Say what you want about Mick Cronin (and UConn fans say a lot about him, mostly negative), the guys makes great conversation.

Spoke with Cronin for about a half-hour this morning about his team and, more to the point, the American Athletic Conference. Had a similar conversation with Wichita State's Gregg Marshall late last week.

Marshall's Shockers will be a consensus national top-10 pick this year and without question the pick to win the AAC in their first year in the new league. But don't sleep on Cincinnati. It loses Troy Caupain and Kevin Johnson, but returns everyone else, including its top three scorers (Jacob Evans, Kyle Washington and Gary Clark). And, let's face it, Caupain was pretty disappointing last season, and East Hartford's own Caine Broome (a Sacred Heart transfer) will combine with Justin Jenifer to ease the loss of Caupain at point guard.

Anyway, here's some of what Cronin and Marshall had to say:

CRONIN:

(on addition of Wichita State)

"When our league changed, we gave away the name to the Big East, but obviously lost a lot of quality basketball teams. We picked up some teams from Conference USA trying to raise their program to a new level where the Big East was. For those teams, I think they've gotten a lot better and they continue to add to their basketball budget. A lot of quality coaches were hired. But the facts are, we lost some really good basketball teams. It's great to be able to add basketball school like Wichita State, with everybody back, who'll be ranked in the top-10 this year."

"The fact that they're a basketball school really helps our league as far as showing a commitment to basketball. I think it's hurt us in NCAA seeding, as far as perception. I don't think people on the committee or AD's from around the country realize how good SMU has been."

"We need anything to help our profile. Wichita State does have the respect. Cincinnati and UConn have names because our our history and past. Wichita State, because of their run to the Final Four (in 2013), people know who they are. That's just how it is. But we have another team that's just as perennial in SMU."

"The future is bright for basketball in our league."

(on the fact WSU is basketball-only and doesn't bring the almighty, money-making football to the table)

“I don’t care. And you can quote me on that. It’s great to see somebody cared enough about basketball to do the right thing for basketball in our league. Everything’s done for football. But when you sit in the chair I sit in, (people say) ‘Oh, but we need basketball to win and win big.’ It’s beyond refreshing to see something done for the betterment of basketball in our conference – or any conference.”

(Does the league need UConn to be better?)

"Absolutely. Throw Memphis in, too ... Eight years (combined), eight possible tournaments, what are the odds of them going 3-for-8 (combined)? No doubt, it's important for your traditional schools to be good, in any conference. Whether it's North Carolina and Duke or UCLA and Arizona out west, it's no different. But I think UConn (last year), in all fairness, came down to injuries."

"And guys that go pro early. Give them Daniel Hamilton and tell them how their season went. It makes the margin for errors smaller. It's harder when one or two guys go down. It can devastate you. Nobody's got that kind of depth anymore." 

(on Caine Broome, who will play point guard for Bearcats after being one of nation's leading scorers two years ago at Sacred Heart)

"We knew he was a really good player watching him on film. Once we got him here ... we realized he had to score for Sacred Heart, but he's much more comfortable playing point guard. In fact, he's probably a better passer than scorer. When you look at his Sacred Heart stats, that doesn't make sense. But having him in practice every day, watching him up close, his ability to break down a defense ... he gives us a weapon we haven't had, as far as getting teammates easy shots and being able to get in the paint really at will."

GREGG MARSHALL:

(on AAC)

"I think we've got some nationally-known brands for college basketball. We've got nationally-known coaches that have had national-championship success, coach of the year-type success. We feel like this will be a very, very good opportunity for us to join a conference that should be a multi-bid conference every year. It has teams that can go deep in the tournament."

(on being preseason favorites)

"I really try not to put too much stock in it. I will tell you that I'd much prefer that than to be predicted to be not very good. If I had my druthers, I'd rather be picked as a good team. If people don't expect much from you, you probably haven't been very good."

(on importance of UConn being good)

"I think the key for us to be a very good conference is for as many teams as possible - you can't say all, because if somebody's having a great year, somebody's having a bad - to play up to their potential and what they've done in the past. Teams such as Wichita State, Cincinnati, SMU, Connecticut, Memphis, Temple, now Central Florida, all of those teams. Tulsa has shown in recently it can be one of the best programs in the country. If you can get a lot of those teams to do that, the majority to do that, you can get a handful of bids."

Happy to be an AP Top 25 voter again this season. Fans of teams I don't vote for, or don't vote high enough, aren't happy -- or at least they won't be. We don't know who they are yet, of course, but they'll be out there.

Here's my preseason Top 25 ballot that I submitted last night, along with a five-man All-America team we're asked to contribute. Just couldn't vote North Carolina No. 1. (I mean, is everybody just going to keep whistling in the wind and ignoring perhaps the worst academic scandal in college sports, at least in recent years?) Instead, I'm going with the Heels' former ACC rival, Maryland, which boasts some terrific returnees (Melo Trimble, Jake Layman) and some top-notch newcomers ... including, of course, Diamond Stone.

And while I understand that many freshmen have burst onto the scene and been stars right off the bat in recent years, even leading teams to national titles, I'm erring on the side of caution and not ranking freshman-laden teams too high, for the most part. I'm also excluding freshmen from my preseason All-America team.

And, as you'll notice, I'm giving the AAC some love. This isn't bias or homerism. This is voting for the teams whose talent I'm most familiar with. I really believe UConn has the chance to be a terrific team -- though it may take a little bit for all the newcomers to get on the same page. You could make an argument that the Huskies have four of the league's top 10 players -- and that's not even including Shonn Miller.

I love SMU's talent but was a little wary about how the team would perform, knowing it's barred from the postseason. That wariness changed after Tuesday's AAC Media Day, where Markus Kennedy and Nic Moore appeared to have the perfect attitude in handling the situation -- though it remains to be seen if they can keep that focus when everybody starts talking March Madness come February.

And I'm really high on Cincinnati. I know they're boring, but you can't deny the Bearcats' defense. And, to be honest, they shoot the ball pretty well, too, and figure to score a little better this season. They've got just about everybody back from last year's NCAA team that gave Kentucky all it could handle in the Round of 32, including Octavius Ellis, Troy Caupain and, perhaps the most talented of them all, Gary Clark. And, of course, they've got Mick Cronin back on the sidelines this season.

I wouldn't be surprised if UConn, SMU or Cincinnati win the AAC regular season title. These are three very good teams, and I'm giving them the love they deserve.

1. Maryland
2. North Carolina
3. Kansas
4. Virginia
5. Kentucky
6. Iowa State
7. Oklahoma
8. Duke
9. Gonzaga
10. Arizona
11. Wichita State
12. California
13. UConn
14. Villanova
15. Michigan State
16. Indiana
17. Utah
18. LSU
19. SMU
20. Cincinnati
21. Butler
22. Wisconsin
23. Notre Dame
24. Vanderbilt
25. Texas A&M


All-America:

Kris Dunn, Providence
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga
Georges Niang, Iowa State

Here's a quick breakdown of UConn's 2015-16 schedule

Sun., Nov. 1 Tampa (exhibition) at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Division II program whose facilities UConn borrowed prior to USF game last year

Sat., Nov. 7 New Haven (exhibition)  at XL Center, 1 p.m.
Huskies will look to avenge football team’s loss to Chargers in 1992! First time programs have met in a major sport since.

