UConn sports

In the heat of the moment, UConn coach Jim Calhoun sounded like a man who was about to say “Thanks, but no thanks” to the NIT.

But Calhoun has come around, or realized that he never actually believed what he said. The Huskies (UConn) are in the NIT, getting ready to face some other Huskies (Northeastern).

“Rightly or wrongly _ many times wrongly _ there’s never been a fight I ran away from,” Calhoun said Monday. “There’s never been a time I haven’t tried to stand up and tried to go after it. If you’re a coach, it’s the only way you can maintain any kind of sanity, if that’s possible, that the next time it’s going to be better.”

– Calhoun says tonight’s game and the NIT itself isn’t about changing the past.

“We have a chance now not to erase anything, that’s not the idea. We’ve played some very good basketball this year. And we’ve played some not-so-good basketball this year,” Calhoun said. “This is a chance to get a fresh start and to play well.”

But for some of the Huskies the week is for redemption.

“This is kind of our redemption,” forward Gavin Edwards said. “We’re going to go out and try to win it.”

– The St. John’s game was obviously the low of lows for UConn.

“Absolutely,” Edwards said. “That was one of the worst games I’ve been a part of.”

Said Calhoun: “Do we have to play better? Without question. And if we don’t, my misery at least personally will last a longer time.”

– UConn G Jerome Dyson, as he realizes, has been pretty horrible lately. He’s had 18 points and 16 turnovers in his last three games.

So what does Dyson have to do Tuesday to bounce back?

“I just have to go out and play and stop worrying too much,” Dyson said.

Dyson said he hasn’t been stressing about basketball lately. He didn’t even watch the end of the Big East tournament after the Huskies were bounced.

“No, I haven’t,” Dyson said. “I’ve been playing video games since we got back.”

Apparently Call of Duty and “the new Mario for Wii” are Dyson’s games of choice lately.

Dyson’s statement produced the quote of the night from WTIC’s Joe D’Ambrosio in response.

“Don’t be confused,” he directed at one sportswriter who might not be up to date with pop culture. “Mario Forwee isn’t some French guy!”

– On the coaching contract front, there has been no movement since Calhoun’s announcement that he had decided to sign a new contract.

“My understanding, when I talked to some of you around Christmas, in principle it was done,” Calhoun said. “The reason we announced something that we already knew, was we were getting killed on recruiting trips.

“Nothing drastically has changed. I’m just waiting to get a copy back of a signed contract,”

“Negative” recruiting is sort of part of the business but Calhoun claims he isn’t fond of it.

“Some of the rumors you hear, is it cutthroat? Yeah,” Calhoun said. “But it’s a cutthroat business.”

“Do I like it? No,” Calhoun said. “Do we do it? I hope that no one on our staff has ever done that. That’s not how we recruit.”

– So did the Huskies watch the NCAA Tournament selection show?

“I personally couldn’t watch it,” Edwards said.

How about the NIT selection show?

“No. I just heard about it,” Edwards said.

– Calhoun believes the Huskies missed out on the NCAA’s by “this much.”

“We found out afterwards if we had 19 wins, we would have gone just on strength of schedule alone,” Calhoun said. “But we needed to get those 19 wins and we didn’t get them.”

The coach has no regrets about playing a difficult schedule, obviously.

“It was the right schedule for us to play, we just didn’t play it right,” Calhoun said. “We didn’t finish it off the way we should have.”

- Neill

Had the chance to spend a few minutes on the phone with Northeastern coach Bill Coen in advance of his team’s NIT meeting with UConn Tuesday night.

Here’s a quick sampling of his comments:

– UConn may have ended the season on a low note but Coen is wary of what the Nutmeg State’s Huskies can do.

“When they’re playing at the top of their game, they’re capable of beating the Villanovas of the worlds and the Texases,” Coen said. “When they’re playing at that level, there as good as any team in the country. I fully expect coach (Jim) Calhoun will have his team playing at that level.”

– The last time UConn and Northeastern met was in Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 6, 2007. UConn won 69-60 but the game was memorable for two reasons.

