Connecticut Huskies News

STORRS, Conn.-Guards Jerome Dyson and Donnell Beverly have been cleared to play this season for No. 12 Connecticut.

EDS: No. 12 Connecticut 106, American International 67; UPDATES with Calhoun quotes.

Don't expect three No. 1 seeds from the Big East again. The league lost a lot of quality players, but with 16 teams and a few bright stars remaining, it will still be fun, Gary Parrish says.

STORRS, Conn.-Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun doesn't know if he has a better team than the one he took to the Final Four last season, but he's confident it will be more athletic.

Coach: Jim Calhoun (24th year) Last season's record: 31-5 Spotlight player When Sporting News compiled its rankings of the best players at each position, UConn's Stanley Robinson was not listed among the top small forwards or the top power forwards. Because however talented he may be – and he's pretty doggone talented – we're still dealing with a player who averaged 8.5 points last season and only played a little more than half the year. Do we expect that he'll be the guy who managed 15 points... and 13 rebounds in the Final Four loss to Michigan State, or the guy who went 1-for-6 in a late-season victory over Notre Dame. Robinson is not enormously skilled, but he is such a tremendous athlete that need not matter. If his effort and concentration are more consistent he could become one of the nation's top forwards. Reason to hope: The knee injury that ended guard Jerome Dyson's season last February cost us all the chance to see North Carolina be seriously challenged in the NCAA Tournament. At full strength, the Huskies were the one team good enough to take a shot at the Tar Heels. The only "good" thing to come of that injury is that if it had not occurred it's quite possible Dyson would have entered the 2009 draft and been unavailable to this Huskies team. It also could be better for Dyson, who might develop into this team's primary scoring option. He averaged a little more than 10 shots and 13 points per game last season. His percentages (.408 from the field, .348 from 3-point) need to improve for him to become a coveted pro prospect and for the Huskies to enjoy a typical UConn season. Reason to mope: The Huskies pretty much lost the top half of their rotation from last season, including their essential inside players. Even with Robinson still around, Calhoun is having to rebuild the frontcourt. UConn's annual appearance at or near the top of the NCAA shot-block standings is even more reliable than seeing the Huskies near the front of the Big East. But they're pretty much starting fresh at center with Hasheem Thabeet gone to the NBA. Freshman Alex Oriahki is a powerful, physical low-post presence but he may not be the same sort of defensive stalwart as predecessors Thabeet and Emeka Okafor. Although Robinson is certainly capable of blocking shots, the Huskies may need to rely less on that aspect of their game. Bottom line: This is a team whose starters are mostly unproven in the roles they've inherited and whose reserves are mostly unproven, period. What places the Huskies this high in the rankings, though, is the high level of assembled talent – we haven't even mentioned point guard Kemba Walker, who has the skills to rank among the nation's best at that position – and the enormous ability of Calhoun. UConn will have to fight hard to hold off ambitious Big East opponents such as Cincinnati and Seton Hall, which have the capacity to break into the league's first division. That'll be interesting to watch, because the players who have to do most of the fighting – in particular Robinson and Dyson – need to play with a greater degree of hunger. Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.more>>

STORRS, Conn.-Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun didn't participate in this year's Husky Run, but he sure looked like he could have.

