We all know that UConn was banished from the postseason play last season as a result of poor APR scores in the past. But while that was the harshest penalty the program suffered, it wasn’t the only one.

The Huskies were also restricted on the practice floor last season as part of their APR punishment. And they were limited on the recruiting trail, too, a final remnant of the sanctions delivered from the Nate Miles saga. Now, all of those punishments have been lifted – much to the delight of Kevin Ollie and his coaching staff.

Last season, the Huskies were docked four hours of practice time -- from 20 to 16 -- per week as part of their APR penalty. The extra time was required to be spent instead on “academic activities.”

While having four fewer hours of practice time per week would seem to put a team at a competitive disadvantage, it actually served as somewhat of a benefit for UConn. For one, the team was able to concentrate more on its studies, and by all accounts the Huskies are doing much better in the classroom.

On the court, the fewer hours of practice actually helped keep UConn fresh during the grind of the regular season.

“We learned a lot from last year, where we couldn’t practice all the time,” Ollie explained. “We had 16 hours where it allowed us to take a couple of days off here and there. It really helped our guys be energized and had their bodies in good shape to perform when it counts.”

He’ll take that into consideration this season as the Huskies – and all men’s college basketball teams – will actually have more days to practice this season. New NCAA rules allow men’s teams to begin practice 42days prior to the official start of the regular season (which is Friday, Nov. 8). Teams can hold 30 practices over those 42 days, beginning on Sept. 27. (UConn is still expected to hold its First Night festivities in mid-October as usual, though nothing's official yet).

Ollie will try to balance the lack of restrictions and more practices overall with keeping his team fresh.

“I’m also going to work the guys hard and get them prepared for a tough season,” he promised. “We’ve got an out-of-conference season that’s second-to-none, and I’m very proud of that. We’re going to have to perform on a big stage, and we’re going to have to perform right away, because Maryland is no pushover team.”

The Huskies kick off their season on Nov. 8 against the Terrapins at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. UConn will also face Florida, Boston College, Stanford, Washington and possibly Indiana in non-conference games.

The Huskies’ staff has also been hampered by recruiting restrictions over the past three seasons, stemming from the violations involving Miles. The staff was limited by 40, from 130 to 90, in off-campus recruiting days for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 recruiting periods. The Huskies had used up all their recruiting days by the time this past April’s “live period” rolled around, and weren’t able to get out on the road.

And so, when July’s three live periods came along, the Huskies were re-invigorated.

“It was hectic, but it was good,” Ollie said. “We saw some great, great prospects. Now, we’re just trying to get some guys up on campus to finish the deal. It was real good to be out on the road, because we weren’t able to go out in April. Everybody else was a little lethargic, and we were all energized because we weren’t able to go out in April.”

Freed from the shackles of any more APR or Nate Miles-induced penalties, UConn will certainly be re-energized – on the practice floor and the recruiting trail – moving forward.

If it seems as if I've written this story before, it's because I have ... sorta.

Whether it's been Jim Calhoun's health and/or age, the possible negative ramifications from Nate Miles or APR, or Kevin Ollie working on what amounted to a seven-month contract, there has been plenty of fodder in recent years for opposing coaches to recruit negatively against UConn. And, make no mistake, they have.

Now it's conference realignment and UConn's status in no-man's land, with no Big East brand name or conference tourney at Madison Square Garden to fall back on, as early as next season.

It's always interesting to hear what prep and AAU coaches (not to mention recruits) have to say about possible recruiting impact, and that's what we get in today's story from Jere Quinn (head coach at St. Thomas More, where Andre Drummond went for two years) and Kareem Memminger (coach of the highly-touted AAU program New York Rens, who featured current UConn commits Kentan Facey and Terrence Samuel). We also get Samuel's opinion on the matter.

While the opinions were varied (and both Samuel and Facey are still signed, sealed and delivered and optimistic about UConn), Memminger's opinion was particularly interesting, as he hails from New York, where UConn has mined some of its greatest players in recent years.

Said Memminger: “The 2014, 2015 guys, those are the guys it’s going to affect. I talked to one recruit — I don’t want to mention his name — that UConn has recruited. Basically, his camp told me he likes (UConn) a lot, but they don’t know what conference they’re going to be in.”


Memminger added: "Let's face it, man. It's Conference USA."

Had a nice chat with Tom Moore recently. Moore brings Quinnipiac to the Paradise Jam this week -- the school's first-ever trip to an in-season, invitational tournament. It's a great opportunity for his program, and obviously raises the possibility of Moore going up against UConn for the first time since the whole Nate Miles/Josh Nochimson/Yahoo ! Sports affair.

Moore had some interesting things to say, as I wrote for the story in today's Register. He doesn't dwell on what his future at UConn could have been had the whole Miles not thing gone down. Rather, he couldn't be happier for Kevin Ollie, or for where he is right now.

"Coach Calhoun and I had had a lot of dialogue about his eventual successor, tons of discussions about it the last seven, eight years," Moore said. "I think we had some serious talks about it in March, April last year. But on (the day Ollie was hired), I didn’t have emotions like that. Kevin’s such a special person to all of us. I’m happy for him.”

He added: “I try to explain to people, getting the head coaching job at a place that successful, you really have to have everything line up perfectly. The timing has to be right on every level for it to happen for you. If you go back 10, 12 years, there was a window for different people to get the job. Dave Leitao might have been the most logical choice people considered. There was a window where Karl Hobbs was a logical candidate, and a window where I was a logical candidate. I think the way everything’s shaken down, Kevin was the logical choice at this time.”

Anyway, we'll be meeting with Kevin Ollie and some players Thursday evening before they head to the Sports & Fitness Center of the University of the Virgin Islands for practice. We'll have some video and more notes and quotes Thursday night. Until then, here are a few UConn-oriented tidbits regarding the Paradise Jam:

*** UConn is 14-3 all-time against the teams it could face this week. Its never faced Mercer or UIC and is 1-0 against New Mexico, 1-1 against Wake Forest, 3-1 against Iona and 9-0 vs. Quinnipiac.

