An interesting event at the Golf Club of Avon on Sept. 28. Kevin Ollie and six other D-1 men's hoops coaches from Connecticut will have a roundtable discussion. Always thought Connecticut should have an event like this (Rhode Island used to do one weekly during the season, though admittedly there were much fewer coaches to deal with).

Anyway, here's the press release: 

Former college basketball coach and current ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg announces the inaugural V University’s CT Basketball Tip-Off, Presented by Hoffman Auto Group. 

The event will feature head coaches from Connecticut’s seven Division-I men’s basketball programs in a roundtable discussion prior to taking questions from the audience. The breakfast event will take place Thursday, September 28, from 8-10 a.m. at the Golf Club of Avon. Net proceeds from tickets and a silent auction will benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

“I am excited to bring Connecticut’s Division-I college basketball coaches together for a morning of
hoops conversation while raising money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. This event is something Jimmy would have loved,” said Greenberg, who won 383 games during his 22 seasons as
a head coach. “The format will give the coaches an opportunity to discuss their programs as well as
the state of the game.”

Event-goers will have the opportunity to hear a first-hand preview of the in-state college basketball season, while raising money for cancer research. Conversation between some of college basketball’s top coaches, including Kevin Ollie, University of Connecticut’s National Championship coach in 2014, will cover topics such as past experiences, the state of college basketball, and outlooks for individual state teams. Audience question and answer will follow the coaches’ discussion. Tickets for the event can be purchased per person or by table until Friday, September 22.

V University (www.jimmyv.org/vuniversity) is a virtual campus that offers collegiate athletic conferences, departments, teams and student-athletes an opportunity to raise funds for cutting-edge
cancer research. V University was formed to help spread the late Coach Jim Valvano’s message of
perseverance—“Don’t Give Up . . . Don’t Ever Give Up!”®—shared during his inspirational speech at the inaugural ESPY Awards in 1993.

There may not be a First Night at UConn this year, but that doesn’t mean the school won’t be doing something to get students and fans revved up for the 2017-18 season.

What that will be remains to be seen, but the athletic department is in the early planning stages of putting together something – no one’s really sure what quite yet.

The main problem, of course, is the venue. While work on Gampel Pavilion’s roof is on schedule and will be completed by the time the schedule begins in early November, it likely won’t be done by the time First Night usually rolls around in mid-October. Hence, no First Night this year.

But be on the lookout for some type of announcement in the coming weeks. What that event will be, where it will be held, who will partake – all questions that remain to be answered.

Work on Gampel Pavilion's roof back in late-June. It's a lot better now.

Meanwhile, Tyler Polley and Eric Cobb, who had other things to take care of over the summer, have arrived on UConn’s campus. The rest of the team, including recent signee Kwintin Williams, who also hasn’t made it to campus yet, will arrive by this weekend. Classes start on Monday.

Here are some concrete dates for UConn fans to mark on their calendars:

Week of Sept. 4 – The AAC should release its schedule sometime this week. UConn's will likely follow a day or two after. The league met with officials from CBS and ESPN last Thursday to lock up some national games. Now, it’s just a matter of going over with athletic directors, coaches, etc. about whether those dates and times work, or if anything needs to be shifted. One complication this year is that Houston and Cincinnati will both be playing all their games away from home due to arena renovations. Houston will play most of its games on the Texas Southern campus but a few at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston, home of the Rockets. Cincy, meanwhile, will play all its games on the Northern Kentucky campus.

Also this week, UConn will be holding a "Meet the Newcomer" event for the press. This will give media types a chance to find out a bit about the new players and tell their stories to interested readers.

Wednesday, Sept. 27 – The annual Husky Run should take place on this date. This year’s route around campus may be a little different, due to construction.

Saturday, Sept. 30 – First practice. Teams begin practicing six weeks before their first game. That actually means the Huskies could start on Friday, Sept. 29, but Kevin Ollie typically likes to start that Saturday morning.

Monday, Oct. 16 – AAC Media Day. This will be held in Philadelphia for the second straight year. The general public probably doesn’t care, but it’s a good time for media to talk to players and coaches from around the league as the season approaches.

Monday, Oct. 30 – UConn’s first exhibition game. No, not against the University of St. Joseph. It’ll be against Merrimack, though not sure if it’ll be in Storrs or Hartford just yet.

Tuesday, Nov. 14 – The Huskies will play Stony Brook in their only previously-unannounced non-conference game. Again, not sure if it will be in Storrs or Hartford yet.

Meanwhile, on the recruiting front, UConn will be getting a visit from coveted point guard Jalen Carey out of New Jersey. The Huskies were in on Carey early so they should feel good about where they stand with him.

Other potential visits over the next few weeks include Tyron Brewer of Mississippi, Keyontae Johnson out of Oak Hill Academy and Andrew Nembhard out of Montverde Academy in Florida.

UConn is adding another player to next season's roster.

Kwintin Williams, a 6-7 forward with freakish athleticism, committed to the Huskies on Sunday afternoon.

Here's my story in the New Haven Register on Williams, who claims a 44-inch vertical leap and would like to increase that by about four inches.

And here are some quotes from my phone conversation with him on Sunday:

“I had a couple other high-major schools. I was talking to Pitt, TCU, Oregon, WSU, UNLV."

"Coach Ollie, when he called me, it wasn’t all about basketball. He was telling me about the UConn family and relationship me and him would be able to have off floor as well as on floor. That led me away from the ACC and Pac 12. I feel like I can come in and have an immediate impact in the American Conference. It's all about relationships with the coach, and I felt I had the best relationship here."