Fri., Nov. 13 Maine  at Gampel, 7 p.m.
Black Bears coached by former Providence assistant Bob Walsh.

Tues., Nov. 17 New Hampshire at Gampel, 7 p.m.  
Wildcats may be UConn’s toughest low-major foe this season.

Sat., Nov. 21 Furman  at Gampel, TBD
Clearly an excuse to get RI native, Furman grad Brad Faxon over to a UConn game. Or not. This is a Battle 4 Atlantis "subregional" game.

Wed. Nov. 25 vs. Michigan at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, 9:30 p.m.
After disappointing 2014-15, John Beilein-coached Wolverines should be tourney team again. 

Thur., Nov. 26 vs. Syracuse or Charlotte  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
A date with ex-Big East rival Orange sure would be delicious.

Fri., Nov. 27 vs. TBD  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
Final game of Battle 4 Atlantis; could be first of two meetings with Texas.

Wed., Dec. 2 Sacred Heart  at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Pioneers went 9-9 in Northeast Conference last season.

Tue., Dec. 8 vs. Maryland at MSG, 9:30 p.m. 
The Diamond Bowl: Huskies go up vs. frosh Diamond Stone, who rejected UConn for Terps. Maryland should be a preseason national top-five team across the board.

Sat., Dec. 12 Ohio State at Gampel, noon 
First of home-and-home with Buckeyes, who lost NBA lottery pick D’Angelo Russell, several others.

Sun., Dec. 20 UMass-Lowell at XL Center, 4 p.m.  
Last of three America East foes on Huskies’ schedule.

Wed., Dec. 23 CCSU  at XL Center, 12:30 p.m.
Huskies face former assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for second straight season.

Tue., Dec. 29 at Texas  at Erwin Center, 9 p.m.
Longhorns welcome Shaka Smart as new head coach after canning underachieving Rick Barnes; Sterling Gibbs returns to the school at which he started.

Sat., Jan. 2 at Tulane  at Devin Fieldhouse, TBD
With Sugar Bowl night before, New Orleans will be hoppin’ for Huskies’ AAC season opener.

Tue., Jan 5 Temple at XL Center, 8 p.m.
Owls were NCAA tourney’s top snub last year, but won’t make as convincing a case this season.

Sat., Jan. 9 Memphis at Gampel, 7 p.m. 
Austin Nichols transferred to Virginia, but Tigers welcome McD’s All-America brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson.

Thu., Jan. 14 at Tulsa at Reynolds Center, 7 p.m.
Golden Hurricane have every player back from last year’s second-place AAC squad. Literally, everyone.

Sun., Jan. 17 at Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion, 2 p.m.
Hofheinz Pavilion a house of horrors for UConn, who are 0-2 there in AAC play.

Tue., Jan. 19 Tulane at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Green Wave welcome deepest, most talented recruiting class in years.

Sat., Jan. 23 Georgetown at XL Center, noon  

Beginning of home-and-home with Hoyas, who will be strong, led by D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and a top recruiting class that includes former UConn target Jessie Govan

Thu., Jan. 28 Cincinnati at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Bearcats have just about everyone back, including coach Mick Cronin, who missed most of last season with health issue.

Sun. Jan. 31 at Central Florida at CFE Arena, TBD
Two of AAC’s top frosh last year, B.J. Taylor, Adonys Henriquez, lead the way.

Thu., Feb. 4 at Memphis at FedExForum, 9 p.m.
Big man Shaq Goodwin played very well while Nichols was sidelined by injury last season.

Sun., Feb. 7 East Carolina at Gampel, noon
Huskies won’t visit ECU this season as part of AAC unbalanced schedule. Thank God, because last year's trip was a snowy, icy, flight-delayed nightmare. And not just for the writers.

Thu. Feb. 11 at Temple at Liacouras Center, 7 p.m.
Owls will always be dangerous as long as Fran Dunphy is their coach.

Sat., Feb. 13 Tulsa at Gampel, 8 p.m.
There aren’t many better all-around guards in league than James Woodard.

Thu., Feb. 18 SMU at XL Center, TBD
Led by reigning AAC player of year Nic Moore, Larry Brown’s Mustangs will vie for second straight league title.

Sat., Feb. 20 at Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena, TBD
Gary Clark, Octavius Ellis form possibly AAC’s top front line.

Thu., Feb 25 at South Florida at Sun Dome, TBD
Orlando Antigua will get this program turned around, but not this season.

Sun., Feb. 28 Houston at Gampel, TBD
Lots of people like Kelvin Sampson-coached Cougars as sleeper team in AAC. I don't quite see it yet.

Thu., March 3 at SMU at Moody Coliseum, 9 p.m.
Only thing that could hold Mustangs back this year is ongoing NCAA investigation.

Sun., March 6 Central Florida at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Coach Donnie Jones could be on hot seat if Knights don’t show improvement.

Nothing more fun on a Sunday night than to completely ignore the Pro Bowl and figure out my AP Top 25 after another nutty week of college basketball.

It doesn't take much for me to bounce a team from the rankings. There's simply too much parity, too many good teams in the four-, five- and even six-loss club that merit consideration. Really, there are about 25 teams that could fill any of the final 10 or 12 spots in the Top 25, and none would be wrong.

Anyway, this week I say goodbye to Oklahoma (two losses), Stanford (loss to Arizona), San Diego State (loss to Colorado State), Dayton (17-point loss to Davidson) and Seton Hall (goodbye forever). I've added Georgetown, Baylor, Miami, Ohio State and Providence.

Watch out for the Friars, people. Any team that has two great players (Kris Dunn, LaDontae Henton) can do serious damage come tourney time.

Once again, I seriously considered Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane are 14-5 overall, 7-0 in the AAC and boast nice wins over Memphis, Temple and, of course, UConn. Tulsa could easily get to 10-0 over the next two weeks, before hosting SMU, then playing UConn at Hartford on Feb. 12.

The Huskies, of course, have a long way to go before they're ranked again. But I'm sensing Cincinnati could be vulnerable on Thursday night. The loss of Mick Cronin has to hurt them at some point, right? If UConn wins that one, it could easily have a nice little seven-game win streak heading into its Feb. 14 showdown at SMU.

1. Kentucky
2. Virginia
3. Duke
4. Wisconsin
5. Arizona
6. Gonzaga
7. Villanova
8. Wichita State
9. Notre Dame
10. Kansas
11. Louisville
12. Utah
13. Iowa State
14. Maryland
15. West Virginia
16. VCU
17. North Carolina
18. Georgetown
19. Baylor
20. Northern Iowa
21. SMU
22. Miami
23. Ohio State
24. Providence
25. Texas

In this new world that UConn now occupies -- no longer in the Big East, with no more annual bouts against old-time rivals like Syracuse, Georgetown, Pittsburgh or even Providence -- has a new chief rival emerged for the Huskies?

Is Cincinnati now UConn’s biggest rival?

It may not make any sense geographically, and it certainly doesn’t foster the same kind of emotion with UConn fans as the Orange or Hoyas. But no team has been involved in more heated games with the Huskies over the past few seasons than the Bearcats.

UConn holds a 10-5 all-time advantage over Cincy – 9-5 since the Bearcats joined the Big East in 2005-06. But the Huskies won the first five meetings. Since then, the teams have split the last 10 games.

In the last six meetings -- again, an even split between the two -- over the past three seasons, each game was decided by six points or less, or in overtime.

