2014 center, Paschal Chukwu.

"For him to come down and watch me is an honor," said Chukwu, who had nine points, 11 rebounds and some foul trouble.

Brimah has made official visits to South Carolina and LaSalle, and has offers from those programs as well as Florida International. Recently, Hernandez has fielded calls from Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and St. Louis, and according to Brimah, Villanova is coming to see him play soon, as well.

Brimah, a native of Ghana who came to the States three years ago and boasts a 7-6 wingspan, has improved greatly over the past year, particularly over the past six months.

"He's got huge upside," said Hernandez. "Unlike some of the American kids who've been playing since they were little kids, he pretty much picked up the game 4-5 years ago. His ceiling is a lot higher than others. He's got a huge motor, he's an extremely enthusiastic kid. He works unbelievably hard."

Brimah could be a defensive force at the Division 1 level right now, according to those who've watched him. It's his offensive game -- particularly at the low post -- that needs seasoning.

"Offensively, he'd be a little bit limited early on," said Nick Ronda, the head coach at Miami Killilan High. "He can shoot free throws pretty well and he's got a nice mid-post, high-post shot. But his feet, he's got to keep working on."

But Hernandez noted that Brimah has already made great strides in his offensive game in recent months, and he could fit in well with UConn's offense.

"He's really good coming off ball screens," said Hernandez. "That's what Coach Hobbs mentioned early on. He said, '(Your team) runs a lot of ball screens, similar to what Coach Ollie does. He'd fit right into what we're running.'"

Brimah, who checks in at about 210-215 pounds, also needs to get stronger, "which he will do in college," Hernandez pointed out. "He's hitting the weights hard here, but he's not getting as good a nutritional program as he will in college. He'll gain 20-30 pounds once he gets to college."

And there's this: Brimah has a GPA of around 3.2-3.2, he's "very vocal, from a positive standpoint, within the team," according to Hernandez, and has no disciplinary issues off the court.

Brimah, whose parents still live in Ghana and lives with a legal guardian, is trying to schedule an official visit up to Storrs. The Huskies don't another weekend home game until the end of January, however, and it's been hard to line the Archbishop Carroll schedule up with UConn's. It might have to wait until after Carroll's season is over in late-February or early-March, but, according to Hernandez, Brimah will "definitely take a visit to UConn."

And, because people seem to like this kind of stuff, here's some video of Brimah in action. And here's some more: