A few quotes on the UConn-Duke rivalry. (Or is it a rivalry?)

NATE JAMES (a sophomore on the 1999 Duke team that lost to UConn in the national championship game, and now a Blue Devil assistant):

"If you play that game 10 times, I truly believe we’ll win nine out of 10 times. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way. You get one time to show up, and they did. I think for the rest of our lives -- Elton Brand, my good friend, Trajon Langdon -- we’ll forever regret not bring our best to the table that night.”

“Whenever you have one of the best teams ever assembled, you get the opportunity to do something truly special, and for that night, it didn’t happen for us,” James recalled. “Like all kids and players, you let any type of distraction into your group and you face a team that was together -- Coach Calhoun had his guys together and obviously had some outstanding players on that team as well, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin, (Jake) Voskuhl. He had a terrific game plan, and it all came together.”

(is it a rivalry?)

“We don’t really use that term. They’re a team we definitely respect and has had some outstanding teams, won national championships, defeated us before. It’s a program you have a high level of respect for, and you know you have to bring your ‘A’ game against.”

KEVIN FREEMAN (a junior on the 1999 UConn title team and now the Huskies' director of basketball administration):

(responding to Nate James' comments)

“All we had to do is win the one. So, I don’t know about the next 10 times. I don’t think you play anybody in college 10 times in four years. I’ll take my one.”

“It was a tough, gritty game. Sort of like on Thursday, we were an underdog, everybody picking to beat us. We had the confidence in our locker room to go out there and know we were gonna win the game and try to win the game.”

“I think it’s a great rivalry, in the sense that every time we play it’s been a great game. The early 90’s games, the game we beat them and also in the 2000’s -- it’s gonna be a great game, it’s gonna be fun for the fans, and it’s fun for us overall.”

“It was called the Duke Invitational that year (1999), because of that team. It was definitely sweet for us to play the No. 1 team. It was us and them, and it was a great game.”

“It’s funny to fast-forward now. Because we beat them, a lot of people don’t know how great that Duke team really was. They don’t get the credit. But they were a great team, and it does give you a lot of satisfaction beating that team.”

KEVIN OLLIE:

(on UConn's 90-86 win over Duke in a Great 8 game in 1994, in which Ollie poured in 24 points)

“It was a good game. We came out with fire and passion. I think that was the first time we beat Duke."

“We kind of had a chip on our shoulder. We wanted to get Duke. It’s always been a good rivalry. They’re a great program. I have the utmost respect for Coach K and what he’s done. I look at him and marvel at the success he’s had, the sustained success. That’s what you want in your program. I think he’s done a great job. And what he’s done with USA Basketball and with his teams over the years, it’s a noble job by him.”

“It’s always a rivalry. Our first national championship was over Duke. It’s always gonna be a rivalry between us. We have more historic rivalries with Syracuse and Georgetown, of course. But whenever UConn and Duke goes, you go back and relive the past, the Christian Laettner incident, all the different things that happened during our past when those two teams got together -- Christian Laettner’s shot. A lot of memorable things in NCAA basketball history that came between these two teams when they got on the court.”

“These programs have been built with toughness, hard work and character. I think they kind of mirror themselves in those aspects.”

RODNEY PURVIS (a Raleigh, N.C. native who played at NC State as a frosh):

“I’m 1-1 against Duke, so it’ll be good to get another win.”

“I liked Duke. I had the chance to talk to Coach K and things like that. I’m not really a fan of blue. I like navy blue better than that color blue, so ... it was great. He recruited me growing up. I definitely don’t like Carolina blue. He’s definitely a great guy, a great coach. There’s nothing bad I can say about him.”

Sounds like Isaiah Briscoe could be making his collegiate decision sooner than originally thought. He had said over the summer that he'd likely wait until the spring to make his choice, but now is saying that his decision could come "soon."

And it sounds like UConn and Kentucky are the two front-runners.

Briscoe, a point guard out of Roselle Catholic in New Jersey, visited both schools recently. He speaks glowingly of Kevin Ollie and his entire UConn visit, and while it's impossible to know how much of a factor this will play, it's worth noting that Jim Salmon, Briscoe's New Jersey Playaz AAU coach, coached Kevin Freeman for a season at Paterson Catholic and thinks the world of Freeman.

Elsewhere, it appears UConn is already in on one of the top big men from the Class of 2018, Marvin Bagley III, a 6-foot-10 center from Tempe, Arizona.

6-10 fr marvin bagley III from tempe, ariz.-- who has yet to play a varsity game-- was best young talent at usa bb mini-camp at the springs
— Dick Weiss (@HoopsWeiss) October 6, 2014

bagley-- class of '18-- already has offers from uconn, arizona, several others.
— Dick Weiss (@HoopsWeiss) October 6, 2014

As part of a story we did this week on UConn's prime recruiting targets, we spoke with Jim Salmon, who coaches Husky target Isaiah Briscoe on the New Jersey Playaz AAU team -- and also happened to coach UConn director of basketball administration Kevin Freeman at Paterson Catholic back in the day.

Here's what Salmon had to say about Briscoe:

"He’s fearless, he’s two plays ahead on the floor. He’d rather give an assist or a Gretzky – the pass before the assist – rather than scoring. This year, he’s put the team on his back. He’s led us all season. He passed out uniforms, collects them after game, washes them, wakes his teammates up in the hotel room. He’s like an assistant coach for us ... He's an ideal teammate."

