Kwintin Williams

The Husky Run is a week away (Wednesday, Sept. 27, to be exact). UConn begins practice three days after that.

With that in mind, and with so many newcomers joining the Huskies this season (true freshmen, grad transfers, JUCO transfers), we thought we'd link some stories we've written on the newbies over the past few months so that you can get to know them a little better.

It's an intriguing, eclectic bunch: a wide-body with plenty of Southern charm; an athletic St. John's transfer; a high school teammate of Markelle Fultz; a grad transfer from Cornell; a wiry big man who bases his game on Anthony Davis's; the son of a former NFL linebacker;

Eric Cobb

• Eric Cobb is UConn's best big man in the preseason, we're told. He's had some past transgressions - getting booted out of South Carolina two years ago after an arrest. But the affable big man was one of the most engaging players at UConn's recent "Meet the New Huskies" media event, asking sincere questions back to reporters and shaking everybody's hand after his interviews were all done. And, at 6-9, 270 pounds, he's exactly the kind of wide-body UConn will need this winter.
• Antwoine Anderson is a Fordham grad transfer who has hit three buzzer-beating, game-winning shots over the past two seasons. He'll add experienced depth to the Huskies' already strong backcourt.
• David Onuorah, a grad transfer, joins Cobb as perhaps the most in line for early minutes as a big man. The 6-9 shot-blocker sat out almost all of last season at Cornell for personal reasons. He originally hails from Lithonia, Georgia, hometown of UConn redshirt frosh Alterique Gilbert.
• Josh Carlton, is a classic, back-to-the-basket big who was a teammate of NBA No. 1 draft pick Markelle Fultz at DeMatha High. He may be a year or two from being a major contributor for the Huskies.
• Tyler Polley is a small forward with a knack for the "lost art" of the mid-range jumper. His dad, Tommy, was an NFL linebacker for six seasons, and Tyler has memories of pops chasing down Brett Favre in the snow.
• Isaiah Whaley, a wiry, 6-foot-9 forward who models his game after Anthony Davis and has overcome some self-imposed adversity (a shoplifting incident) to become a truly "special kid."
• Of course, Sidney Wilson joins the Huskies after transferring from St. John's a couple of weeks ago. The athletic, 6-7 forward chose the Johnnies over UConn in May but was almost

  

  Sidney Wilson

  immediately unhappy in Queens. He left St. John's a couple of weeks ago, but not after having been enrolled in summer courses. Because of that, he's currently considered a transfer who must sit out the season. He's applied for a waiver to try to become eligible this year, but that seems highly unlikely.
• And, of course, last but not least there's Kwintin Williams, a 6-7 athletic freak with a 44-inch vertical leap. He's 23 and has never played a minute of D-1 basketball, so it remains to be seen just how good and productive he can be. But he sure should be fun to watch.

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."