Unless something changes with an appeal or the NCAA changes the way it computes the APR for 2013, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team will find itself ineligible for postseason play after having their waiver denied.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut was informed on Friday by the NCAA that its waiver request to participate in men’s basketball postseason competition for the 2012-13 season, including the 2013 NCAA Tournament, has been denied.

Connecticut will now appeal the decision to the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance Subcommittee on Appeals.

The waiver was submitted to the NCAA as a result of the UConn men’s basketball team’s performance in the Academic Progress Rate (APR).

“We are deeply disappointed that our request for a waiver was denied, but we look forward to continuing in the process,” said UConn President Susan Herbst. “We continue to believe that we have made a very compelling case in our waiver to the NCAA and we are pleased with the recent outstanding academic success of our men’s basketball student-athletes.

“I want to be clear that during my entire career as a scholar and a teacher, I have been in full support of high academic standards in collegiate athletics. However, in this case, there are good students who could be penalized for the problematic behavior of students who have not been enrolled for years.

“Educators and parents need to do what is right for their students, and not allow them to be caught in the dynamics of public relations.”

This decision is huge right now because it will affect a few of the student-athletes on the team now and their decision to go pro.

If there is no NCAA Tournament next year, what reasons would say, Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb, have to stay in Storrs when they could be making millions. Then by them leaving early, they are affecting the future APR and the cycle repeats itself.

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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 some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

From Best To Worst: Updated Rankings of UConn’s 23 games [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

UConn and the APR: What Should Happen? What Will Happen? [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

NCAA should deny UConn proposal [Dana O’Neil – ESPN.com]

UConn’s Self-Imposed Penalties Too Soft On Calhoun [Hartford Courant]

UConn’s attempt to sidestep academic penalties is shameless [Sporting News]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Caroline Doty Does Not Practice [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck Named McDonald’s All-Americans [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Doty Given The Day Off Today; Expected To Play Vs. Georgetown [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Upcoming Senior Night game to be strange for Doty, Buck [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Less Than 500 Tickets Left For Saturday’s WBB Game [UConnHuskies.com]

Doty Starting To Heat Up For UConn Women [Hartford Courant]

Sue Bird agrees to multi-year deal with Storm [New Haven Register]

Doty on UConn win over Louisville [CBSSports.com]

UConn Football links

Big East postseason rankings: WR/TE [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

DC answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

22 players named to All-Big East Academic team [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

Former UConn Baseball Players Among Top 100 Best MLB Prospects [SOX & Dawgs]

W. Ice Hockey. Women’s Hockey Welcomes Back Alumni as Huskies Face BC [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Sure our primary focus here is on the UConn Huskies men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football teams but that doesn’t mean we don’t keep an eye on the other sports that UConn has to offer.

While going through Keith Law’s Top 100 MLB Prospects earlier in the day, I noticed a few names that are familiar to the UConn baseball team.

Those names are George Springer and Mike Olt. Law ranks Springer, a member of the Houston Astros organization, as his 60th best prospect. Olt, a member of the Texas Rangers organization, comes in at No. 75.

Here’s what Law has to say about Springer:

Springer — whom the Astros took with the 11th pick last June — was one of the toolsiest college position players I’ve ever come across, with a solid idea of what he was doing at the plate, sliding out of the top 10 only because of questions about his swing mechanics.

The UConn product is an outstanding athlete, an above-average runner with a plus arm and plus raw power. He has tremendous bat speed and can turn on good velocity, with a history of running deep counts although without much of a two-strike approach. For some reason, he started swinging uphill this spring, collapsing his back side in the process and reducing the quality of his contact and leading to concerns that he’ll swing and miss too much in pro ball. Perhaps it was “draftitis,” trying to hit more home runs to improve his stock, but it’s a bad habit and not an easy one to break.

If he gets back to where he was a year ago, Houston got a steal, an impact hitter who hits for power, gets on base, and adds value through right-field defense.

And here’s what Law had to say about Olt:

A potentially plus defender at third with plus raw power, Olt has seen the ball much better as a pro than he did as an amateur, resulting in better-than-expected plate discipline that gives him a chance to be at least an average regular at third. Olt can launch balls in BP, but his approach is now less pull-happy than it was in college, with very good bat speed and great extension on his follow-through for power to left and the ability to use the middle of the field.

He missed two months this summer with a broken collarbone, but was 100 percent again for fall league and led the AFL in home runs (helped by a very homer-friendly ballpark). His contact rates probably won’t ever be great, but even an average hit tool with plus power and defense at third makes for a fringe star.