"I'm more of a solid 3, could be 4, go to 2, could guard all five positions"

"My vertical is 44 inches now, and I'm trying to get to at least 48 inches."

"I've always had pretty good hops. It's the hunger, aggression I play with, that always helps. Some people jump occasionally, I jump all 40 minutes. The whole game, I’m in there getting it done. The drive, energy, stuff I bring to floor, as well as aggression to win, or to go get ball. Not everybody jumps for every rebound. That’s a big part of my game: put-backs, tip-ins."

"I took the year off, couldn’t do anything, didn’t need any offers. I was behind the bar on grades, my GPA wasn't the best. I sat down and realized what it takes to play ball. I got 40 credits and held a 3.2 GPA all year."

"I took the year off to get 3 years of eligibility."

Williams said he's originally from Oklahoma City, but he and his mom and grandmother moved to Alaska when he was young. He still lives in Alaska but hopes to be in Storrs by early August."

"Coach Ollie on the phone, he was real with me. Everything he said seemed to add up. That relationship, you don't come across that with too many high-major coaches."

Had a nice chat with Kevin Ollie and Josh Carlton today. Look for story on Carlton in Wednesday's Register.

Here's some of what Ollie had to say about a number of different topics:

Kevin Ollie

(2017-18 outlook)

I think our ballhandling’s gonna be much improved, especially with Alterique coming back and Jalen coming off an outstanding season.

(Looking back on last season's disappointment, injuries)

“It happens, it’s part of the game, we’re not making any excuses about it. I’m just glad to see those guys healthy.”

“Two weeks left in the season, we were fighting for third. Then we kind of had a letdown at the end of the season.”

“I was proud of the guys overall. Proud of the coaching staff. We just learned a lot. I know I learned a lot. I had never been through anything like that in my career as a head coach or an assistant.”

(Alterique Gilbert)

"He's still not 100 percent. We're still kinda cautious with everything, He'll do some contact, then lean off that a little bit. In July, we're gonna allow him to go full-contact, 5-on-5."

"He’s a tremendous leader. He has a great work ethic, and just seeing him out there, I think it really helps our team and our psyche, just to see that leadership out there. He’s a pit bull on the basketball court. He loves what he does, and you can see it in everything he does – every behavior he does, he’s kinda like a quiet leader."

(Will next year's team try to run more, go with smaller lineups?)

“That’s got to be the game plan. We don’t want to go down and face set defenses all the time. But that goes back to defensive rebounding. If you want to be a great running team, you’ve got to play good defense and rebound the basketball.”

(Mamadou Diarra)

"Mamadou’s been going full strength, getting up at 6:30 a.m., working out with Carlos Daniels, coming back to practice center doing individual work. No swelling in the knee, no bad feedback, every day he's recovering and coming back stronger."

(Terry Larrier)

Terry Larrier

"Terry’s doing great. He’s a man on a mission ... Terry’s really stepping up vocally, in workouts, going above and beyond the things we ask. I think the switch has really flipped on by him.”

(Will it be good for UConn to go into next season with lesser expectations, a bit under the radar?)

“I’d love to be No. 1. I don’t run away from expectations. I don’t care if we’re eighth or 10^th in the preseason – in Connecticut, they expect us to win. That’s the expectations that we come into each and every year, and that’s how we’re evaluated. I understand that pressure. I played here, I coached here. I like that pressure. I think that’s a privilege. If people want to call us an underdog, this and that, it is what it is. We want to just come in and play.”

“In February, when we’re coming back from SMU and you’ve got to get up for school at 8 a.m. and then come back in for practice – can you be committed then? That’s when I’ll know if we have a championship-caliber team.”

(Jalen Adams)

"Just being more consistent in big games – SMU, Cincinnati games. Stretch the defense more. He's a fantastic open-court basketball player. I want him to be known as one of the best defensive guards in our conference. That’s an area he can improve on.”

"His ankle was messed up the last three weeks. The way he gutted it out for us and gutted it out for me, and it’s not like we pushed him or anything. He wanted to play. That was big-time. Now, just giving him a little time to rest his ankle, get it back to full strength, that’s kind of what we’re doing with him now. But what he did those last three weeks … people didn’t write about that, but we knew about it. His ankle was bothering him. But he wanted to push through for the team and give it his all.”

(Does he think the program is still in good shape?)

“I don’t think, I know. Guys left, made their own decisions. It happens. I wish them the best of luck, but we have to move on. I don’t have time to be looking back. I’m running towards my destiny, and I think this program is running towards their destiny. We don’t have time to go back. We learned from it, we got through it. We’re focused on a new task this season to get the guys that are putting these jerseys on and going out here playing for this great university.”

“I know this program is in a good state. We’ve graduated guys, we did a remarkable job academically. On the basketball court, yeah, we took a step back. Everybody understands the different circumstances that happened. But, at the end of the day, I thought we played hard, we competed.”

“We have to win. I can’t keep going 15-17, we all know that. But I really admire the men that they’ve become. I hope everybody sees that, too.”

“We have a great program. It’s not for everybody. If you want to be here, come in with the mentality, you’re going to be successful. A lot of guys on that wall have done it, and it’s not all based on talent.”

(Will Antwoine Anderson help compliment Adams, Gilbert and Christian Vital in the backcourt?)

