Spoke with Howie Dickenman this afternoon. Dickenman, of course, is in his 19th season as head coach at Central Connecticut State, which faces UConn for the first time in nine years on Sunday at the XL Center.

Dickenman was an assistant at UConn from 1982-96, as you all know, and was responsible for the recruitment of numerous players who helped the Huskies establish themselves as one of the elite programs in the nation, including Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Travis Knight, Jake Voskuhl, Cliff Robinson ... and Kevin Ollie.

Here's some of what Dickenman had to say:

"To tell you the truth, I really don't like to play against people like them, but this was an opportunity to play the national champs. I never played against Karl Hobbs's teams, I never play against Steve Pikiell's teams, I don't play against Dave Leitao's teams when he was a head coach. But, this presented itself to play against the national champs."

"It's a great game for us, because it's an away game, but it's right down the road. And it creates a lot of interest on Central Connecticut's part."

(on Ollie)

"I've been one of the biggest supporters of him, because I've known him for so long. He's a class act, a great motivator, a great communicator, and one heck of a great coach, too."

"Look at his loyalty. That's one person who loves his alma mater. He speaks very proudly of it when I've heard him speak at different events. I don't know what the (NBA) offered him last year, but I can give you a ballpark of $4-5 million ... and he turned that down to stay home."

"I think head coach of University of Connecticut, in basketball, is one of the toughest jobs in the country. People say, 'How about Kentucky, how about Kansas?' But the media following and the demands, time-wise, of the head coach at Connecticut. Jim had 27 years of it, now Kevin's in his second year dealing with it. It's demanding."

(what does playing CCSU get out of playing UConn)

"We get to play a team that will help us be well-prepared for our league. It gives us, public relations-wise and credibility-wise, the chance to play in front of a lot of people."

"I'd have to say we're amped up more for this game than games in the past. It's only natural when you play the national champs.

Jim Calhoun's Charity Golf Classic was held Monday at The Golf Club of Avon, and it brought out plenty of sports celebrities.



Roy Williams, Billy Packer, Kevin Ollie, Scott Burrell, Sterling Sharpe, Mark Schlereth, Glen Miller, Karl Hobbs, Tom Moore, Travis Knight and Patrick Sellers were among those playing. Caught up with Williams for a few moments before he teed off, and here's what he had to say.

"We do go back a long ways. Jimmy and his staff from Northeastern came to visit with Coach (Dean) Smith when I was an assistant at North Carolina about 100 years ago, it seems like. I got to know him then, then followed his career. We've been great friends when I was at Kansas and at North Carolina. We did a tour of duty for USA Basketball in Argentina one time. I just wanted to come up here and honor him and help him do what he wants to do."

(on if Calhoun appears happy in retirement)

"You never know with Jimmy. I thought it would take a forklift to get him off that bench. I think it's great. He had health concerns, but right now he appears to be great. He still talks a different language. I can't understand most things he says, he can't understand most things that I say, so we're OK."

(on the job Ollie did this past season)

"I recruited Kevin when coaching at Kansas. Kevin really did a nice job. He's gonna be fine."

(on how Calhoun built a program from nothing to national prominence at UConn)

"I can't speak to it. I've been very fortunate. I've coached at Kansas and at North Carolina. When I got to Kansas, we were on probation, when I got to North Carolina, they had had some problems, lost 37 games the two previous years. But ... Jimmy came to Connecticut, people knew where the state was but they didn't know if they played basketball or not. The job he's done at Connecticut -- and he did well at Northeastern, too -- to put this program where it went, to win three national championships ... I can't even fathom what he did."

(on scheduling UConn in the future)

"I've played everybody. We played UConn my first two years at North Carolina, we played UConn while I was at Kansas. I'll schedule anybody and everybody."

*** Ollie remembers being recruited by Williams. He cancelled that a recruiting visit to Kansas back in the early 1990's, however, and took trips to UConn and Arizona instead. Kansas wound up with another pretty good point guard out of L.A.: Jacque Vaughn.

“He’s always been a great friend of mine," Ollie said of Williams. "When I got my first assistant coaching job, he was right there on the recruiting trails, helping me out. He’s always had a special place in my heart. Great coach, and I can learn a lot from him.”

*** Calhoun just had knee replacement surgery six weeks ago. He wanted to play the tournament, but wound up deciding to only hit shots from 150 yards and in, not wanting to put any extra torque on his new right knee. (Calhoun's no longer bow-legged with his right leg; his left still is).

Calhoun noted that it's the respect he gets from opposing coaches that he treasures as much as anything (he also dropped hints that John Thompson, Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski may have some sort of contributions to the Sept. 22 event at Gampel Pavilion that will honor Calhoun).