Of course, UConn has won when it’s meant the most – in the 2011 NCAA tournament’s Round-of-32 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and in last year’s AAC tournament semifinal game in Memphis.

The Huskies also beat Cincy in another area last year, when Shabazz Napier beat out Sean Kilpatrick for AAC player of the year honors. Kilpatrick wasn't pleased about this perceived snub, and neither was Cincy coach Mick Cronin, who was heard by Connecticut Post writer Bill Paxton telling Kilpatrick and Justin Jackson that "heroes are made in March, boys. This is all (B.S.)."

And that wasn't the first time that Cronin found himself involved in a controversy involving a UConn player and conference postseason honors -- although, to be fair, this one seemed to be more a Jim Calhoun concoction than anything Cronin actually did.

Of course, Cronin won't be on the sidelines for Saturday's 11 a.m. game at the XL Center. He's out for the rest of the season, at least as head coach, due to an artery problem. Admit it, you'll miss the little devil.

Certainly, there seems to be a little healthy friction between the two programs.

A few years ago, after Syracuse had played its final game against UConn as Big East foes, Jim Boeheim (in between calling Andy Katz an "idiot" and a "dishonest person") noted that the Orange's biggest rival used to be St. Bonaventure.

Then, the Big East formed, and Syracuse hasn't even played the Bonnies in over a decade.

"Your biggest rivals are going to be the teams in your league," Boeheim said.

UConn and Cincinnati, like it or not, are in the same league. Along with Memphis, they're the most decorated programs in this league. And it's too early to call UConn-Memphis a rivalry, especially since the Huskies swept the Tigers in three games last season (twice in Memphis). Rivalries can't be too one-sided.

So, are the Bearcats now UConn's biggest rival? If you say no, it's still Syracuse or Georgetown, remember, they don't consider UConn their biggest rivals. Neither does Duke. Meanwhile, Providence would like to consider UConn its rival, but UConn fans seem to think differently.

Oh, and Cincy considers the Huskies their rivals.

"We've had such close games over the years," said associate head coach Larry Davis, who's taken over for Cronin for the season after Cronin suffered an aneurysm a couple of weeks ago. "They're gonna be a team you've got to go through to win championships every year. Hopefully, we are too. Those are your rival games."

Maybe the Huskies simply don't have a rival right now.

Let me know what you think.

It was AAC Media Day today at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. Kevin Ollie, Ryan Boatright and Amida Brimah represented the Huskies. Rodney Purvis had been slated to attend, but had classwork to tend to.

The Huskies certainly got some love from the league's coaches: Boatright was named preseason player of the year, Daniel Hamilton is preseason freshman of the year, and UConn was tabbed to win the conference. Barely. The Huskies got six first-place votes, SMU got five. And really, that's pretty fair, in my mind. Boatright seems to agree.

Here's some video, notes and quotes:

RYAN BOATRIGHT:


(on UConn barely edging out SMU, by two points, for first place in the preseason coaches' poll)

“I think it was fair. I’m never gonna put another team above us. But I was just telling Amida while Coach (Larry) Brown was talking -- SMU’s gonna be tough. They beat us twice last year, they play tremendous help defense, they can score the ball, they’ve got great players, they move the ball so they’re hard to defend. They’re gonna be a real tough opponent.”

“We’ve still got some learning to do. We’re a younger team. The legs are there, we can get the ball up and down a lot more.”

“I think we’re just as talented (as last year's team). I can’t really say it’s as talented -- we won a national championship. But, we’re real talented. The main thing for me is to work. I’ve always had to work hard and grind for everything I have. What I love about this team is they come to practice every day and work very hard.”

(on Brimah)

"His game has evolved so much on the offensive end. Everybody already knows he’s a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end, but I’ve seem him put a lot of work in this summer on his offensive game. He has a knock-down, 15-footer now. He has a tremendous right-hand hook. I’m proud of the work he put in.”

(on Daniel Hamilton)

“He’s just a natural-born scorer. He has all the intangibles -- 6-7, long, lanky, athletic, a knock-down jump-shooter. He has all the things he needs to be a great player. Obviously, he’s young, so the I.Q. has to increase a little more. But as far as athleticism and intangibles, he has them all.”

AMIDA BRIMAH:

“I don’t think (his off-season surgery) held me back this summer. When my shoulder was hurt, I would so stuff with my right hand to work on my form and shooting and stuff. As soon as I couldn’t do the upper-body lifts, I was doing a lot of leg workouts and stuff like that. I made up for it.”

“I think I have a pretty good jumper. My post moves have gotten way better.”

Brimah says he'll be taking more shots from 15-17 feet out. No 3-pointers, however.

(on avoiding foul trouble)

“I’ve got to have good timing and make good decisions, and know when to go for a block and when not to go for it.”

KEVIN OLLIE:

“A lot of people had a lot of doubts about our program two years ago. So, those questions are answered. But there’s gonna be other questions -- about autonomy, the (power) five conferences, about me leaving to the NBA after I sign a five-year contract. At the end of the day, I love UConn, these players love UConn, they play they great for the university. To see the men’s and women’s teams do it together, that means everybody’s on board."

(on what former Big East teams, besides Georgetown, UConn may schedule in the future)

"Maybe Providence, I’d love to start something back with Syracuse. That’ll be great, just to get back to the Carrier Dome, Syracuse come back to the XL Center or Gampel, I think that’d be awesome. I’m glad we’re starting out with Georgetown, we’ve had some epic battles … It’s gonna allow us to stay in the D.C. area, also, where we do a lot of recruiting. It’s gonna be an opportunity for us to get better. Playing against a Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, St. John’s, to get back in the Garden -- we’re always looking for opportunities like that.”

“We’ve had some great battles against Providence, B.C. We played them a lot when I was playing there. If the opportunity arises, it works out on our schedule, we’ll definitely look at all those opportunities.”

(on Omar Calhoun, currently sidelined by a knee injury)

“Omar’s doing great. We had the MRI come back, everything was structurally sound. He does have a little sprain in his MCL, but I think he’s gonna be back, hopefully in time for the season’s start. If not, we’re gonna go with the guys that we have. But it was great results we got back from the doctor, saying there was no structural damage and he’s just gonna have to rehab.”

“You saw Omar handle adversity well last year. That’s the beautiful thing about Omar.”

(on whether or not being picked to win the conference is a "burden")

“It’s not a burden. It really doesn’t matter to me now, so how can it be a burden if it doesn’t matter to me? What matters to me is, hopefully we’re No. 1 in team chemistry. That’s gonna allow us to be where we need to be at in March and April. It can’t be a burden if I don’t care.”

“I care about Ryan getting voted, because I didn’t vote for that. I think that’s a great, humbling award for him, and how much the coaches think of him. But we’re not putting extra pressure on ourselves as a team.”

MICK CRONIN:

“I don’t know who’s on the all-league teams, I don’t know who was picked where. I try to practice what I preach to my players. I wouldn’t care if we were picked No. 1. I don’t think any of it matters. I think it’s a burden if you’re picked to win. To me, whoever was picked to win the league, I’m sure if you asked the coach, he’d probably rather not be picked to win the league.”

LARRY BROWN:

(on Emmanuel Mudiay, now playing in China)

“He’s done pretty well. He’s trying to adjust to the food. But he’s got his mom, his brother and his cousin there.”

