UConn sports

It’s not really a mall, anymore (tear), but we’re at the Civic (XL) Center for UConn-Central Florida this afternoon.

The game is on as scheduled, in case you were wondering. The roads aren’t as bad as you might think.

So come on down to Hartford. I’m sure there are good seats still available.

It’s game number one for Ater Majok. We’ll see what he brings to the table.

- Neill

If you’re snow bound this morning, or if you’re getting back from a nice visit to the mall, here’s the Q-and-A I did with UConn football coach Randy Edsall that ran in this morning’s paper.

- Neill

We’re still about 45 hours away from the debut of UConn’s newest No. 5 but let’s get a few words from Ater Majok and company.

The 6-foot-11 potential superstar will take the court Sunday against Central Florida, and spent some time after practice Friday talking with reporters about his long, strange trip.

– How good is Ater Majok? Maybe no one knows for sure.

“He’ll be a very good addition to the team long-term wise,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “Obviously the shorter the term, for me, the better.”

What does Majok have to work on most as far as his basketball game?

“Probably the rules and regulations that James Naismith wrote down,” Calhoun joked.

It seems Majok enjoys taking LeBron James-style walks across the court (that’s three steps, not the legal two) and also has issues with fouls.

“I think he’s eventually going to be a terrific player,” Calhoun said. “He does some terrific things right now.”

– What was the hardest part about sitting out nearly a year of action?

“Final Four. It was really tough watching them leave for the Final Four,” Majok said. “And it was tougher watching them lose the game and knowing that if I could have come off the bench I could have brought some more energy. Knowing that, it hurt me a lot.

“I want to take that visit again,” Majok continued. “I really want to take that visit to a Final Four.”

The Huskies were/are essentially Majok’s family, so not being able to travel with the team was difficult, he says.

“I’m here by myself. I have no family. Basically the team is my family,” Majok said. “So cutting me off from my family, that was really tough. But I got through it. I’m a fighter and I got through it.”

– The delay in Majok gaining eligibility was mainly due to a complex high school transcript and the fact that he switched from an Australian-style school to an American-style one.

“It’s been complex in five or six different areas,” Calhoun said.

But Majok said Friday that he might shoulder some of the blame because of his lack of attention to academics in high school. He says that’s what he would warn other high school basketball players about.

“Basketball’s not the whole world. The air will run out of that ball one day so you have to look after the books,” Majok said. “The situation I’m in is because I thought basketball was it. I slept in the gym 24-7 and I forgot about my books for a while. My senior year I kind of realized that I might not make it so I had to really, really push myself.”

– Majok said his current academic focus is good. He apparently made it through final exams at UConn.

“Exams went well,” Majok said. “I was a little bit nervous (Thursday). I didn’t know what I had. I went to my professors asking them what I got on the exams and they were like ‘Relax, relax.’ And I got the results back this (Friday) morning. I was jumping. I was super excited.”

– Majok’s father James hasn’t always been his biggest fan (in terms of sport) but appears to be coming around.

“I know my dad’s not a big sports person but for the first time he called me and he was like ‘You better kick (butt). I didn’t send you out there just to run around the court. I want you to be the best on the court and I want you to win every game you play,’ ” Majok said. “That meant a lot to me, coming from a father that never supported me in athletics.”

– Majok says he’s ready for the full Jim Calhoun treatment.

“Yeah, I’m ready. I’ve seen it,” he said before quickly correcting himself. “Actually no. I’ve seen it but I’ve never experienced it. So I can’t comment on it.”

– Majok was on the debate team at American International in Sydney, Australia.

“I have really good public speaking skills so they kind of made use of that,” Majok said. “And I’m really good at getting my point across, so they made good use of that, too.”

So, has Majok entered into any debates with Calhoun?

“Not yet,” Majok said. “And I don’t think I want to get into one. If he says ‘Go right,’ I’ll go right.”

- Neill

The UConn football team has found a replacement on its 2010 schedule for Northeastern, which is dropping its football program.

The Huskies will play Texas Southern at Rentschler Field on Sept. 11, 2010 (the home opener).

UConn’s other non-conference games next season are at Michigan (Sept. 4), at Temple (Sept. 18), vs. Buffalo (Sept. 25) and vs. Vanderbilt (Oct. 2).

- Neill

Ok, joined the 21st century and got a phone that does more than make calls.
We’ll see if we can’t get you some info a little faster now.

- Neill

WACO, Texas _ The UConn football program was honored by the American Football Coaches Association for its graduation rate. The Huskies were one of 11 programs nationally that graduated athletes at a rate of 90 percent or better for the freshmen student-athlete class enrolling in 2002, which this year’s awards were based on. UConn was the only Big East program in that group of 11 and just one of four public institutions.

UConn has now been honored by the AFCA in their program in five of the past seven years and for three-straight.

This year’s award marks the second time the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formula has been used to select the winner. From 1981 to 2007 the award was presented based on a formula used by the College Football Association and AFCA.

The GSR is based on a six-year graduation window for student-athletes which is a change from the five-year window used by the CFA and AFCA. The GSR was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees.

Under GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are passed to the receiving institution’s GSR cohort. By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by more than 37 percent. The NCAA also calculates the federal graduation rate for student-athletes because it is the only rate by which to compare student-athletes to the general student body.

- Neill

The UConn football team help its annual awards ceremony at a team dinner on Sunday night at the Burton Family Football Complex, giving out a variety of awards.

