UConn sports

A few points as the Huskies and Spartans prepare for the first national semi:

– Spoke to UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway briefly before the game. No comments on the Nate Miles-Josh Nochimson flap.

“I can’t speak about it,” Hathaway said. “All I can tell you is that not commenting is part of the NCAA enforcement process. As we said in our statement, we’re in contact and working closely with the NCAA.”

– Tonight’s officials are John Cahill, Les Jones and Michael Stuart.

Cahill is very familiar to the Huskies, as is Jones. Cahill is one of the Big East’s best. (humble opinion)

– UConn President Michael Hogan is sitting in the stands somewhere in the middle of a few hundred UConn students.

Nice touch.

- Neill

Pretty good coverage in the Detroit papers here of the Final Four and all its goings on.

The Detroit News had a good full-page spread on the matchups and pertinent information. It also had some fun sideline stuff, including an All-time team for each school (they put Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Donyell Marshall and Ben Gordon as UConn’s starting five, which is about right).

The paper also listed famous alumni for each school. People like James Caan for Michigan State, Maria Bello for Villanova, Andy Griffith for Carolina.

On the UConn side the News had the usual: Ron Palillo (Horshack) and Meg Ryan. Peggy Hyra (Ryan’s real name) didn’t actually graduate, but close enough. (They must have run out of space in the print edition to include my name.)

But the paper made one little boo-boo. It listed Kirstie Alley as a UConn alum.

That’s not true. The urban legend comes from Alley’s Cheers character, Rebecca Howe. Miss Howe went to the University of Connecticut and, as the story goes, was known as “Backseat Becky.”

She must have been a big fan of the football team. You know, the Fighting Insurance Salesmen.

- Neill

Sorry the blog is a little tardy this afternoon. It’s a 12-mile walk from the interview area to the media work room. It’s another 5.4 kilometers to the court but I won’t have to make that walk until Saturday night.

OK, enough whining. Onto the news of the day:

– A.J. Price says the Huskies are raring to go.

“I think we’re in a great mindset as a team _ focused, ready to play the game,” Price said. “It’s been a good experience to be down here but I think we’re just ready to get on the court now.”

– UConn coach Jim Calhoun was none too happy with a column in the Detroit Free Press Friday that questioned him for not speaking out on the NCAA allegations.

It’s not that Calhoun doesn’t WANT to speak, he says.

“The NCAA has put (out) a gag order,” Calhoun said. “While they’re doing their _ not an investigation right now but a review _ they have told us we cannot speak to the facts.

“So please do not think by my silence about what’s been swirling around a little bit _ quite a bit, actually _ that it’s not because I don’t want to say anything. It’s because I can’t say anything else,” Calhoun said.

– Remember the rumors about Yahoo Sports coming out with a new story about UConn’s recruiting practices? This one centering on Ater Majok?

Forget it. It’s bunk.

One of the co-authors of the original piece is in Detroit and says there’s nothing in the works.

“It’s all a rumor. It’s not true,” Dan Wetzel said.

Wetzel said he and his colleagues continue to follow leads and review information but have nothing planned and certainly won’t have anything big this weekend.

Wetzel also made something of an apology (though it appears most of this stems from another media member’s appearance on a Boston-area radio station and little else).

“It’s not fair to the kid involved, it’s not fair to UConn,” Wetzel said.

– Don’t be fooled by all the allegations surrounding the UConn program. Calhoun really is enjoying himself. Don’t believe it? Ask Jeff Adrien.

When Adrien and Price were asked about their coach’s mood while on the dais Friday afternoon, Price just smiled and nodded in Adrien’s direction so he would answer.

(Price probably believes Calhoun has been nicer recently, but can’t bring himself to say such things.)

“He’s chatting with us, he’s telling jokes,” Adrien said. “He’s definitely happy right now. You know, he’s been happy for us.

“This year you could tell coach is very excited and happy,” Adrien continued. “He’s calmed down a little bit, to tell you the truth, as far as the yelling and everything.”

– UConn G Jerome Dyson will be out on the court before the game in uniform. Don’t expect much movement from him, though.

“They don’t want me running on it,” Dyson said, glancing at trainer James Doran for assurance as he spoke.

Dyson did not travel with the Huskies on Wednesday but flew in Friday morning to join the team.

– Michigan State’s Travis Walton has the task of defending Price today.

“If you looked at just talent I don’t know where you’d put him. Sixth, seventh, eighth most talented player on our team,” coach Tom Izzo said. “If you look at just heart, you’d put him one by a mile.

“We’ve put him up against the best each conference has to offer,” Izzo said. “Sometimes it’s been 6-6 guys, sometimes it’s been 5-10 guys. Ninety-nine percent of the time he’s answered the bell. He’s got a little tougher task ahead of him (today). But if there’s anybody I feel comfortable in doing it, it’s him.”

– The Stanley Robinson-Raymar Morgan matchup is also a good one. Izzo is wary of Sticks’ high-flying antics.

“We have to stay in contact with him because if you don’t, those jets go off in his legs and he leaps above everybody,” Izzo said. “Raymar is a decent matchup for him. But I think there’s no doubt Robinson is maybe the best athlete at that size I’ve seen on tape.”

– Expect plenty of 12- to 16-foot jump shots from the Spartans. They know plenty about Hasheem Thabeet.