In going back to MLB.com’s Top 100 MLB Prospects, Olt and Springer are ranked there as well. Olt comes in at No. 43 and Springer comes in at No. 84.

Another former Husky, Matt Barnes, is in the Boston Red Sox organization and is among their Top 10 Prospects among different publications. Baseball America has Barnes at No. 8 in the Red Sox organization, MLB.com has Barnes at No. 12 and Keith Law has Barnes at No. 5.

Given that they’ve made some big trades that included prospects over the past year or so, I’m not surprised at where Keith Law of ESPN (PDF) ranks the Boston Red Sox minor league system. He has them as the 19th best in all of MLB.

Here’s what he had to say about the Red Sox minor league system:

This system is terribly thin up top given the money the Red Sox have spent in the past few years on amateur players. I do see a large group of prospects from low Class A and below that should produce a couple of breakout prospects in 2012, including Brandon Jacobs, Garin Cecchini, Henry Owens, Matt Barnes and Sean Coyle.

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Yesterday we learned what 2012 Boston Red Sox spring training games NESN would be broadcasting. Now the Red Sox have released their full spring training broadcast schedule which includes radio and television.

Here’s the release and scheduled from the Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA—The Boston Red Sox have announced the broadcast schedule for the 2012 Spring Training season.

This spring, NESN will televise 12 of the club’s 33 exhibition games, including eight games at the team’s new Spring Training facility, JetBlue Park at Fenway South.  The flagship radio station of the Red Sox will air 15 total games, including Boston’s Grapefruit League home opener on Sunday, March 4 at 1:35 p.m. against Mayor’s Cup rival Minnesota Twins.  Eleven of those broadcasts will be carried on WEEI 93.7 FM/850 AM with four games airing on WRKO 680 AM.  Additionally, ESPN will televise three of Boston’s contests including the team’s game against the New York Yankees on March 22.

Note: I added in YES on the March 13 game against the Yankees for those who live in a market where YES is available.

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Here’s the release from the USBWA (U.S. Basketball Writers Association) that names UConn Huskies women’s basketball players Bria Hartley and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis to the USBWA Midseason Watch List for Player of the Year:

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected 20 outstanding players for its first Midseason Watch List for the Women’s National Player of the Year. Members of the association’s board of directors chose the players to be included on the list as contenders for the trophy, which will be presented to the national player of the year in Denver at the USBWA’s Women’s College Basketball Awards Breakfast on April 3.

Three Notre Dame teammates headline the list, which also has a pair of real sister teammates at Stanford and two stars each from Baylor, Connecticut, Miami and Ohio State. The Irish trio are Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters, who are joined by Nneka Ogwumike and her younger sister Chiney at Stanford; Buckeyes standouts Tayler Hill and Samantha Prahalis; Hurricanes backcourt stars Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams; Huskies teammates Bria Hartley and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (the lone freshman on the list); and the Bears inside-outside combo of Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims.

Five National Players of the Week from this season are featured as well: Brittney Griner from Baylor, Elena Delle Donne from Delaware, Nneka Ogwumike from Stanford, Sugar Rodgers from Georgetown, and A’dia Mathies from Kentucky. Last season’s women’s winner as the National Freshman of the Year, Odyssey Sims of Baylor is also among the players to watch down the stretch.

Overall, the list by class and dominated from the top includes seven seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and one freshman appearing. The Big East boasts seven players while the Atlantic Coast Conference has four on the list to lead all conferences, while a total of 13 schools in eight conferences are represented.

For a look at the complete USBWA Midseason Watch List, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

While these standout players are the leading contenders to be named to the USBWA’s All-America Team and as finalists for the Women’s National Player of the Year award, all Division I players remain eligible for postseason honors from the USBWA. The association will announce its 2012 All-America Team in mid-March. At that time, finalists will also be chosen for the player of the year. Once finalists are announced, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the winner of the National Player of the Year.

Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a Women’s National Player of the Year. In each of the last three seasons, a Connecticut Player has won the award. Maya Moore took home the honor in 2009 and ’11, while Tina Charles was the player of the year in 2010.

