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The Connecticut 6 awards were announced today.
Here’s the release …

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Quinnipiac University forward Justin Rutty earned the Connecticut Player of the Year award, while Fairfield University guard Derek Needham collected the Connecticut 6 Rookie of the Year award as voted by the six men’s basketball coaches of the member schools. All six schools were represented on the All-Connecticut 6 first and second teams.
Rutty averaged a double-double for the season, scoring 15.3 points and grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game over his 33 starts. His rebounding average was best in the Northeast Conference, while his 4.9 offensive rebounds per game placed second in Division I. He received the Northeast Conference Player of the Year and was a member of the All-Northeast Conference first team.
Needham collected the Connecticut 6 Rookie of the Year after winning the same award from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The guard led the team with 16.4 points and 5.2 assists per game. He was the top scoring freshman in the MAAC, and was the fifth-highest scoring freshman in Division I. He earned a spot on the CollegeInsider.com Freshmen All-America team as well.
Both Rutty and Needham were part of the All-Connecticut 6 first team, joining Quinnipiac’s James Feldeine, Fairfield’s Anthony Johnson, and Yale’s Alex Zampier. Feldeine led all Bobcat scorers with a 16.5 scoring average, in addition to dishing off 81 assists in 33 starts. Johnson nearly averaged a double-double for the season with 16.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Zampier was the top Yale scorer in 2009-10, netting 17.4 points per contest in addition to his team-best 2.4 assists every forty minutes.
The second team included Sacred Heart’s Corey Hassan and Ryan Litke, Central Connecticut’s Shemik Thompson, Hartford’s Joe Zeglinski, and Quinnipiac’s James Johnson. Hassan was the team’s top scorer and rebounder with 19.2 points and 7.6 caroms per contest. Litke was next in line for the Pioneers with 13.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Thompson was number one in scoring among his teammates with a 13.0 average, in addition to registering 95 assists in 29 games. Zeglinski tallied 16.5 points overall and 17.3 markers in conference play, and netted 98 three-point baskets in his 29 starts. Johnson was the third leading scorer on the Quinnipiac squad, tossing in 12.1 points per game, while dishing off a team-leading 132 assists in 33 starts.
The Connecticut 6 consists of Central Connecticut State University, Fairfield University, University of Hartford, Quinnpiac University, Sacred Heart University, and Yale University. The six teams met for the inaugural Connecticut 6 Classic last November at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. The Classic will move to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

2009-10 All-Connecticut 6 Teams
First Team
Student-Athlete Class Position High School/Hometown
James Feldeine, Quinnipiac Sr. Guard Cardinal Hayes/New York, N.Y.
Anthony Johnson, Fairfield Sr. Center Lake Wales/Lake Wales, Fla.
Derek Needham, Fairfield Fr. Guard De La Salle Institute/Dolton, Ill.
Justin Rutty, Quinnipiac Jr. Forward Newburgh Free Academy, Newburgh, N.Y.
Alex Zampier, Yale Sr. Guard Columbia/East Greenbush, N.Y.

Second Team
Student-Athlete Class Position High School/Hometown
Corey Hassan, SHU Sr. Forward Merrimack/Merrimack, N.H.
James Johnson, Quinnipiac So. Guard Bishop Loughlin/Queens, N.Y.
Ryan Litke, Sacred Heart Sr. Guard Windsor/Windsor, Conn.
Shemik Thompson, CCSU Jr. Guard Cape Henlopen/Milton, Del.
Joe Zeglinski, Hartford Jr. Guard Archbishop Ryan/ Philadelphia, Pa.

Connecticut 6 Player of the Year
Justin Rutty, Quinnipiac

Connecticut 6 Rookie of the Year
Derek Needham, Fairfield

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In today’s column on the Perry Pilotti field dedication, the wrong date of death was mistakenly put into my story. Perry Pilotti, the long-time owner of the Arctic Sports Shop, died in 1993 at the age of 76. He did not die in 2007, at the age of 81, as was edited into my column.

I did a internet check of our obits at the Connecticut Post and found a Pasquale Pilotti that worked at Fairfield University, who died in 2007. Apparently that was edited into my column.

However, since it’s my name on the story, I must apologize for the error.

