Although interest from the NBA is more tepid than what he likely expected at this point of his career, the bright side for Alex Oriakhi is that if he does stay the full four years at UConn, he will likely finish his college career as one of the more accomplished players in Husky history.

The most career wins, most games played, the 1,000-point club -- all are within Oriakhi's reach, as is the chance to become one of the few UConn men's basketball players to ever win two titles.

But despite all that he can accomplish, and all that he, the most senior player on the 2011-12 Huskies, has already accomplished in his two-plus years in Storrs, not even Oriakhi is privileged enough to get a pass from Jim Calhoun.

So in light of the junior's recent struggles, Calhoun booted Oriakhi (already with 72 starts to his name) from the starting lineup Thursday in favor of freshman Andre Drummond.

In 15 minutes played, Oriakhi finished with just four points, three blocks, two rebounds and two turnovers. But it was one of his tweets, in response to former teammate and BFF Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, afterward that made the most impact on Thursday.

To recap:

Coombs-McDaniel (@JCM4MG): Got my guy @aoriakhi34 coming off the bench...sheesh..two year starter where's the loyalty

Oriakhi (@aoriakhi34): @JCM4MG I know sum bs

Coombs-McDaniel (@JCM4MG): @aoriakhi34 Keep hooping..u already kno u bout to turn it up next game

It's no secret that Drummond and Oriakhi have struggled playing alongside each other thus far. It's hard to draw any major conclusions from a five-game sample, all against teams without much size, and conventional wisdom would tell you that Oriakhi, a two-year-starter, a former five-star prospect and perhaps the second-most important player during last season's title run, will figure things out and make his way back into the starting lineup.

But this Oriakhi issue also has the potential to linger for some time.

Although the junior's height (listed at 6-foot-9) necessitates that he play the 4, his game, at this point, is better suited at the 5-spot; it's no surprise that the Huskies truly clicked late last season when they limited the minutes of Charles Okwandu and began playing Oriakhi as a small-ball center, with Roscoe Smith and Coombs-McDaniel manning the 4.

But the emergence of Tyler Olander this season could force Oriakhi out of the starting lineup altogether, and for good. 

Continue reading this post »

The first night of the 2011-12 UConn basketball season began by honoring last season's accomplishments, the dark blue sheet covering the Huskies' 2011 NCAA championship banner being pulled off to raucous applause just before tipoff.

But from there on out, things appropriately shifted away from the unparalled success and joy brought on by last season and toward the start of a new campaign, a new quest for a new addition to the three title tokens already adorning the Gampel Pavilion walls.

The faces on the floor were virtually the same -- UConn returned four members of last season's starting lineup, and the only "new" starter, Shabazz Napier, was the third- or fourth-most important player in last season's title romp. But everything -- the look, the feel, the performance -- seemed fresh.

Starting, and ending, with the player now gripping the throttle.

Much has been made over the loss of Kemba Walker and the burden now placed on last season's leftovers to fill the void left by his departure to the pro ranks, and rightfully so. Walker put together perhaps the greatest single season in UConn sports history in leading his merry band of freshman all the way to the top last year, and everything flowed through and around Kemba -- the Hukies' greatest successes (anything in a do-or-die format) and biggest failures (the final regular-season stretch) had his fingerprints all over them.

And while the question of who, exactly, will take his place -- both in terms of on-the-court performance and off-the-court leadership -- still remains very much unanswered, Jeremy Lamb did one hell of a job in his first audition for the job.

It was the first time that he stepped onto a college court as the most accomplished player among the 10 faces, and Lamb, the shy, hyper-efficient kid who came of age at the perfect time late last season, sure played like it. Showing an absolutely beautiful stroke from mid-range and behind the arc (he drilled 5 of 8 3-point shots), Lamb gave all the eyes focused on him something to look at, scoring a career-high 30 points (six more than his previous high) on 11-for-17 shooting.

Perhaps mostly importantly, he did so with a type of confidence and (as the kids say) swagger rarely seen from him in his first collegiate go-round. After hitting a 3, he would flash a little grin or smirk; or after swishing a shot from the mid-range, he would scrunch his face up a little and run back with a little extra hop in his step. Never attempting to necessarily show anyone up -- his rather boyish charm prevents any real threatening tone to permeate -- but always with a certain attitude that screamed "I got this."

