The American Athletic Conference awards won't be handed out for another four weeks or so, at the championship tournament in Hartford. Trying to figure out who the favorites to win each category is tricky. In fact, it appears we could have another similar situation as last year for player of the year, when UConn's Shabazz Napier, Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick and Louisville's Russ Smith were all worthy. Conventional wisdom had the award going to Kilpatrick, whose Bearcats tied with Smith's Cardinals for first place in the league.

Instead, it went to Napier, even though UConn wound up finishing in fourth place in the regular season standings. Kilpatrick and coach Mick Cronin weren't too happy about it. Of course, both blew their chance to avenge the perceived snub when Kilpatrick blew a layup in the waning seconds of the AAC semifinals, allowing UConn to win and advance to the finals to face Louisville.

UConn has frontrunners in three categories: Player of the year (Ryan Boatright), rookie of the year (Daniel Hamilton) and defensive player of the year (Amida Brimah). You could make an argument that all three deserve to win. There is no way in heck they do, however, given UConn's disappointing record this season. In fact, it's doubtful the Huskies get more than one of the awards.

Here's how I see the awards panning out -- not necessarily who I think should win, but who I think will win. (All stats referred to are for conference play only):

FIRST TEAM
Ryan Boatright, UConn
Nic Moore, SMU
Yanick Moreira, SMU
James Woodard, Tulsa
Will Cummings, Temple
Austin Nichols, Memphis

SECOND TEAM
Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati
Troy Caupain, Cincinnati
Shaquille Harrison, Tulsa
Jesse Morgan, Temple
Markus Kennedy, SMU

ALL-ROOKIE
Daniel Hamilton, UConn
B.J. Taylor, UCF
Adonys Hernandez, UCF
B.J. Tyson, ECU
Gary Clark, Cincinnati

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Two-man race between Ryan Boatright and Nic Moore. Boatright leads the league in scoring and is fifth in assists. God knows where UConn would be without him. He was also preseason player of the year, which may give him a leg up in the minds of the voters -- the league's coaches. (Of course, Russ Smith was last year's preseason POY and that didn't help him win it). Moore is the best player on the league's best team. He leads the league in assists and is sixth in scoring. Usually, the award goes to a player on a first or second-place team (obviously, that didn't happen last year).
Pick: Moore. I think the coaches will give it to him, based on SMU's success, even though Boatright has been by far the more dynamic player. Boatright says he's not concerned with individual awards, anyway.

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Another two-man race between SMU's Larry Brown and Tulsa's Frank Haith. Brown has the best team and has dealt with the loss of several key players at different points of the season. Of course, the Mustangs were picked to finish second int he league. Haith, in his first year at the helm, inherited a team that won the Conference USA tourney last year and was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. The Golden Hurricane is currently second in the league standings at 10-2.
Pick: Haith. This is subject to change, however, if Tulsa falters over the next few weeks -- which is entirely possible. Then, Brown will win it.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
There are a lot of good candidates. Obviously, Daniel Hamilton (the preseason pick) is a frontrunner. UCF's B.J. Taylor (12.8 ppg), ECU's B.J. Tyson (11.5), UCF's Adonys Hernandez (10.4) and Hamilton (9.8) are among the league's top scorers. Hamilton is second in rebounding, while Cincy's Gary Clark is seventh. Hamilton is also 10th in assists, the only frosh to be in all three categories.
Pick: Hamilton.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tough one. Amida Brimah is the league's leading shot-blocker and is certainly the dominant defensive force. That's usually enough to win you the award, but I don't think it will this season. My guess is that it will go to either Will Cummings of Temple or Shaquille Harrison of Tulsa, who are 1-2 in the league in steals.
Pick: Harrison.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
SMU's Markus Kennedy has yet to start a game since returning to the team from academic suspension. If this is Larry Brown's way of making him earn his way back in the lineup, I'd say he has by now: he's 14th in the league in scoring (11.9), ninth in rebounding (6.2) 15th in blocked shots (0.9) and even 12th in steals (1.2). Unless the coaches don't want to vote for a guy who was suspended for the first semester, Kennedy's gotta be the one.
Pick: Kennedy.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Injuries severely hampered Yanick Moreira last season, forcing him to miss four weeks in the middle of the season. This year, he's averaging 10.9 points and seven boards for the first-place Mustangs.
Pick: Moreira.

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Sean Kilpatrick got this last season in what looked like a consolation prize for not winning player of the year. So, we'll go with either Moore or Boatright, whoever doesn't win POY this season.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Your guess is as good as mine, although now that they're scholarship players, either Pat Lenehan or Nnamdi Amilo are as qualified as anyone.

