SUPER BOWL 2012

Just talked to Andre LaFleur, the former UConn assistant coach who left last April to join Ed Cooley's staff at Providence as associate head coach.

Contrary to popular belief, LaFleur says he didn't leave UConn because he felt he had been passed over by Kevin Ollie on the UConn coaching depth chart. It all came about at last year's Final Four in Houston, when he sat down with Cooley shortly after Cooley had left Fairfield to become PC's new head coach.

"It wasn't something I was even thinking about," LaFleur said. "I was trying to position myself for a few head coaching jobs, and I talked to Ed to see if I could get in the mix for (the Fairfield) job. He told me they wanted to go with a sitting head coach, and Ed and I just started talking from there."

LaFleur left UConn shortly after the Huskies' national championship game over Butler. In fact, he missed the championship parade in Hartford as he readied to take over his new position.

"I was thinking maybe it was time for a change, for different responsibilities," LaFleur said. "I had been at UConn for a while."

Although Jim Calhoun didn't appear very happy about LaFleur's departure the day of the parade, LaFleur insists that Calhoun "understood."

"It should be the goal of every assistant coach to do your job somewhere and one day, have the opportunity to run your own program," LaFleur said. "This seemed like an opportunity to do that someday."

Popular opinion was that LaFleur felt eclipsed by Ollie, the first-year assistant coach who drew raves for his recruiting and inspirational leadership with last year's team. LaFleur insists that's not the case.

"I never felt eclipsed or pushed out by anybody," he said. "I learned a lot from Kevin and from Glen Miller (who took over LaFleur's assistant job). On the court, Kevin brought a lot to the table with drills and practice things from his NBA experience. And I thought Glen was one of the best X's and O's guys ever as a UConn assistant coach."

LaFleur said he still has the same type of recruiting responsibilities as he did at UConn, but now has a lot more responsibilities on the court, with scouting, game preparation, etc.

LaFleur, who last saw Calhoun at the Hoops Hall Classic in mid-January, says he's been rooting for UConn all year. That ends Tuesday night, however, when the Huskies face PC at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.

"For one game, 40 minutes, we'll be trying to beat them," he said. "The atmosphere is going to be tremendous. Historically, UConn at Providence has not been an easy out."

But he added that he still hasn't counted UConn out for this season just yet.

"I still think they're capable of catching fire," he said. "There's too much talent there."

Just got off a conference call with George Blaney, who’ll be coaching UConn in its first three Big East games, including Wednesday’s opener at South Florida.

Blaney said the fact that he’s known about Jim Calhoun’s three-game suspension since last February doesn’t make things any easier this time around.

“I don’t think ‘easy’ is a good word,” he said. “You knew about it, the other ones kind of came more as a surprise or much quicker. We’re just trying to keep things going the way Coach would like them to go.”

Blaney said Calhoun attended UConn’s practice last night, told them what he wanted from them and watched the rest of the short practice. The Huskies had a long practice today and will have another tomorrow morning before departing for Tampa.

“You just try to maintain what we do, and what we do well,” Blaney said. “You try to really talk to the team about giving the kind of effort that he would demand of them. The more competitive we’ll be, the more successful we’ll be. It’s never easy to try to simulate what Jim would do. I don’t do some of things he does, he wouldn’t some of the things I do. We just try to keep it in line with what we do in practice.”

Blaney isn’t worried as much about the team’s first true road game as he is 7-6 South Florida.

“I think South Florida’s really good,”he said. “They have really excellent players, big big’s that can score inside and pop out outside and shoot the ball well. They have a number of good, swing-type athletes, and I think they’re vastly improved from last year.”

Indeed, Augustus Gilchrist has been somewhat of a UConn-killer over the years. The Bulls took UConn to overtime before losing last year in Hartford, beat the Huskies in Tampa the year before and were slain by a Craig Austrie last-second shot in Tampa in 2008.

Blaney expects to have Roscoe Smith playing some power forward to counter USF’s versatile big men, and stressed UConn needs a big effort from Alex Oriakhi on the boards and on defense.

He’s also happy to have a supporting staff of Kevin Ollie, Glen Miller and Ben Wood with him for the next three games.

“They really have been through this before, they know how to help, so I’ll rely on them a great deal,” Blaney said. “Their energy will help us a lot, too … Sometimes as a head coach you don’t see things, where when you’re watching as an assistant, you see the overall picture a little bit more.”

