Rudy Gay ($16.4 million) and Emeka Okafor ($13.5) led Huskies in the salary column.

Anyway, here is a link to collegespun’s piece.

This is a list of UConn players in the NBA and their current salaries. Imagine this might spur some discussion regarding the new training facility.

Rudy Gay                                $16,460,538 ($17,888,932 in 2013-14)

Emeka Okafor                        $13,490,000 ($14,487,500 team option in 2013-14)

Ben Gordon                           $12,400,000 ($13,200,000 player option in 2013-14)

Charlie Villanueva                 $8,050,000 ($8,580,000 player option in 2013-14)

Caron Butler                          $8,000,000 ($8,000,000 in 2013-14)

Richard Hamilton                  $6,069,767

Ray Allen                                $3,090,000

Kemba Walker                       $2,462,400

Andre Drummond                 $2,356,320

Jeremy Lamb                         $2,020,200

Hasheem Thabeet                 $1,200,000

A.J. Price                                 $885,120

Jeff Adrien                              $653,356

Top UCONN earners all-time:

Ray Allen: approximately $181 million

Richard Hamilton:  $109 million

Emeka Okafor: $75 million

Donyell Marshall: $72 million

Caron Butler: $69 million

Ben Gordon: $67 million

Cliff Robinson: $61 million

Rudy Gay: $55 million ( scheduled to earn $17,888,932 in 2013-14 and $19,317,326 in 2014-15 as a player option).

They can’t all have attitude problems.

Rodney Purvis, one of the top guards in the Class of 2012, left NC State, he says, not because he was unhappy with playing time or any of the coaches or the school. He averaged 25 minutes a game, but felt he just didn’t fit in with their style of play. He transferred to UConn on April 5.

“I didn’t fit as far as the offense,” Purvis said Thursday, after a workout. “Even the coaches told me, ‘our offense is really for guys who catch and shoot.’ I had to get somewhere where I could play my game, and that’s attacking, having fun, playing in transition. It was the style of play, that’s all.”

“It was really hard for anybody to find a role on that team. We had a lot of really good guys and it was hard to find a role. If you ain’t playing so good, the next guy is pretty good, too. I accepted it as a challenge. I got down in the middle of the season, and I had a terrible stretch, but I felt like I picked it back up toward the end of the year.”

Purvis nearly chose UConn in the first place because of its history of guard play, and he saw enough of coach Kevin Ollie’s style when the Wolfpack played UConn at Madison Square Garden in December to know it’s his style, too.

“It makes sense,” he said. “All the tradition, Kemba, Ray Allen. This is a guard school. [Ollie] just told me, the ball is going to be in my hands. And he’s got nothing to lie about. It has been proven with Boatright and Shabazz [Napier] and guys like that. The ball is in my court to get better.”

UConn recruited Purvis vigorously in the summer of 2011, but they got involved late. They saw him play once, he said, and offered a scholarship, and Jim Calhoun would call.

“… I preferred to talk to coach Calhoun in person,” Purvis said, “Because over the phone, I really couldn’t understand him. He’d ask me questions, and I just said, ‘yes, yes,’ but I didn’t know what he was asking?”

They did meet in person in August 2011, and UConn nearly had Purvis. But in the end he chose to stay in his home town. He encountered some distractions there, but says he will always love Raleigh.

“I’m a Mama’s Boy,” he said. “And I wasn’t ready to leave my Mama. But now, she was like, ‘you need to get out of here and do something on your own.’ I had all my friends there and I felt I needed to be there for them, but now they understand that I need to be there, but from a distance. It’s a learning experience for everybody.”

Purvis is taking a ‘May-mester’ for three hours every afternoon, and exploring campus. On Thursday, he was taking part in “individuals,” an intense one-hour workout with Ryan Boatright and assistant coach Karl Hobbs.

“I feel like a freshman again,” Purvis said. “Just being around my new teammates, everybody’s cool. I love everybody here.”

Purvis said the new, and by perception weaker conference in which UConn will be playing, the AAC, is no factor at all for him. (That’s a good sign for UConn recruiting in the near term. Daniel Hamilton has said the same thing.)

“UConn is known for its non-conference schedule,” Purvis said, “look at last year, playing Michigan State. Always on TV. It’s like Memphis, when [John] Calipari was there. Guys started going to the NBA, it didn’t matter what conference they were in.”

Purvis walked into Calhoun’s new office to say hello this week. “First thing told me, ‘Players make plays, and that’s what we want you to do.’ And that’s the type of thing I love to hear,” Purvis said. Now, how will Purvis handle sitting out a year?

We will have that and more UConn stuff on our main website and in the Friday Courant.

The event, in its eighth year, has raised $10 million for pediatric cancer research and the Jimmy V. Foundation. This is, as one imagines, a cause near and dear to Calhoun’s heart, as a cancer survivor.

“Jim Valvano did a lot of great things during his life,” Calhoun was saying, “win championships, help kids, change lives. But what he did when he was losing his own life, and he knew it, to set up a situation that keeps on helping people is just incredible. Something like this means a lot to me. It inspires me, not that I’m not already inspired but we can all use more inspiration, to see what more I can do to help people.”

Valvano passed away in 1993. Calhoun first met him in the early 1970s when V. was an assistant under Dee Rowe at UConn and he was recruiting one of Calhoun’s players at Dedham (Mass.) High.

“He could motivate anybody,” Calhoun said, “he could convince of anything. If he didn’t coach, he could have been an entertainer – he was that good, and that captivating.”

The always-glittering Dickie V. Gala at the Ritz Carlton is also honoring former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden and Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, and it is sold out.

Calhoun, who turned 71 on May 10, is still a whirlwind of activity. His role at UConn going forward has not yet been finalized, but he said, again, he is not walking away any time soon.