"(With a smile) Compliment? He’s gonna make them compete a little bit more, too. He’s really good. He’s what we need. He’s a push guard, he loves to play defense, he’s got a chip on his shoulder. Those guys stepping up a little bit want to prove themselves. He’s kind of what we need. He’s got the veteran leadership, but then he also has the tenacity to get out there defensively. He’s very shifty with the ball, he’s gonna give us another ballhandler.”

(Josh Carlton)

“Very skilled, big body. It’s not like we’re telling Carlos to put 25 pounds on him. We want to get him more lean and physically in shape, condition-wise. Very talented around the rim, can rebound. He’s just got a big body. I expect him to compete for minutes. He could be, eventually, a person that we can throw it down low to. He can command a double team, eventually. But I really think his skill level is close to (Steve) Enoch’s. Enoch is better skilled than him now, but I kind of compare those two, skill-wise. Great touch around the basket. Hopefully, he can come in and compete for some minutes.”

"We want to get him more athletic, boost his jumping ability, his fast-twitch muscles, being able to react on defensive end. Only way they get on court is if they pick up defensive schemes. Hopefully, he can do that."

(Eric Cobb)

"He went through an ordeal at South Carolina, took whatever punishment came his way, then went to JUCO and proved himself there and did great academically. Now, he’s coming back to get his second chance to play Division I basketball. I really think he has that motivation in his heart to say, ‘Man, I went through some stuff, but I’m better now.’ I think he has a toughness that we kind of lacked sometimes last year against the bigger teams.”

"His fault, not his fault – he was part of it. I think he took that under consideration, how he needs to change his life, the circle that he was running with. Now he’s a better man for it. I’m very intrigued by him.”

(Keeping two scholarship spots open)

“Just in case Andre Drummond falls out of the sky. We’re working. Some 2018’s that can be 2017’s, and still some guys transferring, we might bring in transfer and have him sit out and be a part of our system while not playing. That would be ideal.”

Ollie said that Amida Brimah will likely play for Miami in the Orlando Summer League, then with Chicago out in Las Vegas. It seems the Bulls have the most interest in Brimah.

UConn will begin a three-game series with Villanova on Jan. 20, 2018 at the XL Center in Hartford, the school announced on Thursday.

The series will shift to a neutral site, Madison Square Garden, on Dec. 22, 2018, with the final game being played at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 18, 2020.

Villanova owns a 33-31 all-time advantage over the Huskies, including a 70-61 win at XL in the teams' final meeting as Big East foes on Feb. 16, 2013.

Of course, a little over a year later, they'd meet again in an NCAA tournament second-round game. And UConn won that one, 77-65, en route to its fourth national title.

Here's the press release sent out by UConn:

UConn and Villanova, former longtime rivals in the Big East Conference, have agreed to a three-game series in men’s basketball that will begin this coming season and run through 2019-20.

The series will bring together two of the past four NCAA champions -- - UConn in 2014 and Villanova in 2016. The schools will start the series on Jan. 20, 2018, when they meet at the XL Center in Hartford.

The second game of the series is scheduled for Dec. 22, 2018, at Madison Square Garden as a neutral-site game. The final game of the series will be held on Jan. 18, 2020, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

“We are very excited to renew our series with Villanova, and especially pleased to be able to play one of the games in the tremendous basketball atmosphere of Madison Square Garden,” UConn had coach Kevin Ollie said. “We have had so many memorable games against Villanova over the years and Coach (Jay) Wright obviously has one of the very best programs in the country. I know our fans will be thrilled to see the Wildcats back on our schedule.”

UConn has an overall 31-33 record against Villanova in a series that began in 1941. As Big East rivals for 33 years, beginning in 1980-81, the Huskies were 28-31 against the Wildcats -- 1-17 during the first eight seasons and 27-14 during the last 25. In their final game as conference colleagues in 2013, Villanova took a 70-61 decision at the XL Center.

UConn, however, has won five of its last six games against Villanova, including a 77-65 victory in their last meeting, on March 22, 2014, in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo. The Huskies went on to capture the 2014 National Championship, the fourth in the history of the program.

“UConn and Villanova have enjoyed exciting games over a long history. This series honors the great tradition of Villanova and Connecticut basketball,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright. “Facing UConn was always a challenge and will be again. Coach Ollie was one of the toughest and smartest players in Big East history and he instills those same qualities in his team.”

Over the last five years, Villanova has compiled an outstanding 149-31 record (.828) and made five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including winning the program’s second national championship in 2016.

Tremont Waters chose LSU over UConn, Georgetown.

With the (not unexpected) news that New Haven's own Tremont Waters is heading off to LSU, it would appear yet another indignity in UConn's recruiting season of discontent.

It started back in January, when Hamidou Diallo chose Kentucky over the Huskies. It continued on as one UConn target after another opted for different programs, most notably Sidney Wilson picking St. John's a couple of weeks ago.

Add it all to Makai Ashton-Langford backing out of his commitment, three players (Steve Enoch, Vance Jackson and Juwan Durham) bolting the program and ... well, the optics aren't good.

So I called around to some New England-based prep and AAU coaches to see what the perception of UConn is these days. Here's some of what they had to say.

JASON SMITH, Brewster Academy head coach:

"It's still definitely one of the premier programs in the country. Coach Ollie is tremendous, and I think they made a fantastic hire. Coach (Raphael) Chillious is one of my closest friends in the business, one of the coaches I communicate with most frequently."

"I know they've had some hiccups the last month or two, but that's part of how recruiting goes in cycles."