“I’m excited for him. I’m not excited for the precedent it might set. But, you’ve got to recognize a lot of kids, when they have an opportunity to help their families, it’s tough to pass up. But, it’s not a good message for young people. Hopefully, the NBA will address it.”

“I think it’ll get worse. If he’s as good as I know he is, and he’s the first, second or third pick in the draft, which I’m pretty confident he will be, I’m worried that a lot of kids will think about it. They won’t think of Jennings or so many kids who have come out early and aren’t playing anymore. We’ve got to address that. Maybe do it like baseball -- let them come out after high school if they’re great, and if not, it’ll help make the college game better, stay in school, give us a chance to coach and teach kids.”

“If Emmanuel had stayed -- he’s the only kid we signed -- we could have played with anybody. WIth him not being here, it gives opportunities for other kids. We have depth, we have experience. We lacked maturity in big games last year, at times. If we can get over that, I think we’ll be better.”

FRANK HAITH:

“The coaches in this league -- wow. From Larry Brown, Hall of Famer, to Kelvin Sampson, who’s coached in the Final Four, to Kevin Ollie, who just won a national championship -- you know these guys are going to play at the highest level, because of the competitiveness and the coaching, the knowledge of the coaches in this league. That’s exciting for me.”

Some quick hitters off today's AAC coaches teleconference call, in advance of this week's championship tournament in Memphis:

KEVIN OLLIE:

“I look forward to getting back on the court. We’ve got a sour taste in our mouth after our defeat at Louisville. I think we’ll become a better team off that defeat. I just like the resilience of this team all year. It’s the focus of our seniors, and the development of our players to get that champion mind-set.”

“It’s gonna be a great crowd. We’re looking forward to being int hat atmosphere. The game changes from each game. First game, DeAndre came out, he was shooting and penetrating. The second game, we got to the free throw line a lot. We’ve got to trust each other. We can’t have seven assists like we had against Louisville … We’ve got to make the right decisions. Sometimes, throwing a shot over a guy who’s 6-11 isn’t a good decision. Maybe finding Niels Giffey for a jump shot is a better decision.”

(on Shabazz Napier and Sean Kilpatrick)

“They mean a lot to both teams. I imagine Mick (Cronin) says the same thing. They're the heartbeat of our team. (Napier) leads us in all the important categories … he just means so much to our team dynamic. I also know Kilpatrick is the same way. When they need a big shot, he’s always making it – maybe a dump-down pass, maybe a rebound. Big-time players make big-time plays."

(Kilpatrick Player of the Year?)

“If he got it, it’d be a worthy choice. He’s had an awesome career there, and I know he’ll be playing at the next level.”

*** The conference player of the year vote is going to be interesting. Most of the coaches evaded naming who they voted for, but UCF's Donnie Jones noted that Kilpatrick should be the choice.

Rick Pitino sounded like he might think Kilpatrick should win, too -- though it should be noted he was responding to a question from a Cincinnati reporter.

"I think you could pick three, four different players," Pitino said. "Russ Smith, Shabazz Napier, Sean Kilpatrick are all capable of winning that award. I don't think Anthony Davis won the SEC player of the year and he got national player of the year (with Kentucky). It could not go to Russ Smith, and he could be a first-team All-American. If you took (Kilpatrick) out of Cincinnati, it would hurt them tremendously, because they count on him so much for points. He's a worthy candidate to win that award."

Said Larry Brown:

“I put all three names down, and there were a couple of others I considered whose teams weren’t quite as successful. I don’t know how you choose between any of those guys. I think they’ll all be playing next year, at a very high level. They’re all great team guys, and they all finished at the top of their conference. That’s a really, really tough choice to make.”

Not surprisingly, Cronin believes Kilpatrick should win it.

"But we have three guys in this league worthy of being first-team All-Americans," the Cincy coach said.

*** Memphis coach Josh Pastner was full of compliments. He called the AAC "the best league in the country," continuously pushed for Mike Aresco to be rewarded with a lifetime contract and said Ollie is a "future Hall of Famer ... no doubt about it."

As for playing UConn on Thursday night:

“Any time you play a game, home, away, neutral, you're gonna feel a little pressure. But especially at home, a little more. But this league is loaded. If you don’t bring you’re A-game, there’s a good chance you’ll lose. You’ve got to be on-point in everything you do. And that’s extra true against team like UConn that’s well-coached and has so many good players, like they do.”

"We have to do a great job defensively. They are a great 3-point shooting team, not a good 3-point shooting team, a great one ... Napier is a stud, Boatright is a stud, Daniels is a stud. They have multiple studs."

*** Pitino on the AAC after its first year of existence:

"Very strong, very competitive, and a very well-run conference. A little weaker at the bottom than the Big East, because some of those programs are rebuilding.”

*** Eddie Jordan subscribes tot he theory that its tough to beat a team three times in the same season.

“The team that’s lost twice, it’s just human nature, their motivation is higher, they have a little bit of an edge, their will and determination is probably a little bit higher than the team that beat you twice," he said.

The inaugural American Athletic Conference postseason awards will be released this week. On Tuesday, the all-conference teams and all-rookie team will be released, and on Wednesday at a luncheon in Memphis, the individual award-winners will be announced.

There will be two, five-man all-conference teams this season, with no honorable mention selections. In the past in the Big East, players who appeared on at least 50 percent of the coach’s ballots earned honorable mention status. No players earned such recognition this season, however.

With all that in mind, here would be my all-AAC picks:

FIRST TEAM:

Russ Smith, Louisville

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati

Justin Jackson, Cincinnati

Shabazz Napier, UConn

SECOND TEAM:

Nic Moore, SMU

Markus Kennedy, SMU

Joe Jackson, Memphis

Shaq Goodwin, Memphis

Ta’Shawn Thomas, Houston

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:

John Egbunu, USF

Chris Perry, USF

Austin Nichols, Memphis

Terry Rozier, Louisville

Amida Brimah, UConn

Sorry, I don’t see either Ryan Boatright or DeAndre Daniels getting the nod. Not the way they’ve played the last couple of weeks. Isaiah Sykes of UCF might be more deserving than Thomas, but Houston did better in the league standing, so I gave the edge to Thomas.

As for the individual awards, here’s how my ballot would look (and remember, the media doesn't vote for any of this, it's the league's SID's ... er, coaches who vote):

Player of the Year: Shabazz Napier, UConn: This isn’t homerism, it’s simply having a front-row seat to a terrific season. Other than Sean Kilpatrick, there’s not a single player more valuable to his team than Napier. Russ Smith is great, but without him, Louisville probably still finishes at least in the top three of the conference. Without Napier? Shudder to think. Napier’s overall stats are better than Kilpatrick’s (except for scoring), but if Kilpatrick wins it, it’s no crime. Even if Smith wins it, I wouldn’t be outraged. He was the preseason player of the year, which the coaches also vote for, so that may give him an edge. But to me, it’s Shabazz.

Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, SMU. Really a two-man race between Brown and Cincy’s Mick Cronin. Cincinnati was picked to finish fourth in the league and wound up co-champs. SMU was picked to finish sixth and finished tied for third. So that’s kind of a wash. Cronin also had Kilpatrick, while Brown didn’t have a true star (though you’ve got to love the way Nic Moore plays – unless you’re a UConn fan). Personally, I think Brown did the better job, resurrecting a program that was 15-17 overall a year ago and 5-11 in Conference USA and getting them, almost certainly, into the Big Dance. But it could go either way.