“Warde [Manuel], between hiring a hockey coach and other things, has been busy and I have been traveling all over the place,” Calhoun said, “but there is no problem at all. Things are set up well for me at the University.”

Meanwhile, one of Calhoun’s several charity events is set to go in about three weeks: his annual Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride and Walk event in Simsbury on June 8 to raise money for the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center.

… And, yes, Calhoun, who fractured his hip in a cycling accident last Aug. 4, will ride again.

“It won’t be the same bike,” he said. “I have a different bike, and I will be testing it out over the next couple of weeks.”

Here is more information on the Calhoun Ride and Walk, where to register, etc.

On coach Kevin Ollie, and his recent recruiting successes, Calhoun said, “We never lost momentum. We had two lottery picks [Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb] last year, and that’s important for recruiting. I think we’re going to be very good next year, and as good, if not better, the year after that.”

“It looked like they were a brotherhood,” Hamilton said, by phone from Los Angeles on Monday night. “That’s where I started to think I could see myself playing for UConn. Guys were unselfish, and the big thing was, it just looked like they were having fun.”

Hamilton, who just averaged 22 points per game with his AAU team, ICP Elite, during a tournament in Dallas this weekend, announced his decision after a victory on Friday night. He had visited UConn a week earlier, May 3-5, where he played pickup with DeAndre Daniels, a friend from LA, and Ryan Boatright, and he spent some time in their dorm playing video games.

“They treated me like I was family,” he said.

Hamilton said he had the same impression when he visited coach Kevin Ollie’s home.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Hamilton said. “Coach Ollie seems very humble. He’s a people person, everybody seems to like being around him. I’ve never heard anyone talk bad about him. …  That’s the kind of coach I wanted to play for, someone I can talk to any time, about anything.”

Daniel Hamilton’s familiarity with UConn actually goes way back. When he was in seventh grade, he came to UConn with his oldest brother, Jordan, now with the Denver Nuggets, who was recruited by UConn at the time. Ollie, as an assistant coach, began recruiting another of his brothers, Isaac, as well as Daniel, three years ago when they began their high school careers at Crenshaw High in LA, which is Ollie’s alma mater.

“Coach Ollie is still big around Crenshaw,” he said, “a lot of people know him there and look up to him.”

When Isaac chose Texas El-Paso, a lot of coaches backed away from Daniel. But Ollie stayed in touch. Daniel eventually transferred to St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif. He considered joining Isaac at UTEP, and also considered staying close to home at Southern Cal, and had been in touch with Colorado. But it seems UConn was his first choice all along.

“Coach Ollie never stopped,” Daniel said, “he kept believing he could get me. .. That meant a lot. Really, when I came to visit UConn I was already set. … My brother had to make a decision that was best for him, and I had to make a decision I felt was best for me.”

Hamilton, 6-foot-7, is a swing man, though he still sees himself as a guard. He is the kind of player that fits UConn’s fast-pace design; Ollie is looking for ball-handlers at every position.

“I’m very versatile,” Hamilton said, “I can do a lot of things on the court.”

Hamilton will continue playing in AAU this spring and summer; he will play next in a tournament in Minnesota. He has another year at St. John’s Bosco, and will begin summer classes at UConn in July 2014 – by which time the new training facility will be open for business.

Rodney Purvis, who transferred to UConn from NC State last month, arrived in Storrs Monday to begin “May-mester” classes. He has a full slate of meetings, a physical exam and classes and will probably begin some individual workouts on Wednesday.

“Ya boy, just committed to Connecticut,” Hamilton tweeted at 12:06 a.m. Eastern Time. “#huskyguard can’t wait.”

Hamilton, a 6-foot-7, 175-pound swingman, is considered an elite recruit, ranked 27^th in his class by ESPN.  He played at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, Calif., where he averaged 14.5 points, 7.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. He figures to fit perfectly into the small forward spot.

“Congrats to my little bro [Hamilton] committing to UConn,” tweeted DeAndre Daniels, who is also from the Los Angeles area.

UConn coaches cannot comment on a recruit until he signs his letter of intent, and that cannot come until November.

Hamilton’s brother, Jordan, plays in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets and was also recruited by UConn, but eventually chose Texas. His other brother, Isaac, plays at Texas-El Paso. Daniel Hamilton visited Storrs with his parents last weekend and program insiders felt good about the visit, anticipating he might make a quick decision.

He arrived in Dallas with his AAU team to play in the Nike EYBL tournament Friday and told reporters after his game he was going to UConn.

Hamilton will join guard Rodney Purvis, who transferred from NC State and will be eligible to play in 2014-15, to give the Huskies two very highly regarded players to form the core of the team with much of the current team finishing eligibility or expected to depart after next season.

For coach Kevin Ollie, who grew up in Los Angeles, it’s a break-through in that area as a recruiting base. All in all – a big night for the UConn program.

Evans will receive his master’s degree in educational psychology on Saturday in UConn’s graduate ceremony, having completed the 30-credit program in 12 months – as he was playing basketball for the Huskies.

“I tell coach [Kevin] Ollie, ‘if R.J. were a mutual fund, I’d be buying him right now,’” says Scott Brown, Evans’ academic advisor, “because he’s going to be doing something.”

Evans, from Salem, Conn., arrived at UConn last summer with a degree in economics from Holy Cross and one year’s playing eligibility. Once he accepted a scholarship to play basketball, he asked Brown, who is UConn’s NCAA faculty representative and a professor of educational psychology, about the program.

“R.J. said he wanted to be a basketball coach,” Brown said, “and I told him a lot of famous coaches have studied educational psychology.”

Those would include former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, who has a PHd in educational psychology.