Briscoe put out a list recently of his final seven schools: UConn, Arizona, Louisville, St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Villanova. However, he's not likely to start seriously considering anyone until August, at the earliest. He's already an academic qualifier, according to Salmon.

"All the teams have a shot," Salmon said. "He's got a different relationship with at least one person on the staff of all the schools. I'm sure (his dad) is taking the calls right now, but I don't think he's there. He's really tuned in and trying to win." 

As for UConn?

"Kevin Freeman used to play for me," Salmon noted. "I'd be delighted if he went to UConn."

Khalid El-Amin and the 1999 UConn national championship team each were inducted into the Huskies of Honor at halftime Sunday. Richard Hamilton, who hasn't come back to UConn a whole lot over the last 15 years, was in the house, along with the other four starters on the title team (El-Amin, Kevin Freeman, Jake Voskuhl and Ricky Moore) as well as Souleymane Wane, Beau Archibald, coaches Karl Hobbs, Tom Moore and, of course, Jim Calhoun.

Here's what Hamilton had to say:

 “The biggest thing I remember from that game is coach’s attitude at the beginning of the game. Usually, he was always on pins and needles. That was the first game he came in and told us, just relax and play. I think that really, really was the big thing for us, beacuse we really believed we could win the game. We thought we were the best team in the country. We thought Duke was getting all the praise, but we didn’t mind that. It was something exciting for us. I think when Khalid had the ball, running, and they were playing that ‘One Shining Moment’ song, and he was running with the ball, with his hands up, I think that’s the memory that sticks in my head.”

(on seeing Duke players over the years)

“They can’t even look me in my face. That’s how I like it ... to beat them – especially now, playing in the NBA and they've got so many great players in the NBA – you played against them and competed. I’m always hard on them, like, ‘Hey, you never beat (us), regardless of all the praise y’all got, whether you got the Wooden Award or not. We got the ring at the end.'”

“We were undefeated until the game that I sat out. I got hurt, Jake got hurt, and it was good that we actually lost that game, because it kind of gave us motivation to come out and play even harder. We came out and lost on Senior Night – I think it was Miami, here in Gampel. Coach came in and said, ‘Don’t think you’re as good as you are.’ We really had to go out and finish the work and we did.”

(on possibly still hooking up with an NBA team)

“I just want to go to the right team. I want to be on a team that has an opportunity to win. I don’t just want to be out there, going through the motions or anyting like that. I want to be in a situation where I can get an opportunity to get another ring. That’s how you build your legacy.”

(on Calhoun and SMU's Larry Brown both in Gampel on Sunday)

“Isn’t that crazy? You’ve got my two favorite coaches of all time in the same building. Both guys that I got an opportunity to win a championship with. That’s crazy. It’s one of those magic moments, something that couldn’t be planned or anything like that. It’s exciting for me.”

(on why he decided to return to UConn after '98 season)

“You know what it was? I put all my eggs in coach’s basket. I had one foot on the university campus and one foot out the door, and I put all my trust into coach Calhoun. Everything he told me in his office … after that 3-4 hour conversation that day, came true. When you’re 20 years old, sometimes you think people are just talking to be talking. But everything he told me came true.”

(on this year's UConn team)

“I think that KO’s done an excellent job. It’s hard to follow coach Calhoun. That’s huge pressure. But I thought that he came in and really put his spin on things. The guys respond to him very well. You can look at his record for the last two years. One thing I can look at with UConn, we always have great guard play. The guards have been doing great, doing a tremendous job of leading the team.”

Jim Calhoun:

“Of all the things I've done in my coaching career, I’ll never forget walking into this building in 1999 – the trip over, I still describe as probably the most remarkable trip, I have no idea how many people were on 84, they stopped cars, they were on buildings. Coming up here on 195 was absolutely incredible. But still, walking into this building, after the disappointment of nine years before, and this time having the hardware in my hands, is still the highest moment of my coaching career.”

“I always thought we were better when we had to dig our way back. But I always thought we had more experience, we were tougher. (Duke) could’ve been, if they had stayed together one more year – or if they hadn’t met us – been one of the greatest teams ever.”

“If you ever look back at the teams we played, the teams we beat – pretty special. Without injuries, you could make a case for 36-0. Is it the greatest team? I don’t know. But it was the best ‘team’, in the sense that they all worked with each other. Both point guards could pass, shoot, well, not Khalid, but defend. We had great answers, with Edmund, Souley, Albert Mouring. That was just a terrific basketball team.”

“When we lost to Carolina in Carolina, they went to the Final Four, we didn’t, they stayed together and it was just one of those kind of things. We had, without knowing, our eyes on the prize in ’98 to get to ’99."

“The first one is special. It was special for UConn. I don’t know if, like anything else in life, you can’t duplicate that first time. So, that makes it special. Is it better? No. I love watching Kemba making four foul shots to win, getting 31 last night to beat the Grizzlies. Watching any kind of those great things, that’s all great stuff, too. But, you can’t duplicate walking up here and bringing back that trophy. That’s not gonna be replicated in my lifetime or anybody else’s lifetime.”

According to Kevin Ollie, it's "50-50" whether Ryan Boatright will be there for UConn's bout with Temple Tuesday night at the XL Center.

"He left and he said he wasn’t going to be back, but then we talked and he might be back," Ollie said. "I’m planning on him not being back, making sure Terrence (Samuel) is ready, Lasan (Kromah) plays a little bit of point guard. If Boatright comes back, it’d be great. But if he doesn’t, we say this all the time: next man up.”