And there was also this. That. That. A thousand times, that.

Whatever it was that he displayed on the court while cutting and stroking his way to a very Walker-esque scoring total (in a more efficient manor, to boot), the Huskies are going to want, and need, more of that down the road.

Although playing against an also-ran Ivy League outfit didn't create a particularly bright spotlight, Lamb never shied away once.

It's far too early to know with any certainty, but at this point, the sophomore seems to have the look of the type of player capable of handling himself when that bright-lights moment eventually comes.

Some more thoughts and notes from Opening Night:

Continue reading this post »

Hatred is a part of sports fandom, just like violent, alcohol-induced quarrels; novelty foam fingers; and sports games.

I am a fan of UConn athletics. Therefore, I inherently feel at least moderate disdain toward most things colored orange. It's in the blood, you see.

So I understand, for example, why some rival fanbases got all nanner-nanner when the men's basketball program took a few lumps after the whole Nate Miles fiasco. What's the point of being a fan if you can't taunt people you've never met before?

But when it comes to UConn in particular, the chastisers come from all over, salivating at the chance to get their licks in.

And for the most part, I get it: Our fans, in large part, are pretty bad when it comes to the whole fan decorum thing, and are largely unapologetic in doing so. Jim Calhoun is a bit of an egotistical asshole. And UConn wins quite often, at least in the sports that matter. And while these are also the main reasons why I love UConn sports, I can see why that might rub people the wrong way.

Which is why I wasn't too angered by today's post on Grantland.com entitled "Why UConn Will Not Repeat as National Champion," written by the preeminent Friend of Bill Simmons, JackO. Lots of people hate UConn. Even some native Connecticutians, like JackO here, recoil rather embrace the Calhounisms force fed to them over the past two decades and choose to flee to out-of-state institutions at soon as possible. And besides, they really wanted to experience the city and find themselves without, like, the safety net of home, because that's really what college is about, y'know?

So I can't ratchet up the rage too much here, mainly because my initial response is an all-too-familiar one. (Although I will say this: I can't believe that anyone is still pointing their nose up these days at any school with major college athletics about poor academics or shady recruiting. Can we all just agree that none of these programs gives a fuck about anything but winning games and making money and be done with it already?)

Or maybe it was because the "piece" wasn't so much a "piece" as much as it one of Bill Simmons' friend listing grievances, rather indolently, like any half-witted schlub on a message board. Which, to be fair, was sort of the intent here. JackO is not, like Simmons, a trained journalist. So while the interwebs often take great pleasure in ripping to shred any and all articles penned by the Sports Guy, doing so here, to an article that presents itself as nothing more than a list of grievances written by a half-witted schlub wouldn't really be fair. (And, in all honestly, despite his irrational hatred toward the university we dedicate this here blog to, I rather enjoy JackO's appearances on the B.S. Report.)

But fair is fair, Johnny.

So for the official rebuttal of TheUConnBlog, I present to you the best responses from the Huskies' own band of message-board-trolling schlubs (and I say that lovingly, fellas), lifted from the thread entitled "Grantland trolling UCONN":

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(Via @KembaWalker)

Fortunately, this URL appears ready for hire.

Because after a buzz-killing 2-3 start to the new era in UConn football, the question is already beginning to bubble: Should the Huskies part ways with Paul Pasqualoni?

Five games is far too few to begin lighting the torches, but in that short stint as UConn head coach, the program's second in its BCS infancy, Pasqualoni has already shown glimpses of the nightmares most fans instantly conjured up upon his hiring some nine months ago.

In five games against one of the softest non-conference schedules for any BCS team, the Huskies have just two victories -- at home against a now-1-3 Fordham team from the FCS' Patriot League, and a closer-than-it-looks 17-3 win at 1-4 Buffalo.

In five games, the vertically challenge "new" offense has sunk to new lows, currently ranking No. 92 in the nation in total offense, No. 112 in third-down conversions, No. 86 in the nation in scoring offense, No. 76 in the nation in passing offense, No. 110 in the nation in passing yards, and No. 84 in the nation in rushing offense -- a particularly frightening number given that UConn finished in the top 40 in rushing the previous three seasons.