Evans began taking courses last summer, and carried a full load during the season. It normally takes 18 months to two years, but Evans, with summer and inter-session courses, finished up in 12 months, with strong grades, Brown says. (He cannot give out a student’s GPA)

“One of his professors told me, ‘he didn’t say much in class, but he got one of the highest grades on his final exam,” Brown said. “He was the same way in my class. You’d have to call on him, but when he participates, he’s thoughtful, he’s intelligent. R.J. is very quiet, but he is very bright.”

And that is not all. Evans, who turns 23 on May 20, is working as a volunteer with a law firm in Windham, and preparing to take the law boards in June.  He is in Gampel Pavilion frequently, keeping his basketball skills sharp, too, in case there is a chance to play overseas.

“He’s so good, I am going to hire him to be a teaching assistant in one of my courses next semester,” Brown said. “He would be such a great role model for other students. I ask him, ‘how are you able to do all of this?’ and he says, “I just make the time.”

Evans, who rehabbed a shoulder injury in November, played in 27 games, averaging 15.1 minutes, 3.1 points. In one year, he set a remarkable example and carved out a unique niche in Huskies history.

Now Moore, 37, is a full assistant on Ollie’s coaching staff and in July he will be taking to the road to help re-create the positive UConn experience for recruits.

I sat down with Moore this week for some of his thoughts  on his new role, his career at UConn, including the 1999 title and how it shaped him, and his years playing overseas. Here is what he learned from watching OIlie last season:

“What I saw, it wasn’t about wins and losses. Guys came to practice, competed in practice.  He wouldn’t let you [get by] if you were having an Okay practice, he wanted to get the best o ut of you in that practice. He was going to challenge you in that practice. Guys performed at a high level in games because they were used to being challenged in practice.

“From what I saw, he was able to get the best out of every player on the team.

“If I ever have opportunity to be a head coach, I know you have to bring a certain energy and passion. If you love game of  basketball that much you’re going to have to have that drive in you, and you have to bring it every day. Every day you wake up, you have to love what you do. And I can honestly say [Ollie] loves what he does, he loves representing the university. When he comes in, it’s like a full speed train. Every day.”

A couple of other things:

Moore, from Augusta, Ga., has contacts in the south, but he says recruiting will not be a territorial thing. He will travel everywhere.

UConn now has four coaches who can go out and recruit. They can have three on the road at any one time, but all four can participate.

Moore said his official visit to UConn “sealed the deal” because the players already on the Huskies embraced him. He wants to that to be the case for recruits he brings in.

“You want to make sure, when a kid come up he had a chance t spend time with guys on the team. If you don’t, the parents or the kid’s guardian would be concerned. Why he didn’t have a chance to spend time with key guys? Because he’s going to have to spend a lot of time with those guys.”

Here is my full story on Ricky Moore, which appeared in the Friday Courant.

Calhoun had surgery to address femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) on his left hip in March and his right hip in April. The surgery involves shaving bone to alleviate discomfort, and hopefully avoid future discomfort. Recovery time is three to four months, so Calhoun, who will be a sophomore next season, should be 100 percent by mid-August. If he was considering trying for Team USA this summer, this injury would eliminate that.

Calhoun averaged 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds last season, playing at small forward in all but the last game. He was hampered by a wrist injury late in the season.

Word of Calhoun’s surgeries was first reported via twitter by Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

Jeff

Cromwell

A: Hi Jeff. The main development this week was Daniel Hamilton’s visit. Hamilton, 6-foot-6, the brother of Jordan Hamilton and a very highly rated shooting guard from the Los Angeles area, visited last weekend, as was scheduled a while ago. Daniel came with his parents. This visit went well, by all accounts, including Hamilton’s quote to Adam Zagoria (read here). 

UConn is still limited in the number of official visits it can host, so the coaches must feel they have a pretty  good chance to land a player before having him come to Storrs. I would say that is the case here. Hamilton would be a great get for UConn, and represent a break-through for Kevin Ollie in his hometown. They are very working hard to land him.

The Huskies are probably done for this year, unless something crazy happens. The focus is on the Classes of 2014 and 15, and the net cast is very, very wide, with so many seniors on the team now, so there’s sense throwing names out on that yet. But with Rodney Purvis, eligible for 2014-15, in the fold, UConn can be more selective, aim higher, and Hamilton’s visit could represent such an up-shift.

As we mentioned here on April 24, when the Huskies were at the State Capitol, a series with the Gators has been in the works, as UConn looks to upgrade its out-of-conference schedule. There were scheduling conflicts to be worked out on both ends. 

Apparently, they have been.  Gatorzone, Florida’s official website, has listed UConn among Florida’s non-conference opponents next season, reporting the game will be Dec. 2, and “Florida’s first trip to Storrs.” (Not sure if the game is at Gampel or XL, though.)

Here is Gatorzone’s report.

UConn usually waits until all paperwork is complete to announce these things.

 The Gators, perennial contenders under Billy Donovan, were 29-8 last season, reaching the Elite 8. It figures to be the start of an exciting series for UConn, assuming it includes a reciprocal trip to Florida. The Huskies and Gators last played in the 1994 NCAA Tournament, a painful OT loss for UConn in the Sweet 16 in Miami.

The Huskies need to beef up their non-conference schedule, to offset the loss of high-RPI opponents from the league schedule. It will be more important for 2014-15, when Louisville leaves for the ACC.

For 2013-14, UConn has locked into a game vs. Maryland in Brooklyn on Nov. 8, and the Y2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, which will mean two games against Boston College, Washington or Indiana, depending on the bracket, Nov. 21 and 22.

UConn is close to finalizing a deal with Stanford, providing a Pac 12 opponent. If the Florida game gets locked up, factoring in two conference games each with Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati, there will be plenty of opportunities for quality wins for the Huskies. And they’re probably not quite done on this front.