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

Is Cincinnati now UConn’s biggest rival?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, and Cincy considers the Huskies their rivals.

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

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

Let me know what you think.

The release of UConn's 2014-15 schedule means -- never mind football -- college basketball is just around the corner. Sort of.

The Huskies can actually start practicing on Oct. 3, per NCAA rules, though they likely will start after that. Teams can get in 30 practices in the 42 days prior to their first game (in UConn's case, on Friday, Nov. 14 against Bryant).

Anyway, here's a breakdown of UConn's 2014-15 schedule, with a look at some of the Huskies' opponents:

Tuesday, Nov. 4, vs. Southern Connecticut State University (exhibition): Huskies play Owls in an exhibition for second straight season. Won 93-65 last season at Gampel.

Sunday, Nov. 9 vs. Assumption College (exhibition): Greyhounds, Huskies have never met in an official game.

Friday, Nov. 14 vs. Bryant: Just second time programs have met. UConn demolished Bulldogs 88-58 in 2008 in Hartford.

Thursday, Nov. 20 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12:30 p.m.: Huskies open up against College of Charleston. Will UConn be going against current assistant Karl Hobbs, who is reportedly a candidate for the (amazingly) still vacant head coaching job?

Friday, Nov. 21 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: UConn will face either Texas A&M or Dayton. Flyers beat Ohio State, Syracuse and Stanford last year en route to Elite Eight, where they finally fell to Florida.

Sunday, Nov. 23 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Huskies could face Boston College for second time in as many seasons after not playing former Big East rivals for nearly 10 years. Steve Alford's New Mexico, which beat UConn in Paradise Jam finals in 2012, and George Mason (need we remind you) are other possible foes.

Sunday, Nov. 30 vs. Texas: Longhorns return all five starters and should be a preseason Top 15 pick – until Rick Barnes finds a way to mess it all up.

Friday, Dec. 5 vs. Yale: Huskies tamed Bulldogs 80-62 last year in the teams’ first meeting in 10 years.

UConn holds a 44-22 all-time advantage. Yale won't have Stratford's Brandon Sherrod, who'll be singing somewhere across the globe with the Whiffenpoofs.

Sunday, Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State: UConn is 5-0 all-time against Eagles, who will also play at Michigan this season.

Thursday, Dec. 18 vs. Duke at IZOD Center, East Rutherford, N.J., 8 p.m.: Despite losing Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood to the NBA draft, Blue Devils will be a preseason Top 5, maybe even No. 1. Duke boasts the top-rated recruiting class in the land, led by 6-foot-10 center Jahlil Okafor. This should be a fun one, as great rivalry is renewed. Two of Huskies’ biggest wins in program history (the 1999 national championship game and the 2004 Final Four) came against Duke. The Blue Devils, of course, handed UConn a crushing, overtime loss in the 1990 Elite Eight, ending the Huskies’ “Dream Season” on a Christian Laettner buzzer-beater. Duke holds the overall series edge, 5-4, including the most recent meeting, a 68-59 win on Nov. 27, 2009 in the NIT Season Tip-Off championships at Madison Square Garden.

Monday, Dec. 22 vs. Columbia: UConn is 7-2 all-time against the Lions, most recently with a 70-57 win on Nov. 11, 2011 at Gampel.

Sunday, Dec. 28 vs. Central Connecticut: Huskies face former longtime UConn assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for first time in nine years. UConn has never lost in 12 meeting with these Blue Devils.

Wednesday, Dec. 31 vs. Temple: For first time in three years, UConn isn’t on the road for New Year’s Eve. Huskies open up AAC play against Owls, who finished ninth in the 10-team league a year ago at 4-14.

Saturday, Jan. 3 at Florida, O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida, 2 p.m.: Gators went 36-3 last season – 36-1 against teams not named UConn. The Huskies edged Florida on Dec. 2 at Gampel, 65-64, on Shabazz Napier’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer. Gator coach Billy Donovan called the play “luck,” and Florida had the chance to avenge the loss in the Final Four. But the Huskies’ clamped down defensively, frustrating SEC player of the year Scottie Wilbekin all night, and needed no “luck” to score a 63-53 win. This game finishes the teams’ home-and-home series.

Tuesday, Jan. 6 at South Florida, Sun Dome, Tampa, 7 p.m.: Huskies stay in the Sunshine State for an AAC bout with USF and its new head coach Orlando Antigua, the former John Calipari assistant at Kentucky. Antigua should help Bulls on recruiting trail, but that won't do them much good this season.