And in five games, even the defense, the heart of the program in the Randy Edsall era and a unit that returned nine starters, hasn't exactly been up to task. Although the Huskies currently rank 30th in total defense, they were air-raided for 479 passing yards by middling MAC program Western Michigan.

However, Edsall wasn't exactly racking up the yards on offense, either. In fact, UConn is actually averaging 17 more yards a game -- a stat, it's worth noting, that should be taken with a few liters of salt, given its cakey competition thus far -- than when the Fiesta Bowl-participating Huskies put up 326 a game (95th in the nation) in 2010.

Still, under Edsall, things somehow (usually) went right. Whether it be through a defensive touchdown, a punt return, an interception, a blocked kick -- anything that didn't involve the offense, really -- UConn managed to find its way; that the program was able to make its first BCS with a 95th-ranked offense is a tribute to that.

But under Coach P, the Huskies haven't exactly had the golden touch. To wit:

Continue reading this post »

Kevin, Justin and I all had schedule conflicts this afternoon, which made putting together a proper preview of this game difficult. Instead what you get is this super short version: UConn is struggling, which was expected, though they weren't expected to struggle this bad. Nor where they expected to still have three starting quarterbacks in week four, but maybe, just maybe that could change tonight. Or not. Probably not now that I think about it.

Still, this is a winnable game for the Huskies, which is something we only may be able to say one or two more times this year. If you want some more info, by all means check out the Q/A I did with Buffalo blog Bull Run. If you want entertainment I can suggest the UConn-Buffalo drinking game Bull Run put together. We might all need it to get through the night.

The game is being played in Buffalo (sigh). Kickoff is at 6 est on ESPN3. Join us in the comments. Go Huskies.

After five days and a handful of late-night bigwig mini-gatherings, college football has downshifted from Apocalypse Now to Apocalypse Later.

Again.

For the second straight year, Texas got cold feet at the alter with the Pac-10/12 and decided to take its more-shiny (and more-lucrative) ball and go home to a publicly bruised and battered Big 12. As a result, the Dawn of the Super Confernences that once seemed poised to burn down all that is currently in place in college athletics has been subdued, leaving only small trash fires in Rhode Island in its wake. (But I wouldn't take off that flame-retardant parka just yet.)

But because of the Godzilla-like panic the Longhorns created across the country, the Big East now finds itself right back in 2003.

Eight years after the ACC put the Big East on watch after announcing its intentions to expand, ultimately leading to defections from Miami and Virginia Tech, and later, Boston College, the conference is once again left wondering how to pick up the pieces.

And once again, it has decided to merely place a steak over its blackened eye and soldier on.

But this time, its master plan reads more like a comedy routine.

The Big East never truly bounced back as a football conference after losing its two most nationally viable programs, Miami and Virginia Tech, but it was able to plug the holes with teams that at the very least were worthy secondary options. The Bobby Petrino-led Louisville Cardinals were one of college football's biggest up-and-comers when they officially joined in 2005, and the football team finished its second season with a 12-1 record; Cincinnati would do the same in 2010; and South Florida has quickly built itself up from the trailer Jim Leavitt used to work out of into one of the conference's frontline teams. Throw in the basketball benefits, and the Big East was able to successfully stop the bleeding and continue its days as a basketball-first outfit with (somewhat) BCS-worthy football still in play.

Now, the conferences is hemorrhaging everywhere and its only solution is a couple of Dora The Explorer band-aids.

With the end very clearly in sight, the big plan to save the Big East from commissioner John Marinatto -- the guy who was blindsided by news of Pitt and Syracuse's intentions days earlier -- is to become even more irrelevant. Your saviors of the Big East?

Navy, Army or the Air Force as football-only members. And maybe UCF and East Carolina if they can't swing those teams.

Once you stop violently shaking your head in bewilderment -- I can wait. ... OK -- you can see the flawed logic in Marinatto's cockamamie scheme. Despite their relative lack of profile these days, there is still an audience for the academies. Both Army and Navy are nationally recognized programs that already have their own television deals, and their annual matchup did a 4.2 in the ratings as recently as 2009. Plus, they can probably help other conferences get the veteran's discount at Denny's.