First, then-sophomore Matt Janning scored a game-high 29 points for Northeastern in what was a surprisingly competitive game.

Second, UConn coach Jim Calhoun received a pair of technical fouls and after the game referred to one of the officials as incompetent. The latter statement drew a reprimand from the Big East Conference.

Northeastern is obviously a veteran team. Four of the players who started that 2007 game in Storrs will also be in the starting lineup Tuesday in the return.

“We’ll probably have four starters returning from that team,” Coen said. “This is a team that’s kind of played in that environment before. Hopefully that experience will help us.”

– Coen, from his days as an assistant at Boston College to his early days as a head coach at Northeastern (he’s been there four years), is very familiar with UConn. Calhoun, who has kept tabs on his former employer over the years, knows Northeastern too.

“There’s familiarity that goes both ways. They’re familiar with our club, as we are with there’s,” Coen siad. “Of course even if you know what’s coming, you still have to stop it. Jim’s teams have been so great in transition and so great rebounding the ball. Those are hard things to stop.”

– If things had played out differently, Coen may have matched up in this event with his former colleague in Ed Cooley and Fairfield. But the Stags didn’t quite make the NIT field.

“I’m great friends with coach Cooley. He and I worked togther for 10-plus years,” said Coen, who worked with Cooley under Al Skinner at BC and Rhode Island. “I was rooting like crazy for them throughout the season.”

- Neill

UConn will face Northeastern in the first round of the NIT.

The Huskies and Huskies will meet Tuesday night in Gampel Pavilion at 7 p.m. (ESPN2).

Tickets for the game Tuesday are $10 each, $2 for UConn students.

“With a quick glance at the bracket, it looks like the field is remarkably tough,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said in a statement. “There are plenty of teams that were in position to make the NCAA Tournament and I think that with all of the parity in the field, it will be very difficult to win and advance. Our goal is to continue to play and give it our best. Obviously, playing Northeastern has special meaning for me and for Andre (LaFleur). Northeastern is a place that gave me a chance to be a head coach and a place where I have a lot of great memories. Bill Coen is a really good guy and coach and they are an excellent team that our older guys are familiar with, having played them in 2006 and 2007 in Storrs.”

UConn Club members have first priority on available seats beginning Sunday evening until Monday at noon. Donors are receiving an email on Sunday evening providing priority to purchase tickets online. Donors can also phone the UConn Athletic Office at 1-877-AT-UCONN (288-2666) between 9 a.m. and noon on Monday.

All UConn fans may order tickets beginning at noon on Monday. Tickets are available at UConnHuskies.com.

Parking is $5 per vehicle and will be collected at the entrances to the North and South garages on game day.

- Neill

We just the official word that nothing official has been signed between UConn and basketball coach Jim Calhoun _ yet.

But Calhoun made it clear Thursday that he plans to return to UConn.

“I think it is important for me to put the recent questions about my future to rest and make it clear that I will be signing a new contract at UConn,” Calhoun said in a statement released by the school. “I plan to continue working hard to get us back to where we expect to be as a basketball program and hope that this agreement will show people that I am committed to the future of UConn basketball.”

UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway will work with Calhoun in the near future to make things official, it seems.

“I am excited that Jim has decided to continue coaching at the University of Connecticut and look forward to having a signed contract in the near future to make it official,” Hathaway said in a statement.

- Neill

Jim Calhoun’s seems likely to continue as the UConn head basketball coach.

At least publicly, Calhoun remains non-committal about next season. Though he has said he is working hard now and still loves his job.

“I’m in the business of trying to recruit players to UConn,” Calhoun said after the Huskies’ loss to St. John’s Tuesday. “I love the school and I still love coaching.”

A source told our friend (s) over at the New Haven Register Thursday that “Jim will come back to school” unless “something unforeseen” comes up.

Calhoun’s current contract expires in June.

A UConn spokesman said no definite plans have been made for Calhoun’s future with the Huskies.

“As we have said the entire season, when there is a signed contract we will let people know,” said Kyle Muncy, UConn’s assistant director of athletics for communications. “There is not a signed contract. As he always has, coach Calhoun will evaluate his status at the end of the season.”

