As you likely already know, the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game will be held on Friday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. As an added twist this year, women's players will also join the fun in some co-ed competition.

Here's the press release:

Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun is hosting an NBA sanctioned alumni all-star basketball game this summer – the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game presented by Cigna – as part of the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic.

Many of Coach Calhoun's greatest players will return for the eighth Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Basketball Game. NEW THIS YEAR, many of Connecticut's top women players also will join us for some coed competition. It will be a special night in Connecticut basketball history when stars from our national championship teams take the floor and compete against each other. 

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler, Andre Drummond, Donyell Marshall, Khalid El-Amin, and Rudy Gay among others, have played in past charity games at Mohegan Sun. On the women's side, we have 2016 event commitments from Connecticut stars Nykesha Sales and Svetlana Abrosimova among others.

The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, Aug. 12. Proceeds from the game and the entire Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic will benefit The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

“I'm excited about bringing many of the top men's and women's players from the Connecticut Basketball family together for this game for the first time this year. It should be a tremendous evening as we all reconnect with these stars and I know they look forward to gathering together and playing in front of their longtime fans. As important, I'm so pleased that proceeds from the game will go to fight America’s number #1 killer – heart disease,” said Calhoun.

Since 1999, the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic has raised more than $8 million for cardiology research and life-saving care at The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

Tickets are $12 to $25 and go on sale Friday, June 10th at 10:00AM. To purchase game tickets, call Ticketmaster at 800.345.7000, go to Ticketmaster.com, or visit the Mohegan Sun box office.

A couple of things today:

*** UConn commit Steve Enoch was named the 2014-15 Gatorade Connecticut Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Enoch, from Norwalk, played this past season at St. Thomas More School.

The 6-foot-10, 235-pound senior forward averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game this past season, leading the Chancellors (29-9) to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class AAA semifinals. The state’s No.1 recruit in the Class of 2015 as rated by the New England Recruiting Report, Enoch scored 18 points with seven rebounds in an 83-76, come-from-behind victory over Vermont Academy at the Spaulding Hoophall Classic in January.

Enoch has maintained a 3.27 GPA in the classroom. He has donated his time delivering meals and clothing to families in need and has volunteered as a tour guide for prospective students at his school.

“Steven Enoch possesses tremendous integrity and initiative,” said St. Thomas More head coach Jere Quinn. “He has had a wonderful season while playing in the strongest conference in the country. He will have a very successful career at UConn as a student and as an athlete.”

*** There apparently has been some scuttlebutt about potential UConn transfers, seemingly based on Kevin Ollie's postgame quotes on Wednesday night. While the quotes did raise a few eyebrows, especially since they started off unsolicited, I don't think there's a whole lot to them. For the most part, the "exit interviews" next week are standard operating procedure.

I spoke with Amida Brimah's legal guardian, Nana Baafi, on Friday, and he scoffed at the idea that Brimah might want to transfer.

"Nobody’s thought about anything like that at all. That stuff is not … I don’t know how that stuff got out there," he said.

What about the NBA? A veteran Eastern Conference scout told me the other day that both Brimah and Daniel Hamilton would "both, for sure, be drafted -- maybe high second-round picks. To say they're first-round guys? I wouldn't say that right now."

But Baafi doesn't think that will happen, either.

"Shoot, honestly I don’t know. I don’t think so. He just took a couple of days off, we haven't had that discussion at all. It's not on our minds. We're not even close to that at all."

Then, asked about this past season, Baafi said: "Next year will be better, I know that much for sure."

*** Had a chance to chat with Richard Hamilton on Friday. He's currently promoting the new Gillette clear gel product called Undefeated, which promises wetness protection and no odor for up to 48 hours.

"From a guy's perspective, as a dad and an athlete, you need something that's gonna last you 1-2 days," he said. "Especially out in the sun."