Rookie of the Year: Austin Nichols, Memphis. Tough one. In the Year of the Freshman nationally, no frosh really stood out this year in the American. Nichols was  the top rookie scorer (9.5 per game) and led the entire league in field goal percentage (63.9), so he’s my pick. Brimah deserves some consideration, and listening toRick Pitino talk, he may have his vote.

Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Jackson, Cincinnati. When you lead the league in blocked shots, you’ve got the inside track on the award. When you’re also third in steals, that’s a rare combo, and you’ve pretty much sealed the deal. Amida Brimah may win this someday, but this year, it’s Jackson.

Sixth Man Award: Michael Dixon, Jr., Memphis: Missouri transfer with a controversial past wound up the Tigers’ second-leading scorer in league play (13.3 ppg). Niels Giffey deserves a glance, but Dixon is the clear-cut winner.

Most Improved Player: Dalton Pepper, Temple. Averaged 2.9 points per game off the bench in the A-10 a year ago. This year, finished third in the AAC in scoring at 18.3 ppg. 

It was the lowest point total for UConn in a win since a 46-40 victory over Villanova on Feb. 11, 2002, and the lowest combined point total in a Husky game since ... yup, the national title win over Butler in 2011.

But it's officially March, and a win is a win is a win ... And, in truth, both teams were very tough defensively -- particularly UConn.

Plus, now Ryan Boatright can watch ESPN again.

Some quotes and video:

Shabazz Napier:

“It feels good to get a win against Cincinnati. Cincinnati’s always a rivalry with us. It always comes down to the wire. It’s always good to play them and get a win against them.”

(on his matchup against Sean Kilpatrick, who turned the ball over seven times and had just two second-half points)

“Only time I worry about him is if we need to get a stop. I’m not worried about his stats and my stats. I’ve never been a stats guy. I’m just concerned with trying to get wins. I think that’s what I did today.”

Napier said it hit him really hit him in the waning seconds that he had just played his final game in Hartford:

He added he'll be even more emotional for Wednesday night's Senior Night:

“I’ll definitely feel that way Wednesday. Like I always say, we just take it game by game. I don’t really think about things until they actually occur. Hopefully, we do what we have to do against Rutgers and go from there.”

“I probably am, but hopefully I keep it all together. I don’t think I can play basketball crying.”

Added Kevin Ollie: “There’s going to be a lot of tears, and I’ll probably be boo-hooing, too.”

Ollie: 

“It’s just another game for us. I thought the USF game was even more important. Now Cincinnati is a great team and we beat them, but that USF game showed me a lot of mental toughness from our guys, where we could’ve easily given up in that game. And we didn’t.”

“It’s a big game from a ranking standpoint and all this other stuff – the brackets and seeding, and all that other stuff. But I couldn’t really care less. I care about my team, and getting better. And defensively, I think we got a lot better.”

(on whether Mick Cronin should've been T'd up for his sideline antics)

“I got spanked on mine. I’d better not make a comment on that. I was thrown out, so, this year, I don’t have a comment on that. I’m going to leave the refs alone.”

Ryan Boatright was willing to comment, however: “I’ve seen him blow up a few times over my three years. Everybody knows that he’s a feisty dude. I was surprised the refs didn’t tech him, though. He was doing a lot of stomping, cussing and yelling. I was on the bench, I didn’t really hear what he said.”

*** After the game, Ollie made a point to highlight how tough a schedule his players have, with four games in the past 10 days and frequently getting back to campus at 2:30 a.m. only to have an 8 a.m. class the next day.

“These guys are student-athletes, too," Ollie pointed out.

Said Napier on the matter: “It’s been so tough. I’m thankful for my professors for understanding, sometimes I may get to class real late, maybe not as participating as much as I usually do. It’s tough. Sometimes, I don’t know how I do it. I get home at 2:30 a.m., I’ve got class at 8 a.m. Sometimes, I don’t understand how I get up. But, you’re given these cards for a reason. Whether you wake yourself up or not, you’ve just got to deal with it and understand you’re in this position for a reason.”

*** Ollie's voice was still hoarse after losing his voice Wednesday night at South Florida.

“I couldn’t yell today, so I had ‘Bazz yelling for me," the coach said. 

Said Napier: “He told us he didn’t want to yell too much today. I just tried my best to be a leader.”

UConn isn't slated to leave Bradley Airport until about 7 p.m., meaning it won't land in Cincinnati until about 9 p.m. Usually, Kevin Ollie meets with the traveling UConn media when the team arrives at its hotel, usually just before dinner. But since the Huskies won't be arriving until later tonight, Ollie did a conference call with the beat writers today at 4:30 p.m.

First question, of course: How's DeAndre Daniels?

Ollie said that Daniels is "about 75-percent to play" in Thursday's Top 25 bout with Cincinnati. Daniels had been getting better but has experienced some back spasms lately. His ankle, Ollie said, is "about 85-percent."

Here's what Ollie had to say about Cincinnati:

“Their intensity, how they play every night, whether they score 40 points or 80 points, they have an identity. They try to take out your first, second, third options. I don’t want to get in a game where we’re playing against their set defense. We wanna be able to rebound. At the end of the day, it’s gonna be a grind-out game. We’re not gonna be in fast breaks all night. Cincy’s playing at a high level, we want to go in there and hopefully give them their first (AAC) loss.”

(what makes their defense so tough?)

"They switch a lot of things, take you out of your first, second options. We're gonna have to be disciplined as a team. They’ve got Justin Jackson back there on the back line, he's long, active, aggressive. That tends to lead to a good defensive team. They pressure, but also have length to play in the halfcourt."

(on Jackson)

“He’s found his niche, being that tough person on the back line for them, and using that athleticism on the offensive end. He’s a face-up guy, he’s able to take five-men off the dribble, and he’s been able to take that 10-footer, too. His touch is underrated.”

(on Sean Kilpatrick)

"He's their finisher for them ... When they need a bucket, he’s going to get the ball. Short clock situation, he attacks or shoots the 3. He’s a great player, he needs everyone’s attention. We’re going to do it as a committee. We want to make it hard for him each and every time he touches the ball. Not only the person guarding him, we want Sean Kilpatrick to see four other UConn jerseys staring right at him.”

*** Meanwhile, went over to Cincinnati's practice today at its nice facility at the Lindner Center (next door to Fifth Third Arena. Sort of the same idea as UConn's new basketball facility, although this building houses football and other sports' locker rooms, as well as staff offices, etc.)

Here's some of what Mick Cronin had to say:



Cronin added:

(on whether Napier and Kilpatrick are the two best players in the league)

"Obviously, you have to throw Russ Smith in there. If you throw out statistics, Justin (Jackson) has to be in the mix, as far as being impactful ... (Napier) makes NBA shots. I'm lying in bed with my iPad watching him make Kobe Bryant-type shots. You don't know how he's getting them off, never mind making them. When he gets in a rhythm like that, it's scary."

(on Napier also leading AAC in assists)

"Good coaching, getting the ball in the right guy's hands. They run a million pick-and-rolls for him. You can't give him the same look for 40 minutes. If he gets comfortable against you, you're in trouble, so we're going to be prepared to give him different looks."

(on the AAC)

"We've got a great league this year. You look around college basketball, there's a lot of parity. But we've got five really good teams in this league, and obviously we've got two of them this week (Cincy plays at SMU on Sunday)."