UConn was focusing squarely on Fairfield at its practice today at Gampel. The Huskies have great respect for the Stags, who have won four straight and have an NBA-type talent in Rakim Sanders.

“This won’t be the easiest team, personnel-wise, that we play the rest of the way," said Jim Calhoun. "I think, from a talent standpoint, they’re better than some of the teams we’ll be playing in the Big East.”

However, talk eventually drifted over to the Huskies' Big East season, which gets underway on Dec. 28 at South Florida. Of course, Calhoun won't be on the sidelines for that game -- or for St. John's on Dec. 31 and Seton Hall on Jan. 3 -- as he sits out an NCAA-imposed three-game suspension stemming from the Nate Miles mess.

Calhoun said sitting out the three games will be "difficult. It's something that, according to the NCAA, happened 5 ½ years ago, some of these kids were probably sophomores in high school. It’s for, I guess, an atmosphere. I’m sitting out three games because – for me, it’s probably an attitude, as opposed to an atmosphere ..."

He added that the school suggested some alternatives to the suspension, but the NCAA didn't want to hear it.

"That’s unfortunate," Calhoun said, "Because I just don’t think you should drag these things on, particularly in light of a lot of things going on in college athletics.”

Calhoun won't travel with the team for the South Florida game.

“You’ve got to start off with somebody running the team and make sure they have a practice and can spend some time down there with the kids," he explained. "It’s nothing that they don’t know, just a different voice. Same system, different voice.”

It's not known whose voice the Huskies will be listening to just yet. George Blaney, of course, has always filled in in the past. Blaney wasn't at practice today while tending to a personal issue. Assistants Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller were also on the road recruiting.

Calhoun said he'll meet Wednesday with compliance director Marielle VanGelde to iron out what he can and can't do during the suspension.

*** Andre Drummond, for one, can't wait to kick off his Big East career.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since the day I stepped on this campus," he said. "I can’t wait to play in the Big East. I can’t wait to play Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame … you go down the line of the teams.”

It will be "pretty weird" playing the first three games without Calhoun, he admitted.

"But I think we’re going to be fine. Coach Blaney is also a great coach. Coach Miller, Ollie … anybody can really coach us, it just depends on how we go out there and play.”

*** The big sidebar heading into Thursday's Fairfield game will be the battle of the Olander brothers: Tyler, UConn's sophomore foward, and Ryan, Fairfield's 7-foot senior center.

The two have never really played against each other before, other than in 1-on-1 games in the driveway -- which often got very chippy. So chippy, in fact, that it's impossible to tell who had the upper hand in terms of basketball in those games.

"We'd always get in fights because neither of us wanted to lose," Ryan said. "We never really finished any games, they were always so physical."

We'll have more on the Olanders in a feature story later today.

*** Shabazz Napier appeared to turn his ankle badly at the very end of practice. He was crumpled on the ground, writhing in pain for several moments. Trainer James Doran tended to him, and Napier eventually got up, walked around and appeared fine.

"He wanted to end the drill," joked Calhoun, who never looked concerned even while Napier was down.

It’s good to be Jim Calhoun these days.

As if being just a few months removed from your third national championship, then getting commitments from a pair of blue-chip recruits, wasn’t enough, Calhoun now has all six of his beloved grandchildren living nearby. His oldest son, James, just moved from California back East to Massachusetts. The whole family, in fact, is heading down to Jamaica for a vacation on Friday.

Before that, however, Calhoun is heading down to Augusta, Ga., tomorrow for the Peach Jam, where many of the nation’s top recruits will be playing (and where the Huskies first laid eyes on an under-the-radar recruit named Jeremy Lamb a couple of years ago).

When Calhoun returns from Jamaica, he’ll be heading to Orlando and Las Vegas for another pair of showcase events. The Huskies have already got one recruit (6-foot-6 – yes, 6-6, not 6-4, as has been commonly reported – Omar Calhoun) and are planning on bringing in two more. UConn hopes to get a scholarship back from APR if it shows it is taking steps towards improving its academic situation, and there’s a strong chance that Lamb (and maybe even Alex Oriakhi) could go pro after this season.

Anyway, here’s a little of what Calhoun had to say about the current state of his program:

On DeAndre Daniels:

“He and ‘Scoe (Roscoe Smith) can play very well together. DeAndre is not quite strong enough to play inside, now, but he’s gonna be a player.”