Calhoun, the coach’s agent and UConn officials began negotiating a new contract before the season began. At one point before his medical leave, Calhoun indicated he was close to signing the deal. The coach said Tuesday that the offer has been made.

“Yes there is a contract offer out there,” Calhoun said. “I haven’t seen the final copy but it’s out there, yes.”

In case there is any confusion, Calhoun doesn’t necessarily have to choose between signing a new contract and retiring. There is a chance that both could happen.

Whatever deal Calhoun signs will be retro-active to the beginning of the season, meaning that the first year of the contract will essentially end soon after it becomes official. A new contract is also likely to call for a lump-some payment to the coach after the first, second or perhaps third season.

It is therefore possible that Calhoun signs a five-year contract but coaches just two years of it (2009-10 being the first, then perhaps 2010-11) and retires when that a large payment is made. It’s also possible that he signs the new contract and still retires immediately, having officially finished the first year of the contract.

All we know for sure at this point is the Huskies will return to practice Saturday.

They’ll likely get an invite to the NIT Sunday evening and could be playing as early as Tuesday night.

8 p.m. UPDATE: OK, now ESPN.com is reporting that Calhoun “agreed to a four-year contract extension Thursday.”

UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway is in Indianapolis with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee selecting tournament teams. It’s highly unlikely he was negotiating a new deal for his school’s most prominent coach at the same time, but perhaps Calhoun just finally decided to return.

Has it been signed? Absolutely not.

Calhoun’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, forwarded a statement by Calhoun.

“Let me officially put to rest the speculation about my future at UConn,” Calhoun said in the statement through his agent Thursday night to ESPN. “We are close to finalizing a new contract and I plan on continuing as the head coach of the men’s basketball team for several more years.”

- Neill

UConn guard Donnell Beverly suffered a sprained right knee in the Huskies’ loss to St. John’s Tuesday in the Big East Tournament. The junior was writhing in pain on the floor at Madison Square Garden for a moment in the second half.

Beverly was doing “much better” on Wednesday according to a UConn spokesman. There was no swelling in the knee and UConn’s medical staff is hopeful that Beverly can participate Saturday when the Huskies return to practice.

The Huskies will likely receive an invitation to play in the NIT Sunday night. And although coach Jim Calhoun promised some “reflection” after the painful loss to St. John’s the team will undoubtedly accept the bid and begin play in that tournament next week.

- Neill

A look back at Tuesday’s UConn-Notre Dame game:

St. John’s 73, UConn 51

TURNING POINT _ Much like they have in a number of other games this season, the Huskies came out flat. The players at St. John’s, perhaps sensing weakness from the Huskies or a lack of desire, pounced.

The Red Storm jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game. The Huskies never got closer than five the rest of the way.

“They knocked us off all screens, they completely outplayed us, they were much hungrier than we were,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

Given that the Huskies started well and ended up beating the likes of Villanova and West Virginia less than a month ago, watching them fall flat quickly against one of the Big East’s also-rans was an odd scene. The UConn players were perhaps as stunned as their fans at the early returns.

“If we could explain it, we would have fixed it,” forward Gavin Edwards said. “We’ve had so many ups and downs this season.”

UNSUNG HERO _ It’s not as if Justin Brownlee is incapable of playing at this level, but few expected the St. John’s forward to be a major factor against the Huskies.

The 6-foot-7 junior college transfer was just that, however, Tuesday at the Garden. He had 13 points, four rebounds and four blocked shots.

Brownlee went just 8-of-40 from 3-point range during the regular season, but attempted six triples against UConn and made two of them.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ The game plan against UConn this season has almost always included a section about stopping dribble penetration by its guards. But St. John’s didn’t just plan to stop the Huskies’ jaunts to the basket, it actually did it too.

In part because of the Red Storm’s defensive efforts _ and in part because both simply struggled _ Jerome Dyson turned the ball over nine times and Kemba Walker missed 13 of his 17 shots.