The 'Top Five' is now down to 'Top Three'

"They're gonna be more than fine. Coach Chillious, Dwayne Killings are two of the most respected assistant coaches in the business. Coach Ollie's proven to be a championship-caliber coach himself. I think UConn is one of the premier programs in the country. Everything goes in cycles. You'll see them bounce back, have a great year, then continue to recruit great guys."

JERE QUINN, St. Thomas More head coach:

"I think it's taken a hit. Unfortunately, the conference lacks the luster with a lot of these kids. They're in with the top players with every other major program. But the league doesn't bring a lot of national prominence. The rivalries are new; it's a new league trying to find itself. Connecticut is still going after the top-echelon kids in the U.S., and they've got some pretty good players, too."

"It's very difficult for those guys to compete against the Big 10, the Big East, the ACC. If you ask the same question to the people at East Carolina or Tulane - nothing against them, but they're not going after the same kids UConn is going after."

We'll have much more in Wednesday's Register, including Smith's views on why Ashton-Langford de-committed from UConn and went to Providence, and why Wilson picked St. John's. Smith coached both players at Brewster.

Also a bit more on Smith's relationship with Chillious, and Quinn's take on why Christian Vital elected to remain at UConn.

*** Meanwhile, UConn is still heavily interested in Class of 2018 point guard Luguentz Dort from Canada. Chillious saw him drop 36 points against 22 Feet Academy (S.C.) while still at Washington to see Mamadou Diarra (not the UConn kid, the kid that recently committed to Cincinnati). The Huskies are still inquiring about the score-first point guard, but Louisville likes him a lot, too, as does Florida and old friend Andre LaFleur at UNLV, among others.

*** And add this name to UConn's recruiting interests: Brycen Goodine, a 6-foot-4, Class of 2019 combo guard from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He preps at St. Andrew's, and comes from good stock: his mom played at Providence, and his dad, Jonathan DePina, was a guard at UMass.

DePina also was a mentor to a young kid from Roxbury by the name of Shabazz Napier.

It'll be a homecoming for Kevin Ollie and Vance Jackson on Thursday night as UConn faces Loyola Marymount, an L.A. stopover en route to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational next week.

Hard to believe the Huskies are 0-2 heading into the game, but such is the case. Here's an advance on the game, and here's a game capsule.

As mentioned in the advance, Mamadou Diarra's knee is still bothering him quite a bit. Nothing's been decided yet, but Ollie brought up the word "red-shirt," noting it is a distinct possibility for Diarra this season.

The news was better on Christian Vital, who sat out Monday's loss to Northeastern with back spasms. Although Ollie said that Vital's participation in practice was limited, he has been cleared to play on Thursday night.

And so it begins ...

What could be a very intriguing season for UConn kicks off tonight at Gampel against a very competitive Wagner squad.

The Huskies enter the season ranked 18th, which feels about right (one spot lower than where I had them on my preseason AP ballot). There's no doubt the talent is here, it's just that much of it is young, or relatively inexperienced. Almost every unit Kevin Ollie puts on the floor tonight will likely be playing together in a real game for the first time. (Starting lineup prediction: Jalen Adams, Alterique Gilbert, Rodney Purvis, Terry Larrier, Amida Brimah).

So, it'll be interesting to see how it all works out. But it should be a fun journey, one that will take the Huskies through Los Angeles, Hawaii, Madison Square Garden, the nation's capitol and their AAC slate.

And it all starts tonight. Buckle up!

Here's my advance for tonight's Wagner game.

Here's what Kevin Ollie and Jim Calhoun had to say about Ray Allen's announcement that he's retiring from the NBA:

OLLIE:

“I believe we are all well-aware of the tremendous impact that Ray has had, not only on the UConn basketball program, but on the game of basketball at its highest level. His skills on the court were obvious, but the daily work ethic he maintained in order to retain those skills for so long was truly inspiring.

“On a personal level for me, Ray has been a great teammate both at UConn and in the NBA and he continues to be an even better friend.

“I know he now enjoys being able to spend time with his wonderful family and with his second family at UConn as well. I wish him nothing but the best.”

CALHOUN:

“We have had many great players through the years, but Ray is probably the No. 1 name brand we’ve had. We, at UConn, can all be proud of what he accomplished here and the greatness that he achieved when he went on to the NBA.

“He is obviously a very special player and he’s also a very special person on and off the court.”

Happy to announce that I'll be an AP Top 25 men's basketball voter again this year. The first preseason poll comes out on Oct. 31, but we have to send them in by Oct. 24.

So, here's the preseason poll I've sent in, along with the five-man All-America team they also request:

PRESEASON TOP 25

1. Duke: This seems too easy, but it's hard to deny Grayson Allen and one of Coach K's best recruiting classes. Almost had them No. 2 because of Harry Giles' health concerns, but it appears he'll be back soon.

2. Kansas: Gee, ya think they'll win the Big 12 again?

3. Oregon: UConn could meet Ducks in Maui next month.

4. Kentucky: You know the deal - great recruiting class, etc., etc.

5. Virginia: I liked Austin Nichols a lot at Memphis, and I love him with the Cavs. He and London Perrantes make a heck of a tandem.

6. Villanova: Why do I think the loss of Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu will hurt the defending champs more than others seem to believe?

7. Xavier: Until Billy Preston commits next year, Myles Davis will be the butt of most of my music-related college hoops jokes. Sorry in advance

8. North Carolina: UConn could meet Tar Heels in second game in Maui. Would be fun.

9. Wisconsin

10. Indiana: Are we sure Yogi Ferrell has graduated?

11. UCLA: Daniel Hamilton may have gone pro, but his brother Isaac could be poised for stardom.
Arizona.

12. Arizona

13. Saint Mary's: Not a misprint. I liked the Gaels last year, and I love veteran teams that bring back their entire starting five.

