Ryan Boatright wore his UConn jersey with pride for four years, playing hard every time he took the floor -- with the scars to prove it.

On Thursday night, he'll put that jersey on one last time.

Boatright will compete in a 3-point shooting contest, as part of Final Four week's festivities. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN at 7 p.m. on Thursday from Butler University in Indianapolis.

"He was debating on if he should do this," Boatright's mom, Tanesha, said by phone on Tuesday night. "Then he was like, 'This is my last time putting on my Husky jersey. I've gotta try to represent one more time.'"

Boatright, of course, was in street clothes for UConn's season-ending loss to Arizona State in the NIT a couple of weeks ago. He had hurt his shoulder in the Huskies' AAC championship game loss to SMU a few days before.

He's still rehabbing the shoulder, and while he wasn't prepared to play in the college all-star game this week in Indianapolis, his shoulder is good enough to shoot.

"If somebody would've asked me a year ago, I would've said he'd be in the dunk contest," Tanesha said with a laugh.

Tanesha, her parents and Ryan's brothers and sisters are planning to make the drive down from Aurora, Illinois to watch Ryan compete. (And if you're wondering how Ryan is getting there despite Gov. Malloy's travel ban to Indiana, his flight and expenses are paid for by Intersport, the event's sponsor, and not with state funds).

"He gets to put on that Husky jersey one more time," she said. "He's walking away at peace, and enjoying it more than having to watch it from the sideline. I told him, 'I know you always compete to win, but as a mom, I'll just love to see you compete with a smile.'"

After that, Ryan Boatright, who hasn't hired an agent yet, will focus on finishing up his classwork and preparing for his dream of the NBA. It'll be a tough road, and both he and his mother know it. The other night, Tanesha was on the phone with Shabazz Napier's mom, Carmen Velasquez, when Carmen put Shabazz on the phone.

"It's a process," Napier said of the NBA draft workout circuit. "People don't really understand until they get into it."

At least the Boatrights have a great "family" to go to for advice.

"I'm just thankful to have all the family -- Andre Drummond's mom, Kemba's mom Angela, Carmen, we're all like sisters -- for real," Tanesha said.

It's gonna take some time, folks. It's a process, as Kevin Ollie once again pointed out Friday night, following UConn's too-close-for-comfort (the Huskies were down nine points early in the second half) win over Bryant in its season-opener.

UConn struggled early, looked a bit disjointed. Sort of like a team full of newcomers that hasn't had a chance to jell as a unit yet. The Huskies played much better in the second half, when it mattered most, clamping down on defense and relying heavily on Ryan Boatright's Herculean effort (24 points, eight boards, five assists, four steals).

In short, this may have been a microcosm of UConn's upcoming season, if that makes any sense -- early struggles, probably a few unexpected losses along the way, but the talent coming together at the right time in the latter half of the season. And Boatright leading the way.

We'll see how it all shapes out, but the first part seems virtually certain -- UConn will have some struggles early. Fans need to be patient. It's a process, one that Ollie hopes his team falls in love with along the way.

A few odds and ends:

Boatright's mom, Tanesha, surprised him by flying in from Aurora, Ill., for the game.

“I didn’t know she was coming," he said. "I’m in the warm-up line, I hear somebody screaming my middle name. Nobody calls me by my middle name. I’m like, ‘it’s gotta be my mom.’ She surprised me, I’m glad she was there. She’ll be able to take the ring back home.”

Kentan Facey had a game-high, career-high 11 rebounds. Ollie on the difference between Facey this year and last year.

“He’s on the court. He wasn’t on the court last year, because we had DeAndre and Niels, who were two great players for us. His energy was great, he went after every rebound. We want Kentan to be a ball-hunter.”

I've never seen a ball-hawking defender quite like Providence's John Linehan some 15 years ago. But Boatright was a reasonable facsimile thereof on Friday night, pick-pocketing four steals, three of which led to fast-break dunks (two by him).

As well as Boatright played last night, there's still one area where Ollie wants him to improve.

“We still want to work on his body language," the coach said. "But he’s being what a leader’s supposed to be. He’s seen what Shabazz did. He’s learned. He’s gonna have some up-and-down games, like everybody, but we need him to stay connected, being a leader.”

Body language as in not showing up the refs? Not sulking when the team makes freshman mistakes? Neither of the above, according to Boatright.

“He knows that I put a lot of pressure on myself and I want to be excellent," Boatright said. "When I make bone-head mistakes, I just get down on myself, shake my head, stuff like that. Nothing extremely negative, but he just tells me I can’t get down on myself, I’ve just got to keep playing and know everything is gonna be OK.”

Ryan Boatright returns to his "hometown" on Saturday night as UConn faces DePaul at AllState Arena. Boatright was born and raised in Aurora, Ill., about 30 minutes west of Chicago. This will be his first time playing in the Windy City as a collegian (though he has played in nearby Milwaukee and South Bend, Ind. already this season).