It appears funeral services for Boatright's cousin, Arin Williams, are on Tuesday. Williams was killed by a gunshot to the head on Jan. 14. Perhaps that means he'll attend services, then try to fly back for Tuesday night's game, but that's not clear at this point.

When Boatright does return, Ollie hopes basketball will be a "sanctuary" for him.

“You go and get away from it a little bit," he said. "Hopefully, he understands that once he comes here, he has nothing but love. He has a brotherhood that’s got his back and is going to be here for him. Hopefully, it relieves him of that tension or thinking about his cousin, or the pressures of dealing with his family and the different dynamics of what’s going on. Hopefully when he gets on the basketball court, he can just think about basketball.”

*** If Boatright doesn't play Tuesday night, Samuel is ready for some more playing time. In fact, he seems to have been chomping at the bit for more PT.

“I’ve been ready to get in, show what I can do and help the team win," Samuel said. "I’ve been waiting for my time, I’ve just got to step in, make the right decisions.”

Samuel's played in just 10 of UConn's 18 games, averaging just 6.3 minutes per contest. He's played a grand total of six minutes in the Huskies' first five AAC games.

Samuel said the lack of action has been tough.

“It has, actually. At first, it kind of got to me a lot. I might have said, just stop working for a while, but I’ve still got to keep my work habits, keep working in the gym, get better, working on my shot and getting ready to play when my name’s called.”

He added: 

Said Ollie: “You never want somebody to lose or see somebody hurt, but if they go down, I’m like, ‘It’s my time, I’m ready to go.’ Hopefully Terrence, Omar (Calhoun), Lasan understand that. They might get that situation where they’re going to have the ball in their hand a little more.”

Ollie added that Samuel has been "getting better understanding the offense, the defense, the next play, not putting his head down as much, being confident in who he is. I see him being a terrific player here.”

*** Asked if he'd heard from any of his "mentors" after Saturday night's ejection, Ollie said: “I heard from my mother. She said calm down a little bit. That’s the best mentor of all.”

He hasn't heard from Jim Calhoun yet.

“Jim’s in Cabo, man," Ollie said with a smile. "He’s on a golf course. But I will hear from him. I know he’s seen the incident, but let him be on vacation. When he comes back, we’ll have our usual talks.”

He added that Kevin Freeman did a good job of escorting him back to the locker room.

“He did his job. I wasn’t going to go punch anybody. I just wanted to get my money’s worth a little bit. Kevin did a good job restraining me, so I didn’t overreact – which I did, a little bit, when I ran down the baseline. But, it happens. Hopefully, we can move on. Hopefully, (Mike) Stuart can move on from the game, and we can all be better from it. That’s what my hope is.”

Then, he reiterated: “That was a foul.”

Kevin Ollie can't emphasize enough that it really doesn't matter who starts games, it's who does the most with their minutes and who's in at the end.

He's right, of course. But when a couple of usual starters come off the bench (Phil Nolan for the last two games, Omar Calhoun on Saturday), well, we in the media have to ask ...



Ollie continued:  "His energy is like, out the roof right now. He’s running to screens, he’s calling out blue coverages, which is our pick-and-roll defense. I can hear him from the other side of the court. The ball always finds energy, and I think that’s what he’s bringing, and he’s getting rewarded for it.”

Nolan finished with a career-high 11 points in a season-high 22 minutes. He also went 7-for-7 from the foul line and has hit his last 11 from the stripe.

Calhoun had started every regular-seasaon game of his UConn career (except last year's season finale vs. Providence, which he sat out due to injury) until Saturday. He scored 12 points and grabbed a season-high six rebounds.

Both players have handled their respective situations well.



Calhoun: “It definitely means something. But, I know I’ve been struggling. Coach is working with me. Obviously, you can’t start someone playing the way I’ve been playing. He just wants me to get back after it and things are going to fall into place at the end of the day.”

Calhoun said he had been told by Ollie on Thursday that he wasn't starting.

“He told me he wasn’t going to start me today, but he wanted me to bring that energy, get it going and be aggressive and stuff like that. We had a good talk about it, so everything was fine.”

(on his rebounding)

“I know I can rebound as a big guard. I haven’t really been doing a great job rebounding. He’s always harping about rebounding, so I wanted to make it my effort to rebound more.”

(Calhoun didn't start his first exhibition game last season and the first exhibition game this season. Other than that, he'd started every game in which he'd played at UConn)

“It was definitely tough, but I’m more mature than I was last year. I wasn’t going to argue or anything like that. I obviously knew that I wasn’t playing my best. He told me he was going to have me come off the bench, but I’m still going to play a lot of minutes. He just wanted to see what that does to me, give me fuel and put me in a different position, get my groove going. That definitely helped.”

Nolan and Calhoun's coach and teammates are impressed with the way they've responded.

“I think Omar responded well," said Shabazz Napier. "Phil didn’t start against Washington and he responded well, as well. Today, I was happy to see him scoring, seeing Omar scoring, because Omar was in a little slump.”

“We need Omar and Phil to get to where we want to go.”

Added Niels Giffey (who started over Calhoun on Saturday): "It just shows that they have a great mindset, not being discouraged but actually encouraged in that situation. Just bouncing back is really hard … I think they had to understand that we’ve got to take certain shots, and we’ve got to pass off some of the shots Omar had. We talked about it a lot, which shots he takes. I think he did a great job today of changing up his game, because he’s so versatile. I think he’s doing a good job with that. It’s good to see other guys scoring before we go into the AAC.”

