UConn sports

Just when you thought there was no more news from Storrs.

Darius Smith, a 6-foot-2 combination guard from Marshall High in Chicago, has given the Huskies a verbal pledge.

More info to come.

9 p.m. update:

Smith averaged 23 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 assists last season for Marshall, according to coach Henry Cotton. He’s apparently a great defender, too.

“I can score and I can defend,” Smith said by phone Monday night.

Marquette, Arizona State and Cincinnati were Smith’s other top choices. Schools like Indiana, Kentucky and DePaul (among others) were also high on Smith.

- Neill

No, Jerome Dyson’s not going to play in the Final Four.

He will, however, be in uniform for the Huskies when they play in Detroit.

“I just got clearance today,” Dyson said Monday.

Dr. Michael Joyce told Dyson Monday afternoon he’ll be able to go through the layup lines and shoot a bit with his teammates on the floor at Ford Field.

He’ll also take his usual place on the bench (sans the awesome suits that I could never pull off) and help out as something of an assistant coach.

“Jerome is coaching like crazy. He may have a future there,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “He’s been really good on the sidelines, really into the whole thing.”

- Neill

The Associated Press just released its 2009 All-America teams.

Hasheem Thabeet is on the second team. A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien earned honorable mention.

FIRST TEAM

Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, 6-10, 251, sophomore, Oklahoma City, 21.9 ppg, 14.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 63.5 fg pct (71 first-place votes, 335 points)

Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina, 6-9, 250, senior, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 21.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 52.2 fg pct, 85.6 ft pct (50, 304)

DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh, 6-7, 265, sophomore, Pittsburgh, 15.6 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 59.9 fg pct, 1.5 steals (49, 294)

James Harden, Arizona State, 6-5, 218, sophomore, Los Angeles, 20.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, 35.8 minutes, 50.2 fg pct (45, 290)

Stephen Curry, Davidson, 6-3, 185, junior, Charlotte, N.C., 28.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.7 apg, 87.6 ft pct, 2.6 steals (49, 288)

SECOND TEAM

Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, 7-3, 263, junior, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 13.7, 10.9 rpg, 4.6 blocks, 64.3 fg pct (19, 238)

Ty Lawson, North Carolina, 5-11, 195, junior, Clinton, Md., 15.9 ppg, 6.5 apg, 46.7 3-pt fg pct, 80.9 ft pct, 2.0 steals (28, 232)

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, 6-8, 255, junior, Schererville, Ind., 23.2 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 2.1 apg (6, 135)

Jodie Meeks, Kentucky, 6-4, 208, junior, Norcross, Ga., 24.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 40.1 3-pt fg pct, 89.7 ft pct (8, 117)

Jerel McNeal, Marquette, 6-3, 200, senior, Chicago, 19.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 40.6 3-pt fg pct (7, 114)

THIRD TEAM

Terrence Williams, Louisville, 6-6, 215, senior, Seattle, 12.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.5 steals (4, 103)

Sherron Collins, Kansas, 5-11, 200, junior, Chicago, 18.3 ppg, 5.0 apg (3, 94)

Toney Douglas, Florida State, 6-2, 200, senior, Jonesboro, Ga., 21.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 36.4 minutes, 1.9 steals (4, 85)

Sam Young, Pittsburgh, 6-6, 220, senior, Clinton, Md., 18.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg (1, 79)

Gerald Henderson, Duke, 6-4, 215, junior, Merion, Pa., 16.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg (4, 74)

HONORABLE MENTION

Jeff Adrien, Connecticut; Josh Akognon, Cal State Fullerton; Cole Aldrich, Kansas; Alex Barnett, Dartmouth; Marqus Blakely, Vermont; Craig Brackins, Iowa State; Michael Bramos, Miami (Ohio); Jon Brockman, Washington; Brandon Brooks, Alabama State; John Bryant, Santa Clara.

