Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Today’s UConn Football links can be found in the Thursday links section of the SMU vs UConn preview.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno And Muffet Don’t Need To Have Dinner Together [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Ekmark Anxious To Get Back On The Court For Huskies [rich elliott – ct post]

Stewart trying to cope with opponents’ physical approach [ct post]

Kia Nurse Proving She’s Not Typical UConn Women’s Freshman [hartford courant]

Beat Up Stewart? Geno Will Find Other Ways To Beat You [hartford courant]

UConn is missing its ‘Mark [new haven register]

UConn notebook: Ekmark eyes return [sny uconn]

Nurse ready for Notre Dame test [the hour]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Video: Kemba Walker Makes Nikola Mirotic Look Silly [sox & dawgs]

UConn’s Ryan Boatright Named To Naismith Trophy Watch List [sox & dawgs]

Video: Rudy Gay’s “UConn Huskies” Dodge Challenger [sox & dawgs]

UConn Men’s Insider: Huskies Would Be Lucky With This Diamond [hartford courant]

Yale Trying To Create Basketball Buzz; UConn Next Big Test [hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. UConn Falls at #7 UMass Lowell, 6-4 [uconn huskies]

M. Ice Hockey. UConn Hockey Falls To No. 7 UMass-Lowell, 6-4 [hartford courant]

Field Hockey. Upton Selected as Nominee for 2014 Honda Sports Award for Field Hockey [uconn huskies]

M & W. Swimming. Four UConn Swimmers Set For Winter Nationals [uconn huskies]

M & W. Tennis. UConn Tennis Programs Visit Local Schools [uconn huskies]

@uconnfootball @uconnWBB @uconnMBB @uconnhuskies #bleedblue

From UConn and the Atlanta Tipoff Club:

ATLANTA – UConn Huskies senior guard Ryan Boatright (Aurora, Ill.) has been named to the 50-player watch list for the James A. Naismith Trophy, presented annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the College Player of the Year.

Boatright is one of just two players from the American Athletic Conference who made the list, the other being Nic Moore of SMU. Boatright, an All-Final Four selection last season as he helped the Huskies capture the NCAA Championship, has also been named to the watch lists of the John R. Wooden Award and the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award.

Boatright currently leads the American Athletic Conference in scoring at 20.8 points per game is also averaging 6.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He was the AAC Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 16-23 and has made the league’s weekly Honor Roll the other two weeks of the season. He was named the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s coaches.

The Naismith Trophy list will be shortened to a Midseason 30 on Feb. 2, cut to 10 semifinalists on March 6, down to four finalists on March 22, and the winner will be named on April 5.

photo credit: ©2014 Ian Bethune

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Video: Diaco “Crushed” By Tayo Ashiru Comments [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn DT B.J. McBryde’s Basketball Starting Five From Team [sox & dawgs]

Breaking Bread with Bob: 12/2/14 [sox & dawgs]

UConn Huskies Depth Chart For SMU Mustangs [sox & dawgs]

Melifonwu out, Diaco talks stability [john silver – sny uconn]

UConn football notebook: Diaco says team progressing [ct post]

UConn Will Honor Its 14 Seniors Before Game With SMU [hartford courant]

Ashiru’s Father Had Harsh Words, And Diaco Was ‘Crushed’ [hartford courant]

UConn football seniors didn’t expect this ending [new haven register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Jefferson Kicked It Up A Notch In Win Over Green Bay [rich elliott – ct post]

Mosqueda-Lewis, Stokes Could Be On Sun’s Radar For WNBA Draft [hartford courant]

UConn notebook: Dangerfield hits 1,000 [sny uconn]

Gulf Coast Showcase makes big strides in second year [ft. myers – news-press]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn Men: Update On Boatright, Calhoun And Purvis Injuries [hartford courant]

Huskies need time to heal [the day]

Other UConn related links

W. Lacrosse. Huskies To Host 2015 Big East Women’s Lacrosse Tournament [uconn huskies]

M. Ice Hockey. UConn on the Road at #7 UMass Lowell Wednesday Night [uconn huskies]

M. Ice Hockey. UConn Hopes Offense Improves For Game With UMass Lowell [hartford courant]

W. Soccer. Four Huskies Earn All-Region Honors From NSCAA [uconn huskies]

The Boston Red Sox will introduce a weekend getaway of hot stove fun for fans and families January 23-25. “Baseball Winter Weekend” at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut includes a Town Hall Meeting with Red Sox leaders, autographs with Red Sox players, and round-table discussions on a variety of baseball topics. It also includes a full baseball festival for fans of all ages and clinics for kids.