Saturday, Jan. 10 vs. Cincinnati, 11 a.m.: Sean Kilpatrick (the guy who was peeved he lost out to Napier for AAC player of the year honors) and Justin Jackson are both gone, but Bearcats should play their usual tough defense and be solid once again.

Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Tulsa, Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma: Huskies’ first-ever trip to Tulsa would’ve been more fun if Danny Manning were still head coach. But he bolted for Wake Forest, and instead former Missouri, Miami head man Frank Haith is at the helm. This could be a tough game for Huskies.

Saturday, Jan. 17 at Stanford, Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, Calif.: Cardinal handed UConn its first loss of the season last year, 53-51 on Dec. 18 in Hartford, and wound up advancing to the Sweet 16.

Thursday, Jan. 22 vs. Central Florida, 7 p.m.: Knights have lost virtually everyone from last year’s team that went 4-14 in AAC, including all-league pick Isaiah Sykes. Could be a long season in Orlando. Incidentally, this will be only time the teams play this season.

Sunday, Jan. 25 vs. South Florida, noon: Anthony Collins, a preseason all-AAC pick who missed almost all of last year due to injury, should be back at the point for Bulls. Corey Allen, Jr. and Chris Perry are also decent returnees.

Thursday, Jan. 29 at Cincinnati, Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, 8 p.m.: Are the Bearcats UConn’s biggest rival in the AAC?

Sunday, Feb. 1 at Houston, Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, 3 p.m.: Huskies return to site of their awful New Year’s Eve loss last season. Kelvin Sampson has taken over as head coach, but Ta’Shawn Thomas  (Oklahoma) and Danuel House (Texas A&M) have both transferred, leaving cupboard bare. Had those two stayed, Cougars may have been an NCAA tourney team. Now, they'll rely primarily on a bunch of JUCO's.

Wednesday, Feb. 4 vs. East Carolina, 7 p.m.: First meeting as league rivals between Huskies and Pirates. UConn actually holds a 3-1 all-time series lead, but haven’t played each other since 1978.

Saturday, Feb. 7 at Tulane, Devlin Fieldhouse, New Orleans, 6 p.m.: Green Wave will play most home games at 3,500-seat on-campus arena, but it’s possible this one could be switched to downtown arena where New Orleans Pelicans play.

Thursday, Feb. 12  vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.: Don’t sleep on Tulsa, which went on a late-season surge and won the Conference USA tournament last season. Golden Hurricane is led by James Woodard, a do-everything guard who could warrant preseason all-AAC honors.

Saturday, Feb. 14 at SMU, Moody Coliseum, Dallas, 9 p.m.: An ESPN College GameDay presentation, should be a rowdy night. Mustangs could’ve been preseason top 15 if No. 1 national recruit Emmanuel Mudiay hadn’t bolted to play professionally in China, but they still might be the AAC favorites. After all, SMU did beat UConn both times they met last season.

Thursday, Feb. 19 at Memphis, FedExForum, Memphis, 9 p.m.: Huskies went a perfect 3-0 last year against Tigers, including twice at FedExForum – the latter game a 72-53 dismantling in an AAC tournament bout.

Sunday, Feb. 22 vs. Tulane, 4 p.m.: Green Wave return 90 percent of its offense from team that went .500 overall (17-17) and in C-USA (8-8).

Wednesday, Feb. 25 at East Carolina, Williams Arena, Greenville, North Carolina, 7 p.m.:  Four of five top scorers are back from team that went 17-17 overall.  However, top scorer Akeem Richmond is gone.

Sunday, March 1 vs. SMU, 2 p.m.: A CBS-televised affair, could be marquee game of AAC schedule. Despite no Mudiay, Mustangs have all-AAC standouts Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy back, along with talented Keith Frazier and Xavier transfer Justin Martin.

Thursday, March 5 vs. Memphis, 9 p.m.: Tigers lost Joe Jackson and other top guards to graduation, but may have league’s best frontcourt, led by all-AAC pick Shaq Goodwin and AAC rookie of the year Austin Nichols.

Saturday, March 7 at Temple, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia: Owls lost top scorer Dalton Pepper to graduation, top rebounder Anthony Lee to transfer (Ohio State). Could be another tough one for coach Fran Dunphy, who'll rely on whole slew of newcomers.