*** Justin Jackson, who leads the AAC in blocked shots:

"They've got great guards ... You've got Napier and (Ryan) Boatright ... Boatright is a younger Napier, that's how I feel. Same type of guard, same type of player, he shoots well, they've both got the same type of quickness."

Sean Kilpatrick on matching up against Napier:



Asked Kilpatrick about the game-winning shot he hit in Storrs two years ago to beat the Huskies:

"I'd say out of my top-five (college memories), that may be No. 2. I'll take the Syracuse game that we had in the Garden as the top one. But that atmosphere, playing in Storrs and being able to hit a big shot like that to help my team win, that was something that was a really inspiring moment for me. I appreciate that shot a lot."

Decided to fly into Cincinnati a day early to beat Wednesday's predicted morning snowstorms. Also figured I might have a chance to swing by Cincinnati's practice to talk to Mick Cronin and a few Bearcat players about Thursday night's big bout with UConn.

Turns out, Cronin did a teleconference call with UConn beat writers that I could have done from home. No worries, may head over to practice tomorrow to get a few players.

Anyway, here's what Cronin had to say:

"Obviously, UConn's having a great year. Shabazz (Napier) is one of the best, if not the best guard we'll play against all year. Coach (Kevin) Ollie does a tremendous job ... What they lack in strength and size, they make up in toughness from their coach, toughness on the defensive end. They've been rebounding the ball better than earlier in the season. It's got the makings of a great game -- two of the best players in the country going at it, two ranked teams. It should be a great environment."

"To win a league title, you've got to have a couple of all-league players. Sean Kilpatrick and Justin Jackson have proven that. If the season ended now, one will probably be (AAC) Player of the Year and the other will be Defensive Player of the Year. But there's a long way to go. Shabazz Napier will have a lot to say about that."

(will UConn and Cincinnati be two of the conference's standard-bearers for years to come?)

"Speaking for Cincinnati, I hope so. But I think it would be presumptuous to think other teams aren't going to emerge. SMU is 10-deep, and with their recruiting class what could be next year ... Cincinnati, Memphis, UConn -- for any conference, you want your marquee teams to be good. It's not as easy as it seems, which makes what Jim Calhoun did there so unbelievable, and what Coach (Bob) Huggins did here so unbelievable. It's not as easy as you think. Players don't just sign at your school, you don't just win games because you're UConn or Cincinnati. Sometimes, it's taken for granted. I think it's a lot harder to sustain than people realize."

*** DeAndre Daniels participated in practice on Tuesday. He had no restrictions on what he could do, but participated to a lesser degree than everyone else (less reps, etc.). Daniels did experience soreness in his injured right ankle, but he is feeling better and still considered day-to-day.

Said Cronin: "I hope he plays. I'm a big karma guy. I believe in rooting for kids, positive energy. I hope he's OK and is able to play. We'll absolutely prepare for him to play. We wish him nothing but the best."

The hallmark of the American Athletic Conference in its first year of existence looks to be two things: great coaches, great guard play. (And atrocious football, but let's stick to men's hoops).

The league features two Hall of Fame coaches (Rick Pitino, Larry Brown), another with NBA experience (Eddie Jordan), others who are well-respected in the game (Fran Dunphy, Josh Pastner, Mick Cronin) and, of course, up-and-comers like Kevin Ollie.

As for guards, UConn, Louisville and Memphis could all lay claim not only to the best backcourt in the conference but possibly even in the nation. And all three do lay such claims, as you'll soon find out.

Here are some notes, quotes and video from today's AAC Media Day:

(on the league's great guards):

RYAN BOATRIGHT:

 

JOE JACKSON of MEMPHIS:

“It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be more of a guard-type of game, which I (thrive) in. I love those type of atmospheres … it’s gonna be uptempo in a lot of games. It should be a lot of fun, because, who doesn’t want to play a game like that? I don’t want to play smashmouth basketball.”

 

RUSS SMITH of LOUISVILLE:

 

“I respect all the guards – the Memphis guards, the UConn guards. They do a lot of things well that I try to emulate and put into my game. If I don’t respect their game and love their game then it’s not gonna make me a great competitor.”

“Shabazz is one of the more fundamental guards in our league. He shoots the ball really well, he has a great IQ, he understands the game well, and he’s a student of the game. I understand how explosive Boatright is, how competitive he is. Joe Jackson’s extremely athletic, extremely fierce. The same can be said about Geron Johnson – fierce competitor … and you can’t sleep on the Cincinnati guys. Sean  (Kilpatrick) is a New York native, I’m very familiar with his game … Anthony Collins, the way he operates and runs his team, that inspires me a lot.”

 PASTNER:

 “The backcourts make it exciting for the fans. This league has a lot of great guards. Everybody talks a lot about Louisville, Memphis, UConn. I don’t think a lot of people talk about South Florida – they’ve got good guards. Houston’s got good guards, SMU’s got good guards, Rutgers has a few guys that are eligible now, Cincinnati … From top to bottom, this league is filled with really good guards. And when you have really good guards, that means every time you step on the floor, any night, somebody could beat anybody at any point.”

 

PITINO:

 

 

So who's got the best backcourt in the league? Pitino said his is "one of the best backcourts I've coached in my 35 years ... maybe the best."

 

Napier: "I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t think we had the best guards. I’m a competitor, so I’ll put my guards up against anybody."

 

Jackson: “Tell you the truth, I feel like we have the best backcourt. We’ve got Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson, Mike Dixon. They can shoot the ball, they’re seniors. We’ve got a good backcourt, and it’ll be very competitive."

 

OLLIE:

 

 

Smith? Surprisingly, he wouldn't join the fray: “We just play, man. I just play basketball. If I want to talk about how good I am in the backcourt, I’d just get into the media.”

 

But he later added: “Our backcourt is great, too. It should be reckoned with.”

 

*** Not a bad batch of coaches, either:

 

PASTNER:

How many leagues have two Hall of Fame coaches in them? Obviously, the ACC’s got there’s, but … I think this and the ACC are the two best basketball leagues in the country. I’d be shocked if six teams aren’t in the NCAA tournament. I think it’s going to be a heck of a deal from the start of the season to the finish.”

 

SMITH:

 

“It’s gonna be hard for a lot of guys who had success in their leagues to try to duplicate it because of the great coaches (in the AAC)."

 

OLLIE:

 “You’ve just got great coaches from top to bottom. It’s just great to be here in the midst of greatness. Hopefully, for me, I can touch the hem of their garments one day."

 

Indeed, Ollie plans on learning from some of the great coaches he'll be going up against this season.

“One of the greatest attributes of a great coach is always being coachable. I’ll ask advice. If it wasn’t for the advice of Larry Brown, I wouldn’t have made it to Connecticut. That was the first person I called when I had the decision of going to Oklahoma City or coaching UConn. He said, without a shadow of a doubt, go back to your love, go back to your heart. That’s why I made the decision, because I really valued his opinion.”

 

*** Brown dropped this interesting nugget on us today: the first head coaching job he was offered was at UConn, back in 1967. Fred Schabel had left for Penn, and new AD Jim Hickey offered the job to Brown, who was then the freshman coach at North Carolina. He turned down the offer.

 

“I didn’t know if I was ready. I loved being at Carolina with Coach Smith. Then, lo and behold, I left and started playing again. But I’ve always loved Storrs.”