Senior running back Andre Dixon received two team awards on the night, the Team Most Valuable Player award and the newly created Jasper T. Howard Play-Every-Play Award. Howard’s award is presented to a strong team player who best exemplifies a “battle-to-the-end” spirit during every game through every play as Jazz did in his short time at UConn. Howard died Oct. 18.

Dixon rushed for 967 yards on 206 attempts, scoring 14 touchdowns.

His counterpart, sophomore Jordan Todman, who became the 11th UConn running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year. Todman has racked up 1,152 rushing yards, 184 receiving yards, and scored a team-best 14 touchdowns this season.

The team’s Defensive Player of the Year was junior linebacker Lawrence Wilson, who finished the year with 136 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss and four sacks. He also forced three fumbles on the year, recovering two. Wilson earned All-Big East First Team honors already this season.

The Special Teams Player of the Year award was given to one of the captains, junior Anthony Sherman. Sherman contributed on both sides of the ball in special teams play running back a kick return for 10 yards while also tackling 21 returners throughout the course of the season.

The Brian Kozlowski Award was given to another one of the four captains, senior Robert McClain. This award is designated for a courageous, hard working and productive person. The award is named for the former Husky tight end, later a 13-year NFL veteran, who through relentless hard work, effort and dedication was able to have a lengthy NFL career.

Senior captain Desi Cullen was awarded the Kendall Madison Award which is presented to a strong team player whose dedication, hard work, positive attitude and outstanding citizenship best exemplifies the proud spirit of the UConn Huskies. The award is named for the former Husky who was tragically killed in the mid 1990s while being a good Samaritan in his attempt to break up an altercation. Cullen was a leader on and off the field for the Huskies. He finished the year with 57 punts for 2,457 yards, an average of 43.1 yards per punt, third best in the Big East.

The Football Alumni Award was given to senior Marcus Easley, a player who has demonstrated leadership, dedication, and is recognized by the coaches and his teammates as the ultimate team player. A former walk-on, turned scholarship player, Easley has had a team-best 44 receptions for 853 yards and eight touchdowns also setting blocks for Todman and Dixon and helping them to career seasons.

The John L. Toner Scholar-Athlete Award was given to senior Brad Kanuch. This award was designed to honor a senior member of the football program who has demonstrated outstanding academic performance and citizenship while making a significant contribution to the overall success of the team. Selected by the Football CPIA Staff, the award is named after the former UConn athletic director and football coach and NCAA President.

Finally, the Joseph M. Giannelli Unsung Hero Award was given to a player who doesn’t get a lot of credit at his position, senior offensive tackle Mike Hicks. The award is presented to a player, selected by the coaching staff, who by his effort, dedication and steady performance without notice or acclaim has made a significant contribution to the program. Hicks has made some key blocks this season helping his running backs, Todman and Dixon, to rush for over a combined 2,000 yards.

- Neill

A look back at Wednesday’s UConn-Kentucky game:

Kentucky 64, UConn 61

TURNING POINT _ John Wall took the game over. The Kentucky guard scored 12 points in the game’s final seven-plus minutes _ his team had only 15 _ including the game-winning drive and three-point play.

“He’s all of that,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “Whatever that is, he’s all of that.”

The freshman point guard didn’t have the best first half ever, picking up two fouls and sitting for the final seven minutes. But he rallied to finish with 25 points and six steals.

The offensive game plan in the final minutes for Kentucky was to run “flat” and let Wall create.

“We rode John Wall at the end of the game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “We were groping for offense so we just gave it to him and said ‘make some baskets.’ ”

UNSUNG HERO _ UConn forward Gavin Edwards is no longer a bit player and, for all intents and purposes, is no longer a reserve.

“I used to say ‘How much longer can we leave Gavin in?’ ” Calhoun said. “Now I can’t leave Gavin out. That’s his evolution.”

Edwards had 16 points, 8 rebounds and three blocks Wednesday night against Kentucky. And his defense against a big Wildcat frontline was outstanding.

He’s big, fast, smart and, it seems, will be a factor this season whether or not Ater Majok becomes a star.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ In a flash UConn found itself down 12-0. The Huskies appeared headed toward an embarrassing loss.

So what technical changes did they make to go on a 10-0 run of their own and get right back in the game?

“A couple words that I’m not going to repeat in the two timeouts,” Calhoun said.

The second-place prize in this category goes to Calhoun for switching Stanley Robinson over to cover Wall late in the game. Yes, Robinson was beaten on the final play but he did a great job on Wall the two previous possessions to give UConn a shot at victory.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ Unlike when UConn played Duke in the NIT Season Tip-Off a few weeks ago the crowd at Madison Square Garden was on the small side and on the quiet side.

Wednesday night the building was rocking. Some 16,000 boisterous fans filled the house with cheers and jeers all evening.

There may have been more Kentucky Blue than National Flag Blue in the stands, though the rooting interests of the locals seemed to favor whichever team had the hot hand.

LOOKING AHEAD _ The Huskies are off for 10 days before returning to the court against Central Florida. When they do get back in action, it will be with 6-foot-11 forward Ater Majok.

Sophomore guard Isaac Sosa leads the Knights (6-2) in scoring at 12.3 ppg.

BY THE NUMBERS

42-34 _ UConn’s rebound advantage Wednesday, one of the areas the team has experienced difficulty with this season.

14-of-24 _ UConn’s performance Wednesday in the other major area the team has experienced difficulty with this season.

- Neill

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