14. Michigan State: Gavin Schilling's knee surgery a huge concern for Spartans.

15. Gonzaga

16. Cincinnati: With Troy Caupain, Gary Clark, Jacob Evans and NC State big man transfer Kyle Washington in tow, I think Bearcats deserve to be favorites in the American. Watch out for Washington. He put up big numbers against UNC and Syracuse a couple of years ago.

17. UConn: There's no doubt the Huskies have the most talent in the AAC, but a lot of it is young and new, and it may take a while to mesh. That may mean some early-season struggles, but by February, I think Kevin Ollie & crew will have it figured out. Season finale vs. Cincy at Gampel could be for regular season title.

18. URI: It gives me no extra pleasure voting in my alma mater. (OK, maybe a little). But seriously, a healthy E.C. Matthews and Hassan Martin makes Dan Hurley's Rams legit.

19. Louisville: How many games for Rick Pitino? Gotta be at least nine, right?

20. Syracuse

21. West Virginia

22. Iowa State

23. Texas

24. Purdue

25. Florida State: New Haven native Tharon Mayes' stepson, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, is a star.

ALL-AMERICAN TEAM:

(FYI, I don't put freshmen on my preseason All-American team)

Grayson Allen, Duke

Jaron Blossomgam, Clemson

Josh Hart, Villanova

Ivan Rabb, California

Thomas Bryant, Indiana

It may be football season, but basketball season isn't all that far away, either. Here are some upcoming dates for UConn men's basketball fans to keep in mind:

• The UConn men's hoops team will be signing autographs prior to Saturday's UConn-Syracuse football game at Rentschler from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at the Fan Fest area. The football game starts at 1 p.m. At the conclusion of the first quarter, UConn players will be presented with a hand-crafted surfboard, recognizing their participation in this year's Maui Invitational in November.

• The annual Husky Run will be held on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. This will be toned down from recent years, with just UConn players participating.

(Oh, and did you see what Donyell Marshall's doing in his first year as CCSU's head coach on Wednesday? Looks familiar!)

• UConn's first official practice is on Saturday, Oct. 1.

• UConn's First Night festivities will be held on Friday, Oct. 14. Bit of a different wrinkle this year, 

Here's the schedule of  First Night events:

3 p.m.: Doors open for First night/UConn women's volleyball (4 p.m. match)

First 50 students in line will be granted premium courtside seating. Also, the first 300 fans to sign up at the marketing table inside the South entrance will be granted entrance into a "Selfie Session" with the teams. 

4 p.m. UConn volleyball vs. UCF

5:30 p.m. Selfie session begins in the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center

7 p.m. Fan promotions and on-court entertainment begins

7:30 p.m. Showtime

The highlight of the festivities will be the Blue vs. White scrimmage, which will consist of four, five-minute segments - two featuring men vs. men, two featuring women vs. women. 

The teams will be chosen beforehand, but fans will be able to vote for which team they would like to see coached by Geno Auriemma and which they would like to see coached by Kevin Ollie. Voting will take place on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram starting on Sept. 29 and ending on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

• Finally, the AAC's Media Day will be held Monday, Oct. 24 in Philadelphia. 

UConn will participate in the inaugural PK80 - Phil Knight Invitational next year over Thanksgiving week. Here's the press release:


PK80: 16-Team College Hoops Event in 2017 from ESPNFrontRow on Vimeo.

The creation of PK80 – Phil Knight Invitational, a 16-team, early-season men’s college basketball tournament honoring Nike co-founder and 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phil Knight in advance of his 80th birthday, will take place over Thanksgiving week in 2017 from Portland, Ore. One of the largest regular-season tournaments in college basketball history, sporting a field featuring some of the top schools in the nation, will be played Thursday, Nov. 23, Friday, Nov. 24 and Sunday, Nov. 26, from the Rose Quarter’s Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Participating schools include Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.

“On behalf of the 16 schools participating in PK80, we are honored to be highlighting Mr. Knight’s contributions to college basketball,” said Clint Overby, vice president, ESPN Events. “The strength of the field coupled with the two venues in Portland set the stage for what should be an exciting weekend.”

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to host 16 of the country’s best college basketball teams while honoring a man whose influence on the game and our region is immeasurable,” said Chris Oxley, senior vice president of venue operations, Rose Quarter. “PK80 will be an incredible showcase of basketball for fans in our arenas and watching on ESPN.”

Two eight-team events – consisting of three games per team – will run simultaneously in the two buildings with the crowning of two bracket champions. All games from Portland will be televised on ESPN networks.

Field Highlights

· The schools have combined for 23 National Championships, more than 85 Final Fours, more than 380 NCAA Championship appearances and more than 680 NCAA Championship wins

· Ten of the 16 schools have won a NCAA title

· Nine of the past 13 National Champions are in the field

· Thirteen of the 16 schools have made at least one Final Four appearance

Ticket information and tournament bracket will be announced at a later date. PK80 was created on behalf of the schools and is owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, in conjunction with the Rose Quarter.