Said Ollie: “Phil was great. He responded the right way. That’s what I like. It wasn’t a benching. He was out of the starting lineup, but he had his career-high tonight. It’s not about who’s starting, it’s about who’s taking care of their minutes. I thought Omar came in and finally got his shot going. He hit two 3’s, played very well, had six rebounds … All in all, it was a great character game for us. Two of the guys who showed great character were Omar and Phil.”

*** The crowd of 9,274 was the largest ever to watch a sporting event at Webster Bank Arena. Granted, the crowd was a bit ... umm .. quiet at times. But it was a good showing, nonetheless.

"I think there were a lot of families in the audience that probably hadn’t ever seen us play before," Ollie noted. "I felt the energy from the crowd, it was just a great family atmosphere. It took them awhile to really start cheering, because we didn’t really give them opportunity. We were playing good defense, then giving up offensive rebounds.”

So, will we do this again next year? Maybe more than once?

“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board," said Ollie. "To have a great program, you’ve got to schedule the right way and recruit. I’m glad that Warde (Manuel) and Paul McCarthy, Glen Miller, we sat down and scheduled this game. If it comes to it, we have a favorable team we want to bring down here and it works out, we definitely won’t be opposed to it. I can’t speak because I’m not the only person making the decision. I’m part of the decision. But, I wouldn’t think twice if Warde said let’s play another game down in Bridgeport.”

Warde?

“We’re gonna see. I’m very pleased with the fans, the turnout here. It’s been great, great for our team, great for the fans here. We’ll assess it after the women’s game, at some point. We’ll look at whether or not we’ll come back here next year, or how we’ll do it.”

What will Manuel be assessing?

“The fit. Does it fit for our team? How everything went for our teams. I haven’t talked to Kevin, obviously Geno and his team are coming down here in two weeks. We obviously like the fan support and what it brings.”

Multiple games?

“We could, yeah. We could. We haven’t made a decision on whether or not we’re going to play one again. But, we’re very happy with the way the fans have turned out, the support down here. Obviously, it’s one of the things we want to do is get out, we know we have some season-ticket holders down here. They’ve come up to me and told me they’re glad we came down here. They make the trip all the time, either to Gampel, XL Center or Rentschler Field. Obviously, by the sellout, it’s something our fans really appreciate.”

How about a league game? Doesn't look like it.

“I don’t know that. It’s better for us when we’re on break, for our students, to be able to come down here.”

*** UConn director of basketball operations Kevin Freeman wasn't at the game. His wife, Nicole, gave birth to a boy on Friday. He's the Freeman's third child. 

Tyler Olander pleaded guilty to operating without a license Monday morning at Rockville Superior Court, but the more serious charge of driving under the influence of alcohol was dropped.

Olander was arrested on Sept. 7 on Route 195 in Mansfield, just north of North Eagleville Road, after a police officer witnessed Olander's vehicle making "several jerky steering maneuvers within the lane of travel," according to state attorney Cynthia Baer.

Olander failed a field sobriety test, according to a police report, but subsequently took two breath tests and was under the legal limit of .08 both times.

"The science was on our side," said Olander's attorney, Rob Britt. "We're happy the state reviewed the science in the matter, because we believed it was on our side."

Olander does not have a driver's license, however, so he paid a $75 fine for operating without a license on Monday. He had been indefinitely suspended from the UConn men's basketball team after the incident, and now hopes he'll be able to rejoin the team.

"That's my goal, and God willing, I'll be back," he said. "I hope people don't see these past incidents as a reflection of who I am. I hope they see me as a good kid that just made some mistakes, as everybody does."

Olander was at a special tribute to Jim Calhoun at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday night, seated at a dinner table with his fellow teammates.

Speaking of the Calhoun tribute, it really was a nice ceremony. Every ex-player who went up to talk about Calhoun (Ray Allen, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Kemba Walker, Kevin Ollie, Glen Miller, Kevin Freeman, Donny Marshall, A.J. Price ... everyone) spoke eloquently. Really, everyone was better than I expected.

Baseball coach Jim Penders delivered a terrific speech (as a last-minute replacement). Only complaint for me was that, as well as everyone spoke, they were all too long! How long? Festivities ran about two hours past schedule. Or put it this way: Calhoun's speech at the end of the night was one of the shortest.

As great a night as it was, and as much as a testament it was to the truly remarkable bond that unites just about all UConn basketball players and coaches, past and present, it's impossible to ignore the very public rift in the UConn hoops family currently going on in the Tate George case.

Meanwhile, here's a Connecticut magazine feature piece on Kevin Ollie.

Ricky Moore has been bumped up to full-time assistant, while George Blaney remains on UConn's staff as a special assistant/advisor to head coach Kevin Ollie. Here's the press release sent out by the school:

University of Connecticut men’s basketball head coach Kevin Ollie has announced changes on his coaching staff.
Ricky Moore, who joined the UConn staff in October, 2012, and served as the assistant director of basketball administration through the 2012-13 season, has become a fulltime assistant coach and assumed all appropriate duties, including player coaching during practice and games, as well as complete recruiting status.

“I’m really excited to add Ricky to our coaching staff,” Ollie said. “When Ricky was here as a player, he epitomized what UConn stands for and I know he will do the same thing as a coach.”

George Blaney, who just completed his 12th season with UConn, remains on the staff as a special assistant/advisor to the head coach.

The rest of Ollie’s staff remains intact, with Glen Miller as associate head coach, Karl Hobbs as assistant coach, Kevin Freeman as director of basketball administration, and David Sevush as graduate assistant.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be an assistant coach on the UConn staff,” said Moore, 37. “I know firsthand what a great experience it is to be a student-athlete at UConn and to be part of the UConn basketball family. I’m looking forward to working with our players and to bringing high-caliber people and players into the program as we move forward.”