Here's  the story I wrote for the Register, in which he talks retirement, his greatest memory as a player, and why UConn is the "best campus in the world," and here are a few leftover quotes:

(on who he likes in the NCAA tournament)

"I think Wisconsin. The only reason why I say that, you have to be lucky to win. You have to have a great team, but also be lucky. (Kentucky is) young. They don’t have guys on the team that have been in college four years, so when there's adversity, how do you handle when stuff ain’t going right for you? Are you gonna go out on your own, or stay in team concept? But also, they've got a great coach in Coach Cal, so ..."

(would he ever get into coaching?)

"You never know. One thing I love is being an analyst, doing work with NBATV, ESPN. I'm excited about doing that.

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

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

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

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

(is it a rivalry?)

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

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

(responding to Nate James' comments)

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

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

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

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

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

KEVIN OLLIE:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes, quotes and video from UConn's 65-57 win over College of Charleston in a Puerto Rico Tip-Off tourney game on Thursday.



RODNEY PURVIS:

(on hitting consecutive 3-pointers, from opposite corners, to turn a five-point UConn lead into 11 midway through the second half)

“It felt great. The whole time, the little struggles I had early on, I knew something good was gonna come out of it. I never got down on myself. I’m just thankful for my teammates and coaches for always believing in me.”

(on advice he got from Richard Hamilton after the game)

“He was just saying how it took him, like, five games to get his feet wet. He was saying how, basically, I’m like a freshman all over again. I sat out a whole year. So, I’m still getting my feet wet and things like that. He told me to stay with it and it’s all gonna come.”

(on getting advice from Hamilton and Jim Calhoun over the past week or so)

“You have those two guys pulling you aside, I think that’s a great sign of them seeing something great in you. I just take it all in, listen to those guys, because Rip, I’m trying to follow in his footsteps and get to where he got to. And Coach Calhoun, he can pull me to the side anytime. I can always hear from him.”

KEVIN OLLIE:

“I’m gonna take this win. I thought it was a good effort from my guys. I really like our rebounding ... just a couple of defensive breakdowns that we can clean up.”

“All in all, it’s a good win.”

(on 11 second-half turnovers)

“We just can’t do that, against any team.”

(on Daniel Hamilton)

“He plays with a lot of poise and a lot of maturity. He knows the game, he can play on all three levels. He can shoot from 3, which we’ve seen; he can get to the rim, he’s got great ball-fakes, great footwork. And he can pass the ball. He threw a couple of lobs to Amida (Brimah), one of them Jeff Anderson called a charge. The other was a great pass. He’s like another point guard out there for me.”

“I think he gambled a couple of times and got us out of our principles where we had the help and we got lucky on a couple of missed shots by (Canyon) Barry. It’s a learning process for him, but he’s very coachable. That’s the one thing I love: I can instruct him on something, and he’ll go out there and do it.”

(on Richard Hamilton addressing the team)

“They know Richard. Just to see another great UConn player come out and support him, I think that makes them feel better inside. That’s what our alumni do, whenever they have an opportunity. They come out and support us very, very well.”

(on Purvis's two big shots)

“The shot doesn’t go in, or does go in, we’ve still gotta play good defense. And he started playing some real good defense. That gets you energized. To see those two 3’s go in, I know it felt good for him. You could see the exuberance on his face, the energy that he had. Hopefully, we can keep finding him for 3’s, because we need to shoot better.”

(on Dayton)

“I was looking at the score (of Dayton's game against Texas A&M), I was like, ‘Man, is that just the first five minutes? And I saw it was halftime. That’s how these games are gonna be, early. They have some great players, not a traditional 7-footer or 6-10 four-man, they got 6-7, 6-8, they’re very interchangable. Lotta down screens, backdoors. They execute their offense, and we’ve got to get back in transition.”

DANIEL HAMILTON:

“I was getting in a rhythm. I’ve been shooting pretty bad preseason. At shootaround, we’ve got to take that seriously, because those are going to be game shots. I try to take as many shots as I can in shootaround, and when they came my way, I just wanted to knock it down.”

“Coming in, I can’t think of it like I was a freshman. I’ve just got to come in and be a huge impact to the team. Whatever coach wants me to do, I’ve got to come in and do it -- if it’s passing, scoring, rebounding, defending, whatever it is. I want to be out on the court and contribute as much as I can.”