 

Burr Carlson took the job instead, went 16-32 in two seasons, and Dee Rowe replaced him in 1969.

 

Brown, who coached Ollie in the NBA, will always have a special place in his heart for him.

 

“Seeing the respect people have for him. Generally, guys get respect because they’re great and they play a lot. Kevin got respect because of who he was and what he was about. You could see that early on. I’ve been around great players, and so many guys of the guys I coached taught me how to coach. He was one of them. He always did it in a respectful way. I valued things he said, and I always thought he was a great example for young kids.”

 

Brown added: "I don’t look forward to playing against him, but I’m proud he’s doing what he’s doing.”

 

The respect is mutual, not only from Ollie but from Ollie's players:

 

“Larry Brown, a coach that I always watched because growing up, I enjoyed watching Allen Iverson," said Napier. "I’ll be happy to walk up against Larry Brown’s team and play them and then shake his hand. That’s somebody I thought I’d never be able to play against. It’s a good feeling to have a lot of good coaches (in this league).”

 

*** DeAndre Daniels didn't make preseason first or second team, but he's not bothered by it.

 

“I don’t really focus on individual awards and stuff. Basketball is a team sport, so all I’m worried is how I can do things I can do to make my team better – rebounding, scoring, all the little things.”

Maybe Daniels didn't notice, but Ollie did.

 

“People aren’t noticing him – he knows that, we know that, that only adds fuel to his fire. For something to come out to say he’s not one of the top basketball players in America, I want to see who wrote that. We’re going to show ‘em, that he is a great basketball player and a force to be reckoned with this season.”

*** Ollie noted that he's played for three of the league's coaches: Brown, Jordan and Pitino. For Pitino, it was just in an NBA summer league some 15 years ago when he was trying to make the Celtics as a free agent. It was between Ollie and Kentucky alum Wayne Turner, and Pitino went with Turner.

 

"Of course he picked the Kentucky guy, but it’s alright," Ollie said with a smile. "It made me who I am."

 

Said Pitino: “In the end, I had to be a little partial.”

 

*** UConn received the only other first-place vote other than Louisville. Obviously, it came from Pitino, since coaches can't vote for their own teams.

 

“I was trying to decide between Memphis and UConn, and to be quite honest, it was 1 and 1A," Pitino said. "I just think that their backcourt is awesome. Memphis’s backcourt is awesome. I wanted to vote as a tie, they told me I couldn’t do it, so I just picked UConn because of more familiarity with them.”

 

What does Pitino like most about UConn?

 

"I think they have a great backcourt, a terrific front court. They have a coach that is not only a terrific young coach, but there’s not a living room in the country that he will walk into, where when he leaves, that family won’t want to put him in the top three choices to go to school. I’ve been with Kevin Ollie for the last 10 years."

*** I asked Shabazz Napier who's surprised him most so far in practices. His quick response: "Amida (Brimah). Defensively, he's incredible. Offensively, he needs a little more work."

Napier believes all the team's big men will contribute "by committee" this season. Boatright also praised Niels Giffey's recent play in practice.

*** Interesting tidbit: the back of the AAC media guide highlights the league's NCAA championship teams -- 2013 Louisville, 2011 UConn, 2004 UConn, 1999 UConn, 1986 Louisville, 1980 Louisville, 1962 Cincinnati and 1961 Cincinnati. Of course, none of those teams were AAC teams when they won, and it's worth noting that the league is operating from a brand-new slate in terms of statistical records, etc.

The current Big East, meanwhile, is keeping its record book intact -- even though that league is actually the new league. The AAC is actually considered the same conference as the Big East, only with a different name and a largely new set of teams.

Conference realignment is confusing, eh?
 

 

 

Quentin Snider had a phone conversation with Kevin Ollie last night, and he liked what he heard, according to his father, Scott.

"We both like Coach Ollie," Scott Snider said by phone on Monday. "We watched (UConn) last year a couple of times on TV, he really lets his guards go. That's kind of what we're looking for."

Snider added that his son got to know Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier at a couple of camps (CP3 and LeBron James) this summer.

Quentin will make an official visit to UConn on Sept. 21. He'll also take an official to UCLA on Labor Day Weekend and make unofficials to Memphis (Sept. 7) and Illinois (Sept. 28). Basically, the family is saving their officials for visits that require a bit more travel from their Louisville home.

Quentin Snider de-committed from Louisville a few weeks ago. He had committed to the Cardinals as a high school freshman, but since then Louisville had added a bunch of other guard recruits. So, Snider felt it was better to look elsewhere.

Should Snider, a Class of 2014 point guard, elect UConn, he knows he may not see a lot of minutes right off the bat, with Rodney Purvis and possibly Terrence Samuel and even Boatright still there for the 2014-15 season.

"There's gonna be some guys to compete with," Scott said. "It was a little different at Louisville, where he'd have to compete with five or six guys. At UConn, Rodney Purvis will be eligible, Boatright and Terrence Samuel -- if he makes it he'll be there, we don't know what's going on with that. We know there'll be some competition. Hopefully he'll be able to play by his sophomore year. We think he can get a few minutes as a freshman, if he works hard."

(According to a source, Samuel should find out over the next day or two whether he can enroll in classes at UConn next week.)

And hard work is a cornerstone of Ollie's program, something Scott Snider noted in saying Ollie should be able to "get the dog out of him."

That doesn't mean Quentin dogs it or coasts from time to time.

"Quentin doesn't coast," Scott said, "but he won't start off real aggressive. He'll feel the game out and get more aggressive as the game goes on. I think Coach Ollie can bring the dog out of him on the defensive end of the floor and make him a great defensive player."

Scott said Quentin will definitely make all his visits before deciding, and will save his three other officials for now, though he may not use any of them. He's talked to Indiana but hasn't received an offer from them yet. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, who's known Quentin since working with him at Louisville basketball camps several years ago, has suggested Quentin visit campus when the team gets back. Michigan State has also shown interest, but hasn't offered.

"There are a lot of schools that have called, and maybe 7-8 that he likes," Scott said. "There's no favorite. I know we both really like Coach Ollie. He's the kind of coach that can get the most out of Quentin."

*** UConn got some more good news on the recruiting front Monday: Terry Larrier has UConn as one of his final six schools, and is reportedly set to visit Storrs next week.

And UConn has also made the top five of Paul White, a 6-8 forward out of Chicago who broke his arm in July at the Peach Jam. White will make an official visit to UConn Sept. 27-28, the weekend after Snider's visit.

Shabazz Napier earns first team all-Big East honors, while Omar Calhoun makes the all-rookie team. I thought Napier might get jobbed in the voting (that Mick Cronin!) because of UConn's postseason ban, and even his injury that forced him to miss two late games. But I was wrong. Of course, there's no doubt he's a first-teamer. I'll even probably vote for him as a third team All-American. Not homerism, just someone who watched him all season while most of the rest of the nation ignored UConn.

I thought Ryan Boatright might get honorable mention honors, but no dice. Fuquan Edwin? Really?

Here's the all-Big East teams and all-rookie team. Otto Porter of Georgetown was a unanimous choice, meaning he'll be the player of the year, too. JaKarr Sampson and Ryan Arcidiacono were unanimous all-rookie choices, too, but it says here that Sampson will be rookie of the year.

Keep in mind, Peyton Siva (third team) was the preseason player of the year, and Steven Adams was pre-season rookie of the year.