Moore, a 1999 UConn graduate with a degree in community program development, returned to Storrs last year after serving as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College for two seasons. Moore’s stint at Dartmouth followed his retirement after an 11-year career in professional basketball that spanned five countries --- Austria, Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey and Germany --- as well as stops in the Continental Basketball Association and the NBA Developmental League.

“I have a lot of faith in Ricky as a recruiter and a coach,” Ollie said. “He’s had experience on the road and I know the kind of strength and enthusiasm he has for the game and our program. I’ve already seen it in the role he had with us last year. Going into this new era of UConn basketball, I’m looking forward to having him on the road recruiting and using his coaching style to help us on and off the court.”

Moore, co-captain of the Huskies’ first NCAA national championship team in 1998-99, spent four successful years in Storrs as an undergraduate. During his tenure, UConn compiled an overall record of 114-24 and a BIG EAST mark of 55-17, winning three BIG EAST regular-season championships, three BIG EAST tournament championships, and reaching the 1996 NCAA Sweet 16, the 1998 NCAA Elite Eight, and capturing the 1999 NCAA title.

Moore was named to the 1999 Final Four and West regional All-Tournament Teams and Basketball News Magazine selected him as the National Defensive Player of the Year in 1998-99. He was a three-time UConn co-captain and in 2001, he was named to UConn’s All-Century Team. His 510 assists still rank sixth on UConn’s all-time list.

Originally from Augusta, Ga., Moore was born on April 10, 1976. He and wife Heather are the parents of two children, daughter Kendyll, 6, and son R.J., 4.

Jim Calhoun was at a lot of UConn practices this season, and most home games (other than when he went on a trip to Cancun, and possibly one or two other home contests). He only made three road trips, I believe: to Germany, to St. Thomas and to the Garden for the NC State game.

I didn't find his presence overbearing on Kevin Ollie. Maybe Ollie would beg to differ, but I doubt it. The man is truly like a father figure to Ollie. At home games, Calhoun could be seen perched at along the base line, watching rather stoically but approvingly -- indeed, like a proud father watching his son do fine work.

Here's what Calhoun had to say about Ollie's first season as head coach. One other thing to note: as good a job as Ollie did, he had some great help. Ollie was always quick and adamant in heaping praise on his assistants, going out of his way to do so at the Dec. 29 press conference announcing his new, long-term contract. Glen Miller, Karl Hobbs and George Blaney combine for 57 years of head coaching experience with 860 wins between them. They all also boast UConn NCAA championship rings, as do director basketball administration Kevin Freeman and assistant director of basketball administration Ricky Moore (both as players). They were invaluable this season.

Meanwhile, here's my penultimate AP Top 25 ballot this season. Yeah, Syracuse isn't in it. Yeah, four Atlantic 10 teams are in it. Deal with it.

1.       Gonzaga

2.       Duke

3.       Indiana

4.       Georgetown

5.       Louisville

6.       Kansas

7.       Michigan

8.       Miami

9.       Ohio State

10.   Michigan State

11.   Kansas State

12.   Florida

13.   Oklahoma State

14.   New Mexico

15.   St. Louis

16.   Arizona

17.   Memphis

18.   Marquette

19.   Pittsburgh

20.   Creighton

21.   Virginia Commonwealth

22.   St.Mary’s

23.   Colorado State

24.   Butler

25.   Temple

Here's UConn's tentative itinerary for its trip to Germany this week. A travel party of 45, including UConn president Susan Herbst and AD Warde Manuel, will be on the trip (Kevin Freeman and Paul McCarthy are already there as an advance team):

UCONN TENTATIVE SCHEDULE IN GERMANY

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

9:45 A.M. (Germany Time) -- - Arrival Frankfort International Airport

11 A.M. (Germany Time) --- UConn Basketball Team Study Hall on Bus (5 a.m. EST)

1:00 P.M. (Germany Time)----Arrival at Ramstein Air Base—(7:00 a.m.EST)

3:30 P.M. (Germany Time)---Depart Hotel for Landstuhl Wounded Warrior Hospital (9:30 a.m. EST)

3:30 p.m. (Germany Time)—30-Minute Bus Trip to Landstuhl Hospital (9:30-10:00 a.m. EST)

4:00 p.m. (Germany Time)—Coach and Two Players at Landstuhl Hospital—other players and coaches at USO Center for wounded warriors interaction (10:00 EST)

5:30 p.m. (Germany Time)—30-minute bus trip back to Ramstein Air Base (11:30 a.m. EST)

6:00 (Germany Time)---Air Force Wounded Warrior Center Visit-30 Minutes-On Base

8:00-10:00 P.M. (Germany Time)---UConn Practice/Base Fitness Center-(2:00-4:00 p.m. EST)

10:30 P.M. (Germany Time)---UConn Travel Party Dinner—(4:30 p.m.EST) 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

11:30 A.M. (Germany Time) ---C-130 Flight ---Max 30 People (5:30 a.m. EST)

1:30-3:30 P.M.  (Germany Time) --- UConn Basketball Team Study Hall (7:30-9:30 a.m. EST)

7:00 P.M. (Germany Time) ---Kids Clinic---100 Children From Base-(1:00 p.m. EST)

8:00-10:00 P.M. (Germany Time) ---UConn Practice/Fitness Center---Open Practice (2:00-4:00 p.m. EST)