RYAN BOATRIGHT:

(on UConn's propensity to start strong but let opponents back into the game)

“I think we’re just losing focus. We’re having some careless turnovers. I think we get a little winded sometimes ... We’ve got to get better at that. When we play better competition, we can’t afford those lapses.”

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Andre Drummond, Ben Gordon and Rudy Gay are among the former UConn greats expected to participate in the seventh Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Other likely participants: Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, DeAndre Daniels, Khalid El-Amin, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, Scott Burrell, Taliek Brown, A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, John Gwynn, Lyman DePriest and Rod Sellers. Shabazz Napier is a "hopeful" at this point, we're told.

Howie Dickenman will coach one team and Tom Moore will coach the other. Kevin Ollie won't play, but instead will help assist Dickenman's team. Jim Calhoun, of course, will be there, as well (provided he doesn't take any bike rides earlier in the day). Typically, he floats around to both benches during the game.

Players on all four of UConn's national championship teams will be represented. Also in the house will be the four national championship trophies, on display up on the concourse.

The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ticket are $12 to $25 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster at 800-345-7000, at Ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun box office. All proceeds will benefit the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. Since 1999, the game has raised more than $6.5 million for cardiology research and life-saving care.

Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Rip Hamilton, Rudy Gay and Shabazz Napier are among the former UConn stars expected to play at this year's Jim Calhoun Charity Classic game on Aug. 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Also expected to be in attendance are: Ben Gordon, DeAndre Daniels, Jeremy Lamb, Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Charlie Villanueva, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien, Taliek Brown and Scott Burrell.

The annual Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game will be held on Friday, Aug. 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Many of the stars from UConn's national championship teams are expected to attend, including Ray Allen, Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier. The only marquee name that might not be able to play as of now is Emeka Okafor, who is dealing with a neck injury.

Here's the press release:

NCAA Champion and Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun is hosting an NBA sanctioned alumni all-star basketball game this summer – the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game presented by Milestone Wines – as part of the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic.

Many of Coach Calhoun's greatest players will return for the seventh Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Basketball Game. It will be a special night in Connecticut basketball history when stars from four national championship teams take the floor and compete against each other. Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler, Kevin Ollie, Donyell Marshall, Khalid El-Amin, Doron Sheffer, and Rudy Gay among others, have played in past charity games at Mohegan Sun.

The game will be played at 7:30PM at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, August 8, 2014. Proceeds from the game and the entire Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic will benefit The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

“Once again, I'm excited about bringing the Connecticut Basketball family back together for this game. It is a great way for me to reconnect with many of my former players, and I know they look forward to gathering together and playing in front of their longtime fans. As important, I'm so pleased that proceeds from the game will go to fight America’s number #1 killer – heart disease,” said Basketball Hall of Famer and Three-Time National Champion Collegiate Coach Jim Calhoun.

Since 1999, the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic has raised more than $6.5 million for cardiology research and life-saving care at The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health.

The charity game’s title sponsor is Mohegan Sun and it is presented by Milestone Wines in association with XFINITY.

Tickets are $12 to $25 and go on sale Friday, June 13th at 10:00AM. To purchase game tickets, call Ticketmaster at800.345.7000, go to Ticketmaster.com, or visit the Mohegan Sun Box Office.

For more information about the 2014 Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Basketball Game presented by Milestone Wines and the Mohegan Sun / Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic, please call the event’s organizers, Gold, Orluk & Partners, at 860.674.1500 or visit the event website at www.calhounallstargame.com.

Well, that happened. Another national championship for UConn. In my opinion, the most unlikely of the Huskies' four. Yes, even more unlikely than the 2011, Kemba-led run.

Not sure what more to write at this point, so we'll leave you with some video:

Shabazz Napier was emotional as he watched "One Shining Moment" on the video board. Kevin Ollie consoled him and gave him a kiss.