Oh, and also 0-1 against George Mason -- but then you probably already knew that.

*** Wake Forest is young. Three of the Demon Deacons' five starters and five of their top eight players are freshmen. Their best player, however, is a senior -- guard C.J. Harris, who tossed in a team-high 19 in the team's season-opening win Friday over Radford.

*** Intriguing storylines this week re: UConn potential opponents: Quinnipiac (obviously, Tom Moore); Iona (Kemba's former Rice High teammate, Momo Jones); New Mexico (coached by Steve Alford); Geroge Mason (revenge!?!?!?).

I only caught the last five years of Jim Calhoun’s career, though that was bountiful enough: from two Final Fours and a national championship to the NIT and first-round exits; from Kemba, A.J. and Hasheem, to Nate Miles, Ken Krayeske and Josh Nochimson. A little bit of everything. Like my time covering the Red Sox beforehand, there was (is) never a dull moment covering UConn.

I think I got a somewhat watered down version of Calhoun. No doubt, he could still be as cantankerous as anyone. He still yelled at press conferences from time to time (see: Krayeske), but not with the same fervor as he did at late Register columnist Dave Solomon. He didn’t seem as overly interested and, at times, agitated about what we wrote about him – at least with the local press. He was actually calm at about 95 percent of the practices I attended (the Sunday morning, post-Rutgers practice this past January being a notable exception).

He was really pretty accessible – often taking my calls to his cell phone or returning them in timely fashion. If I stopped by Gampel on a July day and stopped by his office, he usually had time to talk for a few minutes.

My lasting impression of Calhoun will be that he was the worst loser I’ve ever seen in sports. I don’t really mean that negatively. Other than Tiger Woods (whom I’ve never really covered), I’ve never seen someone so irritated and upset – sometimes even immature – after a loss. His sidelines behavior could be embarrassing, and it essentially stemmed from the fact that his team wasn’t winning, or playing hard, or playing well – and, by extension, embarrassing him in front of some 15,000 people.

One of his most embarrassing episodes came during a Dec. 6, 2007 game at Gampel against Northeastern. On the heels of a postseason-less prior year, the Huskies weren’t playing well and were in danger of losing to the Huskies (Calhoun’s alma mater!) and he was pulling tantrums all night until finally being ejected by Wally Rutecki. After the game, he called Rutecki “incompetent.” Not one of his prouder moments.

Calhoun’s insatiable hatred of losing is a huge part of what made him so great. I’m not a big fan of the cliché “he willed his team to win,” but Calhoun really did do that. He willed his team to win.

I think that’s part of the reason why Calhoun doesn’t boast the same type of coaching tree that guys like Dean Smith, Coach K and others have. Sure, he’s had assistants go on to other jobs, but nobody like a Roy Williams (Smith), a Mike Brey (K), etc. I think part of that is because his success isn’t built so much on coaching philosophy and X’s and O’s. Rather, it’s been built on a competitiveness and appetite for victory that can’t be taught or imitated. In that sense (and many others), he’s really pretty similar to Bob Knight, who doesn’t have the most impressive coaching tree, either (Coach K aside).

The first time I really introduced myself to Calhoun was in August, 2007, shortly after I took over the beat. He wasn’t enamored with my predecessor at the Register, and the very first words he said to me after I introduced myself was, “Well, I didn’t like the other guy …”

Straight and to the point, no doubt. You pretty much always know where you stand with Jim Calhoun.

Last night, myself and some other beat guys engaged in a #calhounmemories tweet-fest on Twitter. I don’t have the tenure of guys like Neill Ostrout or Ed Daigneault, so I didn’t have as many stories. But here are two of my favorites, told to me by other people:

*** UConn recruited both Kirk King and Austin Croshere back in the day. It got King, but Croshere went to Providence. Every time UConn played the Friars and Croshere hit a 3-pointer or a big hoop, Calhoun would twirl around to his assistants and scream, “Wrong guy!!!!”

*** At a coaches’ golf tournament a few years ago, Calhoun got what he considered an inconvenient tee time. While on the putting green surrounded by other coaches, Calhoun could apparently be heard muttering, “How many (bleeping) national championships do you have to win to get a good tee time around here!?!?!”

There ain’t two Jim Calhouns, that’s for sure. A true original. He’ll be missed on the sidelines.

Doing a UConn season preview for Lindy's college basketball magazine. The preview has to be done by mid-July. The issue comes out in October. Every year, it seems, there are numerous changes between July and October that happen too late to be edited for the final edition -- from the departures of Nate Miles and Ater Majok in years past to Andre Drummond's surprise arrival last August.

Will there be any such movement this year? Say, a certain Hall of Fame coach deciding not to return late in the summer? I doubt it. And with that in mind, I had a phone conversation with Jim Calhoun this morning about the 2012-13 team. Here's a little of what he had to say:

(on next year's team, in general)

"I'm not saying it's the most talent we've ever had, it isn't. But we have a chance to be a better team -- not record-wise -- but a 'team.' We won't be having that national championship hangover.

(on changing the team's philosophy, without a dominant, shot-swatting center in the middle)

"You could see DeAndre (Daniels), Niels (Giffey), Leon (Tolksdorf), Tyler (Olander), all could be playing the four-spot. Hopefully, it's an offensive spot for us. We've definitely gone over the whole 'four-out' series, even 'five-out' (meaning four or five players playing outside the paint)."

(on Omar Calhoun)

"He's been terrific. He's almost 6-6, 200. His shot's a little funny, but it goes in ... all spring, our best shooter has been Omar."

(on having Ryan Boatright play point and moving Shabazz Napier off the ball)

"We'd like to do that more. Shabazz is probably our best pure shooter -- though it'll be interesting to see how DeAndre Daniels comes along."