8:30 P.M. (Germany Time)—Hangar 5 (Game Court) Walkthru With ESPN

Friday, November 9, 2012

11:00 A.M. (Germany Time)—Hangar 1-Appreciation Day-Team Meet With Airmen/Women (5:00 a.m. EST)

2:30-3:30 P.M. (Germany Time) --- UConn Practice on Game Court—(8:30-9:30 a.m. EST)

4:30-6:30 P.M. (Germany Time) --- UConn Basketball Team Study Hall (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST)

6:00-8:00 P.M. (Germany Time)--VIP Function at Officer’s Club—(12:00-2:00 p.m. EST)

12 midnight (Germany Time)--UConn vs. Michigan St. Armed Forces Classic--(6:00 p.m. EST)

Saturday, November 10, 2012

8:45 A.M. (Germany Time) --- UConn travel party depart Ramstein Air Base---(2:45 a.m. EST)

10:30 A.M. (Germany Time) ---Arrive Frankfort International Airport—(4:30 a.m. EST)

1:45 P.M. (Germany Time)--Depart Frankfort International Airport—(7:45 a.m. EST)

---Delta Air Lines Flight #107---Flight Time---9 Hours, 5 Minutes

4:50 P.M. (EST)---Arrive JFK Airport—New York

6:00-6:30 P.M. (EST) --- Buses Depart Kennedy Airport for Storrs

9:00-9:30 P.M. (EST) ---Arrive UConn Campus in Storrs, CT

As expected, UConn has hired Ricky Moore as assistant director of basketball administration. Here's the press release:

Ricky Moore, co-captain of the University of Connecticut’s first national championship men’s basketball team in 1999, has been named as the Assistant Director of Basketball Administration on head coach Kevin Ollie’s staff at UConn.



Moore, a 1999 UConn graduate with a degree in community program development, comes back to Storrs after serving as an assistant basketball coach at Dartmouth College for the past two seasons, following his retirement from an 11-year career in professional basketball.

At UConn, Moore will work directly with Kevin Freeman, the Director of Basketball Administration, in a non-coaching position.

“I’m thrilled to be able to have Ricky join our staff,” Ollie said. “With his high character and strong basketball background, especially with his ties to UConn, he will be a perfect addition to help us maintain the success we have achieved. Ricky’s unselfishness as a player epitomizes the kind of attitude we are looking for from our student-athletes and from everybody associated with our program. I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome him back to the Husky family.”

As an assistant at Dartmouth the past two years, Moore was involved in all phases of the men’s basketball program under coach Paul Cormier, including recruiting, admissions, compliance, academics, and travel arrangements, as well as game planning and coaching.

Previously, Moore played professionally for 11 years in five countries --- Austria, Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, and Germany --- as well as in the Continental Basketball Association and the NBA Developmental League.

Originally from Augusta, Ga., Moore came to UConn as a freshman in 1995-96 and enjoyed a tremendous amount of success. During his four seasons, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 114-24 and a BIG EAST mark of 55-17, winning three BIG EAST regular-season championships, three BIG EAST tournament championships, and reaching the 1996 NCAA Sweet 16, the 1998 NCAA Elite, and capturing the 1999 NCAA Championship.

Moore, a rare three-time co-captain, averaged 6.9 points and 3.8 assists in 134 games for UConn and his 510 assists still rank sixth on the all-time list. He scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and played his trademark suffocating defense in UConn’s 77-74 win over Duke in the 1999 NCAA Championship game. He was named to the Final Four and West Regional All-Tournament Teams and Basketball News Magazine selected him as the National Defensive Player of the Year. In 2001, he was named to UConn’s All-Century Team.

Born April 10, 1976, Moore and wife Heather are the parents of two children, daughter Kendyll, 6, and son R.J., 4.

As expected, UConn has restructured its coaching staff under new head coach Kevin Ollie. Glen Miller takes over as associate head coach, replacing George Blaney, who moves to full-time assistant. Karl Hobbs also gets bumped up to full-time assistant after spending last season as director of basketball administration. Kevin Freeman now takes over that role, after serving as assistant director of basketball administration last season.

UConn is expected to fill Freeman's former role, though nothing's official yet. Ricky Moore has stated recently that he will likely be hired for that role.

Here's the press release sent out by UConn:

The University of Connecticut men’s basketball coaching staff has been restructured under new head coach Kevin Ollie.

Glen Miller, starting the third season of his second stint on the UConn staff, will assume the duties of Associate Head Coach, while Karl Hobbs, last year’s Director of Basketball Administration, will join veteran George Blaney as fulltime assistant coaches. Kevin Freeman, who was added to the UConn staff last year as Assistant Director of Administration, will take over as Director of Basketball Administration.

“As I said when I accepted the job as head coach at Connecticut, I think I have the greatest coaching staff in the country,” Ollie said. “I feel extremely fortunate to have a staff with so much head coaching experience behind me. I know that we are going to work as hard as we can to continue the legacy of tremendous success that UConn enjoyed under Coach (Jim) Calhoun.”

The UConn coaching staff has a combined 57 years of collegiate head coaching experience with a combined total of 860 victories.

Miller returned to Calhoun’s UConn staff in 2010-11 as Director of Basketball Administration following 17 years of head coaching experience at Connecticut College, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania. Last year, he moved into the role of fulltime assistant coach and was an integral part of practice work, game strategy, and recruiting.

