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UConn junior point guard Caroline Doty has been fully cleared, a source with knowledge of her physical condition confirmed Friday night.

It had been a long wait for Doty, who underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee Aug. 31, 2010 and missed all of last season. Team trainer Rosemary Ragle informed Doty of her present status Aug. 27, the day after the Huskies returned from their 10-day trip to Italy.

Doty was initially scheduled to be fully cleared July 1. However, she sprained her left knee during a 3-on-3 drill June 29. At that point she was instructed by team doctor Robert Arciero to back off.

It has since been a steady progression for Doty. She was first allowed to practice for 40 minutes. The time limit was then increased to one hour en route to working her way back to competing fully. Since she has been cleared there have been times when she has not been permitted to play in pick-up games on back-to-back days. But a source said that that has been her only limitation.

Doty, who has two years of eligibility remaining, has missed 60 of a possible 116 games in her career at UConn due to two ACL tears in her left knee. She also tore the ACL in her left knee during her senior year at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pa.

Doty averaged 6.8 points, 3.5 assists and 25.3 minutes in 39 games (38 starts) in 2009-10 – her only full season with the Huskies. She was second on the team in assists and made 3-pointers (49).

Doty has started 55 of the 56 games in which she has appeared during her career. And it is the hope of Huskies’ coach Geno Auriemma to have Doty in the starting lineup for the season opener against Holy Cross Nov. 13 at Gampel Pavilion.

A source said that starting Doty is the ideal role for her because Auriemma does not want her to have to participate in pregame warm-ups and then sit on the bench before having to get warm all over again when she enters the game.

Rich

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Geno Auriemma will get some airtime Thursday night during Game 1 of the WNBA Western Conference finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury (9; ESPN2). He will serve as a guest analyst and will be paired with Rebecca Lobo for the entire telecast.

Rich

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UConn president Susan Herbst reached out to the fans and supporters of the Huskies today, ensuring them that she will do only what is best for the university.

Here is her statement …

“The past several days have magnified the period of instability that exists today in the world of college athletics. I want to say thank you to all of our loyal supporters and fans of UConn and our athletic programs for their patience during this time.

“Please know that we will always do what is in the best interests for the University of Connecticut.

“We remain committed to our ideals and principles in intercollegiate athletics and will continue to achieve excellence academically and athletically.’’

Rich

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UConn will hold its First Night festivities at Gampel Pavilion Oct. 14. The event is free to the public, with doors opening at 6 p.m. for the joint men’s and women’s autograph session.

Rich

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UConn has serious interest in joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, a source with knowledge of the university’s position confirmed Monday. Rebuilding the Big East in the wake of the departure of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC remains a priority, but right now self-preservation trumps any restoration project.

“I think they’re both priorities, but the one we can really be the most proactive with is (the ACC),’’ the source said. “We’ve got to take care of ourselves. My gut’s telling me there’s a better than average chance we’ll be in the ACC. (UConn president Susan Herbst) is in pretty constant communication. She knows a couple of the presidents and things like that. She’s working on it.’’

The source said that UConn has not filed an application for membership with the ACC. The process is not that simple. They said Syracuse and Pittsburgh had been working on their respective moves for some time before it officially came to fruition Sunday.

“You don’t really apply,’’ the source said. “You only apply if you know you’re going to get in. This is not going to be a quick-fire thing. This is going to take a little time because the ACC is in the position of power. So they’re going look around and they’re going to talk to Notre Dame and see if they’ve got any interest. They’re going to shop around.’’

UConn spokesman Mike Enright said Monday that interim athletic director Paul Pendergast is not conducting any interviews at this time. His first day at UConn has been moved to Oct. 1.

A move to the ACC seems to be the most beneficial play for UConn. It is an established conference. The member schools are there to stay despite an imposed $20 million exit fee.

Meanwhile, the future of the Big East is filled with great uncertainty. Should the Big 12 dissolve, schools such as Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri could join the Big East. However, the source said that this would not necessarily stabilize the Big East and promote long-term success.