Sporting News college basketball columnist Mike DeCourcy answers five questions of the week in his sport. 1. Another Kansas player makes headlines for the wrong reasons—Brady Morningstar's DWI arrest. How much will this tumultuous offseason affect the Jayhawks? DeCourcy: Morningstar's arrest became the defining moment in a sloppy period for KU basketball, but it did allow Self the opportunity to put his foot down without it landing on a star. Morningstar is a role player. He is a very fine... role player who gave KU 30 minutes a game last season, but he won't need to play that much now that freshman wing Xavier Henry is a Jayhawk. When Morningstar was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated so soon after several more gifted team members were involved in scuffles with KU football players, Self was able to use that occasion to impose discipline that could send a message both to his players and his public. With Morningstar suspended from first semester games, the KU players were able to see any further misbehavior will not be tolerated, and those following the program could assure themselves their Jayhawks are not "out of control." It's been pointed out Memphis still made it to the 2008 NCAA championship game after some of its players were involved in an offseason altercation at a Beale Street nightclub. But the Tigers didn't win that game. Discipline does matter. 2. Do you agree the NCAA phone call rule should go away? DeCourcy: The phone call rules always have been a bit ridiculous, but they're totally obsolete now. One former Division I head coach pointed out recently that nearly every American phone now has the capacity for caller ID, and the choice to answer any call can rest with the receiving party. If State Tech is calling and a recruit or parent doesn't want to talk, they don't have to answer. It's that simple. To pay people with college educations—and sometimes law degrees—to pore over cell phone bills in order to ascertain that coaches call their top point guard prospect only once in a week rather than twice is a simultaneous waste of time, money, energy and common sense. 3. Several coaches have been signing extensions lately. Any seem like a strange decision by the school to ink the coach longer? DeCourcy: What struck me as odd was not that Connecticut was working on a contract extension for Jim Calhoun, but that it needed to work on one. How does Jim Calhoun get down to one year remaining on his deal? Calhoun wants an extension, which means he plans to continue coaching awhile even though he is 67. He's worth every dime of his $1.6 million annual salary—just ask him, right?—and has continued to perform at such a high level there never has been reason to put in place a succession plan. 4. As you look at the preseason Top 25 you compiled for the preview magazine months ago, do you have second thoughts on any teams? DeCourcy: The picture rarely looks the same in October as in July, because the players aren't sealed up in their school libraries awaiting the start of fall practice. Guys get in trouble, as we've noted. Guys get injured. Our college basketball yearbook placed Notre Dame as the No. 22 team in the country and the fifth-place team in the Big East, but right about the time the yearbook hit newsstands Irish forward Scott Martin hit the floor with a torn ACL. Notre Dame still might be able to scrape out an NCAA bid but would no longer be considered a likely Top 25 finisher. Related Links Panel says call rule must go Jim Calhoun not going anywhere Sidney's lawyers think race is a factor Hansbrough is SN's player of the decade SN Top 50: Find your team here Mississippi State was placed No. 10, but that's entirely conditional. If freshman forward Renardo Sidney is not cleared to play, the Bulldogs will be much more vulnerable to an SEC West challenge from in-state rival Ole Miss. If you ask me which teams make me worry most about making us look most wrong—those that haven't had any personnel changes since we made our picks—I'd say Xavier (No. 30), Oklahoma (No. 43) and Missouri (unranked). They all had significant departures but retained several key players. They could win bigger than we've suggested. 5. Any backlash to SN's selection of Tyler Hansbrough as athlete of the decade? DeCourcy: Goodness, no. Hey, apparently Tyler is now out there saving lost puppies, so how can anybody have a problem with him? Some wondered if Duke's Jay Williams was punished for not playing a fourth year, and maybe that's true. Williams won as many national titles (one) and earned as many of our player of the year awards (one), but Hansbrough made our first All-American team four times. It doesn't make sense to argue against that degree of consistent excellence. Hansbrough was a star for four years. Williams was a star for three. Given all else that was so close between them, that ought to settle things. Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.more>>

First there were the fights with the football team. Then Brady Morningstar was suspended. But Kansas is still loaded with elite talent, meaning they are No. 1 in Gary Parrish's Top 25 (and one).