As you likely know by now, UConn is the No. 7 seed in the East Region and will face St. Joseph's on Thursday at 6:55 p.m. at First Niagara Bank Arena in Buffalo. Win and the Huskies will likely face another Philly team, ol' Big East pal Villanova, on Saturday.

And, if UConn wins its first two games, it advances to the East Regionals at Madison Square Garden.

Pretty good draw for the Huskies. For one, they don't have to leave the state of New York on their bid for an improbable run to the Final Four. And certainly, UConn can beat any of the teams it could face this week. Of course, there's little doubt that the Huskies could lose to either St. Joe's or No. 2-seeded Villanova, as well.

It's going to be that kind of tournament.

We'll have plenty more in the coming days. Here's tonight's story on UConn players tuning into the CBS Selection Show this year, as opposed to not watching a year ago.

And here's some video of Kevin Ollie and DeAndre Daniels talking about their tourney invites:

It's late. A few quick quotes and video from UConn's 58-56 win over Cincinnati on Friday.

Ryan Boatright:

(on the whole Shabazz Napier-Sean Kilpatrick player of the year issue)

“You know, we’ve got Twitter and stuff like that. They heard it. But Bazz, he says it all the time and some people might not believe him, but we really know, he doesn’t really care. He just wants UConn to win. He wants a national championship, that’s the only award that he wants. People who say what they say, it’s not all about scoring. (Kilpatrick) only averaged one or two points more than Shabazz. I mean, the man almost had a triple-double all the time – seven rebounds, six assists, stuff like that. It’s all about being an all-around player. He deserved that award.”

(on the irony of Kilpatrick missing the chance to tie it in the final seconds)

“Yeah, it’s ironic, it’s crazy. You can’t say anything to that. He’s a great player, it just didn’t fall for him.”

DeAndre Daniels:

(on facing Louisville again)

“Yeah, we’re happy. We’re right where we wanted to be. Coming into this tournament, we wanted to be able to play them again. We’ve got to keep playing how we’ve been playing, rebound and play UConn basketball, and we’ll put ourselves in a position to win the game.”

Amida Brimah:

(on UConn's strong defense over the final 14 minutes)

“We just made sure we came together a lot. Any time Kilpatrick was coming off a screen, we had to make sure we blitzed him all the time. We made sure we talked a lot on defense.”

(on getting over his goaltending calls)

“I’m used to that, so I’ve just got to play over there.”

(on the flagrant technical he was called for in the first half)

“I was just posting up, because he’s too short. That’s what happened.”

Some quotes and video from UConn' 72-53 demolition of Memphis Thursday night. Best quote of the night, actually, may have come from a Memphis fan late in the game, after Niels Giffey had already scored most of his career-high 24 points and hit all of his career-best six 3-pointers:

"Guard the white boy!" the fan shouted.

If only Memphis had listened.

Kevin Ollie:



(on shaking up the lineup a bit and starting Giffey and Phil Nolan over Lasan Kromah and Amida Brimah):

“I just wanted to do something different. Guys are still gonna play – Lasan came in and gave us a great effort, Amida gave us a great effort. We wanted to get Niels out there so we could spread the floor and give more space to our guards. Louisville really tried to wear Shabazz and Ryan Boatright down. We wanted to get a little better spacing. Niels made me look like I was a good coach. Thank you, Niels.”

“Now we’ve got to fuel back up and get ready for Cincinnati, because you know what kind of game that’s going to be. It’s going to be a war. We’ve got to have that heart and we’ve got to have that hustle, the same things we had tonight, to beat a team like Cincinnati.”

Giffey:

“I was definitely feeling it in the first half, just the way they played Ryan (Boatright) and Shabazz, it was a perfect set-up for me. They double-teamed them, which gave me the chance to be wide-open.”

(was he surprised to be so open, so often?)



“As a shooter, you’ve got to mix it up. People are going to close out on you so hard, you can use a little jab-step, a little shot-fake, little hesitation to go by people. They were so attached to Ryan and Shabazz, because a lot of our game goes through them. I can find open lanes, too.”

Napier:

(on UConn's success in FedExForum this season)

“I don’t really think it’s the building, I think it’s the way Memphis plays defense. They double a lot of pick-and-rolls, which leaves Niels and guys like DeAndre (Daniels) and Lasan open. We have some great shooters on our squad. If you give them time to shoot the ball, you see what happens.”

“He’s been the best shooter we’ve had this whole year. If you leave him open, which is kind of astonishing coming into it. A lot of people around the country know Niels Giffey is a great shooter.”