“We want to have the same RPI we’ve had previous years,” Kevin Ollie said at the Capitol. “We got to look at our conference and make adjustments. We don’t want to go down in RPI. That means trying to go out and get big, major games and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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Kevin Ollie played 13 years in the NBA, so he knows what it takes to make it there and, having played for 12 different teams, he has lots of contacts. The credibility is there. But he is now the head basketball coach at UConn, and certainly wants to have as much talent on his roster as he can.

So when one or more of his players are weighing whether to stay in Storrs or go leave early for the NBA Draft, how does he handle it?

We talked about it this week:

“First thing I want is kids to come back and get their education,” Ollie said. “It’s not like I want a kid to come back, if they’re ready to go to the NBA. I’m not saying ‘I just want you to come back for my sake.’ If you’re ready and I really think you’re ready – like Kemba, after his junior year. I wasn’t the head coach then, but we were all on the same page. That kid was ready because he is able to handle it if he gets drafted by the best team or by the worst team. I keep coming back to that because you’ve got to be able to handle it. You’ve got to be able to handle going down to the D League if that opportunity presents itself, you have to be able to handle that mentally and have that toughness.

“The process is, I want kids to get their degree. I want you to come back. I don’t care if you go to the NBA for five or six years, I want you to come back and get your degree. That’s the only thing I really want.

“Now, I definitely want this basketball team to be the best basketball team possible and to have that, you have to have talent. But you have to have guys buy in, that really want to be here. If you’re mind is,  ‘one foot to the NBA and one foot here,’ it’s not going to do anybody any good.

“… So that’s my focus and when I sat down with [Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels]. I think I gave them the feedback that should have been shared at that time. We went forward and they made decision. This program is about kids, about conditioning kids to make the right decisions. That’s what I try to do on a day to day basis – condition kids.

“I want everybody to be together. We’ve got a great team coming back, but there are going to be some ups and downs, where guys can start pointing fingers at each other. I want them to all stay in the process where UConn is No. 1. We’re going to try to make the UConn brand better and, as individuals,  they will get their accolades coming from our team hopefully winning a lot of games.”

STORRS – Had the chance to sit down and do some interviews at Gampel on Monday and I’ll be offering parts of them through the week here …

DeAndre Daniels’ first year at UConn was a struggle. He appeared in 31 games and started many, but didn’t play starter minutes. He averaged just three points, 2.1 rebounds and frequently drew the ire of coach Jim Calhoun. Before his sophomore season, when asked about the new coach, Kevin Ollie, Daniels often said he “wasn’t as mean.”

Daniels had a break-through during this past season, and it was a break-through in many ways. For instance, he now understands what Calhoun was trying to do and their relationship has become a solid one.

“I talk to coach [Calhoun] every day,” Daniels said, “every time he comes in we have a conversation about life and basketball. He’s had confidence in me since day one. He tries to instill it in me. My freshman year, when I didn’t have confidence in myself, he was just trying to make me tougher, trying to tell me what to do, how to carry myself.

“It’s tough love. But everything he does, he means it with love. He really cares about all the guys on the team.”

Calhoun, at the State Capitol last week, was raving about the change in Daniels, how he no longer “slumps his shoulders when he makes a mistake,” and the purposefulness he sees in the weight room. Daniels, 6-foot-8 and 195 pounds, started at power forward last year and, though it seems at first as if he’d get pushed around in the Big East, he more than held his own. He clamped down on some of the league’s best players, and by the end of the year he was scoring 20 points consistently. He averaged 12.3, with 4.5 rebounds and NBA scouts were paying attention.

“There was a break through,” Daniels said. “As the season went on, I became more confident in myself and my abilities, and my teammates were giving me the ball and telling me to take over and play the way I play. It’s just a mental thing with me. When I have confidence in myself, I can do everything on the court. And every game, I’m just telling myself, ‘I’m the best player on the court.’ I just had to go out there and make it happen.”

Last week, he decided, like Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier, to return to UConn.

 “My third year will be a lot better than my first and even second year,” he said, “because of my experience. I know what it’s like. Just the confidence I have in myself right now and the work I’m putting in every day. … It kind of feels like I’m closer to my dreams, but I’m not there yet. I still have a lot of work to do to get better.”

After the first summer session of classes is over, Daniels plans to go to his home in Los Angeles to train and work out. He wants to improve his ball handling. He says he has put on about eight pounds since the end of the season, but he is taking some of Calhoun’s recent advice on that.

“Mostly my focus was on putting on weight,” Daniels said. “He told me it doesn’t matter how much you weigh, all that matters is how strong you get. Look at guys like Rip Hamilton – they don’t weigh a lot, but look how strong they are. You get stronger and the weight will come.”

Ollie played 13 years in the NBA for 12 different teams; he and Collins both played for the Timberwolves during the  2008-09 season.

Ollie was supportive:

“I imagine it will impact other people’s decisions,” Ollie said, “if you have one person come out, it helps other people who might have a question in their mind – should I go out or should I cover it up? – to live their life and be who they are. You can’t live a double life. If this gives other athletes an opportunity to come out, I think that’s a good thing.  

 “… I have no idea [how it will be received in the NBA]. There’s probably going to be some resentment [at first], like with anything else. When Magic Johnson came out with the [HIV], people just didn’t know, there were people saying ‘I don’t want to play with Magic.’ But once everybody understood, once you got all the feedback, you got all the opinions out of the way and you really looked at him as a person, he became accepted. Hopefully this shall pass and we accept it as, ‘everybody has their right to their opinion and how they live their life.’”

-          Note: I originally posted this content, as two separate posts, last Friday evening, but there was a technical glitch and it was lost. We identified the problem and recovered the text. Some of this was in the Saturday Courant, but there’s some other stuff you might like to discuss. Here it is again …

                                                                          *********

STORRS – Some notes, quotes and thoughts from “Decision Day” at Gampel Pavilion …

Ryan Boatright stopped in at Gampel on Friday, knowing it will be his home gym for one more year.