(on R.J. Evans)

"R.J. is exactly what the doctor ordered. He came in not in as great shape as he would like to have been, but he's now 6-3, 210. When he's your fourth guard, you're in pretty good shape."

(on last year's "national championship hangover")

"We lost Kemba (Walker) and Charles (Okwandu), we lost the whole attitude we had the year before. It wasn't a bad attitude (last season), it wasn't that we weren't hungry anymore. But we turned to ourselves a little bit. That was obvious at the end of the season, and from some of the things that happened after the season was over."

(on the mass defections from last year's team)

"People make decisions in life, that's their decision. I wish them all the best. The two who left early, they should have gone early. Roscoe's a good kid, he wanted to leave, we would have liked him to stay. Same with Alex, he has a chance to play next year. Would Andre be better served (staying)? I think Jeremy should have gone. Those kids that want to leave, they have different pressures from different people. Life marches on. I'm gonna leave someday, too.

"Jerome (Dyson) came back and spent a couple of days with me. He was talking about what he did or didn't do when he was here. I told him, 'It doesn't make a difference. It's what you do today that matters.'"

UConn was focusing squarely on Fairfield at its practice today at Gampel. The Huskies have great respect for the Stags, who have won four straight and have an NBA-type talent in Rakim Sanders.

“This won’t be the easiest team, personnel-wise, that we play the rest of the way," said Jim Calhoun. "I think, from a talent standpoint, they’re better than some of the teams we’ll be playing in the Big East.”

However, talk eventually drifted over to the Huskies' Big East season, which gets underway on Dec. 28 at South Florida. Of course, Calhoun won't be on the sidelines for that game -- or for St. John's on Dec. 31 and Seton Hall on Jan. 3 -- as he sits out an NCAA-imposed three-game suspension stemming from the Nate Miles mess.

Calhoun said sitting out the three games will be "difficult. It's something that, according to the NCAA, happened 5 ½ years ago, some of these kids were probably sophomores in high school. It’s for, I guess, an atmosphere. I’m sitting out three games because – for me, it’s probably an attitude, as opposed to an atmosphere ..."

He added that the school suggested some alternatives to the suspension, but the NCAA didn't want to hear it.

"That’s unfortunate," Calhoun said, "Because I just don’t think you should drag these things on, particularly in light of a lot of things going on in college athletics.”

Calhoun won't travel with the team for the South Florida game.

“You’ve got to start off with somebody running the team and make sure they have a practice and can spend some time down there with the kids," he explained. "It’s nothing that they don’t know, just a different voice. Same system, different voice.”

It's not known whose voice the Huskies will be listening to just yet. George Blaney, of course, has always filled in in the past. Blaney wasn't at practice today while tending to a personal issue. Assistants Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller were also on the road recruiting.

Calhoun said he'll meet Wednesday with compliance director Marielle VanGelde to iron out what he can and can't do during the suspension.

*** Andre Drummond, for one, can't wait to kick off his Big East career.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since the day I stepped on this campus," he said. "I can’t wait to play in the Big East. I can’t wait to play Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame … you go down the line of the teams.”

It will be "pretty weird" playing the first three games without Calhoun, he admitted.

"But I think we’re going to be fine. Coach Blaney is also a great coach. Coach Miller, Ollie … anybody can really coach us, it just depends on how we go out there and play.”

*** The big sidebar heading into Thursday's Fairfield game will be the battle of the Olander brothers: Tyler, UConn's sophomore foward, and Ryan, Fairfield's 7-foot senior center.

The two have never really played against each other before, other than in 1-on-1 games in the driveway -- which often got very chippy. So chippy, in fact, that it's impossible to tell who had the upper hand in terms of basketball in those games.

"We'd always get in fights because neither of us wanted to lose," Ryan said. "We never really finished any games, they were always so physical."

We'll have more on the Olanders in a feature story later today.

*** Shabazz Napier appeared to turn his ankle badly at the very end of practice. He was crumpled on the ground, writhing in pain for several moments. Trainer James Doran tended to him, and Napier eventually got up, walked around and appeared fine.

"He wanted to end the drill," joked Calhoun, who never looked concerned even while Napier was down.

The Hofstra men's basketball team could start to look like mini-UConn pretty soon.

According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, former UConn assistant coach Patrick Sellers is expected to be named one of Mo Cassara's assistants. And, the Dutchmen are one of the possible destinations for Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, who has already made one unofficial visit to the Hofstra campus and is hoping to take another.

Either way, good to see Sellers land on his feet. He was let go by UConn in the wake of the Nate Miles recruiting violations, but since then his name has been cleared of all wrongdoing.

It wasn't supposed to be revealed publicly until Tuesday, but thanks to a glitch on the part of the NCAA, the APR scores of college teams from across the country became public knowledge this morning.

And, as expected, the UConn men's team will be docked two scholarships next season for its failure to meet APR standards. The Huskies' four-year rolling average APR score, from 2006-2010, is 893 -- below the standard score of 925.

UConn is a first-time APR violator, so it is subject simply to "public notice." So why are the Huskies being docked two skollies? Because while teams aren't penalized solely for falling short on APR the first time, they lose scholarships for every "0-for-2" player on the most recent academic year's team roster. The Huskies had two players from last year's team leave school while not in good academic standing (i.e., they flunked out), so they lose two scholarships.

It will likely get worse next year, too. Teams falling short on APR for a second time lose a scholarship (on top of any "0-for-2's") as well as practice time. The Huskies' APR for the 2009-10 team was a grisly 826, and all signs point to the Huskies falling short on their four-year average at this time next year.

Fall short a third time and the Huskies would be ineligible for postseason play. The good news for Husky fans is that they look to be in pretty good shape in two years, since the classes from 2008-12 appear to be in decent academic standing.

(Here's my story in today's Register)

The program has already been docked a scholarship by the NCAA for violations in the recruitment of Nate Miles and the defending national champions will have just 10 scholarships for next season. UConn has eight returning scholarship players and one incoming freshman (Ryan Boatright of Aurora, Ill.), meaning it currently has just one to give out to a prospective recruit for next season.