(on Cincinnati)

“It’s definitely going to be a war. Cincinnati’s definitely a great defensive team. They’ve got a great coach, great players. We’ve got to fight, that’s the biggest things. We can’t allow ourselves to be upset if we’re not getting shots, not making anything on offense. We’ve got to continue to play good defense. It’s definitely going to be a tough team to play against.”

(then there was this little zinger he said to reporters, directed at Sean Kilpatrick)

"He cares so much about that MVP. I don’t care about that. Those guys believe he won it? He can have it."

This is gonna be fun.

Looks like we've got a bit of drama on Friday night, if UConn and Cincinnati meet in the American Athletic Conference semifinals.

Shabazz Napier won AAC player of the year honors on Wednesday. He was second in the league in scoring (19.3), assists and free throw shooting (.877) and third in steals (1.8 per game). Heck, the 6-foot-1 guard even led the Huskies and was among the league leaders in rebounding (6.0 per game). He's the only UConn player ever to lead the team in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same season.

He's a truly deserving winner.

Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick was truly deserving, too. He led the league in scoring (20.9 ppg) and, like Napier, was a unanimous first-team all-AAC selection. But Kilpatrick didn't win, instead being bestowed with the league's Sportsmanship Award. It was also learned on Wednesday that Napier and Louisville's Russ Smith were first-team All-America selections, while Kilpatrick was second team.

Kilpatrick didn't seem too pleased about losing out on the player of the year honor:



Cincy coach Mick Cronin apparently was a bit miffed, too. In accepting the leagues coach of the year award, he mentioned that Kilpatrick was "my player of the year," and didn't mention Napier.

Meanwhile, Napier was extremely complimentary and thankful for his coaches and teammates after winning the award. Here's a brief excerpt of his acceptance speech:



And here's a little more:

The AAC's all-conference teams and all-rookie team (or, as I like to call them, almost exact replicas of my predictions on Sunday) were released Tuesday morning. Shabazz Napier was a unanimous first-team all-conference pick, while Amida Brimah made the all-rookie team.

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team

Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati *

Shabazz Napier, G, UConn *

Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville

Russ Smith, G, Louisville *

Nic Moore, G, SMU

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team

Isaiah Sykes, G, UCF

Justin Jackson, F, Cincinnati

TaShawn Thomas, F, Houston

Shaq Goodwin, F, Memphis

Joe Jackson, G, Memphis

Markus Kennedy, F, SMU

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team

Amida Brimah, C, UConn

Terry Rozier, G, Louisville

Austin Nichols, F, Memphis *

John Egbunu, C, USF

Chris Perry, F, USF

The conference’s major individual awards – Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man Award and Sportsmanship Award – will be presented at Wednesday’s awards luncheon at the Gibson Guitar Factory in advance of the first American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship.

Napier could win Player of the Year. Or he may not. Or maybe he'll share it with Kilpatrick and/or Smith. I feel Napier should win at least a share of the award, but Napier himself isn't worrying about it.

“I don’t care. I’m more vested in winning championships," he said. "I’m not into individual awards. I’d rather win a championship.”

When it was pointed out that Kemba Walker didn't win Big East Player of the Year, Napier pointed out, “They gave it to Jimmer (Fredette) that year. Kemba was happy to have a championship that Jimmer doesn’t have. It’s OK.”

He was referring to national Player of the Year, of course. But point well-taken. And, it should be noted, that Ben Hansborough did win Big East Player of the Year over Walker in 2011.

Who would Napier vote for?

“It’s definitely up in the air. I think Sean Kilpatrick definitely played well. But he had a lot of help with Justin Jackson. Russ Smith definitely played well, Nic Moore as well. He definitely turned that team around. Different individuals. The big thing is consistency.”

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

KEVIN OLLIE:

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

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

(on Shabazz Napier and Sean Kilpatrick)

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

(Kilpatrick Player of the Year?)

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

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

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

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

Said Larry Brown:

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

Not surprisingly, Cronin believes Kilpatrick should win it.

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

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

As for playing UConn on Thursday night:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIRST TEAM:

Russ Smith, Louisville

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati

Justin Jackson, Cincinnati

Shabazz Napier, UConn

SECOND TEAM:

Nic Moore, SMU

Markus Kennedy, SMU

Joe Jackson, Memphis

Shaq Goodwin, Memphis

Ta’Shawn Thomas, Houston

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:

John Egbunu, USF

Chris Perry, USF

Austin Nichols, Memphis

Terry Rozier, Louisville

Amida Brimah, UConn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Plus, now Ryan Boatright can watch ESPN again.