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM

Shabazz Napier, Connecticut, G, Jr., 6-1, 171, Roxbury, Mass.

*Otto Porter, Jr., Georgetown, F, So., 6-8, 205, Sikeston, Mo.

Gorgui Dieng, Louisville, C, Jr., 6-11, 245, Kebemer, Senegal

Russ Smith, Louisville, G, Jr., 6-0, 165, Briarwood, N.Y.

Jack Cooley, Notre Dame, F, Sr., 6-9, 246, Glenview, Ill.

Bryce Cotton, Providence, G, Jr., 6-1, 165, Tucson, Ariz.

ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6-4, 221, White Plains, N.Y.

Vander Blue, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-4, 200, Madison, Wisc.

Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, G, Jr., 6-5, 202, Bowie, Md.

Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse, G, So., 6-6, 185, Hamilton, Mass.

C.J. Fair, Syracuse, F, Jr., 6-8, 215, Baltimore, Md.

ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM

Markel Starks, Georgetown, G, Jr., 6-2, 175, Accokeek, Md.

Peyton Siva, Louisville, G, Sr., 6-0, 185, Seattle, Wash.

Tray Woodall, Pittsburgh, G, Sr., 6-0, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Brandon Triche, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6-4,210, Jamesville, N.Y.

JayVaughn Pinkston, Villanova, F, So., 6-6, 240, Brooklyn, N.Y.

BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION

Davante Gardner, Marquette, F, Jr., 6-8, 290, Suffolk, Va.

Kadeem Batts, Providence, F, Jr., 6-9, 245, Powder Springs, Ga.

JaKarr Sampson, St. John’s, F, Fr., 6-8, 204, Barberton, Ohio

Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall, F, Jr., G-F, 6-6, 205, Paterson, N.J.

BIG EAST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM^

Omar Calhoun, Connecticut, G, Fr., 6-5, 195, Brooklyn, N.Y.

D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6-3, 227, Indianapolis, Ind.

Steven Adams, Pittsburgh, C, Fr., 7-0, 250, Roturua, New Zealand

Chris Obekpa, St. John’s, C, Fr., 6-9, 223, Makurdi, Nigeria

*JaKarr Sampson, St. John’s, F, Fr., 6-8, 204, Barberton, Ohio

*Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova, G, Fr., 6-3, 195, Langhorne, Pa.

*Denotes unanimous selection.

^Due to a tie in the voting, an additional position was named.

Jim Calhoun was asked about the Mick Cronin situation at today's press conference. Calhoun had hinted a couple of weeks ago that Cronin hadn't voted for Kemba Walker as first-team all-Big East. Cronin said last night that he had spoken with Calhoun about the situation. Here's the transcript:

Q. Mick said last night that you called him earlier this week, I guess, to talk about what Kemba Walker -- whether you voted for him or --
COACH JIM CALHOUN: I called him. I didn't ask him that question. I just said that there was a misunderstanding, he and I needed to talk as opposed to publicly discuss it, and we had a good conversation.

Q. So it's all cleared up?
COACH JIM CALHOUN: It's all cleared up. We had a good conversation. I never knew there was a -- I was just talking about my kid, who I was trying to push every way, and I said someone's away for a month and we went to two different places and they wrote about how they recruited him. I said maybe they didn't vote for him or something, and I shouldn't have said that and I did. So I called Mick just to let him know that. I'm the one who said something initially and just wanted to have him get squared away.
So I'll root for him. I think he's done terrific -- as I just said, he's done a terrific job. And I initiated the phone call and we had a good conversation.

Earlier, Walker was asked about his recruitment by Cronin and the Bearcats:

Q. When you guys were in Cincinnati, Mick Cronin talked about how close you came to going to Cincinnati. How close did you actually come and what kind of relationship do you have with him?
KEMBA WALKER: It was close. But I really wanted to come to UConn my entire life. So I was just waiting for the opportunity and it came. But as far as me and Coach Cronin, we had a great relationship. He did a great job recruiting me. He had a good relationship with my parents, also. So if UConn didn't come in, it would have most likely been Cincinnati.
So, yeah, it was pretty close.

Calhoun was asked about that, too:

Q. Kemba was in here talking about his recruitment a little bit and how he considered Cincinnati but UConn was his first choice. Can you talk a little bit about his recruitment and did you ever think he might go somewhere else besides UConn?
COACH JIM CALHOUN: We know that he had said to Mo Hicks at that time, his coach at Rice, who is now at St. John's, that his dream school was UConn. At the same time, in around that period, September, October, Brandon Jennings was visiting us. And Brandon, like did he with the other three schools, committed on the visit. He had done at the previous two schools, so I didn't no if it was that firm of a commitment.
And he's a great, great kid, by the way. Brandon was a great, great kid.
When the visiting got conclusion and we made a phone call to Brandon and Brandon said, well, I still want to visit a couple more schools but I'm definitely coming to UConn, I turned to Andre LaFleur and said, let's see if you can go all out to try to get Kemba Walker. He'll be a program player, a terrific player for us, a lead guard. We've got Taliek Brown, we'd got Ben Gordon. Let's go after him full blown. He'll be here long term in the program. And the rest I guess is history in some ways.
I always thought he'd be a good to very good to excellent guard. I didn't know -- I didn't automatically see some of the greatness that I now see.

One of the main sidebars heading into tomorrow night's UConn-Cincy matchup (9:40 p.m., TBS) will be the Jim Calhoun-Mick Cronin-Kemba Walker "controversy."

A couple of weeks ago, Calhoun was asked about the fact that at least one coach didn't vote for Walker as a first-team all-Big East selection (Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough was the lone unanimous selection).

Calhoun rightly called it "ridiculous" that Walker wasn't unanimous, but then proceeded to seemingly lay blame on Cronin, for whom Walker was bound to play for until UConn swooped in with a late scholarship offer.

"Someone mentioned that before we played one team, that he had committed to, that they’re still upset three years later," Calhoun said. "My advice is, ‘Get over it.’ In the final analysis, in Kemba’s life it’s not going to make any difference. He’s a first-team all-Big East player. He’ll probably have a longer career than that coach who didn’t’ vote for him.”

Calhoun apparently arrived at this conclusion after reading a Feb. 27 article in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Here's the article: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110226/SPT0101/102270341/Cincinnati-almost-got-UConn-star-Kemba-Walker

Not sure how Calhoun interpreted that as evidence that Cronin didn't vote for Walker, but the UConn coach sometimes seems to need to find enemies where they don't exist.

Cronin was asked about the situation after Cincy's win over Missouri late last night. Here's what Cronin said:

"(Calhoun and I) are both big fans of each other. And he gave me a call earlier in the week, and it's like I told him, I look up to him, I have great respect for him. I appreciated his call. He's protecting his player. He knows now I love his player and I voted for his player. So it's nice.
One thing about me is, because of the way I was raised, I like handling things the way they should be handled between coaches like the old days. I'm young, but I look at myself like I'm an old school guy. And it's an honor to coach against him."

We'll ask Calhoun about it all at today's press conference around 3:30 p.m. Be sure to join me for an online chat at 4:45 p.m., where I'll have more information on what happened at today's practice and pressers.

And so, it's Cincy at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, following Pitt-Butler's 7:10 p.m. game.

That means Jim Calhoun vs. Mick Cronin. Cue the "was Cronin the coach who didn't vote Kemba for first team" questions. Hey, gotta be asked.