“There’s so many moving parts to this thing right now,’’ the source said. “But the problem with this is even if there is this Big 12/Big East hybrid type of thing, a lot of people are going to consider it a temporary home. If you have this league with Connecticut and Missouri and Kansas and Iowa State, you’re talking about a situation where even when the league is founded it’s going to be a tenuous situation where almost everybody’s planning for it to fail. It’s a hideaway for 10 years or something like that.’’

Rich

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What’s next?
The Big East took a sizeable hit today when it was announced that Syracuse and Pittsburgh were unanimously accepted into the Atlantic Coast Conference. The question now is what lies ahead for UConn. Two options stand out …

1. If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em: UConn president Susan Herbst will reach out to fellow presidents to take the temperature of where UConn stands in relation to some other conferences.

Sources said that UConn has been in contact with the ACC and that if the conference called back it would likely join. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I think if the ACC called us back right now and said, `Do you want in?’ We probably would,’’ the source said.

Talks with the ACC have been informal to this point, more on the interest-gauging front. The abrupt departures of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, however, have proven that things could happen at any time when it comes to conference realignment. Should the ACC elect to expand from 14 to 16 teams the opportunity for UConn to gain membership could present itself.

2. Rebuild the Big East: The conference lost Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC in 2004 and Boston College in 2005 and emerged virtually unscathed by adding Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida from Conference USA.

The task of moving forward is more difficult this time around after losing a founding member (Syracuse) and another school that has been a member of the conference since 1982 (Pittsburgh). The dissolution of the Big 12 could provide the Big East with what it needs to regain its footing.

A source said that Iowa State has shown the most interest among Big 12 schools regarding a potential move to the Big East. Baylor, Kansas, who has also expressed interest in joining the conference, Kansas State and Missouri would also be viable options should schools such as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State head to the Pac-12 and Texas A&M heads to the SEC.

“The funny thing is it all goes back to football,’’ the source said. “Men’s basketball is almost insignificant in this stuff. Obviously, we have made an investment in football. If Kansas and Missouri and TCU are all in the football league then that’s a pretty darn good league.

“If you add one more school … It’s not like the ACC is this powerhouse football conference right now. Duke beat Boston College yesterday. I think institutional self-preservation is the first goal and probably the first preference would be that we keep in the Big East. But, if not, I think we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t shop the name around a little bit.’’

Rich

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Statement From University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst:

“Conference expansion and realignment has been a subject of public speculation for the last several months and will continue to be so in the future, for years most likely. It is not close to being over, so we need to have some patience. There have been new rumors every day regarding schools and conferences, and now Pittsburgh and Syracuse are leaving the Big East, which is a jolt, but not a huge surprise.

“UConn is a proud charter member of the Big East and we have taken a lead role in the league’s success over the years. However, it is my responsibility as President that we stay in constant communication and be actively involved in discussions with our counterparts from around the country to ensure the successful long-term future of our university’s athletic program. The truth is that our teams will play competitive athletics at the highest level of excellence, wherever things land, and our central goals will be academic success and compliance, always.

“To my mind, the conference realignments and incessant national gossip is distracting many presidents and athletic directors from the real conversations we should be having, about academics, the distorting role of money in sports and what it means to support student-athletes. I hope all settles soon, and we can change the national focus away from profiteering and back to student-athletes, where it belongs.’’

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Former Big East commissioner and Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt passed away at the age of 73 Friday. Here are the thoughts of Geno Auriemma, who was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with Gavitt in 2006.

“Dave was a great man; a renaissance man who was at the forefront of all that was good in college basketball,’’ Auriemma said. “One reason I wanted to coach at UConn was so that I could be in Dave Gavitt’s league. Twenty-seven years later, I’m still not in his league and never will be. Without Dave there is no Big East and without the Big East there would never have been a UConn as we have come to know it. This is a sad, sad day.’’

Rich