UConn women's basketball

According to multiple sources, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, Kiah Stokes, a 6-foot-3 center from Marion, Iowa, has committed to UConn.

Stokes was also considering Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia and Iowa. She will officially announce her decision during a press conference at Linn-Mar High School at 4:45 EST.

Rich

Maya Moore is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in basketball.

A student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition – in order to be eligible for the award. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

Sam Quigley of DePaul is also among on the list of candidates, which will be cut to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and placed on the official ballot. Ballots will then be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans.

The winner will be announced during the Final Four in Indianapolis. Former UConn All-American Sue Bird won the award in 2002.

You can also follow me this season on twitter at twitter.com/elliottctpost.

Rich

The decision to play college basketball at UConn was an easy one for Stefanie Dolson. Being the youngest of four children in her family and regularly the best player on her teams at various levels, she found that she was coddled most of her life.

Minisink Valley High School Judy Mottola let Dolson, a 6-foot-5 freshman center, know about the mistakes that she would make. But Dolson wanted more. She wanted to be pushed harder. Hard enough for her to reach another level on the court.

It did not take her long to learn that she had made the right decision to play for Huskies’ coach Geno Auriemma and his staff. Dolson did not make it through preseason workouts before she was chastised for her lack of intensity during drills.

“Coming to Connecticut was to get that kick in the butt,’’ Dolson said. “I’ve been babied my whole life and I think in order for me to get to that level of the best player in the country or just the best player that I know I can be I knew I had to come to a program where they weren’t going to baby me and they would push me as hard as I can go. I had a rough preseason.’’

The verbal prodding by the UConn coaches has done wonders for Dolson. Instead of walking or jogging on the court during what she labeled as a “horrible’’ first week, she is now sprinting from drill to drill. Her conditioning has greatly improved. And, with it, so has her spot in the rotation.

Dolson will be in the starting lineup for the top-ranked Huskies Thursday night when they open their exhibition schedule against Franklin Pierce at Gampel Pavilion (7:30; No TV). The game can heard on WTIC-AM 1080.

And, at this point, there is nothing that seems to be blocking Dolson’s path to being the starting center for the regular season opener against Holy Cross Nov. 14.

“It means the world to me,’’ Dolson said. “It’s a great, great opportunity. It’s what people come here to do, to become the best players. And it all starts with just working hard on the court and I think I’ve done that pretty consistently. And that’s why I’m being given this chance.’’

Auriemma said there never was a competition for the starting job between Dolson and 6-3 red-shirt sophomore Heather Buck. Dolson has been impressive with her hands, her footwork and her knowledge of the game throughout the first three weeks of practice.

In the wake of the loss of All-American Tina Charles to graduation, the opportunity was there for someone to emerge in the middle. Dolson has seized that opportunity.

“The things that she was good at she’s gotten a little better at,’’ Auriemma said. “I always knew that she was a pretty good passer and she’s pretty good at finishing around the basket and she has a pretty good feel for the game. Those things are all true. And I think every day her conditioning is getting better. I think if we started a game tomorrow Stefanie would start and we would go from there and see how that worked out.’’

Dolson averaged 22.8 points, 17.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 5.2 blocks last season, finishing her career with 1,951 points and 1,607 rebounds. She was also named a McDonald’s American before helping the U.S win the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U-18 Championship for Women last summer in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The chance to play for the U-18 team, which was coached by former UConn All-American and Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti, had a significant impact on her game. With just more than a week away from the start of her first collegiate season, Dolson is pleased with the progress she has made. But she knows that she can still improve considerably.

Dolson has been trying to prove herself since she got called out by the UConn coaches in the latter stages of the preseason. And now with the start of the season looming, her mindset will not change.

“I can’t say I’m ready for it or not,’’ Dolson said. “We’ll see when we start playing. I’m definitely nervous, but I’m excited. I’m ready to get the season started and prove to people why I’m here, why I deserve to be here. And hopefully rise to the level that I need to and step up and play as hard as I can with the intensity that’s needed to win games.’’

Rich

Linn-Mar High School athletic director Scott Mahmens said that Huskies recruit Kiah Stokes, a 6-foot-3 center, will announce her decision during a press conference Thursday at the school at 3:45 p.m. UConn, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia and Iowa are on her final list.

Rich

The Huskies are ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Preseason Poll. They received 27 out of a possible 31 first-place votes.

Baylor and Stanford tied at No. 2, while Tennessee and Duke completed the Top 5. The Lady Bears received two first-place votes. The Cardinal and the Lady Vols each received one.

Big East rivals West Virginia (No. 11), Notre Dame (12), Georgetown (13) and St. John’s (16) were also ranked. DePaul, Hartford, Rutgers and Louisville were among the teams that also received votes.

