SOX & Dawgs » UConn Huskies

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – Independence Day Edition

Ian — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:47:43 +0000

UConn Football links

Reuben Frank’s Coach On The Check In And Happy 4th! [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Poughkeepsie’s Frank commits to UConn [Poughkeepsie Journal]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Diana Taurasi reacts to DUI arrest [Bright Side of the Sun]

Charles Leads Team USA Women Over Serbia At World University Games

Ian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:21:07 +0000

UConn Huskies junior center Tina Charles had 17 points and added 5 rebounds to help the Team USA Women to an 84-50 win over host Serbia at the World University Games.

Team USA wrapped up preliminary play at 3-0 and will be the top seed for Group A in the second round. They will take on Poland, the No. 2 seed from Group D, on Saturday at 5:30 PM local time (11:30 AM EDT).

Charles’ UConn teammate Tiffany Hayes chipped in with 6 points and a team-high 5 assists.

Maya Moore missed her third straight game with a sore right knee and is still listed as day-to-day.

Here are some quotes from Charles courtesy of USA Basketball:

Were you excited to play Serbia?
We knew they were going to come out hard and aggressive, and they did, but we stayed together and the coaches helped us keep our composure. It felt great to get the win, knowing this was a team effort. Everybody scored and everybody contributed.

Is the team chemistry where it should be?
In the beginning, people weren’t sure where other people wanted the ball, and we were slow on rotations, but I think we are starting to gel together and pick it up.

On the USA defense:
I think our defense has really improved. We are definitely doing better on help side defense and listening to each other.

Former UConn Star Diana Taurasi Cited For DUI

Ian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:53:51 +0000

Former UConn Huskies and current Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi was cited for driving under the influence on Thursday morning in Phoenix, AZ.

Taurasi, a guard for the team, was pulled over at 2:30 a.m. in the area of Seventh Avenue and Camelback Road, allegedly for speeding and lane violations, police said.

A police officer conducted several field sobriety tests after he first detected the order of alcohol, the department said.

Officers then drew her blood in a Phoenix Police Mobile DUI van after she refused a breath test, Phoenix police said. She was cited and released.

Taurasi is currently leading the fan voting for the WNBA All-Star Game.

Obviously she made poor judgment when got behind the wheel and she will probably end having to do a lot of public relations to fix her image. She is a role model to a lot of young girls after all.

Mercury star Taurasi cited for DUI [Arizona Republic]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 7/3

Ian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:54:30 +0000

UConn Football links

Here’s Reuben Frank [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

How Does UConn Stack Up At QB Vs. Rest Of BE? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn Football Receives Second Oral Commitment [Hartford Courant]

Doherty standout selects Huskies [Worcester Telegram]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Looking Back: UConn Highlights of 2009 Final Four [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Gordon, Villanueva Join Forces With Hamilton In Detroit [Hartford Courant]

UConn’s conference opponents released [New Haven Register]

Update On UConn Football 2009 Game Times

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:37:55 +0000

The Big East Conference announced this afternoon that two of the UConn Huskies football games will be part of the Big East Game of the Week on the Big East Network.

Those two games are the homecoming game against the Louisville Cardinals on October 17th and the game against the Syracuse Orange on November 28th. Both games will kickoff at 12:00 p.m. and will be televised locally here in Connecticut on MyTV9/WCTX.

Ohio University announced that their opening game against the Huskies will kickoff at 7 p.m. on September 5th. Baylor also announced that their game against UConn on September 19th will start at 5:00 p.m. (EDT).

With the announcement of the games today by the Big East, 6 of the 12 games on UConn’s 2009 schedule now have game times.

2009 UConn Huskies Football Schedule [SOX & Dawgs]

Team USA Women Beat Great Britain By 34 Points At University World Games

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:15:57 +0000

The Team USA Women’s Basketball University World Games had no problems once again as they easily took care of business with a 93-59 win over Great Britain on Wednesday afternoon in Belgrade, Serbia.

UConn Huskies sophomore Tiffany Hayes had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes of action. UConn senior Tina Charles had 6 points, 3 rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes.

UConn junior Maya Moore sat out again due to a sore knee and is listed as day-to-day.

Team USA has one more game in the preliminary round as they will take on the host nation Serbia tomorrow.

Here are some quotes from Hayes courtesy of USA Basketball:

Do you think the team continued to improve in your second game?
I think we improve every time we play, just getting better as a team and coming together. The little things get better as time goes by.

What did Coach Tuner Thorne have you focused on before the game?
She basically told us to work on our rebounding and to out-hustle the other team and don’t give in because they came back on Serbia late and won.

Do you think you accomplished those goals?
I think we did. We slacked off a little bit in the third quarter, but we got it back together. We had a bad little stretch and they had a little run, so we had to get it back together and keep our heads together.

USA Women’s World University Games Team Downs Great Britain 93-59 [USA Basketball]

Villanueva Confirms He’s Going To Pistons On Twitter

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:57:11 +0000

Former UConn Husky Charlie Villanueva has confirmed the AP report from yesterday on his Twitter page that he is going to sign with the Detroit Pistons.