Chase Budinger, Arizona; DeMarre Carroll, Missouri; Jeremy Chappell, Robert Morris; Dionte Christmas, Temple; Earl Clark, Louisville; Darren Collison, UCLA; Dante Cunningham, Villanova; Devan Downey, South Carolina; Tyreke Evans, Memphis; Levance Fields, Pittsburgh.

Jonny Flynn, Syracuse; Kenny Hasbrouck, Siena; Jordan Hill, Arizona; Matt Howard, Butler; Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin; Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. Austin; Kalin Lucas, Michigan State; Eric Maynor, Virginia Commonwealth; Kellen McCoy, Weber State; Tywain McKee, Coppin State.

Orlando Mendez-Valdez, Western Kentucky; Derrick Mercer, American; Luke Nevill, Utah; Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph’s; Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford; A.J. Price, Connecticut; Alex Renfroe, Belmont; Tyrese Rice, Boston College; Kyle Singler, Duke; Jermaine Taylor, Central Florida.

Jeff Teague, Wake Forest; Marcus Thornton, LSU; Evan Turner, Ohio State; Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State; Gary Wilkinson, Utah State; Booker Woodfox, Creighton; Ben Woodside, North Dakota State.

The Final Four coaches spent a few minutes on a conference call this morning with some esteemed media types (and me, too).

Plenty of the usual cliches and also some good info. Here’s a taste:

– Hasheem Thabeet’s left hand injury came as the result of a tumble.

I think it was the one where he was boxed out by a Missouri guy _ Justin Safford, I think _ with 14:47 left in the game, tried to get around, was called for a foul and fell down.

“It was self-induced. He fell on it going for a loose ball and got a pretty good size contusion,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “I don’t think by game time it should affect him.”

– Jeff Adrien has tendinitis (knee I assume, but the coach didn’t specify) and might miss practice today.

“He got a pretty good bang on Saturday,” Calhoun said.

– Huskies are the higher seed in the first national semi but are obviously going on the road to Detoit, playing Michigan State some 75 miles from its campus in East Lansing, Mich.

“We’ll have the white uniforms on. That’s the closest we’ll get to being a home team,” Calhoun said.

UConn lost twice away from home this year: at Pittsburgh and to Syracuse in six overtimes in New York.

“We were a very good road team this year and we’re going to have to be,” Calhoun said.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo says he doesn’t think the home-court advantage will be that great.

“It really doesn’t give you more fans more of the time because of the way the tickets are,” Izzo said. “This thing is really a national tournament now.”

– Calhoun, Izzo and Roy Williams have done this before. Villanova’s Jay Wright, however, is making his first appearance in a Final Four.

“This is a special time for him, his kids, Villanova University,” Calhoun said. “I know he’s incredibly excited, as I am. This doesn’t get old, by the way.”

– Calhoun and Izzo are pretty friendly with each other. Calhoun often refers to talks with Izzo during the season.

“Every year I call him a couple times or he’ll call me,” Izzo confirmed Monday.

Said Calhoun, “I couldn’t have more respect for him. And I consider him a dear friend.”

There are limits, of course, to the friendship this week. Calhoun said he might skip a social function the night before the game.

“Just got an invitation for Coaches vs. Cancer with Lupe (Izzo’s wife) and he on Friday night,” Calhoun said. “I don’t know if we’re going to make that, either one of us.”

- Neill

No three-Big East Final Four.

Instead it’s Michigan State in the Motor City for the Huskies.

The Spartans’ 64-52 win over Louisville Sunday puts them in the Final Four and opposite UConn.

UConn and MSU have met twice before, splitting a home-and-home series from 1998-00. UConn beat Michigan State 82-68 in Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 5, 1998. The next season the Huskies got blitzed in East Lansing 85-68 (it wasn’t that close).

The second of those games is one UConn coach Jim Calhoun often refers to when he needs an example of how not to do things.

- Neill

A few items as Michigan State tried to hold of Louisville.