Failing to meet APR standards will hurt Jim Calhoun in his checkbook, too. Per his contract, his bonus for winning the national championship (about $87,500) would only be paid if the team meets APR standards. Also, he must donate $100,000 to the school’s general scholarship fund, meaning UConn’s APR shortcomings could cost the Hall of Fame coach about $187,500.

Conventional wisdom -- confirmed by sources within UConn's program -- is that Kevin Ollie would succeed Jim Calhoun whenever Calhoun decides to retire. We can guarantee here's one thing Ollie can still bring that Calhoun can't:



Here are the stories from today's Register: a game advance in which we ponder whether this is Calhoun's greatest coaching performance yet, and a notebook which talks about DeAndre Liggins ready to guard Kemba Walker, Glen Miller's interest in the Colgate job and other items.

And, of course, no UConn trip to the Final Four would be complete without Nate Miles surfacing.

Finally, here's a capsule breaking down the matchups between UConn and Kentucky.

Over the past few weeks, Kemba Walker has burned just about any player who’s tried to guard him.

He’s torched guys who were the defensive players of the year in their conferences, shot over smaller guards, blurred past 6-foot-8 forwards and forever resigned poor 6-10 Gary McGhee to Craig Ehlo status after an ankle-breaking move for a game-winning shot.


Tomorrow night, DeAndre Liggins gets his chance. Liggins, a 6-6 junior who was the Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year, is certainly ready.

“The thing with me is taking on the challenge, being competitive,” the Chicago native said on Friday, “having confidence that I can stop the other guy.”

Liggins has stopped other top players this season, most notably Tennessee star Scotty Hopson (5-for-18, 24 points in his two meetings with Liggins this season). Of course, he wasn’t so successful guarding Walker in the Maui Invitational championship game on Nov. 24. Liggins – and several other Wildcat defenders – allowed Walker to pour in 29 points and lead the Huskies to the title.

“He killed me, he killed us,” Liggins recalled. “He had it going offensively. He has great confidence and my job is to contain him a little more.”

Walker has all but said that no one can stop him in the past, but he was judicious in his praise of Liggins on Friday.

“He’s one of the better defenders because he’s extremely active and had a height mismatch over me,” Walker said. “He’s got great length. I know it’s going to be a difficult, tough night for me. But I’m just counting on my teammates to give me the ball in the right situations and set up some great screens.”

Liggins is anticipating a tough night, as well.

“You can’t stop players like (Walker),” he said. “You just have to do your best on them. If he makes shots over you, then you have to live with that. But he is going to make shots over me (tonight). He is going to make some crazy shots, but I have to keep playing. I can’t get frustrated.”

Cal vs. Cal, Pt. Deux

Not to belabor this, but it is fun: Jim Calhoun and John Calipari are having fun with the (correct) perception that the two don’t get along well.

When asked about their bitter feuds back when Calipari was coaching UMass, Calhoun said: “He was loud, 50 miles away, trying to fight for a little bit of turf in New England … John really was trying to claim New England, he could never say he ‘parked the car in Harvard yard,’ he didn’t know what clam chowder really was. He had the red stuff, not the real clam chowder. I took umbrage to it, but I take umbrage to a lot of things.”

Calhoun did add, however: "He's developed into, in my opinion, a terrific coach. I watched the way he coaches. His kids play hard, play great defense and play together. He's been getting, as you well know, tremendous, big-name players. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and no disdain for him as a person."

Calipari addressed Calhoun’s “My Three Sons” reference earlier in the week, when he referred to the other three (younger) coaches in the Final Four as “my two sons, and my problem child.”

“I did tell him that I knew (“My Three Sons” star) Fred MacMurray, Mr. Calhoun,” Calipari said, “and you are no Fred MacMurray.”

Awkward!

Calipari was asked two questions at today's press conference that indirectly referenced his past, which includes his two prior Final Four apperances (with UMass and Memphis) being vacated later by the NCAA.

First, he was asked if he is the "2000 Jerry Tarkanian."


"I respect everything that Jerry did, his kids, how they played, all those things," Calipari said. "But no, I think I'm the 2011 John Calipari. I don't know what that means and I hate to talk in the third party. But I am who I am."

Later, someone asked him "how it feels to coach in your first Final Four?"

Calipari smiled and said, "I don't deal with that. We've been here three times. Those players played those games and did what they were supposed to. I'm so proud of what they've all accomplished. It's been fun. It's been a good experience, and this is going to be a good experience."

Not Here to Talk About the Past

Calhoun was reminded of his own checkered past, as well. He was asked about Nate Miles' recent interview with Slam magazine, in which Miles said UConn's athletics administration knew that the Yahoo story was coming out and were looking (particularly A.D. Jeff Hathaway) for a way to boot him out of school.

"I said my personal and private feelings would not be discussed, and are not going to be discussed," Calhoun said. "If anybody wants to drag up an experiene that happened two years ago, bring it back up, that's their choice. I'm going forward because I'm going forward with my life."

... or should I say, The Hooner vs. Johnny Clam Chowder? Nah, Cal vs. Cal works fine. Heck, John Calipari is referred to rather chummily in Kentucky's media notes as Cal, so why can't we?

As we blogged about a few days ago, these two guys don't like each other much. Perhaps their frosty relationship is best described in this piece on lostletterman.com, which explains how Calhoun used to dub him "Johnny Clam Chowder" in an attempt to mock Calipari as an outsider (from Pittsburgh) trying to tell people what's good for New England basketball.

Good stuff there. And here's how Calipari responds to my question on how he'd characterize his current relationship with Jim Calhoun:



Now, let's see how the two coaches stack up, head-to-head, in various different categories.