1. UConn (27)
2. (tie) Baylor (2)
Stanford 724 (1)
4. Tennessee (1)
5. Duke
6. Xavier
7. Ohio State
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma
10. Kentucky
11. West Virginia
12. Notre Dame
13. Georgetown
14. Florida State
15. UCLA
16. St. John’s
17. Iowa State
18. North Carolina
19. Georgia
20. Texas
21. Vanderbilt
22. Gonzaga
23. Nebraska
24. Michigan State
25. Iowa

Others receiving votes: TCU 70; Maryland 62; Wisconsin-Green Bay 48; LSU 46; Dayton 38; DePaul 33; Georgia Tech 30; Virginia 23; San Diego State (23-11) 22; Oklahoma State 19; Hartford 17; California 16; James Madison 10; Arkansas-Little Rock 9; Auburn 9; Mississippi State 7; NC State 6; Temple 5; Marist 4; Rutgers 4; Gardner-Webb 3; Purdue 3; USC 3; Bowling Green 2; Fresno State 1; Liberty 1; Louisville 1; Michigan 1; Princeton 1; Western Kentucky 1.

Rich

Freshman Stefanie Dolson has earned a starting spot at center for Thursday’s exhibition opener against Franklin Pierce and is expected to play a big role for the Huskies this season. Bria Hartley is also expected to play a big role. And both Samarie Walker and Lauren Engeln have each made progress since practice began Oct. 16, according to coach Geno Auriemma.

“It depends on the day,’’ Auriemma said. “Bria’s still Bria. She’s really, really, really good. And then she’s a typical freshman or a high school senior. That’s kind of what we’re getting right now. And, hopefully, she’ll become a little more consistent. Samarie’s gotten better and she shows some flashes of being a good rebounder and really a good finisher around the basket. And Lauren Engeln probably has made some progress, actually. It’s amazing. I had forgotten what it feels like to have such inconsistencies at practice. To have people look really good … Then you come back to practice the next day and you expect them to look really good and they don’t look good at all. So that’s what we’re struggling with right now trying to find a certain consistency level that helps us get better and better and better every day, and we haven’t hit that point yet.’’

It is not surprising to Auriemma that the road has been more difficult for fellow freshman Michala Johnson. She is currently working her way back to full strength after having surgery to repair a torn ACL in her right knee in February.

It is unclear what type of role Johnson will play early on for the Huskies or even when she will be able to slide into a role.

“It could be a month. It could be two months. It could be three months. I’m not sure,’’ Auriemma said. “She’s not out and she’s not injured and she’s not on injured reserve. She’s on the team. She’s playing. She’s practicing. But how much she can be effective playing I have no idea. I think she’s still got a ways to go to get her strength back. Again, there’s been days where she’s really able to contribute a little bit and days where she’s really struggling. She hasn’t played in two years almost. So I don’t think you can expect someone just to come in here and be ready to go. So I’m not surprised. That’s the way these things work.’’

Auriemma said he will give Johnson some minutes against Franklin Pierce.

“You’ve got to play her a little bit just to kind of get a feel, so she gets a feel for what it’s like to play,’’ Auriemma said. “That’s something that we’re counting on, for sure.’’

The Huskies ran 4-on-4 halfcourt and 5-on-5 fullcourt against the male practice players today. That was nothing new. But they did so with officials calling the scrimmages for the first time this preseason.

“You just want to try to simulate something that looks like a game before we actually play on Thursday night,’’ Auriemma said. “So you try to get them out here a couple times before you play. It gets the kids used to understanding that it’s not just saying it’s a foul. That they call fouls. It’s all part of getting ready for games. It’s the whole game mode-thing. That’s what it is.’’

Here are Auriemma’s thoughts on Maya Moore being named a unanimous preseason All-American by The Associated Press … “That’s probably the only sure thing that you can count on is that Maya Moore’s an All-American,’’ he said. “Watching her practice these last three weeks, she’s even better than she was the past three years.’’

Rich

Another year, another honor for Huskies senior All-American Maya Moore. She became just the second player to be named a unanimous selection on the five-member preseason All-America team by The Associated Press Tuesday.

Moore was named on 40 ballots from a panel of national media. Former Duke star Alana Beard is the only other player to twice be a unanimous preseason pick by the AP.

Moore was joined on this year’s team by Baylor sophomore Brittney Griner, Ohio State senior center Jantel Lavender, Stanford junior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Oklahoma senior guard Danielle Robinson.

Moore is attempting to be named a first-team All-American for the fourth time in her career and to lead the Huskies to their third straight national championship this season.

Rich

Kiah Stokes, a 6-foot-3 center from Marion, Iowa, is expected to make her decision by the end of the week, her father, Greg, said in a voice message today.

Kiah is considering UConn, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia and Iowa. The NCAA early signing period begins November 10.

The Huskies have already received oral commitments from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, a 6-0 wing from Anaheim, Calif. who is regarded as the top player in the Class of 2011, and Brianna Banks, a 5-9 guard from Newnan, Ga.

Rich