A native of Groton, Conn., Miller played for two seasons at UConn, then played two seasons for Calhoun at Northeastern. He joined Calhoun’s first staff at UConn in 1986 and worked with the Huskies for seven seasons before being named head coach at Connecticut College in 1993. In six seasons, Miller led Conn College to unprecedented success, including a 28-1 record and a berth in the Division III Final Four in 1998-99.

Miller moved on to Division I, taking over at Brown in 1999-2000, and setting school records for wins in a two-, three-, four-, and five-year span, as well as most Ivy League wins in a season. He recruited and developed 10 all-conference players and the League’s 2004 Player of the Year. Following seven years in Providence, Miller was hired as head coach of the prestigious program at Penn in 2006. He led the Quakers to the Ivy League Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2006-07, setting the school record for most Ivy League wins by a first-year coach. He spent three full years and part of a fourth as the Penn head coach. In 17 seasons as a head coach, Miller compiled 233 victories.

Born 8/20/1961, Miller and his wife Yvonne are the parents of four children: Tony, Genelle, Jillian (a UConn junior), and Emma.

Hobbs, who spent eight years as a UConn assistant from 1993-2001 and helped the Huskies win eight BIG EAST championships and the 1999 NCAA title, returned to Storrs last season and will again become a fulltime assistant on Ollie’s staff.

Hobbs had spent the previous 10 years as the head coach at George Washington University, leading the Colonials to two Atlantic 10 Tournament championships, a regular-season title, and five straight postseason appearances, including three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. He was the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 2005-06, and notched 166 wins while at GWU.

Out of Roxbury, Mass., Hobbs was a four-year starting point guard for UConn (1980-84), where he served as team captain and was an All-BIG EAST selection as a senior. He led the team in assists all four years and still ranks fifth on the all-time list.

Hobbs began his coaching career as a six-year assistant at Boston University before joining Calhoun’s UConn staff. While Hobbs was at UConn, he was instrumental in the recruitment of such Husky stars as Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, and Emeka Okafor. The Huskies had a record of 216-56 while Hobbs was on the staff.

Born 8/7/1961, Hobbs and wife JoAnn are the parents of two daughters, RaShauna and Kaliah.

Blaney has spent the last 11 years as a member of Calhoun’s coaching staff, serving as associate head coach for the past five seasons and taking charge of the team on those occasions when Calhoun was incapacitated.

Since Blaney joined UConn, the Huskies have a 278-102 record, captured six BIG EAST championships, made 10 NCAA appearances, three trips to the Final Four, and won two national championships.

Blaney, a 2003 inductee into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, brought more than 30 years of coaching experience with him when he came to UConn, including two seasons at Stonehill, three years at Dartmouth, and 22 years at Holy Cross, his alma mater, where he won 357 games, posted seven 20-win seasons, and made eight postseason appearances. He also was head coach for three years at Seton Hall in the BIG EAST before leaving to become the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the International Basketball League. Blaney returned to college coaching in 2000-01 as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island before joining Calhoun at UConn the following year. In 30 years as a collegiate head coach, Blaney compiled an impressive 461-383 overall record.

A native of Jersey City, N.J., Blaney was an All-New England player at Holy Cross, where he scored 1,012 points. After he graduated in 1961, he was drafted in the fourth round of the NBA Draft by the N.Y. Knicks and played the 1961-62 season with the team.

Born 11/12/1939, Blaney and his wife Maryellen have two daughters and three sons, and five grandchildren.

Freeman, a former UConn captain and the program’s all-time leader in games played (140), came back to Storrs last year after playing 11 seasons of professional basketball in Italy, Australia, Greece, South Korea, China, Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela. He served as assistant director of administration under Hobbs last year and will assume the director’s position this year.

Freeman, a native of Springfield, Mass., was an all-state performer at Paterson (N.J.) Catholic before his stellar career at UConn. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 BIG EAST Championship and selected to the 1999 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team as an invaluable starter on UConn’s first National Championship team. During Freeman’s career, the Huskies compiled a 109-32 record, made three NCAA appearances, reaching the Elite Eight in 1998 and winning the crown in 1999.

He is No. 17 on UConn’s all-time scoring list with 1,476 points, No. 8 on the all-time rebounding list with 913, and earned his degree in 2006.

Born 3/3/1978, Freeman and his wife Nicole are the parents of a daughter, Kekoa, and a son, Sire.

Couple of quick little nuggets this afternoon:

I must have missed this, having gone on vacation soon after the basketball season was over, but former UConn grad assistant/jack-of-all-trades Ben Wood has found a new home at the University of Rhode Island.

Wood, a graduate of Woodbury's Nonnewaug High School, is the director of player development at URI. He'll run the team's video operations, coordinate film exchange and opponent breakdowns and edits, as well as oversee the team's community relations program, staff of team managers, and serve as the staff liasion with the academic services office.

Wood, a 2007 UConn grad (and 2009 masters grad from UConn), was a well-respected part of the Huskies' program for the past several years. He started as a team manager as a freshman, became the head manager as a junior in 2007 and, after graduating with a geography degree, became graduate manager while working on his geography master's.

This year, he was slated to begin writing his dissertation and his professors told him he really had to fully commit to that for a year. Not wanting to get out of basketball, he looked for a job and, with a great deal of help from UConn associate head coach George Blaney (who shares Seton Hall bonds with new URI coach Danny Hurley), got the job despite never having met Hurley before the interview.

Everyone in the UConn program was happy for Wood, including Jim Calhoun.