Tickets and weekend packages, including the option for discounted hotel accommodations, went on sale today at redsox.com/winterweekend. A pass for all three days is $50 per adult and $10 for children 14 and under. Toddlers under three are free. A one-day pass for Saturday, when the bulk of the activities are scheduled, is $40 per adult, $10 for children. Season Ticket Holders’ prices (for adults) are reduced by $10. Their children’s price for the three-day pass is $8.

The entire Red Sox roster, including coaches, has been invited to attend. Red Sox alumni and Wally the Green Monster will also be in attendance.

“We look for innovative ways to foster player-fan interaction,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino. “Having a convention of Red Sox Nation families, together with our players of today and yesterday, is an appealing concept. With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to Spring Training just a few weeks later, it’s also a warm way on a winter weekend to look forward to the upcoming baseball season.”

The weekend will begin Friday night with the introduction of the participating players, followed by a fan-interactive Town Hall Meeting with Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Larry Lucchino, Executive Vice-President/General Manager Ben Cherington, and Manager John Farrell. The event will be televised by NESN.

Throughout the day on Saturday, fans will have an opportunity to meet players and receive autographs, take photographs with the three World Series Trophies, and see such Red Sox artifacts as Silver Bats, Gold Gloves, MVPs, and Cy Young Awards.

Fans can test their fastball at the Red Sox pitching booth, meet Wally the Green Monster, and attend hour-long discussions from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on such topics as “Breaking into Broadcasting,” “The Rise of Statistical Analysis,” and “1975: A Magical Season.”

Winter Weekend concludes Sunday with a series of baseball clinics on hitting, pitching, baserunning, and coaching conducted by Red Sox coaches and alumni.

“This is a very exciting event for us at Foxwoods,” said Jason Guyot, Vice President of Resort Operations for Foxwoods. “What better way to kick-start the New Year than with a 3-day winter celebration among the Red Sox Nation. The property will be awash in a sea of red and white as we host some of the greatest Red Sox baseball players of yesterday and today. This is another great example of how Foxwoods is focused on bringing fun and dynamic events for the whole family to enjoy.”

A list of players and coaches that are expected to attend as well as a preliminary itinerary of Baseball Winter Weekend events is attached. Fans can check redsox.com/winterweekend for updates in the coming weeks and follow @RedSox on Twitter for scheduling updates and announcements using #SoxWinterWeekend.

It’s that time of year where MLB teams need to make a decision on their arbitration-eligible players in regards to tendering or not tendering a contract to them.

For the Boston Red Sox, they had three players in Juan Francisco, Daniel Nava and Junichi Tazawa.

Unfortunately for Francisco, he was non-tendered by the Red Sox making him a free agent. Francisco had been designated for assignment when the Red Sox signed Hanley Ramirez last week.

Tazawa should get around $2 million while Nava should get around $1.9 million according to MLB Trade Rumors.

The Red Sox also tendered contracts to 26 other players, basically the guys on the 40-man who aren’t arbitration-eligible or have long-term contracts. Their salaries will be determined by the Red Sox.

Here’s the full release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA-The Boston Red Sox today announced that the club will not tender a 2015 contract to infielder Juan Francisco. As a result, he will become a free agent. Boston tendered 2015 contracts to the other 28 unsigned players on its major league roster.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington made the announcement.

Francisco, 27, was designated for assignment on November 25 when the Red Sox and left fielder Hanley Ramirez agreed on a four-year contract. The left-handed batter had been claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on November 19. In 106 major league games in 2014, all for Toronto, Francisco hit .220 (63-for-287) with 16 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, and 43 RBI. Over his big league career, the Dominican native has hit .236 (235-for-996) with 50 doubles, four triples, 48 home runs, and 152 RBI in 404 games for the Cincinnati Reds (2009-11), Atlanta Braves (2012-13), Milwaukee Brewers (2013), and Blue Jays (2014) between third base (197 games, 161 starts) and first base (87 games, 77 starts).