Some quotes and video:

Shabazz Napier:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ollie: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let's just say Kevin Ollie wasn't pleased Thursday night's loss o Cincinnati and just leave it at that.

“They just played hard," he said of the Bearcats. "In the second half, they established themselves in the paint. Justin Jackson and (Sean) Kilpatrick just took over the game."

Did Kilpatrick take control of the AAC player of the year race with this one? Maybe, though it's still too early to start handing out awards.

“Just a hell of a performance by him," said Ollie.

As for his own team:

“We started going one-on-one, then we settled for a bunch of 3-point shots ... You give up 52 percent, that’s bad. There’s no way to sugarcoat it ... They just took it to us in the inside. Thirty-four points in the paint, that’s the game. We rebounded with them, but we can’t give up 52-percent shooting in the second half.”

As for Shabazz Napier's 5-for-19 (2-for-12 on 3-pointers) night, that included three air balls and an ill-advised 22-footer with 30 seconds left?

“Hopefully, he keeps learning," said Ollie. "But you’ve got to keep getting to the rim, put the onus on the ref in that situation.”

Lasan Kromah had 13 points and was about the only Husky to consistently take the ball to the hole aggressively.

“He was aggressive, he played like I wanted him to play. Niels (Giffey) played (well). But, other guys gotta step up.”

*** DeAndre Daniels was penciled into the starting lineup, but suffered back spasms shortly before tip-off and was a late scratch.



Daniels noted that his ankle is "fine."

Daniels' absence from the lineup came as a surprise to Napier.

“I didn’t even know until I saw him in the second half," Napier insisted. "I know his back was hurting, so I figured he wasn’t going to start. But when I saw he didn’t play in the first half, then I realized that.”

*** As for Napier's own rough night:



(on is long trey attempt with 30 seconds left)

“I was just trying to get up a shot, trying to get at least two-for-one. Myself, I think I’m gonna make the shot. I just didn’t follow through the right way, and it came up short.”

(on Kilpatrick)

“They ran a lot of plays for him, a lot of screens. He got a lot of open shots, and when you give him opens shots, he’s supposed to make them. He definitely played well in the second half.”

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

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

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

Here's what Ollie had to say about Cincinnati:

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

(what makes their defense so tough?)

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

(on Jackson)

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

(on Sean Kilpatrick)

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

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

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



Cronin added:

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

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

(on Napier also leading AAC in assists)

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

(on the AAC)

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

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

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

Sean Kilpatrick on matching up against Napier:



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

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

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

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

Anyway, here's what Cronin had to say:

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’re pretty much at the halfway point of the American Athletic Conference schedule, so why not hand out some mid-season AAC awards? The conference will essentially hand out the same hardware the Big East used to dole out, though with only 10 teams, there will just be first and second all-league teams (no third team), along with a few honorable mention selections.

Here we go (and remember, all references to statistical categories are for conference games only):

FIRST TEAM

Shabazz Napier, UConn: See also: Year, Player of the.

Russ Smith, Louisville: Still terrific, still a Husky-killer, still equally capable of winning or losing a game all by himself.

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville: League’s leading rebounder and perhaps most physically intimidating player.

Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati: Best player on league’s best team.

Justin Jackson, Cincinnati: Best defensive player on league’s best defensive team.

Joe Jackson, Memphis: May not even be best player on his team or best Jackson in the league, but a preseason first-teamer who’ll probably end up there, as well.

SECOND TEAM

DeAndre Daniels, UConn: Napier himself calls Daniels UConn's best player. Huskies sure hope his high ankle sprain heals quickly.

Shaq Goodwin, Memphis: Physically imposing (6-9, 245 lbs.) player who may merit first-team status.

TaShawn Thomas, Houston: Thursday night’s clunker vs. UConn was first time he hasn’t hit double figures this season.

Nic Moore, SMU: Best player on floor (20 points, six assists) in ‘Stangs win over UConn on Jan. 4.

Isaiah Sykes, UCF: Only player in AAC among league leaders in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.6).