“Before I had told anybody, he knew I had the job," Wood recalled. "He left me a voice mail that was very, very nice, thanked me for all I had helped with. He’s always encouraged me to want more, go for more.”

In his new position, Wood is basically like UConn's Kevin Freeman: can't coach on the floor, can't recruit, but can be in coaches' meetings, etc.

*** Meanwhile, the news isn't as good for ex-UConn star Charlie Villanueva, who was cut from the Dominican Republic national team and won't be with them at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Dominican head coach, of course, is John Calipari.

"Charlie was not in good form when we saw him," Calipari said to Deportes en la Z, after Villanueva had a private workout for the team in New York. "He was overweight, and unfortunately, we could not slow down the entire team and it was a decision taken collectively."

Wish we could give you more info on Ryan Boatright's situation, but as of right now, there's really nothing new to report.

UConn's compliance staff has been working late hours (until 9 p.m. the other night) trying to get some sort of resolution from Indianapolis, but nothing ... yet.

Here's what Jim Calhoun had to say this afternoon:

"Everybody’s working like crazy, trying to get some resolution right now ... There’s no indication of (whether he'll come back at all), the only indication is we’re trying like crazy to get him back."

"One of the worst parts about it, it hangs there. Ryan has a great day of practice today, it hangs there. It hangs with the kids (saying), ‘If we had him.’ We don’t, right now."

“All of us want to have the best team possible. I think we all would admit – good, bad or indifferent – to not play, to play, to not play can wear on you. I know it wears on me. No one cares about that, nor should they.”

Boatright's teammates obviously want him back, as well.

“He’s the same person. He’s not letting it get him down," said Andre Drummond. "He’s still playing twice as hard in practice. He wants to come back really bad, and I just can’t wait for the day that he gets cleared.”

Elsewhere ...

*** DeAndre Daniels, after "probably the best week of practice of his career," will be back in the starting lineup Sunday, ahead of Niels Giffey.

*** Calhoun said Tyler Olander recently has been "logy. He’s looked logy in games, I don’t know why.”

*** Ex-Huskies Donny Marshall, Kevin Freeman, Kevin Ollie and Tony Robertson have been going against UConn in practice over the past week.


***UConn's Super Bowl predictions:

DRUMMOND: "Patriots. They’ve got Tom Brady, what more could you ask for? I’m from New York, I like the New York Giants, but I think the Patriots might get the best of them.”

JEREMY LAMB: “I kind of want the Giants to win. I don’t really watch too much football … I just want to see a good game. But I think the Giants might be able to pull it off.

CALHOUN: “The Patriots will win, I just can’t give you the (details) … Everybody talks about getting injuries from the Patriots, that’s not gonna happen. When Randy Edsall was here, you were much more likely to get a week in advance injury report from him than you would two hours before the Patriots kick off Super Bowl Sunday.”

Kevin Freeman met with reporters this morning at the XL Center to discuss his new position as assistant director of men’s basketball administration. Freeman, 33, is a former Husky captain and member of the 1999 NCAA National Champions.

“It’s an opportunity to get back here,” said Freeman. “It’s full-circle for me. It’s a dream come true to come back here in the fold with UConn.”

He said his role will largely be as a mentor to the players, along with helping director of basketball administration Karl Hobbs with daily activities.

“A lot of the academic stuff,” Freeman said of his duties, “help a lot of guys in a mentorship role as far as degree completion, serve as a liaison to compliance, a lot of compliance issues … I think I can help them with a lot of off-court issues that (the media) might not see, and just being a positive student-athlete.”

Ultimately, he hopes this is his first step on the ladder up to being a head coach.

“Coaching is definitely my ultimate goal, but first you’ve got to experience some of it to see how far you want to go, what you want to do,” he said. “I’ll take it step by step.”

Freeman has spent the past 11 seasons playing overseas in Italy, Australia, Greece, South Korea, China, Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela.

“Overseas is really tough. Eleven years over there, being away from my family nine months a year, it takes its toll on you. A true blessing came to me with this opportunity, and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

Kevin Freeman has joined the UConn men's basketball staff. Here's the release by the school:

Kevin Freeman has been named to the position of Assistant Director of Men’s Basketball Administration at the University of Connecticut, it was announced today by head coach Jim Calhoun. Freeman is a former Husky captain and member of the 1999 NCAA National Champions.

“I am thrilled to have Kevin join our staff here at UConn,” said Calhoun. “Kevin was one of the great warriors we have ever had play for us and is just the type of person that all of our current players should aspire to be like and be around.”

Freeman is the all-time UConn leader in games played at 140, No. 17 on the all-time scoring list with 1,476 points and No. 8 on the all-time rebounders list with 913. He was the Most Outstanding Performer of the 1999 BIG EAST Championship and was named to the 1999 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament team. He was a co-captain of the 1999-00 Husky squad and UConn compiled a 109-32 record in his four seasons, reaching the Elite Eight in 1998 and winning the NCAA title in 1999.

After completing his career at Connecticut, Kevin played 11 seasons of professional basketball, retiring after the 2010-11 season. He played in professional leagues in Italy, Australia, Greece, South Korea, China, Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela during his career.

Born March 3, 1978, Kevin is a native of Springfield, Mass and came to UConn after competing as a all-state high school performer at Paterson Catholic HS in New Jersey. Kevin and his wife Nicole have a daughter Kekoa and a son Sire.

Also, Niels Giffey suffered a hyperextended right knee in Wednesday's exhibition win over AIC. He hasn't practiced the last two days and will be a game-time decision for Sunday's exhibition vs. C.W. Post.

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.