“He’s much more effective when he’s on the perimeter. He can put it down, pass it and really, really, really shoot it.”

On Lamb’s breakout performance at the U-19 World Championships:

“Couldn’t be prouder. The ball didn’t go in the hole (always). With him, as with other players over the years – particularly kemba – if he didn’t play well, Jeremy would go find a gym and shoot. We talked on the phone twice, and it was bothering him that Coach Hewitt didn’t want him to shoot, he wanted him to rest. If that’s Connecticut, he’d be shooting. But I’m really proud of what he did. They didn’t have a great team, but he had a great, great tournament.”

On how close Lamb came to going pro:

“His family talked about it. I told Rolando (Lamb’s father) it’s a real bad idea. Yes, he would have been a top-25 pick – the earliest I heard, definitely, was the Knicks – but most importantly, he was not ready mentally or physically. He has the chance to be a special player, whether it’s this year, next year, whenever it may be.”

On Niels Giffey:

“Niels played on the (German) 20-and-under team, and his coach Henrick Rodl just elevated him to the senior team. The last month (of summer) could be really great for him.”

On next year’s team:


“We should have a solid, 9-man rotation – maybe 10, maybe 8. We have a lot of good pieces. Roscoe can play the 3 and 4, Tyler can shoot the ball. We’ll probably play a lot the same, but in some ways be a lot different … We’ve got good pieces on the outside, good pieces on the wing, we can play multi-dimensional. I’m worried about our muscle. Tyler is 240 now, Niels or Michael – one of them’s got to emerge, get a little more muscle. I have great confidence in Shabazz, he’s getting more mature, and he’s going to have to carry that into the season. Jeremy can play at the 1, 2 or 3, he played at the 1 in 19-under. Without question, Ryan’s coming in with the ability to pass the ball. He’s quick, and he can certainly score the basketball. We can play Niels at the 2, DeAndre – against zones, in particular – as a 2.”

On another ‘key’ loss, besides Kemba – Charles Okwandu (yes, Charles Okwandu):

“He gave us 15 minutes per game, blocked a shot-and-a-half, he was 260 pounds, a 7-foot wide-body. We don’t want to lose sight of that right now. Alex can be good, and we hope Enosch or Michael does, because I don’t see anybody right now being able to do what Charles did for us.”

On filling the position of director of administration vacated by Glen Miller:

“We hope to have that done within the next week … It involves a former UConn player.”

Calhoun noted that the hope is to essentially bring in two new people, one to work with academics, alumni relations, etc., and the other to concentrate more on compliance and other aspects.

On Kemba Walker:

“He came to school a couple of days ago and hung out with us. Tomorrow, he’ll be honored at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce in Cromwell. He’s staying here because this is home to him … To get a player that special again would be an awful lot to ask.”

Dreary day here at the Travelers Championship pro-am day. Rain has cancelled the remainder of the morning round. Jim Calhoun, playing in a group with pro Ryan Moore, as well as George Blaney and Michael Bolton (not the guy from 'Office Space,' either), got in 14 holes before rain ended their day.

Kevin Ollie and Ray Allen played in a group with Jim Furyk. Hopefully they didn't try to emulate his swing.

Afterwards, Ollie talked about a few things, including the prevailing thought that he will be Calhoun's successor some day at UConn.

Yes, he's heard the rumors.

"Unless you're hiding under a rock, you hear your name," he said. "But I don't get caught up in that. I take it one day at a time. God has given me this day to be on this Earth, and that's the only thing I'm concentrating on. If it does come to me being the head coach there, I'd love the opportunity. But anything can happen. I'm just going to go out there and try to be the best coach I can be, learn from a Hall of Fame coach, learn from Coach Blaney, who's got over 400 wins. Learn from Glen Miller, who's been a head basketball coach for 17 years. I've got a plethora of people to learn from, and I'm just an empty cup trying to get better each and every day."

Ollie also talked about Kemba Walker and where he may go in tomorrow night's NBA Draft.

"I'm just hearing that he's definitely going to be a top 10 pick," Ollie said. "He's comfortable taking it all in. The place he's in right now is great. He deserves everything he's going to get. He's going to be a great player when he gets to the NBA because of his drive, his passion and his will to win are all off the charts. Every level he's been at, he's been a winner, so I don't see that changing when he gets to the NBA."

He said Utah and Sacramento appear to be potential landing spots, but hopes that isn't true for one selfish reason.