Here, Napier explains why this title is so special:

Richard Hamilton on UConn's title:

UConn celebrating on the podium:

DeAndre Daniels with his new hardware:

Some video and quotes off UConn's 64-55 loss to SMU on Sunday:

LARRY BROWN:

“I thought both teams defended like crazy. We made some shots in the second half. We didn’t want them to get out in transition. We wanted Connecticut to have to score against us in the halfcourt. The first half was kind of ugly, both teams had 11 turnovers. But we did a much better job of taking care of the ball in the second half. Our shot selection was much better. And, for the most part, I thought we rebounded better.”

“I keep reading where we haven’t beaten a quality team on the road. Not many teams beat a quality team on the road. Figure that one out.”

“We needed to get over the hump, because I think a lot of our kids maybe kind of needed that. Down the stretch, we missed a whole bunch of free throws. We did that the other night against Temple, missed seven in a row in the last two minutes. It’s just a learning process for us. But we beat a great team. So much tradition here, great crowd. We had to play our best by far on the defensive end to do this, and I think we did.”

(on why he doesn't like coaching against Kevin Ollie, whom he coached with the 76ers for two seasons)

“I marveled at the job he did last year. I don’t think he got any credit for what he did last year. They can’t go anywhere, he takes over for … shoot, I walked on his street (Jim Calhoun Way) … and he kept that group together, playing at a high level.”

“He’s here for the right reasons. A lot of guys that are coaching now aren’t here for the right reasons.”

(on seeing Rip Hamilton before the game)

“I’ve been calling people about signing him, because he’s never been out of shape a day in his life. He’s one of the guys I love, because all of coach Calhoun’s guys are so competitive. Except Emeka (Okafor). Emeka’s just a talent and the greatest guy, fun to be around, but he’s not one of those guys that grew up wanting to play every second of every game. I love being around him, but Rip wants to be great. He’s such a fierce competitor. I can’t believe he’s not playing for somebody. I’m getting on the phone as soon as I leave here.”

OLLIE:

“Tough game by us. Coach Brown had those guys ready to play.”

“We outrebounded them, but you can’t shoot 29 percent. I look at my starters, man, a lot of missed shots.”

“You’ve just got to play more solid, on the offensive and defensive end. You’ve got to be a tougher minded team, and we weren’t that today. Larry Brown and SMU have a good group of guys over there. They play hard, and they play together.”

“They’re tough defensively, but you’ve got to move the basketball. We made them even tougher by staying on the first side. But they are tough defensively. They’re long, they’re aggressive. Nic Moore is a tough, heady point guard. They’ve got the bigs back there, and they go 9, 10 deep. And everybody that comes off is long and athletic. They play hard and they know his system. And they trust each other.”

*** Is SMU simply a tough match-up for UConn, for whatever reason?

Ryan Boatright: “Nah, it’s not a tough match-up. We just missed a lot of shots. We make half of those shots that we put up, it’s a whole other game … We make two, three more shots, it’s a whole other game.”

Niels Giffey: “I wouldn’t say that. They are well-coached, they’ve got an NBA coach. It’s a tough question. I don’t think they’re a particularly bad match-up for us, I just think that it kind of shows our weaknesses in this game and the game down there was just a totally different game. We had a bad attitude down there, didn’t approach the game the right way. But I think today, everybody was in the right mindset. We just weren’t able to move the ball and attack the paint the way we wanted.”

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

Here's what Hamilton had to say:

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

(on seeing Duke players over the years)

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

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

(on possibly still hooking up with an NBA team)

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

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

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

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

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

(on this year's UConn team)

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

Jim Calhoun:

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

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

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

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

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

Didn't want to do it, but had to write another column about how clutch Shabazz Napier is. Seriously, what else was there to write about? UConn's incredible 40-year unbeaten streak in non-conference, on-campus games in November/December? Well, that was my plan, until Napier's latest heroics blew that out the window.



DeAndre Daniels playing big and coming up big against a team and coach that heavily recruited him, with the huge tip to Napier that allowed him to hit his game-winning shot? That was under consideration, too.

But no, had to go with Shabazz.