Villanueva will join former Huskies Ben Gordon, who also agreed to a deal, and Richard “Rip” Hamilton in the Motor City.

Charlie Villanueva Twitter [Twitter.com]

Big East Announces Men’s Basketball Conference Matchups

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:30:32 +0000

The Big East Conference announced this afternoon the matchups for the conference games for the 2009-10 season. It’s once again an 18-game schedule, playing 12 opponents once and 3 opponents twice.

The UConn Huskies will play the Louisville Cardinals, Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish and Cincinnati Bearcats at home and on the road.

Here’s the home and away matchups for the Huskies during the 2009-10 Big East Men’s Basketball season.

Home: Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Seton Hall, West Virginia
Away: Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, USF, Syracuse, Villanova

The actual schedule of games will be announced at a later date by the Big East Conference.

For a full look at the entire schedule, head over to the Big East website.

BIG EAST Announces 2009-10 Men’s Basketball Schedule Matchups [Big East Conference]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 7/2

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:34:39 +0000

UConn Football links

And Here’s Mr. Smallwood [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Another Commitment [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Osiecki and Kinnard True Frosh For ‘10 Or Reddies ‘09? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Will 2010 Class Be Bigger Or Smaller Than 2009? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn gets first commitment for 2010 [Big East Blog - ESPN.com]

UConn Football Receives First Commitment For 2010 [Hartford Courant]

Connecticut Huskies… [The Playmakers]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Parliament-Hashadelic [David Borges - New Haven Register]

UConn Reunion In Detroit: Pistons Add Gordon, Villanueva [Hartford Courant]

Oriakhi knows what’s in Storrs for big men [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

Six Women’s Ice Hockey Players Set to Join Huskies [UConnHuskies.com]

Gordon, Villanueva Heading To Motown

Ian — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:11:06 +0000

According to the Associated Press, former UConn Husky teammates Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva will be reunited as they’ve agreed to contracts with the Detroit Pistons.

Both contracts are for five years with Gordon getting $55 million and Villanueva $35 million over the life of the contracts. Due to NBA rules, the Pistons cannot announce the contracts until next week.

Gordon averaged 20.7 points for the Chicago Bulls while Villanueva averaged 16.2 last year for the Milwaukee Bucks.

They will join another former Husky in Richard “Rip” Hamilton.

Pistons agree to deals with Gordon, Villanueva [AP via Yahoo! Sports]

USA Women Open World University Games With 85 Point Win Over France

Ian — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:17:43 +0000

The Team USA Women’s World University Games Team had no problems today in Belgrade, Serbia as they opened up the World University Games with an 115-30 shellacking of France.

Team USA was led by UConn Huskies senior center Tina Charles who led five players in double figures with 18 points and added 6 rebounds. Her UConn teammate Tiffany Hayes chipped in with 15 points, 2 assists and a blocked shot.

Maya Moore didn’t play in the game due to a sore knee and will be reevaluated today.

Here are some quotes from the UConn contingent courtesy of USA Basketball:

Tina Charles:

On the French team:
They kept pushing, kept going hard, regardless of what they score was. They kept running and trying to go to the boards, trying to score.

How difficult is it to stay focused when you’re up by so much?
It’s not hard at all. With us being collegiate athletes and being in situations like that, I’m sure all of us have been in a similar situation. We’re able to keep our focus and it helped us a long way.

Was there something you were trying to work on during the game?
Our press. We pressed up in the back court a lot. We were also trying to push the ball in transition and things like that.

Tiffany Hayes:

On today’s game:
Basically we had to keep a level head, even though we blew the game out of the water. We just had to make sure that we didn’t slow down. We were working on our plays and keeping the tempo up. We just had to work on that.

What did coach talk to you about at halftime?
She told us that we didn’t need to slack up, that we were winning the battle of the boards, which is one of our goals. We need to keep playing hard, even though it’s hard to do that when you’re up by so much.

What did you think about your first international game?
It was fun. It was pretty good. We came together as a team and played pretty well with each other. I was really happy to see that all of us were getting hyped with each other when we did something well, running to help each other up, little things like that. It makes me really happy, I was really glad to see that.

USA Women Cruise To Easy 115-30 Win Over France To Open 2009 World University Games Play [USA Basketball]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 7/1

Ian — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:52:52 +0000

UConn Football links

Depth And Talent Stack Up To ‘08? Progress Coming? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Meet Darius Smith [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Kolbe Cathedral hires ex-UConn great Smith as coach [Connecticut Post]

Kolbe Cathedral hires Smith as boys’ hoops coach [New Haven Register]

It’s never too early for college hoops [NESN.com]

Other UConn related links

Baseball: Springer Tagged as Baseball America Freshman All-American [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Nemeth to Play in Annual Red Sox Draft Class Showcase [UConnHuskies.com]

On the Cape with UConn’s Mike Olt [Shore Line Times]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 6/30

Ian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:59:35 +0000

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Buck Is There For Faris [Rich Elliott - Connecticut Post]

Faris adjusting to UConn life [Connecticut Post]

UConn’s Heather Buck Eager To Play Again [Hartford Courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Villanueva Set Free, Adrien On Summer Team [Hartford Courant]

Edwards promises ‘breakout’ season [New Haven Register]

UConn leads in number of alum joining NBA [Mansfield Today]

Other UConn related links

Pair of Current Field Hockey Players Named to National Squads [UConnHuskies.com]

Villanueva Is A Free Agent

Ian — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:55:18 +0000

Milwaukee Bucks GM John Hammond announced this afternoon that the team will not make a qualifying offer to former UConn Husky Charlie Villanueva.