Here’s a corrected version …

BRIDGEPORT — Several men who have seen plenty of these kind of incredible spring days, stood around the large granite block, talking about and remembering a man that lived his entire life here and spent almost all of that time working to make our city a better place.
Perry Pilotti was born and raised in the South End. He worked in the East End, had friends that lived in the West End and the North End and the Hollow. For nearly 50 years, he operated the Arctic Sports Shop on East Main Street, a place where a kid, any kid, when spring came around, usually went to get that new pair tennis shoes or that new baseball glove.
It didn’t matter if the kid didn’t have enough money, or didn’t have any money at all, if the kid needed the glove or a pair of sneakers or spikes, he always got them. Just tell your mom or dad to give me a couple of bucks a week, Pilotti would say.
“I can’t tell you how many times I heard that,” said Armund Del Medico, Pilotti’s nephew, who spent many years working at Arctic. “To Perry, it was all about helping the kids.”
For the better part of Saturday morning, the men talked, stories were told and memories came alive again. Pilotti loved Bridgeport and in a ceremony in front of the new baseball field at Veteran’s Memorial Park, the city showed a little love to the man that was more than just an ambassador to the Park City, he was its best friend.
Perry J. Pilotti field was dedicated before the annual Park City Baseball Classic. The cities four high school teams — Central, Harding, Bassick and Bullard-Havens — took part in the ceremonies at the year-old field, located ironically at the same place where Pilotti felt his greatest disappointment came, as Bridgeport honored Pilotti’s life and his accomplishments.
“There isn’t a person that I’ve talked to, a person that I’ve met who knew Perry Pilotti, who hasn’t been influenced by him, who hasn’t been impressed by him and who hasn’t been overwhelmed by his generosity to the city of Bridgeport,” said City Council president Tom McCarthy, who represented mayor Bill Finch at the ceremony.
Pilotti opened Arctic Sports Shop at the corner of Arctic and Pembroke Streets in 1946. A year later, he was coaching the Bridgeport Newfields, and later the Bridgeport Aer-o-sals, in the (pre-NBA) American League, playing against the likes of the New York Knickerbockers and the Harlem Globetrotters.
As Pilotti worked to grow the sports shop, he wanted to set up an account with one of the big baseball equipment manufactures, Spalding. McGregor or Rawlings, but in the recession after World War II, no one was opening new accounts. But one night when the Newfields were playing at Madison Square Garden, a Rawlings representative who was at the game remembered the letter Pilotti had sent, asking for a franchise. The next day, the rep showed up at Arctic and gave Pilotti a new account.
From 1951 to 1990, Pilotti would go to spring training, the Major League Baseball All-Star game and the World Series as a Rawlings representative. He met and became friends with such baseball greats as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente, who always called Pilotti, “Hey, Rawlings” whenever he saw him.
Along with Tom Lasorda and Joe Garagiola, Pilotti worked to help the Italian Baseball Federation grow and promote the sport in his parents’ homeland. Sacred Heart men’s basketball coach Dave Bike worked at Artic. So did former mayor Len Paoletta and many, many others.
“Everything Perry did in his life was not for Perry Pilotti, it was for the city of Bridgeport,” Del Medico said. “He was always working to help the city’s youth. That’s what resonated with Perry when you met him. He was a real, real, person. He touched so many lives.”
One of those was Benji Labrador, the current Bridgeport American Legion baseball coach. Labrador told a story of Pilotti giving him a brand new catcher’s mitt after the baseball player it was made for didn’t want it.
“If you only had $15 and that brand new pair of spikes cost $25, you walked out of there with those brand new spikes,” Labrador said. “This man went out of his way to help inner-city kids and provide things that they couldn’t pay for.”
As Central and Harding went through their pre-game warm-ups, thoughts turned to the field. Back in 1987, mayor Thomas Bucci had a $1 million state grant in place for the creation of a Little League facility that would have become the centerpiece for the Northeast. However, the residents shouted down the proposal. That facility, the A. Bartlett Giamatti Center, has since put Bristol on the map. Pilotti, who fought hard for the facility, called it the biggest disappointment of his life.
There were also people that didn’t want this new baseball field built either. Thankfully, the city learned from its previous mistake.
“People said this (field) was a bad thing. Well, this field is a good thing,” McCarthy said. “This field will make this neighborhood and the city of Bridgeport even better.”
Perry would have been proud.
Contact Chris Elsberry at celsberry@ctpost.com

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Before heading off to San Antonio and the NCAA Women’s Final Four, I sat down with both Ed Cooley and Joe Frager for a recap on their respective seasons (Look for that in this Sunday’s Connecticut Post). But as a treat before that, here’s Cooley’s and Frager’s comments on their incoming freshman class for 2010-11 and a little bit of insight on who the Stags will be playing next season.