HONORABLE MENTION

Markus Kennedy, SMU

Kadeem Jack, Rutgers

Victor Rudd, USF

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Shabazz Napier, UConn. Russ Smith was the preseason pick, but this is a virtual no-brainer. Napier leads the Huskies in scoring, assists, steals and rebounds (!) and has certainly been more valuable to his team than any other player in the nation. And no one is more clutch, a trait he's had since high school. He’s a strong national player of the year candidate, too, though it’s hard to see him beating out Creighton’s Doug McDermott at this point.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Danrad Knowles, Houston. One interesting thing about the America is that it is dominated by upperclassmen. The conference’s top five scorers are all seniors and eight of its top 10 scorers are juniors or seniors. In fact, Knowles (9.4 ppg) and Louisville’s Terry Rozier (9.1) are the only two frosh among the league’s top 30 scorers (27^th and 30^th, respectively). Of course, it’s not all about scoring, which is why UConn’s Amida Brimah, USF’s John Egbunu and Chris Perry and SMU’s Ben Moore are all still very much in the running for this award. But as of now, Knowles (who also averages 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks) is probably the most complete package.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Mick Cronin, Cincinnati. In his seven seasons in the Big East, Cronin never won this award. But he’s got the Bearcats, picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll, undefeated and all alone at the top of the AAC standings. There’s recently been some talk of national coach of the year consideration, too, though that seems a bit lofty, in my mind. (Larry Brown is a distant second right now).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Justin Jackson, Cincinnati. This award usually goes to a player who either leads the league in blocked shots or steals, so consider this: Jackson leads the AAC in blocks (3.6) and is third in steals (2.1). Impressive. Amida Brimah may win this award for years to come, but not this season.

SIXTH MAN AWARD: Michael Dixon, Jr., Memphis. This is a tough one, especially considering there are a lot of players in the league who have started at times and come off the bench at others, sort of clouding the definition of sixth man. UConn’s Niels Giffey merits consideration, no doubt, but we’ll go with Dixon, who’s averaging 11.4 points primarily off the Tigers’ bench.

STUDENT-ATHLETE AWARD: Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame. Sorry, just kidding. Sort of force of habit. Didn’t he win this award, like, six years in a row in the Big East? Anyway, your guess is as good as mine for this award. It’s too bad walk-ons aren’t eligible, though, or UConn’s Pat Lenehan might bethe runaway winner.

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: I’m sure there are many deserving candidates for this award, but I don’t know all the players around the league well enough to narrow it down. I'm open to any suggestions.

Let the Shabazz Napier for Big East player of the year debate begin.

Napier has been named to the league's weekly honor roll once again. It's the fourth time in the last seven weeks that Napier has been so honored. He was also named the league's player of the week a couple of weeks ago, the second time this season he's earned that distinction. Sean Kilpatrick of Cincinnati is the only other player who's been player of the week twice.

No doubt, Napier is worthy of player of the year consideration. If UConn were a little higher in the standings -- or, for that matter, eligible for postseason play -- he might even be the front-runner. As it stands now, I'd agree with Kevin Duffy of the Connecticut Post that Georgetown's Otto Porter is likely the leader in the clubhouse right now. Then again, preseason pick Peyton Siva, as well as Russ Smith, Michael Carter-Williams and even Kilpatrick have all probably been the front-runners at different points this season.

I believe that UConn's banishment from the postseason will hurt Napier's chances. It shouldn't, but I think it will. Coaches (or whoever winds up making the decision for player of the year) may be leery to pick a guy from a team that can't even play in its own conference tournament.

And that's too bad, because this is turning into a truly special season for Shabazz Napier -- even if it will come to a thunderous halt on March 9.

*** Oh, and don't look now, but after Sunday's 21-for-23 effort from the foul line, UConn leads the Big East in free throw shooting at 74.5 percent. As of last week, they were ranked 49th in the nation in the category and have now likely moved up.

Guess there are some positives to losing Andre Drummond to the NBA.

The Big East's annual Garden party will continue for years to come.

The conference announced on Wednesday that its annual Big East Championship Tournament continue to be held at Madison Square Garden for the foreseeable future. The Big East and Madison Square Garden have agreed to a multiyear extension of their contract.

(My main story from today's Big East Media Day)

“Madison Square Garden has been the Big East’s home for 30 years,” new commish Mike Aresco said, “and has produced some of the signature moments in college basketball history. We are happy that our teams will continue to bring the excitement of Big East basketball to the Garden.”

With the defection of Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference after this season, there has been some worry that the ACC may try to hold its championship tournament at MSG, at least periodically.

The Big East’s current contract with MSG doesn’t expire for another four years. There was no word on how many years the new deal will entail.



Of course, UConn won't be able to participate in this year's event. Or will it? While the chances are extremely slim, UConn is holding out a bit of hope that the league presidents change their mind on their decision last March to bar any postseason-ineligible teams from its conference tourney. The presidents meet again in a couple of weeks in Chicago for what would appear to be the Huskies’ last chance. UConn is hoping that, since the players responsible for the poor APR scores are long-gone (and, now, Jim Calhoun is gone, too), that the presidents may reconsider.