"I'm kinda biased, I wish he was on the East Coast," Ollie confessed. "I'm getting kinda old in age, so I go to sleep on those TNT games at 10:30 p.m. Hopefully he'll be East, but it looks like he'll be out West somewhere."

Ollie said he's talked to Walker "throughout the year" on what to expect about the draft process, being an NBA player, etc.

"Now, he's just enjoying the process, listening to his agents, I know he's probably called Coach Calhoun," Ollie said. "Just letting him enjoy this. This is his time. It's going to be a great, great opportunity for him to hear his name get called, hopefully meet David Stern. Hopefully the kids that are in our program now see his determination, see his due diligence, see his preparation each and every day and try to emulate that some way, somehow."

Oh yeah, the obligatory 'is Calhoun coming back?' question:

"We just see him every day, working so hard, beating me into the office. At 8:30 a.m., he's grinding away. Hopefully he's coming back, but you just never know. He deserves this opportunity to sit back and talk to his family, come up with the best decision for him and his family."

Jim Calhoun participated in his fifth annual ride and walk against cancer on Saturday. Starting amidst a torrential downpour ("I'm a rain-maker," he noted), the clouds were clearing by the time he finished his bike ride.

Fitting, as things couldn't be much sunnier for the UConn men's basketball program these days.

Here's a little of what Calhoun said on a number of topics Saturday afternoon in Simsbury:

(On what he's telling prospective recruits about his future at UConn)

“Whatever answer I’m giving them, apparently, they like it.”

(On the Huskies' program as a whole)

“I want the program to be like Carolina’s and, somewhat Duke, but more like Carolina’s in the sense that Bill Guthridge went to the Final Four when Dean (Smith) left, Matt (Doherty) had a really great year then a not such a great year and Roy (Williams) came in and they moved on. What we’re selling in our situation is the ability to get you ready to succeed, get to postseason play and get to the NBA. We had a pretty good year this year doing that.”

“The program is exactly where we want it to be.”

(On the team's APR situation)

“We just need some change, so that we don’t have a situation like we did with the APR. Not drastic change, just change. It’s actually already built in there, we’ve just got to get everybody aboard.”

“Having Susan (Herbst, the school's incoming president) out here like this is, I think, terrific. She was at the Final Four, at the Big East. We need people to be active, just like our coaches are active.”

(On the recruiting efforts of Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller)

“They’ve done a terrific job, I didn’t expect anything less. When Kevin Ollie talks, you’re going to listen … (Glen) knows the terrain, he knows what he’s doing, he’s smart and he’s a great basketball guy. I thknk a lot of times we lock too many things into Kevin Ollie, Glen Miller or whomever it may be. It’s UConn. We happen to have very good guys in place, doing a wonderful job. But we’ve had other good players come in before. We got Ray Allen, we got Emeka, we got Ben Gordon ... we've got some guys who can play a little bit. I’ve always said that one of the greatr recruiting jobs of all-time in recognizing that he would be good was Andre (LaFleur) with Hasheem Thabeet. I didn’t’ see what he saw. He saw that, and plenty of other coaches didn’t see that. He did.”

While Jim Calhoun hasn't officially announced whether he's returning, there will be another Calhoun on the Husky men's basketball team in two years.

Omar Calhoun, a 6-foot-5, Class of 2012 shooting guard out of New York's Christ the King High, has verbally committed to UConn.

"Yes, I committed to the University of Connecticut,” he told SNY.com's Adam Zagoria. “After spending quality time with Coach [Jim] Calhoun and the rest of the coaching staff, Coach [Kevin] Ollie and Coach [Glen] Miller and touring the campus my family and I felt UConn is the perfect place for me to continue my higher education academically as well as athletically."

Another nice haul for the Huskies, who got a commitment on Tuesday from DeAndre Daniels, one of the Class of 2011's top forwards.

No wonder Jim Calhoun seems in such good spirits these days!

Jim Calhoun is feeling pretty well these days. And why wouldn’t he? Fresh off his third national championship, the UConn men’s basketball coach says he’s as healthy as ever.

“I’ve always worked out,” he pointed out, “but now I’m at a level that I was about 25 years ago.”

One of his favorite modes of exercise is bike riding (“My wife says I’m trying to ride my bike away from age,” said Calhoun, who turned 69 last month), and he’ll be pedaling away on Saturday at the fifth annual Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride and Walk in Simsbury.