Adam Jones, forward, 6-7, 195, Winter Park, Fla.
Cooley: “He’s going to be given a chance because we need another front court presence. He’s long … he’s nowhere near the athlete Anthony was. Not many people in our league were but he’s a better ‘catch’ guy. He has a better feel offensively. He won’t be the defensive presence but he’ll be a better positional player. He gives us an added dimension as a passer.”

Jamel Fields, guard, 6-2, 176, Albany, N.Y.
Cooley: “Jamel gives us another big guard. I like big guards. He’s more of a combo guard. Got some size to him so he can guard the big guards in our league. We wanted a bigger guard and we addressed that. I think he’s going to have to feel this way through.”

Keith Matthews, forward, 6-5, 200, Sebastian, Fla.
Cooley: “Keith is a athletic player. Everyone says. ‘What is he?’ He’s in the mold of a Yorel and Warren type. He’s a longer athlete. He’s a big boy. It’ll be interesting to see the impact he has. He’s going to play. He’s ‘body ready’ to play. Will he adjust to defensive schemes, college life in general? We’ll see.”

As for the 2010-11 schedule:
HOME — Vermont, Bracket Buster, Howard, Army, Philly Classic
AWAY — Florida, Holy Cross, Philly Classic
NEUTRAL — Sacred Heart (Connecticut 6 at Mohegan Sun Arena)
(The Philly Classic is a two-game tournament with Princeton, Rutgers and St. Joseph’s. The Stags will play one of those teams at home and one on the road)

Oh, and in 2011-12, Fairfield will play in the Old Spice Classic in Florida.

With Frager “still looking” to bring in one more recruit for 2010-11, here’s a look at his three incoming freshmen.
Brittany Obi-Tabot, forward, 6-1, Watertown, Mass.
Frager: “She was a 1,000-1,000 kid in high school. Very athletic. I think she’ll add some athleticism to our front court.”

Katie Cizynski, forward/center, 6-2, Southbury, CT. (Played at Pomperaug High)
Frager: “She had a big, big high school career. Sheended up as the leading scorer in the history of Pomperaug High. Both her mom and dad attended Fairfield. Her dad, Joe, was a pitcher.”

Alexys Vazquez: guard, 5-10, Berlin, CT (Played at Berlin High)
Frager: “Outstanding 3-point shooter, with range. Taurasi range. Crazy range.”

2010-11 Schedule outlook:
HOME — Sacred Heart, George Mason, Cornell, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, Albany, St. Francis (N.Y.).
AWAY — Villanova, lafayette
“We still have two games left (to schedule),” Frager said. “We’ll schedule a very large opponent or a two-game tournament.”

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To the four people that e-mailed me and to the countless others that probably thought about doing so, I apologize. In my Sunday column about the Huskies becoming Maya Moore’s team next season, I put Lorin Dixon’s name down among the players leaving. That’s not happening. That was my mistake, I brain cramped while writing that column (I was doing so at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning after the national championship game) and for some reason I thought she was a senior and was graduating. I should have re-read the story before I sent it in and I didn’t. Once again, I apologize for giving anyone the wrong idea.

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The Connecticut Sun — as expected — have selected UConn center Tina Charles with the first pick in the 2010 WNBA draft. Charles just finished a perfect 39-0 season for the Huskies, scoring nine points in its 53-47 NCAA championship game win over Stanford. Charles finished her UConn career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,346 points.

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Here are some pictures of the UConn Huskies NCAA Championship victory over Stanford Tuesday night at the Alamodome.

The scoreboard tells the story

Soldiers march in with the colors

The Huskies stand for the national anthem

Soldiers unfurl the American flag

Huskies fans show their support

YES! UConn wins!

The Huskies celebrate their 7th NCAA championship at midcourt

It’s raining confetti!!!

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All’s quiet at the Alamodome three hours before tip off of tonight’s NCAA championship game between UConn and Stanford. But not for long.

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Here are some pictures from the city of San Antonio and some of the thousands of UConn fans that have come here to watch their beloved Huskies play for their seventh NCAA title.

Looking down at the Riverwalk.

The Alamo.

Plaque on the wall of the building honoring David Crockett and Sam Bowie.

The Freedom Monument.

Some of the amazing cactus in the garden behind the Alamo.

Fans crowd the Riverwalk.

The boat with the UConn band floats down the San Antonio River.