With this move, Boston’s 40-man roster remains at 40.

UConn Huskies head football coach Bob Diaco held his final weekly pregame press conference on Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Saturday’s season finale against the SMU Mustangs and talked about a myriad of things.

Diaco kicked things off by congratulating Memphis on their conference title. He also said they are a great template to follow as they are in year three of their plan. He said the Memphis players believed in the plan and followed it.

As I wrote about last night, Diaco said the main story line was the penalties.

He said Memphis started with the ball on six plus field drives but only scored on two. He talked about the fumble by Tim Boyle when it was 13-3 that gave Memphis the short field.

He said the defense had defended 50 plays by halftime. Most teams run about 60-70 in a game. He said they need to do a better job on third down.

Diaco stated he was pleased with the play of LT Andreas Knappe who for the second straight week looks like an offensive lineman. He also singled out the efforts of RB Ron Johnson, WR Geremy Davis, who is back to 100% health, Brice McAllister, Julian Campenni, Graham Stewart and Jamar Summers.

He said McAllister won both of their special teams awards for the week.

He stated it’s been a long but appropriate season. He said the bad thing is they didn’t get to go to a bowl which would have given them 15 more practices and one game which they could really use.

He said there is a little extra heart beat this week for the seniors. He’d love to send them out with a win, basically end their careers with a celebration.

He then talked about SMU. He said they have a great punter as well as a good returner in Deion Sanders Jr. He said that their QBs especially Matt Davis pose a problem. Davis can run like a running back.

He said they have a talented WR corp led by Der’rikk Thompson who according to Diaco is very talented and hard to cover.

He said they have a strong front led by Jonathan Yenga and Stephon Sanders as well as Zach Wood and Mason Gentry.

He said with the season ending, he wasn’t concerned about losing the momentum of the growth. He said they’ve seen growth in all areas and everyone is upset with the record. He said they are physically and mentally better. They interact as a team much better than before. He said their skill developments are much better from when they started.

He said they need to work on the same developmental things. They are close to reaching their competitive goals and they will reach their ultimate program goals.

He stated the leadership is getting better. The sights and sounds are what you would hear from a championship program.

Next week is finals week and he’ll make sure that the players will be accommodated with what whatever they need to finish up.

He went over the offseason plan which is they’ll be on their own for six weeks, then when they get back it’ll be winter conditioning. Once signing day is over, they’ll go back to working on skill development in anticipation of spring practice which begins he thinks on March 7, 2015.

He said the recruits they are looking all fit the model of their program. It’s an excellent collection of talented, achievement oriented young men.

He stated that Obi Melifonwu is out for the final game and will undergo surgery on Friday. He’s been playing hurt and the injury against Memphis was the final straw. He expects to him to be ready for spring practice but expects Obi to be limited in contact drills.

He said that Ellis Marder has returned from his injury. He’s just needs to get back in the mindset of cutting it loose which isn’t easy after an injury.

He said he was “crushed” by the comments from Jefferson Ashiru‘s father that were posted in the CT Post last week (We’ll have more on this very shortly after this post).

Diaco said he’s gotten better with time management, prioritization of things.

He said the record is frustrating they’ve improved so much they can see the bucket of success in front of them.

He said that Chandler Whitmer has done a great job being a mentor, coach and a friend to Tim Boyle. Whitmer had said he wanted to go out the right way and he’s done that according to Diaco.

He said he likes to think of himself as a problem solver not a problem identifier and said that the problems they are having/have had will be solved.

He said of the 65 guys on the roster, five will be redshirting this year.

He gave some advice to the new SMU coach who takes over at the end of the season as well as talked about Byron Jones a bit. Basically, Jones is around when he can be.

He finished up by talking about Casey Cochran and how he’ll be honored before the game. Cochran will be done with the program but will always be family like any other player who finishes their career at UConn.

We’ll have more this week. There won’t be as much player stuff as only three players came to the media availability.

For the final time this season before Tuesday’s press conference for Saturday’s final game of the 2014 season against the SMU Mustangs, UConn Huskies head coach Bob Diaco has released his final depth chart of the season and there are a few changes to it from last week’s depth chart against Memphis.