By not making a qualifying offer to Villaneuva, the Bucks are letting him go to free agency, where he’ll be free to sign with any team.

Villanueva has not made any public comments on his Twitter page as of the time of this post about the Bucks’ decision.

Update 6:00 PM: Villanueva just posted on his Twitter:

Well, i would like to thank my milwaukee fans, for 3 great years, and Senator Kohl, but my journey in Milwaukee has come to a end,

now its on Gods hands, where will I end up, only time will tell

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 6/29

Ian — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:01:47 +0000

UConn Football links

How About Some Insights Into Recruiting? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Could Kendall Reyes Move To DE? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Turner let go [Jim Fuller - New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Remember the name: Brandon Knight [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 6/28

Ian — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

UConn Football links

Who Replaces Marcus Campbell? [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Updating some news [Ramblings from The Runway]

Campbell not returning [Neill Ostrout - Connecticut Post]

UConn takes hit, losing DE Campbell [Connecticut Post]

UConn Defensive End Campbell Ineligible [Hartford Courant]

Pair of freshmen delayed by injuries [Norwich Bulletin]

Two players to delay enrollment at UConn [New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Knight Takes Unofficial To UConn [Mike Anthony - Hartford Courant]

Thabeet: All Access NBA Draft [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Knight School? [David Borges - New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

Norton’s Determination Impresses Yankees [Hartford Courant]

Adrien Finds A New Home

Ian — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:21:57 +0000

It looks like Hasheem Thabeet will have some company in Las Vegas this summer.

According to Marc Spears of the Boston Globe, Jeff Adrien has accepted an offer from the Memphis Grizzlies to play on their summer league team.

Adrien could have a chance to make this team with some of their bench players coming off the payroll. But with free agency coming up soon, his chances of making the team could change.

The NBA Summer League kicks off on July 10th in Vegas.

Rice, Adrien on NBA summer league teams [Boston Globe]

Marcus Campbell Ineligible For 2009 UConn Football Season

Ian — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:41:47 +0000

According to Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant, UConn Huskies junior defensive end Marcus Campbell is ineligible for the 2009 season due to some academic issues.

Campbell appeared in 11 games last season for the Huskies and had 10 tackles and 2 sacks. He played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2007 on special teams and as a reserve defensive end recording 14 tackles.

Conner also reports that incoming freshmen linebacker Mike Osiecki of Seymour, CT and quarterback Leon Kinnard (Reistertown, Md.) will not be with the team until January 2010 due to each having surgery.

Projected Huskies Football Starter Ineligible For 2009 Season [Hartford Courant]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 6/27

Ian — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:29:49 +0000

UConn Football links

Lorenzen Learning Tight End Position With Jaguars [Hartford Courant]

NL Names UConn Grad Jeff Larson [New London Day]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Memphis count on Thabeet to toughen up Grizzlies [AP via Connecticut Post]

Growth Opportunity For Thabeet [Hartford Courant]

Griz draftees Thabeet, Carroll and Young visit Memphis [Memphis Commercial Appeal]

A.J. Price appreciates chance with Pacers [Indianapolis Star]

Other UConn related links

LHP Dennis Accomando added to D-Braves roster [OurSports Central]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 6/26

Ian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:18:01 +0000

It was another big night for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program as it saw two of it’s three players in the draft become drafted. Junior center Hasheem Thabeet was taken 2nd overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. He’ll join former Husky Rudy Gay in Elvis land.

Senior point guard A.J. Price was taken in the 2nd round by the Indiana Pacers. Jeff Adrien wasn’t drafted last night and it appears he’s going to be playing for Cleveland in the summer league according to his Twitter page.

Click here to view the embedded video.

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Grizzlies: Couldn’t pass up shot-blocking Thabeet [USA Today]

Pacers rebuilding with ‘winners’ [USA Today]

Top 10 NBA Talent Producing Colleges [Real Clear Sports]

Hasheem Thabeet Taken No. 2 in 2009 NBA Draft [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn’s lottery picks [Connecticut Post]

Thabeet goes from Huskies to Grizzlies [New Haven Register]

UConn’s Thabeet taken second overall by Grizzlies in NBA draft [New London Day]

Thabeet Drafted No. 2 By Memphis Grizzlies [Hartford Courant]

Mixed Results: Price A Pacer; Adrien Undrafted [Hartford Courant]

Photos: Hasheem Thabeet at the NBA Draft [Hartford Courant]