The event will be held at Simsbury Meadows on Iron Horse Blvd. and feature four different bike rides (10, 25, 50 and 75 miles) as well as a 5K walk/run. All proceeds benefit the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, as well as Coaches vs. Cancer, an American Cancer Society program.

“From my position as head coach at UConn, I can do good things,” Calhoun said. “This is really, really special for us. Being a survivor of cancer, losing my college roommate this past fall and my sister-in-law this past winter, (I realize) cancer strikes all of us. It’s very difficult.”

Organizers are expecting over 1,000 riders and walkers, including Calhoun (who says he’ll do either the 25-mile or 50-mile bike ride), assistant coaches Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller and other former players, including Donny Marshall and, possibly, Ray Allen.

“The only time Ray hasn’t done it is when he’s been in the NBA Playoffs,” said event spokesman Peter Gold.

Obviously, that won’t be a problem for Allen this year.

The 75-mile ride begins at 8 a.m., followed by the 50-mile at 9, the 25-mile at 10 and the 10-mile at 10:30. The 5K walk/run will also being at 10 a.m.

All participants will receive a free gift bag and an invitation to a special UConn men’s basketball closed practice in October.

The event also includes a cookout featuring Price Chopper’s famous “House of Barbecue,” live music from the Timmy Maia Band, hot-air balloon rides, children’s activities and more. Also, the UConn Health Center Department of Dermatology will offer free skin cancer screenings from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

And, all three trophies from UConn’s national championship seasons – 1999, 2004 and 2011 – will be on display.

To register, or for more information, visit www.calhounridewalk.com or call Gold, Orluk & Partners at 860-674-1500.

*** Calhoun will also be an honored guest tonight at the Franciscan Sports Banquet and Silent Auction at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. Quinnipiac head coach (and former UConn assistant) Tom Moore will receive the Franciscan Life Center’s St. Francis Award and Ollie will receive the Jim Calhoun Community Service Award.

The event starts with a silent auction, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Items include signed jerseys from C.C. Sabathia and Carl Crawford, a signed baseball from Albert Pujols and autographed pictures of Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.

Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 per person (children under 12 $30).

Here's the press release:

The University of Connecticut announced Wednesday the naming of Glen Miller to the position of Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach. Miller served as the Director of Men's Basketball Administration for the 2010-11 season.

“I am so happy to be able to move Glen into the position of assistant coach,” said head coach Jim Calhoun. “Glen is an exceptional teacher of the game of basketball and I am excited that he will be able to get back on the court for us this year.”

“I am thrilled to be back on the court coaching and teaching and also back on the road recruiting,” said Miller. “ I enjoyed the past year being back here at UConn and hope that I can continue to have a positive impact in an assistant coach spot.”

Miller is a graduate of UConn, former basketball letterwinner (at UConn and Northeastern) and former assistant coach under Jim Calhoun at UConn and spent 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, 11 years in the Ivy League at the Division I level. He rejoined the UConn staff in June of 2010 in the position of Director of Basketball Administration.

He played two seasons at UConn and then two seasons for Jim Calhoun at Northeastern. He joined the coaching staff at Connecticut under Calhoun in 1986 and spent seven seasons on the Husky staff. He was named the head coach at Connecticut College in 1993 and spent six seasons in New London. He led Connecticut College to unprecedented success, culminating in a 28-1 campaign in 1998-99, advancing to the NCAA Division III Final Four and No. 3 final national ranking. He left to become the head coach at Brown University in the Ivy League, spending seven seasons in Providence (1999-2006). He was named the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, leading the Quakers to the Ivy League Championship and the NCAA Tournament in 2006-07 and spent three full seasons and part of a fourth at Penn (2006-2009). Miller compiled a record of 233-209 in his 17 seasons as a head coach.

Glen and his wife Yvonne have four children: Tony, Genelle, Jillian and Emma. Born August 20, 1961, Miller is a native of Groton, Conn., where he attended Fitch High School.

Some notes 'n quotes from today's UConn national championship victory parade:

*** While the crowd was estimated at 40,000 lining the streets surrounding the State Capitol building, it seemed even more than that. Fans were lined up seven or eight deep virtually throughout the entire route. Hard to believe organizers would underestimate the crowd size, however.

*** There was one noticeable absence. Andre LaFleur, a UConn assistant for the past 10 seasons, was the only coach and/or player from this year’s team not at the festivities. While nothing has been announced officially yet, sources have confirmed that LaFleur will be named the associate head coach at Providence, perhaps as early as today.