“One more, man,” he said. “One more.”

Boatright, a sophomore, came in a year ago on a mission to make 2012-13 his last year in college. But while his season had its high notes, he realized he needs another year at UConn to be ready for the NBA Draft. Like Shabazz Napier and DeAndre Daniels, Boatright let it be known he is staying.

“It was tough,” he said, “I really had my mind set on going, that’s what I really worked for this year. … But I didn’t want to put myself in a harder situation than it’s got to be. It’s not like I’m a senior and I’ve got to go. I had the opportunity to come back and make it a better situation.”

Boatright talked with Kevin Ollie, and trusted his coach to be straight about his chances for the draft. He sought information elsewhere, too.

“I pretty much heard the same thing from everybody,” he said. “It’s a little different coming from the coaches because obviously they want you to come back, but Coach Ollie had the best interests at heart for me. He told me the best decision was for me to come back, and I took that, I took it back to my mom and we made the decision.”

“There were few teams saying I could have went first round, but a lot of teams were saying second round or not drafted at all. As hard as I’ve worked, the dream I always had, I never thought I would be a second round pick. I got a chance to come back and make my dreams come true. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Boatright, 6-foot-0, says he needs to work on his decision-making and his three-point shooting. “Everybody in the NBA knocks down open shots,” he said. It’s obvious from watching him he needs to play with more control, more discipline.

Another run at the NCAA Tournament, after what happened this past season, doesn’t hurt, either.

“Next year is going to be a great year because everybody’s hungry, extremely hungry,” Boatright said. “Watching that tournament was painful, it’s humbling and it makes you even hungrier. We all watched it together. We’re going to have a chip on our shoulder that’s even bigger than last year.”

                                                                             ************

Toward the end of the year, NBA scouts were paying a lot more attention to Daniels, 6-8, who would seem to fit more naturally into a position in the league. Daniels might have been a sleeper if he chose to go, but he said he never really considered it.

 “I sat down with my family and we decided the best thing was for me to stay here and get better,” he said. “Get better as a player, better as a person and get a step closer to  getting my degree.”

Daniels has worked hard in the weight room and said he has put on eight points, from 195 to 203, since the end of the season. As he fills out, he will be an even bigger force for UConn and perhaps a lottery pick by this time next year.

“Me and D came in together,” Boatright said, “and we’re best friends. It’s going to be a long, grind-it-put summer for us and we’re going to do it together.”

                                                                               ******

Niels Giffey was in the gym with Leon Tolksdorf, who is always shooting. The broken finger on Giffey’s right hand is still in a splint, and still swollen, as he tried to rehab it.

“I may come out and shoot left-handed,” he said.

Giffey, who broke the finger late in the game at Cincinnati on March 1, believes he will be ready to go in about two weeks. He plans to return to Germany to try out for the national team in July, and if he makes it play in the European championships.

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On Thursday, Tolksdorf and Phil Nolan were working hard with coach Glen Miller on “big man” drills. Rest assured, the Huskies are getting after it every day. Nolan was UConn’s Student-Athlete of the Month, his photo and plaque were up in the basketball office.

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One thing that will help next year, too, is having transfer Rodney Purvis, though he can’t play in games, on the floor in  practice to push UConn’s guards.

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Napier’s decision to return surprised no one. “I knew he was coming back,” Giffey said, “you live with these guys, you know what’ s going on.”

Boatright: “I knew he was coming back. Shabazz is Shabazz, but I’ve been around him long enough, I know how to read him.”

Daniels: “I see Shabazz walking around all happy. It looks like he has a weight off his shoulders.”

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Kevin Ollie’s take, via UConn athletics communications:

“I’m pleased that all three of them will continue their education next year and their development as young me. As far as basketball is concerned, all of them improved last season and I expect that to continue through next year. We’re all looking forward to what’s ahead of us.

“I think Shabazz’s decision is great for him and great for the university. I believe that first and foremost, it will give him a chance to earn his degree, which is something I know he’ll really cherish.

At the same time, he’ll continue to hone his skills as a lead guard and contribute to us continuing the success of UConn basketball, but also he will keep cultivating the kind of atmosphere I want our student-athletes to be around. He was a big part of that with his leadership on and off the basketball court.”

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Giffey noted how unique and potentially advantageous it will be for UConn to have so many seniors next season. “I don’t think we’ve had any seniors since my freshman year,” he said.

It’s rare for a high major to have many, but UConn will have Napier, Giffey, Tyler Olander and, if he is allowed back on the team, Enosch Wolf.  Plus juniors in Boatright and Daniels. That’s a rare combo of experience and talent.

“[Napier, Boatright and Daniels] are our leaders,” Giffey said, “it’s great to have that core back.”

And UConn is looking at possible fifth-year transfers, ala R.J. Evans, too, to see if there might be a fit.

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With the charges dropped against Wolf, his legal problems are behind him. He now faces a review from UConn’s Office of Community Standards after the semester. Wolf, who has been suspended since his arrest on Feb. 11, was in Gampel Pavilion on Thursday, and he and Napier had a long talk. Napier mentioned Wolf, and Brendan Allen, as teammates who helped him come to his decision.

Here is full text of Napier’s statement:

“After many days of figuring out what decision was best for my family and me, I finally came to a conclusion. Before I announce my decision, I would like to thank many generous people.