“Our midrange game is going to be very important because, you know, it’s a giant standing in the middle,” guard Kalin Lucas said. “If we do try to go in there, he’s just going to try and send it the other way.”

– What worries the Huskies most about Michigan State?

“They have so many offensive sets. They can run several different things,” Adrien said. “We just have to be prepared for that and be ready for their pick-and-pops.”

– The record for attendance at an NCAA Tournament game (any round) is 64,959. That many showed up in New Orleans at the Superdome for Syracuse and Indiana in the 1987 title game.

That record will probably go down Saturday (or Monday).

– Signs above the court at Ford Field list the distance between the four schools’ campuses and the building.

Michigan State? 92 miles

Villanova? 572 miles

North Carolina? 701 miles

UConn? 756 miles

– Our friend Joe D’Ambrosio posed a fine (if by fine you mean pointless and just slightly funny) by asking why one of the local newspapers here is known as the Free Press?

“If it’s the FREE Press why does it still cost 50 cents?” Joe D. complained.

Far be it from a lowly a product of public schooling to correct an esteemed South Catholic High graduate but I believe the paper in question is some 25 cents cheaper than many in the Nutmeg State _ a relative bargain.

- Neill

Long day in Detroit and haven’t had a real meal yet. Still, we press on.

The student-athletes (don’t you DARE call them players) met with the media at Ford Field Thursday afternoon. Here’s a taste of the news:

– April Fools jokes must be huge in Tanzania.

Well, at least they will be soon.

UConn C Hasheem Thabeet had a little fun on Wednesday, posting a message on his Facebook page that stated he failed a drug test.

“OMG!!! Why Me? SO I Failed Drug Test.. NOt GOIn To Detroit,” it read.

It was a joke, of course.

“It was just a joke to some of the guys I’m close with,” Thabeet said Thursday.

Teammate A.J. Price has a theory on Thabeet’s motives.

“He probably got a kick out of it,” Price said. “The big guy loves attention _ as if he needs any more.”

– You don’t usually picture UConn F Jeff Adrien with a woobie.

But when discussing Thabeet’s shot blocking Thursday, Adrien got a little warm and fuzzy.

“You see what he does and how many blocks he gets. If we get beat on a dribble, we know we have Hasheem,” Adrien said. “It’s definitely something we don’t take for granted. We cherish it. It’s a security blanket. It feels good. It’s kind of warm actually.”

– Most are assuming North Carolina will be waiting for whichever team wins the first semifinal Saturday night. Not everyone is rooting for that outcome, however.

“I’m rooting for Villanova, I’ll say that,” guard Craig Austrie said. “We want to keep it in the Big East…but we want to take care of our game first.”

Speaking of Austrie, he says his slump is official over. He’s been on target in practice and expects it to carry over to Saturday.

“I’ve been shooting good,” Austrie said of recent Husky practices. “I feel I’ve got my touch back and I’m out of that slump.”

– For those concerned about Michigan State center Goran Suton pulling Thabeet away from the basket or shooting as the Husky center sags into the lane, you may not have to worry.

Adrien is likely to guard Suton most, if not all, of the time.

“Today at practice we were switching around,” Thabeet said. “Whoever is going to have him, has to guard him.”

– Michigan State leads the nation in rebound margin, pulling down 9.6 more boards than its opponents. Pittsburgh is second (9.3) and UConn is third (9.2).

– Sources say (meaning the mumblings, grumblings and whispers here) Yahoo Sports will have another story posted this evening about UConn and its recruiting practices.

Not sure what it entails at this point. I’ll be waiting to read it just like UConn fans _ and probably coaches and administrators.

– On the blog title music trivia we’ve gone grunge. With the anniversary of Pearl Jam’s Ten and its re-release, perhaps it’s where belong.

- Neill

The local organizing committee here in Detroit added a nice touch to the weekend by asking local elementary school students to write hand-written messages to welcome players from the four teams as well as visiting media members.

Upon check-in at Ford Field Thursday, I was lucky enough to receive one of these pictures/essays. The form asked students to draw and write their favorite thing about Detroit.

Mine came from Mackenzie V., a second-grader.

Mackenzie likes the Detroit Tigers, drawing a picture of Comerica Park and writing (I think I translated correctly):

“Games are always fun because it is a very tall building. There is a row of chairs.”

I may be a tad biased but I clearly received the best drawing of anyone in the building today.

- Neill

Just got to Detroit. Nice early morning flight from Bradley.

The ride to the airport wasn’t too bad. About a half an hour.

The shuttle bus had a video loop airing during the drive, a little taste of hoops before you got downtown. CBS’s championship game recap features from years past _ One Shining Moment _ were playing in reverse order.

We got through 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001 on the ride. I think we got mostly the Luther Vandross version but may have crossed over to the original David Barrett performance.

After checking into the Marriott (nice view of Canada to the south, by the way) I thought I had escaped the tune.

But I turn the TV to Channel 76 in the hotel and what do I see/hear?

You guessed it. One Shining Moment!

This one was from a number of years ago (must have been 1990), some good stuff including “The Shot” and a few UNLV highlights but still, the song is starting to play non-stop in my head.

As an aside, I guess the CBS exec who put the package together, Doug Towey, recently died. OK, he did a great job but I can go another four days without hearing the music again.

– Heading over to Ford Field in a bit for some player interviews. Will have some notes and quotes later today from the Huskies and Spartans.

- Neill