Head-to-head: Calhoun 3, Calipari 2

Career victories: Calhoun 853, Calipari 509

Career winning pct.: Calhoun .699 (853-367), Calipari .771 (509-151)

Current players on NBA opening day rosters: Calhoun 11 (Allen, Hamilton, Butler, Okafor, Gordon, Villanueva, Gay, Armstrong, Thabeet, Price, Adrien; Calipari 12 (Bledsoe, Camby, Carney, Cousins, Dorsey, Douglas-Roberts, Evans, Orton, Patterson, Rose, Wall, Williams)

Active coaching tree (former assistants now head coaches): Calhoun 6 (Dickenman, Hobbs, Jarvis, Moore, Pikiell, Woodward), Calipari 6 (Barbee, Flint, Kellogg, Martin, Pastner, Roccaforte)

30-win seasons: Calhoun 8, Calipari 7

NCAA tournament wins: Calhoun 47, Calipari 32

National championships: Calhoun 2, Calipari 0

Final Fours: Calhoun 4, Calipari 3

Final Fours vacated by NCAA committee on infractions: Calhoun 0, Calipari 2

Programs brought to Final Four: Calhoun 1, Calipari 3

Sweet 16's: Calhoun 13, Calipari 8

Elite 8's: Calhoun 9, Calipari 6

NIT championships: Calhoun 1, Calipari 1

Background: Boston Irish, Pittsburgh Italian. Let's call this one a draw.

NBA experience: Claims he was once final cut in Celtics camp, 2 1/2 messy years as head coach of Nets. Let's call this one a draw, too.

Infamous quotes: "I f@$&ed up" or "Not one dime back" or countless others vs. calling a New Jersey reporter a "Mexican idiot."

Scandal: Nate Miles recruiting mess vs. Marcus Camby's pay-for-play or Derrick Rose cheating on SATs

Angering other coaches: Unfairly blaming Mick Cronin for not voting Kemba Walker first team all-Big East vs. John Chaney threatening to kill him.

Three words sum it all up: No postseason ban.

Isn't that what it's really all about? Sure, the NCAA's sanctions against UConn are everything from minor to embarassing to legitimately hurtful. But when it's all said and done, the lack of a postseason ban is really what Husky fans care about the most.

And if you listen to committee of infractions chairman Dr. Dennis Thomas, a postseason ban could have happened.

“There are a lot of options the committee has in its quiver,”
said Thomas, who is the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. “Based upon all of those options, which is inclusive of a postseason ban, we decided to implement the penalties as said forth in the public release.”

Let’s break down what each of the NCAA’s sanctions against UConn means to the program and to Jim Calhoun, and how everything that transpired today affects the program going forward.

 Public reprimand and censure.

Little more than public embarrassment. Jim Calhoun takes his image, legacy and place in the history of the game seriously, so I’m sure he’s not happy about it. But it is what it is. Does anybody even remember that Charles Rangel was publicly censured a few months ago? Didn’t think so.

 Three years of probation from February 22, 2011, through February 21, 2014. The public infractions report further details the conditions of this probation.

The NCAA adds a year to what UConn already self-imposed. Hardly the end of the world.

 The head coach must be suspended from all coaching duties for the first three conference games of the 2011-12 season. He cannot be present in the arena where the games are played and cannot have contact with the coaching staff or student-athletes during the games.

Embarassing, no doubt. A little surprising, too, that the long arm of the NCAA extends into specifically suspending a coach from conference play. Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was suspended for the first eight SEC games this season for misleading NCAA investigators (sound familiar?), but that was levied by the SEC itself. The NCAA has yet to punish Pearl (who, ironically, coached against UConn, a non-conference foe, in the middle of that suspension last month).

 Two-year show-cause order for the former operations director (February 22, 2011, through February 21, 2013). The public report further details the conditions of this penalty.

This obviously only affects Beau Archibald. According to a source, Archibald will appeal this decision.

 Permanent disassociation of the involved booster. The public infractions report includes further details.

Did you really think the program would ever associated itself with Josh Nochimson again?

 Reduction of men's basketball athletics scholarships from 13 to 12 for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

NCAA adds one more year to UConn’s self-imposed two-year sanctions. Not a shock, and certainly not a back-breaker. Consider: UConn has 12 scholarship players this season (per its own self-imposed sanctions). Seniors Donnell Beverly and Charles Okwandu are gone after this year, and in all likelihood, so is Kemba Walker to the NBA. That’s three spots open for next year, maybe more if there are any of the usual transfers, etc. One spot has been filled by Chicago point guard Ryan Boatright. The Huskies will have at least two spots open for next year and the year after, since everyone else on this year’s roster is a sophomore or freshman. That’s enough.

I’m going to lump these next four together:

 Ban on men’s basketball recruiting calls during the 2011-12 academic year until 30 days after the first day that phone calls are allowed.

 Reduction in the number of men’s basketball coaches allowed to make phone calls from three to two, not including the head basketball coach, for six months after the university’s response to the notice of allegations (self-imposed by the university).

 Reduction of the number of men’s basketball off-campus recruiting days by 40, from 130 to 90, for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 recruiting periods.

 Limit of five official paid visits for men’s basketball for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

None of these are good for the Huskies, particularly the reduction of off-campus recruiting days. But again, UConn has a host of good, young players already in stock, and it’s a good bet the Huskies will still be able to get good players despite these sanctions.

 The head coach, assistant coach and all members of the compliance staff must attend the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar.

Whatever.

Bottom line: Jim Calhoun says he is “very disappointed” in the NCAA’s findings. I’m sure there is a part of him – the extremely prideful part, the part that will never go down without a fight, the part that is very protective of his place in the history of the game – that is disappointed.

But there almost has to be another part of Calhoun that is a bit relieved that the sanctions weren’t worse. There is no postseason ban, which is about the only thing that most UConn fans really, truly cared about. The lack of a postseason ban and the cloud finally being lifted off the program should be enough to satisfy prospective recruits and limit any more negative recruiting that may be going around.