It's very unlikely, however.

“It’s possible that it could be discussed,” Aresco said on Wednesday, “but again, UConn hasn’t indicated yet what they want to do. It could be discussed, but I want to state that that’s our policy of our conference at this point.”

Big East Bonds

First-year UConn coach Kevin Ollie brought in a noted sports psychologist a few weeks ago to help the Huskies bond a little better, and by all accounts, it’s worked.

Ironically, UConn sophomore Ryan Boatright also spent a good part of the summer bonding with some of his Big East rivals. He went up against Louisville’s Peyton Siva, the preseason Big East Player of the Year, at Chris Paul’s CP3 Camp, and also teamed with Siva, Notre Dame’s Jack Cooley, Syracuse’s Brandon Triche and Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick at the adidas Nations camp in August.

At CP3, Boatright and Siva went at each other.

“Same thing as a Big East game,” Boatright noted. “Trying to rip each other’s necks off.”

But at adidas, Boatright got a chance to get to know his fellow Big East competitors a lot better. Bonds developed among all the Big East players.

“They’re all great guys,” Siva said. “Ryan Boatright is a funny guy. He’s very energetic, tough as nails as a guard.”

Added Cooley: “When you compete against somebody for four years, you should know a little bit about him. So it’s good to finally get to meet them and develop some friendships.”

The players teamed together on the court and hung out together off it for the week. Precious little of the talk amongst them dwelled on things like the Big East and its rocky future, or about UConn’s postseason ban – though the latter did come up at least once.

“Boatright kind of said an off-hand joke about how there’s not going to be enough bodies (on UConn’s team),” said Cooley, referring to the mass wave of defections from last year’s squad.

More often, it was the conversations were far more light-hearted fare.

“It was more about how are coaches are, some of the funny quotes our coaches would say,” Siva said.

No doubt, Boatright had some prime material for that after playing for Jim Calhoun last season.

Interestingly, Siva, Cooley and Dieng all earned first team all-Big East preseason honors, while Triche was a second team pick. Boatright received no recognition.

“I don’t really care, it is what it is,” he said. “I’m still going to prepare myself to be the best player I can be, and my team to be the best it can be.”

Sports Psychologist a Success

Ollie’s decision to bring in Dr. Joseph Carr, a sports psychologist who has worked with other college and NBA teams, seems to have been a success – even if UConn players were a bit skeptical at first.

“Nobody really felt like doing it but K.O.,” Boatright confessed, adding that the team spent about eight hours a day over a recent weekend in a circle, learning about each other’s lives.

But he feels the team emerged a better team because of it.

“Once we got it going and it was over, we appreciated that he made us do it, because it really helped a lot.”

Freddie Wilson Surprises

New Haven’s Freddie Wilson figures to be a key element for Seton Hall this season as a sophomore.

“Freddie’s probably surprised me more than anybody this year,” Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s coming in great shape. I think (our) summer trip to Spain really helped him. He’s understanding his role a little more. He’s done a great job of embracing what a point guard really needs to be. Last year, I don’t think he really understood what he had to do. Playing behind Jordan (Theodore), he didn’t have a great opportunity to do it. This year, I expect big things from Freddie.”

Wilson averaged 1.8 points in 8.1 minutes of action as a freshman last season. The 6-2 Hillhouse product will play both the point and shooting guard this season.

“He’s going to have to,” Willard said. “He understands what he likes to do offensively. Freddie’s biggest drawback (is) … I think they only play on the offensive side in Connecticut high school basketball. The more he understands the defensive side, the more playing time he’ll get. He’s got a great scorer’s mentality. He’s got a mentality of being in attack mode, which I like.”

Chicago Hope

DePaul’s Cleveland Melvin, a preseason second team all-Big East pick, committed to UConn while still in prep school but backed out and went to Chicago instead.

His decision was a mixed blessing for the 6-fot-9 junior out of Baltimore. Melvin was the conference’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman and averaged 17.9 points per game last season, making him the top returning scorer in the league. He is a preseason second team all-Big East pick.

Of course, he also missed out on UConn’s national championship run two years ago.

“I’m definitely happy to be in this position I’m at,” Melvin said. “I thought it was the best fit for me. I fit their playing style. I’ve had two successful years. Coming into my junior year, I’m just very excited to get this season started and winning some more games.”