While Boatright predicts that "probably all of Aurora is going to be there," sadly, one very important person in his life will be missing. His uncle, Brian McAllister, passed away in June, 2011 (just a few days before Boatright graduated from high school). Boatright was very close to McAllister, and as I write in this story, McAllister is still often on the sophomore guard's mind. In fact, Boatright sometimes sports a Chicago Cubs jacket in honor of his late uncle, who was a big Cubbies fan.



In the article, I also talked to Boatright's mom, Tanesha, about her son's plans for the future (i.e., does he intend to enter this June's NBA draft?)

“I don’t know which way he’s leaning," Tanesha said, "but I am taking a little bit more aspirin lately.”

She added: “All I tell him all the time: ‘I was your mom before you ever put a number on. So, no matter where you go in life, I’m always gonna be you’re No. 1 fan.’ All I do is support him and tell him, wherever you go, I’m with you. I just want him to choose what’s best for him. It’s about him being happy.”

Ryan Boatright returned to action on Sunday in UConn’s 50-48 loss to Notre Dame, scoring six points and doling out a pair of assists in 30 high-energy minutes off the bench. He earned a loud ovation from the 16,294 when he entered the game just over six minutes into play as his second suspension due to eligibility issues officially came to an end.

“It’s finally over with, we can finally put it behind us,” Boatright insisted afterwards. “We don’t have to be worried about me being pulled out again.”

Perhaps, but the ordeal appears far from over. On Sunday morning, Scott W. Tompsett, attorney for Boatright’s mother, Tanesha, issued a statement saying he was “astounded” that the NCAA released confidential information about the case the day before, that much of the NCAA’s information was “false and misleading,” and that the Boatrights are considering legal action.

On Sunday afternoon, the NCAA responded with a statement that said Tompsett’s allegations were not accurate, that its statement on Saturday was factual, that it acted appropriately to ensure false media reports didn’t continue and that it didn’t violate Boatright’s or his family’s privacy in any way.

“In fact,” the NCAA statement said, “both UConn and Mr. Boatright should be commended for their cooperation throughout the process to gather information. The school and student-athlete’s dedication to uncover the facts should be viewed as a positive example … Had Ms. Boatright cooperated fully from the beginning, this matter could have been settled months ago.”

According to the NCAA’s statement on Saturday, Boatright was given limited immunity and allowed to play back in mid-November after a six-game suspension to start the season, but after new information cropped up, his eligibility was still in question until Tanesha Boatright sent the NCAA documents on Friday evening.

Boatright just wants to put the whole situation behind him.

“(The NCAA) shut the whole thing down, no more questions, nothing about anything,” he insisted. “They say it’s over with.”

Asked about what it meant for him to get limited immunity in exchange for honest testimony, he said: “I’ve been cooperating fully the whole time … I don’t even know what the word (immunity) meant, I had never heard it before my whole life.”

And he added that he had no idea of any possible pending legal action: “Whatever my mom and the lawyer have going on, that’s with them.”

Boatright, who has been practicing with the Huskies all along, appeared a tad rusty, missing all three of his 3-pointers.

“I’m sure that Ryan was trying to work out a lot of kinks,” said Jim Calhoun. “He’s always going to give a very good effort. He’s a very good basketball player, and I think he has a great future at UConn.”

Added Jeremy Lamb: “He was Ryan. He was doing what he does. Just like everybody else today, he missed some open shots. I missed open shots, ‘Bazz missed open shots. He definitely played good ‘D,’ tried to give us energy, but everybody wasn’t tuned in.”

Indeed, at times it appeared Boatright was UConn’s only source of energy in the ugly loss.

“I’ve been practicing, but practicing and game-conditioning are a whole other thing,” he explained. “I’m back now, we’re going to hit the ground running, pull together as a team and try to make a run like last year.”

As the awful Limp Bizkit once sang (shouted): "It's all about the he said, she said bull(bleep)."

The NCAA is countering Scott Tompsett's statement (see below post) from this morning. Big time.

Scott Tompsett’s allegations are not accurate. The NCAA statement regarding Ryan Boatright is factual and in response to numerous public misstatements and the resulting inaccurate reporting by some media. The NCAA acted appropriately to ensure the misleading accounts did not continue. The NCAA did not violate the student-athlete or family’s privacy in anyway, nor did it imply that the benefits were used to influence Ryan Boatright to attend the University of Connecticut.

In fact, both UCONN and Mr. Boatright should be commended for their cooperation throughout the process to gather information. The school and student-athlete’s dedication to uncover the facts should be viewed as a positive example, not somehow construed negatively. Had Ms. Boatright cooperated fully from the beginning, this matter could have been settled months ago.

This one is far from over, folks.