– UConn C Hasheem Thabeet’s left ring finger is bruised and he has a slight sprain of the ring and middle fingers on the same hand. The 7-foot-3 junior suffered the injury in the Huskies’ win over Missouri Saturday.

UConn expects Thabeet to practice as usual with his teammates Monday and doesn’t expect the center “to be limited at all.”

Thabeet said after Saturday’s game that he would be “fine” when the Final Four begins.

– The Huskies left Phoenix right after Saturday’s game and arrived back in Connecticut around 4 a.m.

The team met briefly Sunday but did not practice. They’ll return to practice Monday afternoon.

- Neill

Be honest. You didn’t think UConn could get this far without Jerome Dyson.

You thought the six overtimes would lead them into another pitiful postseason, didn’t you?

Oh ye of little faith.

Kemba Walker puts up 23 points and five assists in 25 minutes, and the rest is history.

UConn 82, Missouri 75 and the Huskies are headed to Detroit.

– That first pump/haymaker punch you saw Jim Calhoun throw after the final buzzer wasn’t fake emotion. It’s been a long week/month/year for the coach.

“I’m ecstatic,” Calhoun said after.

“I’m as happy as I possibly can be about the basketball situation,” he added. “I’m so proud, so happy for this group. I mean, I feel like busting out because I just think they are really special. What they did once they get dealt a real tough blow. It took some bounces, it took too many bruises. Here we are going to the Final Four and, once again, I’m just elated.”

– Walker, an 18-year-old freshman, was perhaps the best player on the court.

“For a freshman to go off in a game like Kemba did is really, really special,” Calhoun said.

He handled the Missouri pressure quite well.

“It makes you play at a fast pace,” Walker said. “That’s something I like to do very much, play at a fast pace. I was able to keep my composure out there and just play fast.”

– The Huskies made their final 11 free throws in the game (10-for-10 in the last 1:02) to sew it up.

“It felt like we were trying to get out of practice,” A.J. Price said. “We have to make a certain ammount before we leave the gym.”

Price scored 18 points and was the West Regional MOP (don’t say MVP, they get real mad at you at the NCAA if you do that).

Price was in-and-out of the lineup a lot near the end of the game. He looked like he might be sick. But no, just drained.

“Just tired. Gassed,” Price said. “Missouri puts a lot of pressure on you, a lot of pressure.”

– Jeff Adrien played 39 minutes Saturday. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, two steals and played some outstanding defense.

He also had a bloody chin by the end.

“I think it was a scratch, somebody’s nail,” he said.

– Hasheem Thabeet did not block a single shot in Saturday’s game, the first time he’s gone blockless all season.

– Stanley Robinson played the role of Thabeet. He was credited with four blocks, though some people (including the Connecticut Post’s intrepid all-star beat guy) counted six.

Robinson also beat DeMarre Carroll for the first time. Carroll and Robinson are both from Birmingham, Ala., and the younger Robinson was always on the losing end.

“Glad to beat him,” Robinson said. “I’d rather beat him here, to get to the Final Four, than in high school.”

– The Huskies are 6-0 in greater Phoenix. They won national titles in 1999 and 2004 by coming out of regional play in the area. They plan to do the same this year.

Calhoun joked about buying a house in the area. He also said it’s not quite like playing in Jersey.

“This is not like playing at the Meadowlands, trust me,” Calhoun said. “The guys at the Meadowlands tell you ‘Get your stuff in the locker room and move! We got hockey tonight!’ ”

– The team chose not to cut down the nets at the Phoenix Dome (I know, fake name).

They did it in 1999 but also chose not to in 2004.

“Hopefully we will have a chance to cut them down somewhere else,” Price said.

- Neill

All-West Regional

A.J. Price*, UConn

Kemba Walker, UConn

DeMarre Carroll, Missouri

J.T. Tiller, Missouri

Tyreke Evans, Memphis

*Most Outstanding Player