“You have to try to keep Kemba Walker out of the lane and Dyson,” St. John’s coach Norm Roberts said. “They’re two of the best in the country getting in the lane and finishing plays. I thought our big guys and our guards did a great job in guarding the ball screens and keeping them out of the lane for the most part.”

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ Calhoun can usually be described as animated, fiery, boisterous and many other adjectives during a game. And he was, at times, on Tuesday.

But the coach spent long periods of time, especially in the second half as the game truly began to get away from his Huskies, sitting quietly on the bench.

A reporter asked Calhoun after the game why he was so subdued.

“They had eight dunks in the lane,” Calhoun said. “I’m just not sure how many of those I would have blocked if I had been jumping and yelling.”

LOOKING AHEAD _ The NIT is probably ahead, but Calhoun said immediately after the game that he’s not sure the Huskies should accept a bid to the event.

“We won’t practice for a couple days at least,” Calhoun said. “Then I don’t know if we will practice or not.”

Four straight losses have seemingly taken a toll on the Huskies.

“I think it’s a good time to reflect,” Calhoun said. “Where we were today and how we ended up is certainly not typical. We’ve been beaten before and we’ve ended seasons on some sour notes…”

The coach obviously feels this ending was much more than sour.

BY THE NUMBERS

6 _ Consecutive losses by UConn in the Big East Tournament.

5 _ Number of years since UConn’s last win in the event, a 66-62 victory over Georgetown March 10, 2005.

- Neill

Still stunned by the egg the Huskies laid in New York?

Just about to leave the Garden but are a few more quotes and notes after St. John’s 73, UConn 51.

– Another 1-and-done in New York for the Huskies. That’s six straight losses in this tourney and five straight years of wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.

– In case you missed it, it was UConn’s worst defeat in this event since a 93-62 loss to Georgetown in 1985.

– UConn’s last loss to St. John’s was at MSG on Feb. 9, 2002, an 85-83 overtime loss to the Johnnies. It had won nine consecutive meetings between the schools since then.

– All of the Huskies were quiet and sullen after the game. But none seemed as down as Jerome Dyson.

Obviously his second straight game with just four points will do that. He also had nine turnovers against the Red Storm.

“Me personally I played like (crap),” Dyson said.

One writer asked Dyson if he was “confused” on the court Tuesday.

“I don’t know if I was confused, it’s just I didn’t know what was going on,” Dyson said. “I can’t really put it into words. I turned the ball over too many times. I couldn’t get a shot. It’ll be a game I’ll never forget.”

Dyson has scored 1,597 points in his UConn career.

Over his last three games, however, he’s6-of-26 from the floor with 16 turnovers. He’s 0-for-7 on 3-pointers.

He’s always fighting some minor injury, but is Dyson’s healthy?

“Somewhat,” Dyson said. “But I don’t know. The last couple games I’ve been playing terrible.”

Dyson admitted he had it tough sitting the final 16 minutes against USF on Saturday.

“It hurt,” Dyson said. “My last regular season Big East game in my career and I was on the bench.”

Dyson has never played on a team that won a postseason game in his UConn career.

– UConn’s last trip to the Garden was a loss, too, but it was sort of a positive loss.

“The last time we were here we got beat on a (John) Wall layup with 40-something seconds to go against Kentucky,” Calhoun said, “and I thought the season would not turn out the way it ended today.”

– Someone asked Calhoun why he was so un-animated on the sidelines in the second half, choosing to sit silently for long stretches.

“They had eight dunks in the lane,” Calhoun said. “I’m just not sure how many of those I would have blocked if I had been jumping and yelling.”

– Something I didn’t realize until reminded by a colleague (an intelligent, experience albeit directionally-challenged colleague from Manchester) that this is the first year in a decade UConn hasn’t put a single player on either of the first two All-Big East teams.

The 2000-01 season was the last time no Huskies made either the first or second team. That year Caron Butler made the third team.

This year Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker made the third team.

UConn had player or players on the first team in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009. It “settled” for putting guys on the second team in 2005 and 2007.

- Neill