Participating Coach’s Quotes


“It’s an honor to be included in this prestigious group of college basketball programs and to get the chance to participate in an event as exciting as the PK80. The level of competition, as well as the college basketball atmosphere, will make it a tremendous experience for everyone involved, especially the student-athletes. After all he’s done for college basketball, there is no more appropriate way to help Phil Knight celebrate such a special birthday.” – UConn head coach Kevin Ollie

UConn has been killing it on the recruiting trail lately. Pun intended.

Over the last couple of weeks, the Huskies have received pledges from a trio of Class of 2017 recruits: Makai Ashton-Langford, who chose UConn over Providence in a down-to-the-wire battle; Josh Carlton, a 6-10 center from DeMatha High (originally from North Carolina) and, on Tuesday, Tyler Polley, a 6-8 1/2 forward from the Sagemont School in Florida. If that school sounds familiar, it's because former UConn commit Prince Ali played there, too, and was a teammate of Polley's. Ali wound up de-committing, of course, and heading to UCLA, but there were no hard feelings, and he spoke well of UConn to Polley.

Polley's recruitment is also interesting because he had started being recruited by Dwayne Killings about a year ago when Killings was an assistant coach at Temple. Killings, of course, joined UConn's staff this past spring, continued Polley's recruitment and got Kevin Ollie interested in him. And, voila, another Husky commitment.

Kevin Ollie's golf tournament has now raised more than $1 million over the past 15 years to support people with disabilities in sports. Here's the press release:

Former UConn players (l. to r.) Donny Marshall, Kevin Ollie and Ray Allen.

The 2016 Kevin Ollie Charity Golf Classic presented by Walmart and PMR/Prime Materials Recovery, Inc. broke records and smiles on and off the course.

This is the 15th year of Kevin Ollie's involvement in the Tournament and with the $170,000 raised this year the Tournament has now donated more than $1 million to help support people with disabilities through sports.  For the first time, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Lake of Isles in North Stonington hosted the event.

"Our goal is help give every child a shot," Coach Ollie said.

But the event was not about playing golf—because every child deserves a shot.  For thirty years, Tournament proceeds have underwritten many programs and athletic events for athletes with disabilities on the world stage and weekend warriors, including Paralympic Gold Medalist Paul Nitz, Ivan Lendl’s Wheelchair Tennis Camp, Connecticut Sled Hockey, and The Miracle Field in West Hartford. Ollie is now building Kevin's Kourts, inclusive basketball courts throughout Connecticut.  Coach Ollie announced that he anticipates breaking ground this Fall in Waterbury on the second "Kevin's Kourt", with a previously announced grant from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA).

Coach Ollie was joined by NBA star Ray Allen, Southern Connecticut State University Men's Basketball Head Basketball Coach Scott Burrell, TV Basketball Analyst Donny Marshall, NFL Legend Sterling Sharpe and UConn team mates and other former players.

Earlier in the weekend Coach Kevin Ollie and his UConn Coaching Staff hosted a clinic for 80 area Tribal youth at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Community Center.

“It’s an honor to partner with the Kevin Ollie Charity Classic.  I’ve witnessed firsthand how inspiring and influential Kevin’s organization is in working with disabled youth,” says Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.  “These programs not only provide access to sports that help build confidence, but also helps kids establish valuable problem-solving and teamwork skills that they’ll use the rest of their lives.”

The Kevin Ollie Charity Classic also announced its annual 2016 Schamback Award Winner, Paige McCullouch-Casciano, a recreational therapist at Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital who co-founded an adaptive rowing program in Hartford; and 2016 George McLaughlin Award Winner, 17 year old David Gelfand. Although born with Proximal Focal Femoral Defiency, missing the bones between his  hip and foot on his left side, David captains the Weston High School swim team.

Been a while since I've blogged, so here's a mega-post off today's "Meet the Freshmen" at the Werth Center. This group of frosh is calling themselves "The Top Five," and they certainly could be one of the program's better classes when it's all said and done.

'The Top Five' (l. to r.), Vance Jackson, Juwan Durham, Christian Vital, Mamadou Diarra, Alterique Gilbert.

Here's some sights and sounds from this afternoon:

JUWAN DURHAM:

(on how good this freshman class can be)

“I believe that it’s the best in the country right now. We have guys that can do everything. We have scorers, decent defensive players, we have vocal leaders in Alterique and Christian, a shooter like Vance, a nice big like Mamadou, and versatility in myself, I believe. Coach K.O. told us that we have a chance to start. You know he doesn’t keep the same starting lineup, so whoever’s out there working the hardest and doing the best that they can do, they’ll be able to start.”

(on getting adjusted to life on UConn's campus)

“I like the area, because there’s not much in Storrs to do, other than play basketball and go to class. That’s what I really liked about it. I liked the campus, I liked the coaching staff and I liked the team. I knew the incoming freshmen class that we already have, with Mamadou and Alterique, I knew I’d be in good hands with those guys. We have good leaders in Kentan Facey and Jalen Adams and Rodney Purvis and Amida (Brimah).”

“I grew up in the city. Tampa, Florida … is really a fast-paced city, a lot of big buildings and stuff like that, interstates. Out here, there’s nothing but giant bugs. I saw an ant probably the size of my big toe. It’s crazy stuff that I’ve never seen before. It’s something new. I can go back and tell my family back at home. I took a video of a bee, I think it was. It was like that big (stretches fingers out). I was really confused about that.”