“I would like to thank Coach (Kevin) Ollie and the UConn coaching staff for their understanding and cooperation as my family and I needed space and time during this process of deciding what move was best for us.  Also, I would like to thank my teammates for allowing me to lean on their shoulders when I needed some support. I thank them for helping me get to this position in my life. Without them, along with the coaching staff, I would not be where I am now. Brendan Allen and Enosch Wolf, especially, were two people who made things a lot easier for me. I’d also like to thank the UConn fans for understanding as well. Their support for me and the team and their passion for the game have helped me tremendously.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Coach (Jim) Calhoun, who has pushed me to become a better man, along with becoming a better player every day. We have spent many hours leading up to my decision, figuring out the pros and cons of staying and leaving.”

“Of course, I would like to thank my family members, who have helped me through these difficult days and who have wanted nothing but the best for me. Most importantly, I’d like to thank my mother, who has inspired me to be the best that I can be and to try and be a great a role model for those who look up to me.”

“That being said, I have decided to remain at UConn for my senior year. I am very much looking forward to getting closer to receiving my college degree, as well as becoming a stronger leader for my teammates on and off the court. We think we have a great team for next season and we’re excited about playing for a conference championship and in the NCAA Tournament.”

Mark

Lebanon, Conn.

A: Yes, Mark, the American Athletic Conference, AAC or Americon, will have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It has a new name, but as far as the NCAA is concerned, it is  the old Big East and inherits that slot, with all the automatic bids in all sports. The “new Big East,” the league with the non-football playing schools, et al, is the new entity. It will have automatic bids, too, but has to go through a process of applying for them.

So for UConn, nothing changes as far as automatic tournament bids.

The XL Center, I have been told, is working on a proposal to host the AAC men’s Tournament. I would think its chances are fairly good, so long as UConn is staying in the league. This league does not have a natural “capital,” like New York and MSG were, so the process of locating the league tournament will not be as cut and dry. It is likely to be rotated, and cities like Memphis, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Tampa, that have NBA-caliber arenas are also viable sites and I am sure some of them will make bids, also. But I would guess Hartford is as good a place as any to have the tournament, it would probably draw well because of UConn, so if it doesn’t happen this coming season, I have to believe it will come here eventually.

Shabazz Napier passed the word that he was not yet ready make, or at least announce his decision regarding the NBA Draft. He has had long talks with both Kevin Ollie and Jim Calhoun, and he has sought advice from others with NBA connections. Napier is sticking to the timetable he laid out last week, and plans to announce a decision on Thursday or Friday. UConn insiders are still confident he will return, but until the deadline passes …

“He’s trying to make the best decision for him and we give him that respect. Hopefully, he makes the right decision at the end.”

Ollie said he thinks DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright are “leaning toward coming back, but nothing is etched in stone.”

The final deadline for entering the draft is Sunday, April 28.

                                                                                     *****

UConn is still working on its men’s basketball schedule for next year. The talk is, a series with Stanford is close to being finalized, and a series with Florida is in  the works. UConn has had some discussions with former Big East rivals, but it doesn’t look like anything will happen next year on that front.

The Huskies will play Maryland at the Barclays Center on Nov. 8, and some combination of Indiana, Boston College and Washington in the two games in the Y2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden Nov. 21 and 22.

The completion of their home-and-home with Washington will likely be put off, with the possibility of a meeting in New York. A series with Texas is less likely to be completed now, because UConn will have to go to Texas twice to play SMU and Houston in the new American Athletic Conference next year.

Out of 13 non-conference games, UConn figures it needs six or seven games against high majors to keep its RPI at the level it was when it played all the heavyweights in the old Big East.

“We want to have the same RPI we’ve had previous years,” Ollie said. “We got to look at our conference and make adjustments. We don’t want to go down in RPI. That means trying to go out and get big, major games and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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Ollie shuffled his coaching staff on Tuesday, moving Ricky Moore from assistant director of basketball administration to full assistant. George Blaney will become a special assistant and advisor to Ollie.

“It’s not much different than what I’ve been doing,” said Blaney, 73, “it’ll be fine.”

Said Ollie: “I’m glad George is still  going to be there for me to lean on. He always has the right thing to say.”

The move gets UConn another young recruiter out on the road. Moore, 37, will hit the road in July.

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The last of the NCAA sanctions on UConn limits the number of official visits and recruiting days coaches can go out. The reset button is hit in July, but until then UConn coaches must use them judiciously.

Amomg various players who have been connected with UConn recently, it appears Daniel Hamilton, a Class of ’14 shooting guard from Los Angeles, is the most serious current target. He’s to come for an official visit in early May.

                                                                                     ****

 Charges were dropped against Enosch Wolf earlier on Wednesday, as he completed his domestic violence diversionary program satisfactorily. Now his case will be reviewed again by UConn’s Office of Community Standards at the end of the semester. If he passes muster there, his possible return to the basketball team would then be  in the hands of Warde Manuel and Ollie.

“It’s a university process,” Ollie said. “We’re still evaluating him as a person. I just think he’s really turned it around with everything he is doing on and off the basketball court. He has been working out on his own and I am hearing some great things about him. I’m not really concerned about basketball right now. I just want him to continue to change and get better, so when he is in that situation again he will know how to handle it a little bit better.”

Here’s the full story on Wolf.

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Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma were inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Legislative Office Building earlier in the day. Here is that story, soon to be updated.

It includes Noah Webster, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Igor Sikorsky, Jackie Robinson, Paul Newman, Kate Hepburn and others. It’s the Connecticut Hall of Fame, as administered by the Connecticut General Assembly.

All those famous folks have a connection to Connecticut, lived here for a time. Auriemma, who arrived in 1985, and Calhoun, who came a year later, have made their mark in state history and on Connecticut’s culture, and they will be honored for it together at 2 p.m. in the state Legislative Office Building. Calhoun, who led the men to three national championships, retired in September. Auriemma just led the women to their eighth championship. Word got out Tuesday that Calhoun and Auriemma will be the new inductees.