Calhoun wasn’t much in the mood to discuss LaFleur on Sunday.

“We will have a coaching change,” he said, “but the best thing to do is talk to Andre about that.”

“He has to do what’s best for him and his family,” Alex Oriakhi said of LaFleur, who earned about $175,000 as an assistant at UConn. “For him to leave this program with a national championship, I guess that’s the best way you can go out.”

Glen Miller, who spent the past season as director of basketball administration, is in line to be bumped up to assistant coach.

“I think we’re going to be all set,” Oriakhi said. “Coach Miller moving up, he’s one of the guys we really looked up to, because he really knows what he’s talking about. He really knows a lot about coaching. I’m just looking forward to working with him more.”

*** Some of the more interesting signs spotted the parade: several pleading, "Marry Me, Kemba." Also, a Knick fan had a sign with Walker already bedecked in Knicks gear.

"The Knick one was a good one," Walker said. "Me being from New York, I’ve always dreamed about playing for the Knicks, of course.”

*** Jim Calhoun had to be prodded to stand up and acknowledge the loud ovation he received after being introduced at the post-parade rally. A few boos were reserved for Jeff Hathaway, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other pols, but for the most part, happiness abounded.

*** Walker, of course, received the loudest cheers of all. Oriakhi gave him a "we're not worthy" bow when Walker made his way to the microphone to briefly address the crowd. A chant of "one more year!” broke out, which the junior point guard found amusing.

“It was fun, but it’s a little too late for that,” Walker said afterwards. “I wish. I really wish I could come back. But, it’s my time.”

Yeah, I'd say so.

*** One of the day's most popular celebrities wasn't riding on the red double-decker bus that held the Husky team. Milling throughout the crowd was Tom Emery, a heavy-set, red-headed man who was nearly as much of a celebrity as the players on top of that bus.

Who's Tom Emery? Well, you know him better simply as "Big Red."

Emery, a Wallingford native who moved to Meriden a few years ago, has been a season-ticket holder since 1973 – the same year he graduated from Sheehan High. Emery expressed the same sentiments Calhoun would later echo: “This never gets old.”

“It’s just something that I enjoy,” he said. “Basketball is a great thing, and they bring a lot of life to the state of Connecticut, which we would never have. We don’t have any pro teams, but the girls and the boys both bring a lot of excitement to the state.”

"Big Red" said he couldn't pick a favorite among UConn's three national titles.

"No. 1, Tampa Bay, was their first. San Antonio was a team that they didn’t think would do anything. And this one here, of course, they counted us out early. Every single kid that’s played in any Final Four stood up for our state as well as possible. I would not look over any team, including this team.”

Kemba Walker announced his intentions of skipping his senior season at UConn and entering the NBA draft at a press conference today at Gampel Pavilion. In about an hour-long press conference, attended by Jim Calhoun and UConn's coaching staff (Andre LaFleur, George Blaney, Kevin Ollie and Glen Miller) and teammate Alex Oriakhi, here's some of what Walker and others had to say:

KEMBA WALKER:

"I'll be giving up my senior season and going on to the NBA. I wanted to take this time to thank everybody – thank Coach Calhoun for turning me into a man, from Day One. Most importantly, thank my parents for being very supportive of everything I've done in life."

"I just think it's the right time for me. I think I've accomplished a lot in my college career,a nd I think Coach did a great job of preparing me for that level."

(when did he make the decision)

"A couple of days ago, when I got back from L.A. for the Wooden Award stuff. I sat down with Coach and my family, and we just made the decision that it was time."

(did the potential for an NBA lockout make the decision more difficult?)

"Not really. I finished up this season so well, I'll probably be in a great situation."

(on leaving his teammates and the school)

"It's a happy day, but also a sad day. They're my brothers. I grew with them, they grew with me. Those freshmen, I wish I could stay another year with those guys to see how much they improve. But, it's just time."

"The whole state of Connecticut has been very supportive throughout my whole career. Connecticut will always be my home, regardless of anything. I'll never forget this place This place raised me. I'm just happy to say that I played in this program."

"The reason I am who I am today is because of (Jim Calhoun), and also the other coaching staff. Coach (Andre) LaFleur, he was the one who took my ggame to a whole new level, he helped me mature as a basketball player. Every other coach: Coach Blaney has been great, K.O., Coach Miller, they've been great throughout my career."