If nothing else, Calhoun is guilty of his overzealous pursuit of Nate Miles. Now, he’s paying the piper – but the price could have been a lot worse. UConn is going to the NCAA tournament this season and can for seasons to come, as well, provided it deserves a bid.

A posting on a pro-Georgetown blog asked in its headline, "Is Connecticut About to Lose Scholarships?", and went on to speculate on the "impending doom" about to hit the program.

The answer to the headline: "Well, umm, Yeah." Or at least most likely.

It's pretty much been assumed all along that the Huskies will dock itself at least a scholarship or two, hasn't it? At least I've always heard it that way. I'm pretty sure the NCAA will agree that the program should lose scholarships. How many? Recruit Angelo Chol Tweeted that the Huskies "lost all their scholarships."

First of all, it's Twitter. Secondly, it's a high school senior, not the greatest source of breaking news. Thirdly, it's Twitter. And plus, we don't even know how many "all their scholarships" will be next year. Two, as it stands now. Or three if Kemba Walker goes pro. Or four if Ater Majok leaves, as has been reported. Or five or six if the two German recruits don't show up ...

According to Michael Buckner (popular guy these days), the NCAA's "rough formula" has been a 2-for-1 penalty: two lost scholarship for every one student-athlete involved in wrongdoing. That would mean two for Nate Miles. Of course, that doesn't explain how USC football was docked 30 scholarships over the next three seasons for the Reggie Bush mess.

“I could see them losing at least two (scholarships), but it wouldn’t surprise me if they lost more," Buckner said of UConn. "I don’t have a basis for it, but that’s up for the appeals committee to decide (if UConn appealed the decision).”

Now, throw all this out the window if Majok's potential departure has anything to do with recruiting violations involving him. A UConn source categorically denies that is the case. If it is, however, the Huskies are in some trouble: unlike Nate Miles, of course, Majok actually did play for the team. Honest.

We'll find out over the next few days (likely a Thursday presser) what UConn's self-imposed sanctions will be. We won't find out how the NCAA ultimately rules until November or December, at the earliest.

Losing scholarships isn't good, but it's hardly a death sentence. Keep in mind, the Huskies were one short last year, and had one scholarship player (Jamaal Trice) who never saw the light of day in Big East action. Oh, and Jon Mandeldove was on scholarship last year, too. OK, last year's a bad example, since the team wasn't so good. But the bottom line is, most fully-funded teams in college hoops have at least two or three skollies wasted at the end of the bench.

Really, there are only two words the Huskies don't want to hear from the NCAA committee on infractions: postseason ban.

Doesn't seem likely, but ...

“I think based on the allegations, there’s probably a remote possibility (of a postseason ban),” said Dan Fitzgerald, a New Haven attorney who specializes in sports law. “I would never say never when you’re dealing with the NCAA. But these are recruiting violations. To me, the most logical sanctions would be recruiting sanctions, punishment parallel to the act.”

Added Buckner: “Based upon what we know, I do not see (a postseason ban), unless there’s some other information that we haven’t seen. Normally, that occurs when you have an ineligible student-athlete that’s involved in some serious NCAA rules violations (and) plays in some kind of NCAA postseason contests.”

Miles, of course, didn't.

“The committee of infractions could still impose that,” Buckner said, “but it would have to explain a sound basis for it. The committee has been trying to implement more stringent penalties lately. Look at the USC case.”

Along with its hefty loss of scholarships (which it is appealing), the USC football program received a two-year postseason ban for what the NCAA deemed a “lack of institutional control” regarding Bush, who allegedly received gifts from sports agents while at the school. UConn has been admonished by the NCAA for “a failure … to adequately monitor the conduct and administration of the men’s basketball staff.” Likewise, Calhoun has failed to “promote an atmosphere of compliance in the men's basketball program,” according to the NCAA.

“The only way a postseason ban would come up,” Fitzgerald said, “is if the lack of compliance was so pronounced – the failure to monitor was more than just negligent, it was reckless. I certainly don’t think they would find that with a program like UConn, that for the most part has been very clean and on the up-and-up.”

Added Buckner: “The only reason I could think of (for the NCAA to hand UConn a postseason ban) is that they’re trying to punish or sanction UConn and its men’s basketball program for not doing the job it should have been doing, in terms of ensuring impermissible contact between agents and boosters is not occurring with prospects. The NCAA is taking a very harsh, stringent approach against not just UConn but USC, (several) SEC, ACC schools, for their dealings with prospects or enrolled student-athletes. They could come up with some reason for a harsh approach, (saying) that you’ve got to be proactive and ensure that your program isn’t doing these things.”

It’s virtually impossible to believe that UConn will self-impose some sort of postseason ban. USC, in its combined investigation of its football and basketball programs, self-imposed a postseason ban for its basketball team the past season, stemming from improper benefits received by O.J. Mayo. Of course, Mayo played a season with the Trojans.

***Oh, had a brief e-mail exchange with Patrick Sellers earlier today. He's coaching the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons, the team Stephon Marbury played for last year in China. The team is 15-2, and he's happy with the way the players and organization have treated him.

Predictably, he couldn't comment on any NCAA stuff, but ended the e-mail by saying "I guess I will probably see you guys in Indy."

I guess that means Sellers intends on appearing before the NCAA committee on infractions Oct. 15-16 in Indianapolis.

OK, it was more than just about 30 improper phone calls over a four-year period. It was actually at least 160 impermissable phone calls and 191 text messages that the NCAA alleges UConn's coaching staff to have made from June, 2005 to February, 2009.

According to the notice of allegations, Beau Archibald made 114 impermissable phone calls and 181 texts between Aug. 9, 2007 and June 13, 2008; Andre LaFleur made 13 improper calls and eight texts; Patrick Sellers placed 19 impermissable calls and one text; George Blaney (not named specifically but referred to as "then assistant and current associate head men's basketball coach") made at least five impermissable phone calls; Tom Moore made four improper calls and Jim Calhoun placed two impermissable calls.