Husky Day at the State Capitol will follow next at 3 p.m., the annual visit of the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the football team to meet and greet.

The signing was expected. Brimah verbally committed to UConn in January, when he came to visit the school and watch the Huskies play Louisville. Last weekend, he traveled to New York to watch fellow incoming freshmen Kentan Facey and Terrence Samuel play in an all-star game, a strong indication of his investment in the program. Brimah, originally from Ghana, is expected to  begin classes at UConn in early July.

“Amida was one of the most passionate basketball players I saw during the entire recruiting period, and I fell in love with his passion for the game,”UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. “He showed leadership both on and off the court, and then he was the best player in the game.”

Brimah, like Facey, has been playing organized basketball for only a few years. He played soccer most of  his childhood.

But as a senior at Archbishop Carroll, Brimah averaged 16 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 7.2 blocks per game, and shoit 68 percent from the floor and 72 percent from the foul line. Brimah had five triple-doubles and helped Archbishop Carroll (26-5) reach the Florida Class 4A regional semifinals. The general perception is that Brimah can be a defensive force at UConn right away, while his offensive skills will need time to develop.

“We think Amida can be another in the long line of outstanding UConn big men,” Ollie said. “He’s a terrific shot-blocker and rebounder. He’s obviously got to get stronger, but he’s got a chance to make an impact right away. I love the fact that he is dying to get up here this summer.

“With Amida joining Kentan and Terrence, we think we have three new players coming in who can all help us,” Ollie said. “What I like best is they each have a relentless motor that just keeps going. They are excited to play basketball.”

The net effect of it, as intended, is to prevent an exodus of ACC schools to the SEC or Big Ten, something that has been rumored for the last couple of months. It will now be impossible, or at least extremely expensive for schools to leave the ACC, because their TV rights and revenue would remain with the ACC.

This statement from ACC commissioner John Swofford:

“This announcement further highlights the continued solidarity and commitment by our member institutions. The Council of Presidents has shown tremendous leadership in insuring the ACC is extremely well positioned with unlimited potential.”

Here is entire post on ESPN.com

If schools like Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, or others who may have been looking for a way out, are now locked in, that would probably close off the ACC as a landing spot for UConn for the foreseeable future. However, it also means that other conferences looking to raid the ACC now have more limited options and could look UConn’s way. … So you never know for sure how it will play out.

But at first blush: not good news for UConn. We pass it along here.

Ray Allen – Heat

79 games off the bench for defending champs, averaged 10.9 points in 25.8 minutes, Shot 44.9 percent from three-point range. Scored 63 in four games vs. Celtics.

Caron Butler – Clippers

Started 78 games for Division champs. Averaged 10.4 points, 24 minutes. Scored 33 vs. New Orleans on Nov. 26. Steal on a “fake high five” duped Jonas Valanciunas in Feb. a YouTube moment.

Andre Drummond – Pistons

60 games, 10 starts, 7.9 points, 7.6 assists in 20.7 minutes. Missed 22 games with knee injury, but had a surprisingly good rookie season for a “project.” Had 29 points, 11 rebounds vs. Cleveland on April 10, 18 points, 18 rebounds vs. Milwaukee on Jan. 29/

Rudy Gay – Raptors

75 games, 74 starts, 18.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists in 34.7 minutes. Traded midseason from Memphis, had back problems late in the year. Scored 34 vs.  Detroit on April 1.

Ben Gordon – Bobcats

75 games, all off  the bench. 20.8 minutes, 11.2 points per game. Strong vet presence on young team. Scored 27 vs. Nets on April 6.

Rip Hamilton – Bulls

50 games, 45 starts, 9.8 points, 2.4 assists. Important playoff role player. Scored 30 vs. Milwaukee Nov. 26.

Jeremy Lamb – Thunder

Spent much of rookie year in D-League, with no real opening on talented Thunder, who acquired him from Houston just before season. Played 23 games, averaging 3.1 points, 6.4 minutes. Scored 13 points, seven rebounds in 41 mins vs. Milwaukee in season-finale April 17.

Emeka Okafor – Wizards

79 games, 78 starts, 26 minutes, 9.7 points, 8.8 rebounds. Quietly had a solid season for new team, had 23 points, 15 rebounds vs. Sacramento Jan. 28.

A.J. Price – Wizards

57 games, 22 starts, 22.4 minutes, 7.7 points, 3.6 assists.Serviceable backup to John Wall.

Hasheem Thabeet – Thunder

Played 66 games, started four, 11.7 minutes per, with 2.4 points, 3.0 rebounds. Had 13 points, 10 rebounds vs. Chicago on Nov. 26.

Charlie Villanueva – Pistons

69 games, all off the bench. 15.8 minutes, 6.8 points, 3.5 rebounds. Scored 21 vs. San Antonio Feb. 8

Kemba Walker – Bobcats

82 games, 34.9 minutes, 17.7 points, 5.7 assists. … Started every game, and is becoming the face of the franchise. Scored 35 vs. Houston Jan. 21.

Jeff Adrien – Bobcats

52 games, five starts, 13.7 minutes, 4 points, 3.8 rebounds. Established himself as a solid role player. Had 14 points, 10 rebounds vs. Bulls Jan. 28.

Ollie broke down his message on terms they can understand. He started out by telling them to think positive thoughts. “If you ask yourself a dumb question, you’re going to give yourself a dumb answer,” he said.

He told of the day Jim Calhoun told him he was retiring. “He said, ‘Kevin, I’m retiring. I’m going to pass this baton on to you. Don’t follow in my footsteps – make your own.’” And he concluded by telling kids to take charge of their lives. “You are the CEO of your own life,” he said. “… write your own book, don’t let anyone write it for you.”