(what type of player he'll be in the NBA)

"I think it all depends on the team I go to, whatever style they play. I'll have to adjust to whatever team I go to."

(on what he'll do for his family after being drafted)

"Whatever I can do to repay them for making me the kind of person that I am. As far as goals in the NBA, hopefully I can go into the NBA and once again prove all the doubters wrong, like I've been doing my whole life. Everybody's saying I'm too small, can't guard anybody in the NBA. Just prove them wrong."

JIM CALHOUN:

"It's time for Kemba now to be a little more selfish than he has been, to take advantage for him and his family and for everybody else, because he's been so special for us."

"It would be very hard to be a more loved player than Kemba Walker."

"We're only controlled by how others see us by Kemba, than the perception of us is awfully good, because he's a very, very special person."

(on what kind of NBA player he'll be)

"He's got some Allen Iverson, in the fact that he's actually 20 pounds heavier than Allen was when he first went to the NBA … he'll be able to score points, he'll be able to defend, he can play above the rim, and he can lead a team. Against Bucknell, he had 12 assists, there were times when he could have had 15 assists. He sees the game, he understands the game. One of the great things about him – you can get players who can run a team and are quick and fast. Well, he can run a team, he's proven that very definitively. He can score points. On a lot of teams, you're going to need that point guard to score points – Chris Paul has to do that. Whoever he's drafted by is getting a guy who's going to be great by the time he gets on the bus."

"I told him, we just don't have a scholarship for him … although we'd probably find one if we needed to."

"It's an incredibly happy day for all of us – his family, his wonferful family, and Kemba – but it's a very sad day for us to lose them, and Kemba. But, in life, you've got to keep going."

"He's done everything you can possibly do, including winning a national championship."

"He got the most singularly important trophy you can get – the national championship."

(on where he could be selected in June's NBA draft)

"One team has said No. 1. It depends on the need factor. We can probably talk about Williams and some of the other guys, it depends upon who and what you need. Clearly, from the people I've talked to so far, he's probably top 10. You want a guy who's going to win for you


ALEX ORIAKHI:

"I just wanted to be here to support him and here the good news that he's taking his game to the next level. It's definitely kind of emotional, because Kemba's one of my best friends. He's a real good dude. It's going to be sad to see him go, but he has to move on."

We'll have a couple more blog posts coming over the next hour that deal with some more specific subjects.

As great a ride as it's been for Glen Miller in his first season as UConn's director of basketball administration, he yearns to be back on the sidelines as a coach in some capacity.

In his current position, Miller isn't even allowed to be on the floor during practices, and he's not supposed to function as a coach during games.

With that in mind, the vacant head coaching position at Colgate intrigues Miller, and the interest appears to be mutual: Colgate athletic director Dave Roach hired Miller at Brown, where Miller spent six successful seasons as head coach.

"I’m sure he’s going through a process of evaluating other coaches," Miller said of Roach. "But he knows me, he knows me as a coach, he had experience with me for six years that were a successful run. So it’s not like he needs to do a whole lot to find out more about me."

Colgate head coach Emmett Davis was fired a couple of weeks ago.

More than anything, at this point, Miller doesn't want to distract from UConn's Final Four experience.

"You just don’t know what’s going to come up in the next couple of weeks or the next month. You’ve just got to be patient and be engaged in what’s going on right now, which is real special."

I know this story has been written before and probably isn't new to UConn fans. But with Jeremy Lamb emerging as a bona fide star and the Huskies in the Sweet 16 (not to mention Virginia Commonwealth's surprise run to the Sweet 16), now is as good a time as any for the story of how VCU's Rolando Lamb, Jeremy's dad, beat Jim Calhoun's Northeastern team with a buzzer-beater back in the 1984 NCAA tourney. Note the YouTube video of Rolando's shot within the story. And notice a young Glen Miller, a guard at Northeastern at the time, distraught on the sidelines.

Also from today's Register, here's the advance for tonight's 7:15 p.m. game, noting that San Diego State could have a decided homecourt advantage (and with video of the Huskies at yesterday's open practice).

Here's my notebook, which focuses on the relationship between Jim Calhoun and Steve Fisher, who have never faced each other on the hardwood.

And finally, here's today's gameday for the game tonight. I'm looking for a relatively low-scoring game, and wondering how the Aztecs try to contain Kemba Walker. Not sure if anyone can right now.