The first change is that Ryan Crozier is listed as the starter at left guard now with Gus Cruz the backup. The second change is Tim Boyle is listed as the starter with Chandler Whitmer moving to the backup.

Both of those changes we’ve already seen on the field over the last few weeks.

Obi Melifonwu is out for the final game of the season and will undergo shoulder surgery on Friday. Junior Lee takes over as the starter and he’ll be backed up by Ellis Marder who is now healthy.

Brandon Steg makes an appearance on the two deep for his final college game as the backup to Junior Joseph.

Offense

LT: 71 Richard Levy (RSo., 6-6, 305)
74 Paul Nwokeji (RJr., 6-6, 287)

LG: 63 Ryan Crozier (Fr., 6-4, 297)
65 Gus Cruz (RSr., 6-4, 296)

C: 73 Alex Mateas (RSr., 6-4, 309)
70 Kyle Bockeloh (RSo., 6-3, 284)

RG: 60 Tyler Samra (Jr., 6-2, 288)
77 Trey Rutherford (Fr., 6-5, 289)

RT: 53 Andreas Knappe (RSo., 6-8, 300)
62 Thomas Hopkins (RFr., 6-6, 298)

TE: 49 Sean McQuillan (RJr., 6-3, 239)
80 Tommy Myers (RFr., 6-5, 238)

WR: 85 Geremy Davis (RSr., 6-3, 216)
8 Thomas Lucas (RFr., 6-2, 198) OR
5 Noel Thomas (So., 6-1, 187)

QB: 14 Tim Boyle (So., 6-3, 216)
10 Chandler Whitmer (RSr., 6-0, 192)

FB: 34 Jazzmar Clax (RFr., 5-11, 241)
36 Matt Walsh (So., 6-1, 227)

TB: 22 Arkeel Newsome (Fr., 5-7, 180) OR
3 Ron Johnson (Fr., 6-0, 217)
44 Max DeLorenzo (RJr., 5-11, 210) OR
26 Joshua Marriner (RFr., 5-9, 193)

WR: 4 Deshon Foxx (Sr., 5-10, 172)
1 Dhameer Bradley (So., 5-9, 166)

Defense

DE: 95 Kenton Adeyemi (RJr., 6-4, 268)
57 Cole Ormsby (RFr., 6-3, 248)

NG: 90 Julian Campenni (RJr., 6-0, 299)
92 Mikal Myers (RSo., 6-1, 312)

DT: 97 B.J. McBryde (RSr., 6-5, 304) OR
93 Folorunso Fatukasi (RFr., 6-4, 307)

DE: 47 Reuben Frank (RSr., 6-4, 246)
10 Cameron Stapleton (RFr., 6-4, 226)

LB: 46 Marquise Vann (RJr., 6-0, 226)
55 Jon Hicks (RSo., 6-2, 236)

LB: 39 Junior Joseph (RFr., 6-1, 242)
41 Ellis Marder (RSr., 6-2, 221)

LB: 2 Graham Stewart (RJr., 6-1, 227)
59 Vontae Diggs (Fr., 6-4, 207)

CB: 21 Jamar Summers (Fr., 6-0, 180)
7 John Green (RSo., 5-10, 179) OR
11 Javon Hadley (So., 5-10, 164)

S: 22 Andrew Adams (RJr., 6-0, 197)
28 Jordan Floyd (RSo., 6-0, 206)

S: 23 Junior Lee (RJr., 6-0, 214)
19 Ellis Marder (RSo., 6-1, 193)

CB: 6 Jhavon Williams (RSo., 5-10, 190)
33 Brice McAllister (Fr., 5-11, 191)

Special Teams

K: 17 Bobby Puyol (RSo., 5-10, 174)
94 Chase Briley (Fr., 5-11, 165)

P: 42 Justin Wain (RSo., 6-3, 204)
94 Chase Briley (Fr., 5-11, 165)

HL: 82 Blake Feagles (RFr., 5-10, 205)
42 Justin Wain (RSo., 6-3, 204)

KR: 22 Arkeel Newsome (Fr., 5-7, 180)
26 Joshua Marriner (RFr., 5-9, 193)

PR: 4 Deshon Foxx (Sr., 5-10, 172)
18 Brian Lemelle (So., 5-10, 165)

LS: 66 Dominick Manco (RJr., 6-0, 213)
67 Adam Mueller (RSr., 6-1, 212)