There are also numerous allegations that then-agent Josh Nochimson provided impermissable benefits to recruits.

So what will it all mean for UConn? We won't know for at least a few months, but it still appears that the likely punishments will be recruiting restrictions and loss of a scholarship or two.

"If it’s a recruiting case, then you look for recruiting sanctions," said Rick Evrard, UConn's legal counsel in NCAA-related matters. "If it’s a competitive-advantage case, where a student-athlete has competed while ineligible, then you look for vacation of contests, wins, participation in NCAA tournaments. If it has to do with academic fraud, you’re going to look institutionally at the systems in place."

Nate Miles, who appears to be the subject of most if not all of the improprieties, never played for UConn. Hence, the Huskies wouldn't have to worry about an ineligible player having played for them.

In his opening statement at Friday morning's press conference, Calhoun labels the process as the NCAA's "inquiry into our recruitment of a particular student-athlete," which, of course, would be Miles. However, it's possible some of the violations involve kids who have played at UConn.

Either way, UConn has 90 days to review the NCAA's allegations and institute self-imposed penalties. At the end, the NCAA can either concur with UConn's suggested penalties -- or treat them more harshly.

"It’s a balancing act," Evrard said, "trying to evaluate making sure that you self-impose meaningful penalties, versus the committee of infractions evaluation of what you do … does this institution get it? If you’re too light on yourself, you risk the possibility of having additional penalties imposed by the committee. If you hit it on the mark, and the institution and committee on infractions are lock-step and say ‘This is about right,’ then sometimes the institution will question itself, ‘Did we hit ourselves too hard?’"

Some statements from Jeff Hathaway and Jim Calhoun:

HATHAWAY:
“Let me be clear: the University of Connecticut is fully committed to NCAA rules compliance, and takes this matter very seriously. With regard to Coach Calhoun, he personally has a long-standing history of demonstrating commitment to NCAA compliance. We appreciate his continued commitment, as well as the full cooperation and support that he has provided throughout this process.

“These are serious matters. We have a demonstrated commitment to NCAA compliance … we’re proud of our record of compliances. It’s a serious matter, we understand that, but we’re fully engaged to resolve this situation.”

CALHOUN:
"We all have to comply by the same rules and regulations, so that we all have the same chance to compete, to recruit, to run programs. It comes down to a level playing field. We all have the same rules, and we’re all expected to comply. That’s why I would consider it very important that we all comply by the rules.

"I pride myself, my love of the university, my players, the program, the institution and, quite frankly, the state. It’s certainly one of the lowest points (of my career), any time you’re accused of something. It’s a very serious matter. Conversely, I’m not defeated. I don’t get defeated by things. As a matter of fact, I’m going to be educated by certain matters if, in fact, we did make mistakes – which I think I said 15 months ago – and we’ll finalize some of that over the next 90 days. And we will go forward.

“No one wants this to happen. Did I see it happening? No. But it happened, therefore we’re going to handle it the way we’ve always handled things – upfront, transparently, and do the best we possibly can if we have made mistakes.

"We are steadfast in our beliefs that we operate a program deeply committed to complying with NCAA guidelines. In my 38 years as a collegiate head coach, 25 of which I’ve been at the University of Connecticut, I look with particular pride on our strong record of compliance, and the impact we’ve made on the young people who have come through our program.

"Though we may have made some mistakes in the recruiting process, UConn has never wavered in terms of fostering and maintaining a strong culture of compliance, and has always strived to meet the highest standard possible, and the highest standard expected of us."

A few other interesting tidbits:

***Calhoun, Hathaway, faculty athletics representative Scott Brown, LaFleur, Sellers, Archibald and director of compliance Marielle Van Gelder are requested to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Oct. 15-16.

***Evrard said he believes this is the first time UConn has ever received a letter of allegations from the NCAA.

***He also said the resignations of Sellers and Archibald were "probably just coincidental, to the fact that it’s the end of the academic year or perhaps the end of (their) contract … In this case, it’s just a matter of timing.”

***Archibald resisnged on May 20; Sellers this past Sunday.

***The process for finding replacements for Archibald and Sellers began today, simply in terms of filing paperwork to human resources to get approvals to post for the jobs.

***According to Evrard, similar past cases (Kelvin Sampson, anyone?) are "very relevant. The committee on infractions relies on its case precedent to evaluate cases that are coming up the pike and the ones that they hear. All cases that have any relations – circumstantial relations, similar patterns of allegations or violations – they evaluate all of that and prepare a response accordingly.”

***These are considered major violations, but that could be more semantics than anything else. Violations that are viewed as isolated or inadvertant are labeled as secondary. Virtually everything else is deemed "major."

"If you move out of scope of secondary violation, you become involved with every other major case that’s ever come down the pike," Evrard said. "There’s no levels of major, which I think is unfortunate for many institutions, because they get lumped into … I’ll harken back a long time ago to a Florida State case. They had four elements of a lack of institutional control, and they put it into a major category. But the four elements that comprised the lack of institutional control were relatively minor. Standing alone,they all would be secondary. The facst of the matter is that that case is in the same category of SMU and Alabama and some other major cases.

Rashad Anderson, Craig Austrie and Nate Miles were each selected in the 2009 NBDL Draft on Thursday night. Anderson went with the ninth overall pick to the Iowa Energy, Austrie was the third pick in the fourth round by the Springfield Armor, and Miles was taken with the fourth pick of the sixth round by the Sioux City Skyforce.

Here are all the selections of the eight-round draft for the NBA's official minor league. About 20 percent of all current NBA players have D-League experience.