Continue reading this post »

So why the hype for Andre Drummond? In his latest draft blog, ESPN.com's Chad Ford broke down the good and bad ($) of the player now ranked No. 3 on Ford's Big Board for the 2012 NBA draft, behind Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Harrison Barnes of UNC:

As part of TheUConnBlog’s 2011 Football Preview Weekish, we’re counting down the days until the Huskies' season opener against Fordham on Sept. 1. Today, we take a look at UConn's fourth opponent: the Buffalo Bulls.

Anything can happen in a rivalry game.

So if the Huskies' date in Buffalo for their fourth game of the 2011 regular season were to be played in EA Sports' NCAA Football series sometime around the mid-00s, well, then this one might turn into a barnburner.

However, IRL, the Sept. 24 matchup will serve as nothing more than a band-aid or quick pick-me-up should UConn stumble in its proceeding two out-of-conference games, against Vanderbilt and Iowa State; aside from Fordham the Bulls, who won just two games last year, are by far the easiest team the Huskies will face next season.

Still, despite what's likely to be a shellacking on the field, the game will be a transition point of sorts from one UConn regime to the next.

No one game embodies the Randy Edsall era tmore han the Huskies' 38-20 victory over Buffalo in the 2008 International Bowl. In his final performance as a Husky, Donald Brown, perhaps the greatest player in program history, rushed for 261 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, more than double the amount of Buffalo back James Starks, himself an accomplished ball-carrier and future pro.

The passing game, however, reached a new low, as Tyler Lorenzen attempted just six passes - total - and connected on just four, for 49 yards and a touchdown. No UConn receiver would catch more than one ball on the day, and its second-leading pass catcher was cornerback Darius Butler (one catch, 16 yards).

The Huskies would somewhat make up for the one-sided showing last season by putting up 45 points and throwing for 233 yards against the Bulls in a midseason drubbing. But it did little to wash away the lasting impression -- one that haunted Edsall for most of the past half-decade - that the head coach's boring-as-all-get-out, ball-control offense was only good enough to just stay above the status quo

If Paul Pasqualoni, a coach cut from the same cloth as Edsall, wants to make his mark here in Storrs -- even if it's only symbolically - this would be the time to do it.

Continue reading this post »

UConn has had to play musical scholarships before. But with NCAA and APR restrictions looming over the program, simply waiving little-used players to make room for the uber-prospect du jour isn't exactly an option at this time.

Oh, Andre Drummond is still a comin'.

But to clear the way for the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Class of 2012, the athletic department had to get a little creative.

Because the Huskies recruited Drummond, he cannot simply walk on to the team -- despite previous reports indicating it was an option -- according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz. Instead, Katz reports, the athletic department, functioning as an on-the-same-page unit in the wake of Jeff Hathaway's "retirement," has been working to ensure a scholarship for Drummond even though UConn is over its limit of 10 for this season.

However, in order to do so, there needs to be a fall guy. And that player, Katz says, is redshirt freshman Michael Bradley.

ESPN.com has learned through a source that Connecticut Huskies coach Jim Calhoun, interim athletic director Paul Pendergast, UConn president Susan Herbst and at least one member of the compliance department met Friday to ensure that it was possible to add another scholarship player -- a big one -- even though the program is officially out of scholarships.

Once it was determined that one player on the current roster -- a source told ESPN.com it is redshirt freshman Michael Bradley -- could possibly qualify for financial aid days before the fall semester begins this week, a call was made to Andre Drummond's camp that a possible scholarship was available.

Bradley, who redshirted in the 2010-11 season, was quickly dubbed the most likely candidate to become the next in a long of forced transfers, mostly because of his ho-hum pedigree and the fact that he's one of the few non-medical redshirts I'd ever seen in college basketball. But with multiple transfers, early defections to the draft and poor academic finishes by players that did stay the full four years already costing it scholarships, the program -- and, more specifically, the athletic department, which has come under intense scrutiny the past ... well, year, maybe longer -- can't allow Bradley to simply walk away.