Here are some notes and quotes from tonight:

Kevin Ollie: “We’re not the biggest team in America, but man, I wouldn’t trade our heart for anything.”

The Daniels tip to Napier for the game-winner "kinda reminded me of Richard Hamilton, Sweet 16"

*** Daniels, showing his sense of humor, on his tip to Napier: “Yeah, I was trying to tip it. I think they should put that in the books as an assist.”

On the rowdy, sellout crowd:

“Three years I’ve been here, that’s the best I’ve seen Gampel.”

On Napier:

“He’s amazing, he’s the best in the country, in my eyes. He’s a senior, and he wants it so bad. We’re going to follow the lead of Shabazz.”

Daniels was recruited heavily by Florida.

"I was very close to going there. I was very close to Billy Donovan. He's a great coach, a great guy. I'm actually looking for him right now, just to talk to him, see how he's doing."

Why UConn?

"When I talked to (Jim) Calhoun and Kevin Ollie, I just felt like this would be a better situation for me."

*** Napier, on his latest heroics: “As a kid, you want to be that hero. Who doesn’t? You always see highlight films of guys hitting the last shot, guys at the free throw line making the free throws. You want to be the hero, you want to be the guy that’s known as the hero at the end of the game. Who doesn’t? Growing up, I wanted to be Superman. Everybody wants to be the hero. I just felt like I was fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Was he Superman on Monday night?

“Nah, Superman does it on his own, I can’t do it without my teammates. They made sure I got the right picks, DeAndre put a good hand on the ball the last second. We found a way to win.”

*** Florida coach Billy Donovan:

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Napier at the end of games. I think he’s a big shot-making guy. We actually did a really good job. We made the decision that we were going to trap him. We did trap him, we got him to take a very, very difficult, off-balance shot."

"The guy that won the game for them was DeAndre Daniels. He made an unbelievable tip-out, off-balance, which kept the ball alive. We had guys on Napier that kind of ran to the rim to go defensive rebound, which left space for Napier. We needed to keep a guy there and we didn’t. But his shot really was luck, in the fact that the ball was tipped to him. If it’s tipped anywhere else, it’s out.”

On Napier's four-point play with 33 seconds left: “Watching it on film, there was no foul. But we had two opportunities to rebound the basketball.”

*** UConn's last November/December, on-campus, non-conference loss was Dec. 5, 1973, in a loss to Holy Cross. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Although Jim Calhoun wasn't able to attend the event due to a broken hip suffered in a bike accident earlier in the day, there was still plenty of fun and action at Saturday night's charity all-star game. Here's some video evidence:

Kemba Walker, Ray Allen introduced to the crowd; MVP Walker drains a 3-pointer; Big Ed Nelson blows a dunk; Rudy Gay finds Edmund Saunders for a nice reverse layup:



Hasheem Thabeet and Rudy Gay mess around prior to the game; Kemba talks about how special UConn will always be to him; Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton shoot the breeze:

On the eve of the BIG EAST tournament, SNYwill celebrate UConn’s storied men’s basketball program by unveiling Huskies Heroes: the top 10 all-time players on Monday, March 5 at 9 pm. In this one-hour show, fans can see where their favorite players – such as Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton rank among the all-time best. SNY experts and college basketball dignitaries debated, discussed and ultimately decided the top 10 Men’s basketball players of all-time at UConn.

The blue ribbon panel that selected the top ten UConn players includes:

· Mike Tranghese: Former BIG EAST Commissioner.

· Donny Marshall: Former UConn star basketball player.

· Joe D’Ambrosio: play-by-play voice for UConn Men’s basketball

· Phil Chardis: Associate Athletics Director of Communications for UConn

· Tim Welsh: Current SNY Analyst and Former BIG EAST Head Coach who previously earned

Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and 1998.

· Tarik Turner: SNY BIG EAST analyst

As the top-ten player rankings are released, host Gary Apple will be joined in-studio by a panel of experts – including Tim Welsh, Donny Marshall, Tarik Turner and college basketball columnist Lenn Robbins of the New York Post – who won the APSE award winner as well as the Jim Murray Award for outstanding college sports writing. The studio panel will debate the players who did – and didn’t – make the top-ten list. The program will also feature exclusive interviews and reactions from the players selected in the top-10.