First Round
1. Carlos Powell, Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2. Donell Taylor, Erie BayHawks
3. Deron Washington, Los Angeles D-Fenders
4. Amara Sy, Bakersfield Jam
5. Garret Siler, Utah Flash
6. Alonzo Gee, Austin Toros
7. Desmon Farmer, Reno BigHorns
8. Paul Harris, Maine Red Claws
9. Rashad Anderson, Iowa Energy
10. Alade Aminu, Fort Wayne
11. Curtis Withers, Dakota Wizards
12. Antonio Anderson, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
13. Raymond Sykes, Sioux Falls Skyforce
14. JamesOn Curry, Springfield Armor
15. Sundiata Gaines, Idaho Stampede
16. Latavious Williams, Tulsa 66ers


Second Round
1. Mustafa Shakur, Tulsa 66ers
2. Dar Tucker, Idaho Stampede
3. Major Wingate, Springfield Armor
4. Pete Campbell, Sioux Falls Skyforce
5. Jonathan Wallace, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
6. Doug Thomas, Dakota Wizards
7. Frank Tolbert, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
8. Pat Carroll, Iowa Energy
9. Darnell Lazare, Maine Red Claws
10. Haminn Quaintance, Reno Bighorns
11. Russell Carter, Austin Toros
12. Orien Greene, Utah Flash
13. Reece Gaines, Bakersfield Jam
14. Alan Wiggins, Los Angeles D-Fenders
15. John Bryant, Erie BayHawks
16. Chad Toppert, Albuquerque Thunderbirds



Third Round
1. Erek Hansen, Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2. Martin Zeno, Erie BayHawks
3. Jeremy Wise, Los Angeles D-Fenders
4. Anthony Goods, Bakersfield Jam
5. Kevin Goffney, Utah Flash
6. Lewis Clinch, Austin Toros
7. Chris Lowe, Reno Bighorns
8. Frank Young, Maine Red Claws
9. Sean Barnette, Iowa Energy
10. Jamelle Cornley, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
11. Marcus Dove, Dakota Wizards
12. Jamarcus Ellis, Rio Grande Valley
13. Reggie Williams, Sioux Falls Skyforce
14. James Cripe, Springfield Armor
15. Delonte Holland, Idaho Stampede
16. Cecil Brown, Tulsa 66ers

Fourth Round
1. Jeral Davis, Tulsa 66ers
2. T.J. Cummings, Idaho Stampede
3. Craig Austrie, Springfield Armor
4. Leemire Goldwire, Sioux Falls Skyforce
5. Mickell Gladness, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
6. D’Lancy Carter, Dakota Wizards
7. Booker Woodfox, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
8. Carl Mitchell, Iowa Energy
9. Gary Ervin, Maine Red Claws
10. Louis Graham, Reno Bighorns
11. Ira Brown, Austin Toros
12. Jason Richards, Utah Flash
13. Jared Newson, Bakersfield Jam
14. Christopher Hayes, Los Angeles D-Fenders
15. Derrick Mercer, Erie BayHawks
16. Yaroslav Korolev, Albuquerque Thunderbirds

Fifth Round
1. Shagari Alleyne, Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2. Rod Wilmont, Erie BayHawks
3. Christopher Moore, Los Angeles D-Fenders
4. Lance Hurdle, Bakersfield Jam
5. Joe Darger, Utah Flash
6. David McClure, Austin Toros
7. Terry Martin, Reno Bighorns
8. Scooter McFadgon, Maine Red Claws
9. Joah Tucker, Iowa Energy
10. Lenny Stokes, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
11. Jason Straight, Dakota Wizards
12. Kenny Dawkins, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
13. Draezon Burns, Sioux Falls Skyforce
14. DeSean White, Springfield Armor
15. J.C. Mathis, Idaho Stampede
16. Mitchell Johnson, Tulsa 66ers

Sixth Round
1. Keena Young, Tulsa 66ers
2. Mike Gansey, Idaho Stampede
3. Perrin Johnson, Springfield Armor
4. Nate Miles, Sioux Falls Skyforce
5. Antoine Hood, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
6. Darren Cooper, Dakota Wizards
7. C.J. Anderson, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
8. Casey Love, Iowa Energy
9. Anthony Terrell, Maine Red Claws
10. Jermaine Johnson, Reno Bighorns
11. Quemont Greer, Austin Toros
12. Travis Holmes, Utah Flash
13. Chris Ayer, Bakersfield Jam
14. Charlie Parker, Los Angeles D-Fenders
15. Jeff Skemp, Erie BayHawks
16. J’Nathan Bullock, Albuquerque Thunderbirds

Seventh Round
1. Garrison Carr, Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2. Ryan Troutman, Erie BayHawks
3. Moustafa N’Doye, Los Angeles D-Fenders
4. Ramon Dyer, Bakersfield Jam
5. Alain Laroche, Utah Flash
6. Augustine Okosun, Austin Toros
7. Chris Davis, Reno Bighorns
8. Tony Bobbitt, Maine Red Claws
9. Russell Hicks, Iowa Energy
10. Andres Sandoval, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
11. Rashaad Powell, Dakota Wizards
12. Rashad Woods, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
13. Rodney Alexander, Sioux Falls Skyforce
14. Brandon Jones, Springfield Armor
15. Bryson McKenzie, Idaho Stampede
16. Adam McCoy, Tulsa 66ers

Eighth Round
1. Tim Parham, Tulsa 66res
2. Vince Oliver, Idaho Stampede
3. Brayden Billbe, Springfield Armor
4. Lawrence McKenzie, Sioux Falls Skyforce
5. DeAngelo Alexander, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
6. Jimmy Binnie, Dakota Wizards
7. A.J. Ratliff, Fort Wayne Mad Ants
8. Marcus Walker, Iowa Energy
9. Matt Clement, Maine Red Claws
10. Ron Allen, Reno Bighorns
11. D’Mond Grismore, Austin Toros
12. Jordan Brady, Utah Flash
13. Stephen McDowell, Bakersfield Jam
14. Travis Pinick, Los Angeles D-Fenders
15. Zachary Sowers, Erie BayHawks
16. Brian Kortovich, Albuquerque Thunderbirds