Instead, the triumvirate of Calhoun, Herbst and Pendergast have been talking to Bradley and his family in an attempt to get him to agree to giving up his scholarship for a year and going on financial aid.

If a player can qualify for financial aid (or if he can pay his own way), then he can go from scholarship to non-scholarship with an exception and not count against your roster. But the player, in this case Bradley, has to agree to the proposal to take on financial aid and likely a loan. A source said the discussion with Bradley and his family was well underway and everything will almost certain get worked out, but that the school was caught a bit off-guard by Drummond's surprise, preemptive tweet.

There's still no word on what led to Drummond's quick change of heart -- although, the Connecticut Post's Neil Ostrout hypothesizes that Kris Dunn perhaps decided to leave Wilbraham & Munson after hearing of Drummond's intentions to leave for Storrs.

But the quick turnaround, which turns UConn into a strong candidate to repeat as national champion this season, is a nice start for the under-new-management athletic department ... even if it came at the cost of Bradley's scholarship.

Even with just three days until the fall semester at UConn begins, Jim Calhoun has yet to officially declare his intentions for the 2011-12 basketball season, leaving only breadcrumbs of information at recruiting visits and public appearances this summer that would seem to lead to a 26^th season in Storrs.

Consider Andre Drummond's college basketball landscape-shaking tweet around 8 p.m. ET Friday to be all the indication you'll need. And the only one you'll most likely get.

Drummond, Rivals.com's No. 2 player in the Class of 2012 and a prospect already projected  to land inside the top three in next year's NBA draft, instantly catapults the Huskies from a contender to among the elite in the most star-studded college season since the Kevin Durant and Greg Oden co-headlined 2007 campaign. And if the NBA somehow sticks a stricter age limit into the next CBA -- which might also explain Drummond's mysterious, last-minute about-face  -- well, a billion titles may not be so farfetched.

But until that happens, the Huskies will go forth with this unholy alliance expecting the freshman phenom  to grace the hardwood at Gampel and The Morgue for but one season. (And unlike past potential one-and-doners, like Hasheem Thabeet and Rudy Gay, there's zero chance at a second go-round here, unless restrictions are imposed.)

For Calhoun, one-and-done is a pretty appealing proposal

While I never believed that Calhoun would walk away now, after the most satisfying moment of his long and storied career, his silence, to some, signaled doubt. Doubt that, after tangling with the NCAA's armed forces and seeing his name dragged through the mud -- including recently, when blame, whether warranted or unwarranted, for Jeff Hathaway's "retirement" was thrown at his feet -- and the death of his sister-in-law, he'd be able to withstand the seemingly never-ending emotional onslaught. Doubt that Father Time was becoming a more fearsome opponent than anything the Big East could throw at him.

Calhoun is 69, well past the time when the Social Security checks can start rolling in, and his basketball obituary has already been queued up. His proclamation procrastination could very well be just the process of a coach with 1,200 games already behind him needs to commit to yet another year at the whiteboard.

With a third national title in the trophy case and a (presumed) hand-picked successor at his ready, now would be as good a time as any to step away -- a storybook ending to his rags-to-riches climb from the mean streets of Braintree, Mass.

That is, unless he ends his career by doing what only two other head coaches have done in the past two decades, and what only seven coaches have ever done since the advent of the NCAA Tournament: win back-to-back titles.

Continue reading this post »

As part of TheUConnBlog’s 2011 Football Preview Weekish, we’re counting down the days until the Huskies' season opener against Fordham on Sept. 1. Today, we take a look at the defensive linemen.

If UConn is to scratch out some semblance of respectability this season, less than a year removed from a Fiesta a Bowl berth, it will have to be done up front.

The Huskies have ranked inside the top 50 nationally in rushing defense in the past three seasons, included 16^th in 2008, and in the top 50 in sacks since 2007.

UConn's slow climb to the top of the Big East, starting in earnest in the dream season of 2007, has been fueled by a combination of a solid running game, mistake-free football and stout defense (Formula 2007, it has been dubbed). And the latter has been achievable thanks in large part to the continual success the Huskies have had up front.