(Ironically, a large photo of Jim Calhoun, part of the mural on the wall behind him, seemed to be looking over Ollie’s shoulder as he spoke.)

After Ollie took some questions and signed autographs, I caught up with him on his way out. He was thrilled to have Rodney Purvis officially in the fold. Purvis signed his financial aid agreement Friday, completing the necessary paperwork for his transfer from NC State to UConn.

“We knew he was a great talent. When he sat in our office [as a recruit in August 2011], we saw what type of person he is. A very high-character guy. It definitely makes us feel good that he chose UConn to further his career in our program. With all the different things we went through last year, people transferring out of here, they’re coming to us means we’re doing something good. People are still gravitating toward us and our program. [Purvis] is  going to have a great time, I really believe that.”

Ollie he has given Shabazz Napier the feedback he has gotten from GMs and his other contacts in the NBA. Now the decision to stay or go is in Napier’s hands. Ollie said he believes Napier, Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels will all come back, but until the April 28 deadline to enter the NBA Draft is passed, one can never be 100 percent sure.

“It would be great for [Napier] to come back, and lead this team, show his leadership getting even better,’ Ollie said. “You always try to improve your image. Also, he’s maturing as a young man. One thing he can improve up – he can walk across that stage and get his degree, and he can always have that in his back pocket.

“We’re going to support him regardless. If he comes back to Connecticut, let’s go to work. If he opts for the NBA, let’s go to work to  get him in the best shape possible. I know how it is, those 14 [pre-draft] days when  you’re flying everywhere and working out every day, it’s a grind on your body and on your mind. … I hope all those guys come back for UConn’s sake, but if they decide to go, we’ll wish them the best of luck and push them to become the best NBA players they can be, because at the end of the day UConn looks good regardless.”

Lots more coming on our main website.

Sounds like a nice day-trip. Here’s more info from the Hall of Fame website.

Ollie gave his take on the new UConn look as walk-on Tor Watts modeled the new uniforms at Gampel. “It has an edginess to it,” he said.

Shabazz Napier was originally to represent the men’s team at the presentation, but, I was told, he had a class. Kelly Faris and Bria Hartley were there from  the women’s team. Going forward, both teams will have identitcal uniforms.

Lots on the new logo on our main website. … You can vote for your favorite logo here.

And here is our picture gallery.

Kelly Faris on the “old” Husky: “Thought it was cute, but that’s not really what you’re going for in sports.”

STORRS – Enosch Wolf’s future with the UConn men’s basketball team is still uncertain, though coach Kevin Ollie was a little more willing to talk about Wolf than he has been since his arrest on Feb. 11. And he spoke about Tyler Olander’s misadventures in Florida.

On Wolf, who is still suspended indefinitely from  the team:

“He is getting treatment for the problems he is dealing with,” Ollie said, following the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. “He has been doing an exception job of getting studies done, bringing his [grade-point average] up. We are all monitoring his progress, the president’s office, community standards and the AD, so it is not just my decision [whether he returns].”

Wolf, the 7-foot-1 junior from Germany, was having his best season at UConn before his arrest. Early in the morning of Feb. 11 he was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after campus police arrived at the apartment of a female student Wolf had been dating. According to the police report, Wolf grabbed the victims hair and slapper her, knocking her glasses off.

Wolf’s case was referred to family relations, a department within Rockville Superior Court, and ordered to begin its domestic violence diversion program.  His next court date in April 24. If he completes the program and charges are dropped, he is then subject to the University’s review process.

“All the different [reports] I’ve been getting say he has been doing a tremendous job getting to his appointments on time, staying there and completing them, ” Ollie said, “and showing true maturity.”

Ollie expects a decision could come after the end of the spring semester.

Tyler Olander, meanwhile, was arrested in Florida during spring break at 2 a.m. on March 21 for trespassing, after he refused to leave a hotel when asked by security and the sheriff’s deputy. Olander could not produce the wrist band required for staying on the property. Olander had surgery to insert pins in his fractured left foot shortly after the season ended March 9, and it’s no secret that the coaches did not want him to go to Florida at all, so soon after surgery.

“You have concerns,” Ollie said. “I know he sat down with his parents – I’m not his parents, I’m his coach – and he made a decision that he wanted to go to spring break with some of his teammates. He made a bad decision [in Florida], and can make a bad decision here on the campus at Storrs.

“Unfortunately, he put himself in a bad situation and I think he has learned from it, grown from it and is going to be a better person from it.”

Olander was later accepted into a pre-trial diversionary program, which involves a fine, community service and passing an on-line test.

Ollie said Olander’s foot is healing as expected, according to the latest X-Rays.

Calhoun said he has run the Boston Marathon seven times, and each of his two sons has completed it twice. Like so many, he was watching TV when the news suddenly broke Monday.

“It hit the heart when I saw that,” said Calhoun, 70, at the groundbreaking ceremony at UConn on Wednesday. “This is one of the most special days of the year for us. Christmas, Thanksgiving, everything rolled into one in Boston. Patriots day,  the schools are closed, you watch the Red Sox and the Marathon. Yesterday was a devastation.

“The greatest thing we need to take out of this is making sure the people who were running toward the problem [are recognized]. The other stuff we can’t control, though I think we’ll get better at it. But the medics, the doctor who ran 26 miles then ran into the fray. So many incredible stories being told and Pat and I had a tear, because 11 times a Calhoun has crossed that finish line.”

Napier, 21, from the Roxbury section of the city, said his first instinct was to make sure his family was safe.

“It’s about 10 minutes from where I live,” he said, “and The Boston Marathon is such a great event I expected some of my family members to be there. I pray for those family members of the men and women who were there in that chaos. It’s sad. It hits so close to home.”

Donny Marshall, who was emcee, asked for a moment of silence before the groundbreaking ceremonies began at UConn on Tuesday.