VANCE JACKSON:

ALTERIQUE GILBERT:

CHRISTIAN VITAL:

“You see Vance, he’s a 6-8 shooter, scorer, versatile. Alterique and I have no problem playing together – obviously he’s not playing yet, his shoulder’s still recovering, but we talk about (things like) I don’t mind if he brings up the ball, I don’t need to bring up the ball every time, he doesn’t need to bring the ball up all the time, he’s a selfless person – you see Mamadou, he’s a beast on the boards and starting to work on his mid-range shot, and Juwan, he’s still recovering, but he’s 6-11 and we were shooting around and he made, like, 10 3’s in a row. So, this class is really, really talented and versatile. I believe we’re one of the best recruiting classes in 2016. We need to prove it during the season.”

“Obviously, we want to win a national championship. That’s what everyone wants to do. We just talk about getting better as a group, pushing each other, making sure that no one person is slacking. Because if one person is slacking out of the five of us, we’re all slacking. We’re a team, we’re close with our other teammates, as well, but there’s something about that freshman group. Your class you come in with, you’re just a little bit tighter with, because you’re experiencing something new at the same time. We just talk about sticking together and keep getting each other better.”

(on whether he's a 'Kevin Ollie-type player,' as his prep coach called him)

“I think that’s one of the pictures coach K.O. was telling me when he was recruiting me, that you’re extremely hard-working. He spent 13 years in the NBA and he was never the best player on his team, he never averaged multiple points a game, he was just a hard-worker. He says I can shoot better than him, but those intangibles of working hard and wanting it more than other people, that I can achieve my dreams, too. And he can help me to that. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to play for Coach K.O.”

(on how his best friend, Steve Enoch, helped persuade him to come to UConn)

“I kind of spoke to him before it went public and told him what my five were gonna be. From then, he was texting me, ‘Listen, bro, what are you doing? Just commit now. Just commit now.’ So he definitely had an impact on me coming here.”

(on his friendship with Enoch)

“We just became such close friends (at St. Thomas More). We have the same interests off the court. We like to work out. We go to the gym at 6:30 a.m., preseason and during the season. We’d hang out in each other’s rooms, play video games when there was nothing much else to do on a prep school campus. It’s not like we could leave, so we just really bonded together. That’s my best friend.”

(on Enoch playing for Team Armenia this summer)

“I spoke to him yesterday. I was like, ‘Good luck out there, do your thing.’ I spoke to him the other night to work hard out there. You’re not there for no reason. He’s new to basketball. He wasn’t really on varsity from his freshman year like a lot of other players. So I told him, you’re out there for a reason, work hard, do your thing, and enjoy your experience out there.”

MAMADOU DIARRA:

“I think this group is gonna be really special. We’re already half the team this year, so we’re gonna all play major roles with the team. We’re with each other all day, so we’re jelling, and that’s gonna help us out a lot. Everybody brings their own uniqueness.”

(defense and rebounding)

“That’s gonna be my niche to get on the floor. And I know I’ve got to develop offensively. But I figure once I get in the gym all the time and put in that work, that’s gonna come eventually. But I’m gonna deal with my strengths at first, and then grow from there.”

Kevin Ollie will open his first wheelchair-accessible basketball court on Monday at the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford, as part of his "Kevin's Kourt" initiative.

Ollie, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, chairman Rodney Butler of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and others will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony starting at 4 p.m. Instead of cutting down the nets (as Ollie did in 2014 as national champion coach) this ceremony will be about putting up nets.

UConn has received a national letter-of-intent from Christian Vital. Here's the press release the school sent out this afternoon:

The UConn men's basketball program has received a signed Letter of Intent from Christian Vital, a combination guard from Queens Village, N.Y., who will join the freshman class of 2016-17.

Vital, 6-2 and 170 pounds, averaged 16.2 points per game last season at St. Thomas More (Oakdale, Conn.), helping the Chancellors to a 31-7 record and the National Prep Championship finals.
Vital is known as a high-energy athlete, who can play either guard position, with an outstanding long range jumper, and is a solid defender. But UConn coach Kevin Ollie feels that he brings to the program much more than his basketball skills.

"Besides being a great basketball player with a great basketball mind, Christian is just an outstanding leader," Ollie said. "He has won wherever he's been. He's a great person who lifts your spirit when you're around him.

"Christian's ability to play both guard positions and his leadership qualities are what intrigued us. His combination of talent and character are what we're looking for in our student-athletes. We think he'll be a wonderful addition to the program."

Vital was a New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class AAA All-New England First-Team selection. He scored 13 points, including three three-pointers, and handed out seven assists in the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game, in which he played with fellow UConn incoming recruit Mamadou Diarra.

"He may have improved more than any kid I've ever had here for two years," St.Thomas More coach Jere Quinn told the Norwich Bulletin. "He's such a hard worker. First to show up in the gym, last to leave --- that kind of kid."

Vital is also well-acquainted with more of his future UConn teammates. In 2014-15 at St. Thomas More, he was a teammate of UConn rising sophomore forward Steve Enoch, he played he played AAU ball with current UConn redshirt sophomore Terry Larrier, and knows UConn rising sophomore Jalen Adams from the AAU and NEPSAC circuits
.
Vital joins UConn's highly-touted recruiting class which has been consistently rated among the top 10 in the country, including forward Diarra (Queens, N.Y.), guard Alterique Gilbert (Lithonia, Ga.), and forwards Vance Jackson (Altedena, Calif.), and Juwan Durham (Tampa, Fla.).

Zach Brown, we hardly knew ye.

In what can hardly be called a surprise, Brown, the 7-foot center out of Miami, has de-committed from UConn. He and Kevin Ollie spoke on a conference call on Thursday afternoon and agreed it was what was best for both parties. There are no hard feelings, according to a source, it just wound up not being a good fit.