While Randy Edsall failed in several areas of the recruiting game, the defensive line has been a source of strength for the past half-decade. In 2008, Cody Brown (11 sacks) turned what was the best season ever by a UConn defensive lineman, and both he and fellow end Julius Williams would end up on pro rosters. The following season, long-time backup Lindsey Witten topped Brown's sack mark, with 11.5. And while the pressure up front took a half-step back last season, then-sophomore Jesse Joseph burst onto the scene with 8.5 sacks, and Kendall Reyes was named first team All-Big East.

In 2010, the Huskies will start perhaps the best defensive front four in team history. (2009 may have featured the most talent, with Witten, Reyes, Twyon Martin and Joseph as the core four, but the latter trio was still a bit raw and unexperienced at the time.)

Joseph, who finished fourth in the conference in sacks last season, is a bona fide stud who has started all 25 games of his young career. Reyes and Martin, who have 60 starts between them, may be the best defensive tackle duo in the conference. Starting defensive end Trevardo Williams has shown flashes, and Bloomfield's Marcus Campbell will finally get a chance to contribute again after suspensions and injuries have sidelined him since the 2008 season.

Not much may go right in what could be a long season in Storrs. But the defensive line won't be to blame.

Continue reading this post »

As part of TheUConnBlog’s 2011 Football Preview Weekish, we’re counting down the days until the Huskies' season opener against Fordham on Sept. 1. Today, we take a look at the quarterbacks.

This time last year, Michael Box was hailed as a savior. A beacon of irrational hope.

Buoyed by a senior-laden defense and a top rushing attack, the UConn Huskies entered the 2009 season with more than just cumbersome pads on their burly shoulders. For the first time ever in the Randy Edsall era, UConn, the football team, faced expectations - of competing for a Big East title, of perhaps even earning some semblance of national legitimacy.

As long as their quarterbacks didn't f*ck it all up, of course.

Faced with the prospect of starting either a quarterback with more career interceptions than touchdowns or a quarterback with more career interceptions than touchdowns, the unknown of the freshman Box was a far more appealing option - especially after a few nice words from Edsall in training camp turned Box into the next Joe Namath to some.

Predictably, the quarterbacks f*cked it all up -- Zach Frazer struggled to not play like a total bonehead on the field and Cody Endres was ultimately expunged for being a total bonehead off the field -- opening the door open for Box to show off the second-coming skills he'd been said to have.

In his one and only start, the freshman did well to honor the noodle-armed gun-slinger that once donned his No. 4, finishing 4-for-12 for 35 yards and an interception in a 26-0 loss to Louisville, disappearing from the field after the third quarter, never to be heard from again.

Now, Box is nothing more than a mere quarterback.

The buzz that creates the "QB Of The Future" curse has already stamped the moniker on the forehead of another unproven, undeserving teen, while his predecessor presently struggles to stand out from the rest of the pack.

Continue reading this post »

I'm glad Randy Edsall's gone.

I'd had mixed feelings about the departure of the only UConn football coach I'd only really ever known since he up and left some seven months ago.

The way in which he skipped town made it quite easy to distance yourself from Edsall, the man. But it's hard to forget what Edsall, the coach, accomplished at a school that was toiling away in the A-10 over a decade ago. Like in most breakups, after the initial sting wears off, you begin to appreciate what you had, and regardless of all the bumps along the way -- and there were many --  the same guy who once shoveled Memorial Field did just lead the program to a BCS bowl.

But today, I can sit here happy with how it all turned out.

Not because of some nicety the old ball coach threw at his old stomping grounds. Or some breakthrough moment by the new guy at this week's Big East Clambake.

All it took was a small dose of reality.

Half a year into his "dream job," Edsall has quickly put his imprint on his new program by doing things the Edsall way. That surely means instilling discipline or what have you and drawing up some creative ways to hand the ball off straight up the gut. But the only tangible evidence, as of now, has come through his "Maryland Makeover," as The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Barker called it.

In an attempt to associate Terps football with the state they play in, Edsall has begun emphasizing the "Maryland" wordmark around the facilities and on the team's new jerseys in place of the team nickname or their adorable tortoise mascot.

As part of this whole Randy renaissance, Edsall is even bringing back an old trick from his days in Storrs: removing the names off of players' jerseys.