Mike DeCourcy 1. What's your opinion of the new rules for letters of intent? DeCourcy: Although I understand why a player like Xavier Henry would want to reconsider his college choice if the head coach who signed him no longer were working at that school, I was not a fan of these riders that promised schools would vacate the letter under those circumstances. What I would support is for the National Letter of Intent to be reconstructed.... Each letter should include a place where the prospect must sign, the parent/guardian must sign and the head coach of the institution must sign. If the head coach no longer is in place -- because of a job change or firing -- the letter should be voided without debate. The NLI needs to be rewritten. This is not the Bible or the Constitution we're talking about. It's a flawed document that cries out for improvement. The notion that a prospect signs with a school and not a coach is so antiquated it comes with a soundtrack by the Dave Clark Five. Look, every college has a library, but for a basketball player there's an immense difference between Roy Williams and Bo Ryan. They're both among the greatest coaches ever, but a player has a right to determine whose style best suits his skills. 2. Surprising that Jim Calhoun is looking to stay a lot longer? DeCourcy: I've had two long talks with Calhoun on this subject, the first not long after his skin cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2008 and the second after he'd gone through a pretty rigorous treatment regimen. Each time, he was adamant that he still loved coaching, still loved being in the gym with young players and very much intended to continue. We spoke again this past spring, after Yahoo! Sports raised allegations about possible improprieties in Connecticut's recruiting of a prospect named Nate Miles. Calhoun was equally emphatic, perhaps more so, that he would be standing his ground. I've been close to a couple of people who retired in their 40s because they'd made enough money and wanted to see what else was out there. Calhoun knows what he wants to do, what he loves to do, even though he's long since made more money than he'll ever spend. 3. Having seen the reaction to your position rankings, any regrets about your lists? DeCourcy: Really, just one: I should have ranked California's Jerome Randle on the point guard list. I flat blew that one. Randle averaged 18.3 points and 5.0 assists in his first year with Mike Montgomery as coach. That's a top-10 point guard, maybe top-five. There were cases made by readers for many other players – some that weren't ranked, some that supporters thought should be ranked higher. Every name that was raised -- Cal's Patrick Christopher, Dayton's Chris Wright, Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell and several others -- had a strong case for inclusion. But I had reasons for leaving them out and including others. Excluding Randle was indefensible. 4. Have you ever heard of the CBK and CFB teams at a school having multiple brawls like what's been going on at Kansas? DeCourcy: No. Not ever. We've heard of small scuffles before. Look, kids are kids, and sometimes if there's a young woman in the middle of a triangle something like this can happen. But usually it blows up, no one is hurt too badly, and it's over. The most disturbing element of the Kansas situation is there was at least one sequel, and maybe two. Anyone can become angry in a heated circumstance, and where that loss of temper leads is a measure of self-control. Tyshawn Taylor's posted Facebook taunts and the subsequent altercations were not the product of a moment's frustration. What happened at Kansas last week -- that's just not championship behavior. Bill Self has more work to do than any of us imagined, although there are few better at getting players to subjugate personal concerns for the benefit of the team. 5. Final Four will be in Houston in 2011. What's your favorite city for the event? Related Links NCAAs says no conditions allowed on LOIs Predictions: SN's college hoops top 50 Athlete of the Decade: Tyler Hansbrough DeCourcy: It's good that I'll be moving around by bus and cab when we get to Houston. I traveled there three or four times covering Conference USA games on the Memphis and Cincinnati beats and I never failed to get lost while driving my rental car. I mean, I was lost every single time. That city confuses the heck out of me. Maybe I'll like it better this way. The best city for the Final Four, though, is coming this April: Indianapolis. Long before the NCAA moved its headquarters there, I suggested the Final Four be moved there permanently. No rotation -- every single year in Indy. What I love about Indy, beyond the convenience of being able to walk to restaurants, shops and the venue, is being in a city that embraces college basketball, that gets it. That feeling is palpable each time the Final Four is in Indianapolis. How many cities on the Final Four rotation really can say that? Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.more>>

STORRS, Conn.-Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun is talking to the school about a new multiyear contract.

Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy ranks the best players at each position heading into the 2009-2010 season. 1. Willie Warren, Oklahoma. When superstar forward Blake Griffin was hurt, Warren responded by averaging 25.0 points over two games. Griffin is gone now, so don't be surprised if Division I's most dynamic scorer puts up a full season of those numbers. Warren says: "I'm not a true point guard, but I think I'll be a player who can play the point guard position. I'll be able to find players open... when people come to try to trap me. Scoring … that's what gets their attention the best, what I do the best." 2. Greivis Vasquez, Maryland. For a guy who doesn't make many 3s, he has tried a lot of them — because the Terps have needed somebody to try something. They should be more complete this season, allowing Vasquez to be more judicious. 3. Jerome Dyson, Connecticut. After Dyson blew out his knee last season, North Carolina had no serious challengers for the 2009 title. If he's healthy and fit, Dyson should help keep UConn near the front of the Big East pack. 4. Malcolm Lee, UCLA. It's not clear whether Lee is a point guard, shooting guard or small forward, but it's obvious the Bruins need him to be great to maintain their stature. 5. Terrico White, Mississippi. After shifting to point guard, he became a dominant player. As last season's injured Rebels return, do they have to fit around him? 6. Avery Bradley, Texas. He could excel at either backcourt spot. 7. Scottie Reynolds, Villanova. He is on pace to challenge the 2,200-point mark. 8. Isaiah Thomas, Washington. Penetration led to 207 free throws as a freshman last season. 9. Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas. He led USA Basketball's U-19 team in scoring even though he filled a complementary role. 10. Talor Battle, Penn State. He averaged 37.4 minutes as a sophomore last season. Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com. This story first appeared in the September 14, 2009, edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.more>>

The college hoops world might revolve around Lexington and John Calipari this season, but with Jodie Meeks opting for the pros, Gary Parrish makes Bill Self's Jayhawks No. 1 in his Post-Deadline Top 25 (and one).