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Penalties Killed UConn Football In Loss To Memphis [sox & dawgs]

Report Card For UConn-Memphis Game [hartford courant]

Winless SMU Heads To UConn Game For Coach Mason’s Finale [hartford courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Kia Nurse Named American Freshman of The Week [sox & dawgs]

Nurse An MVP In Southwest Florida [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn women leave Florida with a feeling of improvement [ct post]

Auriemma Pleased Huskies Were Able To Deliver Knockout Punch [hartford courant]

Huskies have rebuilt confidence since loss to Stanford [new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Video: Shooting Woes a Concern For UConn Men [sox & dawgs]

Ryan Boatright Named To American Weekly Honor Roll [sox and dawgs]

Former Men’s Basketball Coach Dee Rowe To Be Honored At MSG Holiday Festival [uconn huskies]

It’s all about making shots for UConn men [ct post]

UConn’s Problems Deep, But Ollie Says They Can Be Fixed [hartford courant]

Ailing Huskies await word on Boatright [the day]

Other UConn related links

W. Ice Hockey. Women’s Hockey Inks Four To NLIs In Early Signing Period [uconn huskies]

Field Hockey. Three Field Hockey Standouts Earn All-America Honors [uconn huskies]

W. Ice Hockey. Elaine Chuli Named WHEA Defensive Player Of The Week [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Baseball Tabs Cross, Melley and Tabakman As 2015 Captains [uconn huskies]

W. Swimming. Chinyere Pigot To Compete In 2014 Short Course World Championships [uconn huskies]

When Bob Diaco took over the UConn Huskies football team, he talked about wanting to eliminate the things that cause losing. His message hasn’t changed from Day 1.

In their loss to the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, UConn committed eight penalties for 115 yards. Most of these weren’t of the five-yard variety. They were mostly 10-15 yarders. Basically, they weren’t the pre-snap penalties that he’s wanted to eliminate and has for the most part.

The first one came when Omaine Stephens didn’t give the Memphis kick returner enough room to make the fair catch and was called for a 15-yard kick interference penalty. That gave the ball to the Tigers at the UConn 48. They would end up driving down and getting a field goal to make it 3-0.

Next up was a holding penalty on tight TE Tommy Myers after Ron Johnson had busted a big run that got the ball onto the Memphis side of the field. Instead of being on the other side of the 50, UConn found themselves back on their own 19.

“Tommy is blocking that guy and really giving him the business and finishes him into the ground,” Diaco said on his Sunday conference call. “And it was that finish that they flagged the hold on. That was a game-changing play.”

Then in the second quarter as they were trailing 6-0, the offense was driving the ball down a short field when FB Jazzmar Clax was called for a personal foul when he ripped the helmet off of a Memphis player while finishing the play.

“We’re mashing them down and we’re mashing the ball down,” said Diaco. “We get the ball inside the 10-yard line and we get a personal foul.”

“They were all basically aggressive penalties. It’s young players trying to finish.”

Plus it doesn’t help that Bobby Puyol missed the 31 yard field goal attempt on that same drive which just made it all worse and like the penalties, changed the course of the game.

Pass interference and defensive holding penalties by Jhavon Williams and John Green would hurt them later on.

“More of it was mental,” Diaco said. “Not mental errors, we tell them you don’t need to grab, you’re on body. You’re good. Just execute your fundamentals. You don’t need to get handsy. That’s something young guys do.”

UConn is a young team this season and we’ve seen the growing pains. But we’ve seen the improvements as well.

You can bet your last dollar that Diaco and the staff will be using these penalties as teaching moments. And as everyone gets more experience, these penalties will slowly disappear.

And when they do, the Huskies will be a better team.

UConn G Ryan Boatright (11) shoots a jumper in the front of the UConn student section and his Fathead during the first half against Texas at Gampel Pavilion.

There was some good news for UConn Huskies men’s basketball point guard Ryan Boatright on Monday. No, it’s not about his ankle.

Boatright was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after his performance against the Texas Longhorns on Sunday at Gampel Pavilion.

He had 24 points with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in the 55-54 loss.

The UConn men are back in action on Friday night when they’ll host the Yale Bulldogs at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.

photo credit: ©2014 Ian Bethune