From Barker:

Edsall said the uniform changes are more than cosmetic. When a supporter asked whether dropping players' names could hurt recruiting, the coach offered his philosophy. He said the changes were part of a broad plan to keep more top high school recruits in Maryland by instilling home-state pride.

"I'm just a firm believer that you play for what's on the front of the jersey. When we're long gone, Maryland is still going to be here, and that's what it's all about," said Edsall, who grew up in Glen Rock, Pa., near the Maryland border.

This is why UConn is better off without Edsall.

Continue reading this post »

(via thisisuconncountry)

The dust has sort of settled since the first shots in Incompetencegate were fired over the weekend.

One newspaper said buyout negotiations of UConn Jeff Hathaway were underway. Another countered, saying there was smoke, but no fire. UConn president Susan Herbst put out a statement that somehow only added fuel to said fire, before going on what I assume is a camping trip of some sorts.

And now we're at a standstill, with not much hard information and what appears to be the beginning of some sort of woodland motif.

Oh, and we know that the university spent $28,400 to evaluate Hathaway's performance by hiring a moderately successful indie-pop band.

But Jim Calhoun probably could've saved the school some money.

If it were up to him, Hathaway would be gone. Or so says a Courant report, which, according to a source, labels Coach Cal as one of the people not in the AD's corner.

But the Hall of Fame coach is signing a different tune.

When asked by ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil if people are reading things the wrong way, Calhoun replied:

"I do. I 100 percent do think that’s unfair,’’ the coach said before heading into the Milk House to watch recruits in Orlando. "I have nothing against anybody. Jeff and I, our relationship hasn’t always been all that it should have been. When he came back [in 2003], he seemed to have changed somewhat and they say when you move over six inches to the head coach’s chair, things change. But I don’t want to see anybody lose a job.’’

Fair enough. Calhoun and Hathaway have never seen eye to eye; that's nothing new.

But then there's this:

Continue reading this post »

Jeff Hathaway isn't long for this cow college, it seems.

Just days after reports surfaced that Hathaway and athletic department personnel were being evaluated by an outside firm, the New London Day is now reporting that, according to anonymous sources, Hathaway is in buyout negotiations with UConn president Susan Herbst that would lead to his departure after eight years at the school.

From The Day's Mike DMauro:

The process could take "a few weeks" and likely longer, according to one of the sources, who said it is doubtful Hathaway will be the athletic director by the time classes begin in September. The sources had no knowledge of potential candidates for Hathaway's successor.

Despite a successful 2010-11 athletic season that ended in a men's basketball national championship, a Fiesta Bowl berth, a women's basketball Final Four and a baseball Super Regional, among other achievements, the findings of the outside firm suggested that "Hathaway's shortcomings as athletic director are numerous, including micromanagement and an inability to make timely decisions, such as with hirings and contract issues," according to The Day.

The Courant also noted that Jim Calhoun is one of several people close to the situation who has been angling for Hathaway's departure. The paper also notes that, among other failures, Hathaway hasn't been able to raise money for a new basketball training facility.

But, according to The Day:

Hathaway's most serious deficiencies, the sources said, centered primarily on fundraising revenues in consistent decline and a lack of attention paid to NCAA compliance. In both cases, the sources said, Hathaway failed to hire experienced replacements for former athletic fundraiser Paul Pendergast and former compliance director Bill Shults.

While mildly surprising, the news isn't exactly shocking. Not after the very public dust up this past spring between Hathaway and football donor Robert Burton. And if you've been following us long enough, you know that we've been expecting this move for some time.

UPDATE (4 p.m.): The Courant has just put out its report, which says that the school is only "exploring the possibility" of a buyout. But this is usually how things go -- one news outlet reports it's happening, another counters with the "Not happening yet, but it's pretty likely." Bottom line: Hathaway's days are numbered.

It also notes that while Calhoun is obviously not in Hathaway's corner, it "appears" that both Geno Auriemma and Paul Pasqualoni, who was hired by Hathaway just months ago, are behind him.

UPDATE NO. 2 (4:41 p.m.): This statement from Herbst was just sent in from the athletic department:

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It's all in the accessories.

(Via @Adrien4)