“I never try to get love from a lot of other coaches, I try to get respect," Calhoun said. "If you can get friendship, that’s great. I have a lot of respect for Roy Williams. I think he’d probably want that from me. You don’t go into this to make friends. You make friends with your players -- eventually -- but you go in to get respect from people that you respect. That’s the most important thing.”

Went to the Jimmy V Classic Dinner tonight at Pier Sixty in Manhattan. Didn't get to enjoy the menu, but had a great filling of coach conversation beforehand with Kevin Ollie and Texas coach Rick Barnes.

Here's some of what they had to say:

I asked Ollie if he thinks he'll be animated and, shall we say, "vocal" on the sideline like his predecessor, Jim Calhoun.

“Anybody who knows me from when I played here ... once I got between those lines, I’m a tough competitor. I want guys to compete, to understand who I am, what I demand. I demand excellence in everything I do, I demand that from my coaches, I demand that from myself.

"You can make a suit out of the same material 15 different ways. Me and coach have the same material. I might make my suit different, he might make his suit different, but it’s the same material. It’s hard work, it’s different, it’s understanding that it’s the group greater than the individual. And theyr’e going to understand that. If not, they’re going to be sitting right down beside me and they’re gonna get the picture real quick.”




He added that there's a running joke around the players that "Coach Ollie is different now," moving from assistant to head coach, "but they understand what’s on the line, and putting on that UConn jersey is something special.”

“You’re gonna see the passion," he concluded. "If that’s laid-back passion or (in-your-face) passion, you’ll see it.”

Calhoun has been around Gampel just about every day since his retirement, and Ollie doesn't see that changing anytime soon. And he's happy about that.

“I think he’ll be around. I don’t think he can leave. He’s been great so far. Any question I ask, he’s already seen it, done it. Before I can even say it, he knows what’s coming. He gets me really focused on my task around. He’s been a tremendous asset for me."

Ollie added: “It’s not like I’m following him. I’m right on the side of him. I think we’re locked on. It’s going to be a great new era of UConn basketball, but not an era without Coach Calhoun. I’m gonna be with him. I’m looking forward to it.”

Ollie said that the extra hour or two of practice each week now allowed by the NCAA has helped his team get off to a "tremendous" start, particularly picking up defensive principles. He had a sports psychologist, Dr. Joseph Carr, who's worked with numerous NBA and college teams, come in with the team a few weekends ago and spent about 30 hours with the players, helping them "just getting to know each other, how to common-bond. We established that. I wanted to establish the guys taking ownership of the team. Hopefully they run with it throughout the whole season … and throughout their whole life.”

Ollie said Tyler Olander (ankle) is in "great" health, and that Shabazz Napier should be about "85 percent" by Saturday, when hopefully he'll be back on the floor. Napier hasn't been doing drills, but rather doing rehab in the pool and treadmill, but has ramped up his rehab over the past week.

Ollie said he has a comfort level with both Glen Miller and George Blaney, and that "Glen will be a great person at my side, and just in case I get kicked out of a game, he’ll take over.”

*** Some real interesting stuff as well from Barnes -- who, of course, went up against Calhoun many times at Providence (and later at Texas), and who coached against Ollie when Ollie was a player. Boy, does he respect Ollie.

"I’m not sure people really understand that he was the perfect guy to step into this position," Barnes said of Ollie. "My only thing, as a coach, I wish they would have given him a long-term contract, to have him do what he needs to do. He’s gonna get it done, but still … I can tell you this, there’s not a university in the country that wouldn’t want him to represent their university, the way he conducts himself. And he’s another guy, like Jim Calhoun, that truly, truly loves the University of Connecticut.”

Barnes continued: “We were out recruiting yesterday. I said to him, ‘I’m happy for you, because you’re the perfect guy, but I wish they would have done things different.’ And he immediately said, ‘Hey, this is a great opportunity. I appreciate them giving me this opportunity.’ That tells you all you need to know. He could have gone the other way, but he didn’t … that right there, as much as anything, tells you how loyal he is. I don’t think you could find a coach that wouldn’t say he’d wish he’d have a four or five-year (contract).”

Barnes confirmed one of my favorite Calhoun stories of all time: that UConn recruited both Austin Croshere and Travis Knight, got Knight but not Croshere, and every time Croshere hit a 3-pointer against the Huskies, Calhoun would turn to his assistants and yell, "Wrong guy!"

But he also told me this story: After Barnes' Longhorns had beaten UConn in the Elite Eight in 2003, Calhoun sent Barnes a letter (not an email, a letter) a couple of days later.

"I got a great, great letter from him," Barnes recalled. "He told me how much he hated losing, and said, ‘I want you to know that I’m extremely happy for you.’ It was one of those letters where when you read it … I felt he meant it, because he knew that we both had some tough jobs along the way."