A few tidbits heading into tomorrow's bout with Seton Hall at the Prudential Center in Newark:

***Jeremy spoke: Jeremy Lamb has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, the second-longest streak for a freshman in Jim Calhoun’s 25 seasons. Only Richard Hamilton’s four-game stretch during the 1997 NIT is longer.

Lamb has averaged 18.3 points over his last six games to up his season average to double figures (10.1). He's shooting 57.7 percent from the floor in that stretch and is 40 percent (12-for-30) from 3-point land in the last five contests.

***Jeremy silenced? The Huskies must pay attention to high-scoring Jeremy Hazell, who’s averaging 17.7 ppg. Hazell missed 13 games earlier this season due to a broken left wrist while also surviving a gunshot wound while walking home from a party in his East Harlem home on Dec. 26.

Hazell, who’s never met a shot he didn’t like, poured in 28 in the win at Syracuse but was held to a season-low five, on 1-for-8 shooting, against West Virginia.

Roscoe Smith has done a nice job keeping other top swingmen (see: Corey Stokes, Scotty Hopson) in check this season, and he may be asked to do the same tomorrow night.

***Jersey sure. UConn has defeated Seton Hall 10 straight times and has won 27 straight regular season games against the Big East’s tri-state schools: Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s.

The UConn athletic department would like to get the word out that seven of the 13 former UConn players currently in the NBA are on this year's NBA All-Star ballot: Rudy Gay (Memphis), Ray Allen (Boston), Emeka Okafor (New Orleans), Charlie Villanueva (Detroit), Richard Hamilton (Detroit), Caron Butler (Washington) and Ben Gordon (Detroit).

Fans can vote for all-stars at NBA.com until Jan. 18. The rosters will be announced on Jan. 22.

***Speaking of the NBA, we're hoping we don't run across Gilbert Arenas's personal arsenal on Saturday at the Verizon Center, when UConn faces Georgetown in what should be a good one. Guns among NBA players (and basketball players in general) is a topic on people's minds these days, including some clown on today's Big East coaches conference call.

A guy identifying himself as an Associated Press writer (who was apparently from a radio show out in Portland) asked Jim Calhoun if his players "still have guns in the locker room." Calhoun appeared flustered, perhaps not understanding what the guy said or whether he was serious or not, and eventually the caller was cut off.

***Not a terribly lot of information on the call. Calhoun was asked about Georgetown.

"It's a little different kind of Georgetown team. You're not going to see a lot of bodies, they're basically playing seven people. Greg Monroe is incredibly skilled. He's unselfish, he can score, rebound, block shots. I know they lost a tough one to Marquette (on Wednesday), but we're going to say that, I think, all throught he league season."

***Georgetown coach John Thompson III also spoke:

(on UConn)

"They still are big and imposing on the boards. At the end of day, between Jerome and Kemba, they kind of make the team go It's easy to say, 'let's stop UConn's transition,' that's something they stress. 'Let's keep them off the boards, try to limit their easy baskets.'"

(on the Hoyas' success vs. UConn in recent years)

"I think we’ve been lucky. I don’t know that there’s any one particular thing. We've probably caught them at some times when they’ve been off. You know it’s going to be an extremely intense, physical game. If you can make them work at both ends of the floor, that’s what we try to do."

(on Georgetown's season thus far)

"We’ve gotten a lot better since the season began, but I think we still have a long way to go. I think our guys have done a great job supporting each other at both ends of the floor. That has to be a premium for us. The thing I like, that’s a positive, is that we’ve seen growth."

(on Monroe's development)

"His biggest growth is something the casual fan doesn’t get an opportunity to see. Last year he's gone from a freshman that came in under a lot of scrutiny and performed well, and now he's a leader on this team. He's a leader, he's vocal in the locker room, at the dorm, on campus, in practice every day. He’s standing out with our team."