Brown, of course, committed to UConn in January and left his Miami home about a week later to enroll at Putnam Science Academy. He played a few games for PSA, but was involved in a postgame fracas in February and eventually released from the school.

He returned to Miami, made an ill-fated effort to return to Putnam, and eventually re-enrolled in his original high school, Miami Beach High. He's currently playing for the Nike South Beach EYBL team. One of his teammates is Chaundee Brown, a 6-5, Class of 2017 shooting guard who has been offered by UConn.

Talked to Vance Jackson and his Prolific Prep coach, Billy McKnight, by phone the other night and wrote a story about how Jackson's role could be even bigger than originally anticipated next season, with the departure of Daniel Hamilton to the NBA.

No doubt, Jackson is excited to get to UConn. He's due to arrive on May 29 for summer courses, and plans to stay most of the summer.

Couple of interesting things: Jackson's prime recruiter was Karl Hobbs, who is now at Rutgers as associate head coach. One thing I neglected to mention in the article is that Jackson texts with Jalen Adams almost every day. The gist of those texts:

"We just talk about how excited we are for next year, and how we've got to come in and shock the world, because a lot of people are sleeping on UConn," Jackson said.

Also in the article, McKnight pointed out that Jackson struggled mid-season with his role on the team, and with the way shots were distributed on a team full of fellow D-1 players. Ultimately, Jackson figured it all out and ended the season with a flourish. McKnight said Jackson's biggest challenge as a freshman will be to find and accept whatever role he's asked to do in Kevin Ollie's offense.

Ah yes, Ollie. Didn't get a chance to ask Jackson or McKnight about the latest rumors that Ollie is interested in the Lakers' job, because the rumors hadn't quite surfaced yet when I spoke with the two. Plus, I highly doubt it's going to happen.

Sure, I've been told by someone within college basketball that one of the reasons Hobbs left UConn is because of the belief that Ollie will leave for the Lakers. Yes, it makes perfect sense that Ollie would want to return to his hometown of L.A. to coach one of the premiere franchises in all of sports -- particularly if he's given the autonomy he reportedly would like.

But I don't see it happening. Yet. He has a great recruiting class coming in. He has a daughter in high school in Connecticut and a son playing football at nearby Fordham. He's coaching the U18 national basketball team this summer. And plus, I don't see the Lakers giving Ollie everything he wants, or at least enough to lure him from so many of the things he loves.

Will UConn be Kevin Ollie's final coaching job? No. I don't believe it will be. But I strongly doubt that he'll be coaching the Los Angeles Lakers next season. He'll be coaching Vance Jackson & Co. at UConn.

Interesting stuff from the Jordan Brand Classic regional game today. Here's what Mamadou Diarra, Taurean Thompson and Christian Vital had to day:

THOMPSON (who is taking an official to UConn on Monday, his third official):

“I don’t know a lot about UConn. I know (Daniel) Hamilton just left. I talked to the assistant coaches briefly, I haven’t really talked to (Kevin) Ollie yet. He’s been busy. But when I get there, they’ll let me know what’s going on.”

“After UConn, if it doesn’t feel right, I’m gonna keep brainstorming and use my last two officials.”

Thompson was named Team New York's MVP on Friday after shooting 13-for-15 from the floor for 27 points and 13 boards.

DIARRA:

(on persuading Thompson to come to UConn)

“I was just talking to him in the locker room about it, ‘you’ve got to come to UConn. He’s taking his visit Monday, so hopefully he likes it.”

Diarra, who scored 19 points in Team New York's 148-128 victory on Friday, said he'll likely arrive on UConn's campus around May 31. He's been working on getting stronger and "stepping out a little bit, making jump shots, stretching my game out a little."

But he knows his bread-and-butter will be rebounding and shot-blocking.

“That’s my niche, that’s what I’m gonna need to do to get on the floor. That’s what I’ll keep on doing. Our leading rebounder last year was Daniel Hamilton, and he’s out, too. So that’s a big role that’s missing. They’re gonna need that.”

(on Hamilton's departure to the NBA)

“I’m a little surprised ... He’s good, but players come and players go. That’s just a part of the game. There’s a lot of other guys on the team that can step up and play, like Terry Larrier, Vance Jackson.”

VITAL:

The Queens Village, New York product, played AAU ball with Larrier, knows Jalen Adams from playing prep ball in New England and said Steve Enoch is “my beat friend.”

“I just spoke to him the other day, he told me to get ready for my visit,” Vital reported. “And Coach Ollie is a really great guy, too. You can see how genuine he is about his players. That’s why he shows so much emotion when coaching on the sidelines. And being in Connecticut, UConn is on a lot. When I’m scrolling through the channels, I’m able to watch them play.”

Vital said it's down to UConn, Louisville and Iowa - though it appears UConn and Louisville are the leaders. He'll visit both soon (UConn early next week).Vital spoke glowingly of Louisville.

“You grow up watching Coach Pitino, he’s a great coach,” Vital said. “I can tell he has a lot of great character. A lot of things, as we know, happened down at Louisville, and I am aware of that and I’m thinking about that in my decision. But I don’t feel like you should ever judge someone just because they sin differently than you. Whatever did happen over there, no one’s perfect. They definitely took the steps to get ahead of their sanctions by saying ‘no postseason’ last year and getting rid of scholarships. Coach Pitino can’t come down and see me, that’s part of it ... And also national championships ... I want to compete for a national championship.”