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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 some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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 Men’s Basketball links

The Shot Doctor’s Presciption For UConn’s Jeremy Lamb [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn wants to impose own penalties [AP]

Susan Herbst Statement on AP Story [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Kemba talks about his NBA rookie season, UConn [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Calhoun remains on medical leave [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn alumni in NBA are worth $679m [Wall Street Journal]

UConn’s bid to overturn ’13 tourney ban is a joke [Pat Forde – Yahoo! Sports]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Auriemma Hints About A Tennessee Walz [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Even UConn Has More To Learn [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Inordinate Amount Of Fouls Out Of Character For Huskies [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Stewart Named State Farm/WBCA National Player Of The Year [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma Talks Memphis; Hopes Temple Is Next [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Three Future Huskies Selected To Play In 2012 WBCA All-America Game [UConnHuskies.com]

Big East Women’s Tournament Adding Fan Events [Hartford Courant]

UConn Football links

Big East spring football dates [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

UConn Welcomes Memphis To The BIG EAST! [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Huskies Set For Valentine Invite [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Track. Huskies Prepare For Rider Lafayette Invitational [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

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 some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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 Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun vows return to coaching [Andy Katz – ESPN.com]

Drummond’s 1st year struggles highlighted [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Kemba Walker on rookie life in the NBA [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Calhoun Won’t Coach Saturday At Syracuse [Hartford Courant]

UConn’s Total Collapse In Louisville’s 21-4 Run [Hartford Courant]

Kemba’s learning on the job [The Day]

UConn may look it, but Huskies not dead yet [CBSSports.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn And Notre Dame Could “Flip Off” XL Center Crowd [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Interesting Night at KFC Yum! Center [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Big Plans In Place To Enhance Big East Tournament [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Geno Likes Memphis, Now Wants Temple [David Borges – New Haven Register]

McCall A Target For Huskies In Class Of 2013 [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Doty Fights Through Pain, Leads UConn Past Louisville [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn women outlast Louisville [CT Post]

Hard-Pressed Huskies Prevail Over Louisville 56-46 [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Notebook: As Season Winds Down, ND Game Could Loom Large [Hartford Courant]

Huskies hold off late rally, beat Louisville [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Big East postseason position rankings: OL [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Track. Wilson Named BIG EAST Track Athlete of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Track. Noel James Named BIG EAST Field Athlete of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Huskies Fall At Home To Army, 4-2 [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

The Boston Red Sox have been know to do their scouting all over the world. And their latest signing shows that effort.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com confirmed a report from Australia that the Red Sox have signed 17-year-old Daniel McGrath. He will not play in the Red Sox organization this season as he has to finish up school which will end for him next November.

McGrath made 13 appearances for the Melbourne Aces in the Australian Baseball League, going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. He had made four appearances last year for the Aces with no record and a 3.86 ERA.

If you watch the video below, you will see that he slightly resembles Jon Lester on the mound.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vf17FR90t58?rel=0

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Photo credit: TheABL.com

On Monday night, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team was embarrassed at the KFC Yum! Center by the Louisville Cardinals. On Tuesday night, the UConn women’s team was looking to return the favor to the Cardinals women’s team.

Instead, the Huskies found themselves in a prized fight with the Cardinals and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if there’s a lot of ice used during the flight home.

After building up a big first half lead, UConn was able to survive the physical battle and a Louisville comeback to notch a hard fought 56-46 win in front of 16,483 and a nationally televised audience on CBS Sports Network. The crowd was the largest to see a women’s basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Huskies improve to 22-2 (10-1 Big East) and now have won 10 straight games. The Cardinals fall to 17-7 (6-5).

Caroline Doty led the Huskies in scoring in 15 points and was the only one to score in double digits. She also had three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Tiffany Hayes had nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists before fouling out for the third time in her career. Bria Hartley also added nine points while Stefanie Dolson had eight points and nine rebounds.

Despite shooting 6-of-20 from the floor, Shoni Schimmel led all scorers with 20 points and led the Cardinals with eight rebounds. She did have eight turnovers. Sara Hammond had 10 points and two rebounds before fouling out.

Early on, the Cardinals kept it close with UConn. With the Huskies clinging to a 9-8 lead and 12:01 remaining in the half, they went on a 11-0 run on the strength of three three-pointers and a Kiah Stokes layup. Schimmel ended that Huskies run with a three-pointer only to see UConn go on a 13-1 run to open up a 21 point lead at 33-12.

The Cardinals responded though with a 5-0 run to close out the half and narrow the gap to 16 at 33-17.

UConn built their lead right back up to 20 pts before things changed. The Cardinals began to play a little more physical and this seemed to disrupt the flow of the Huskies. Behind the play of Schimmel and Hammond, Louisville got themselves and the crowd back into the game with a 9-2 run to cut UConn’s lead to 13 at 40-27 with 13:49 to go.

Over the next eight minutes or so, Louisville kept on fighting and cut UConn’s lead down to six when Schimmel drained a jumper with 5:17 to go. Hartley silenced the crowd with a three to push the lead back to nine. The Huskies would make sure the Cardinals wouldn’t get any closer though using a 5-1 run to push the lead back to 13 points before settling for the 10 point win.

A win is a win at this point but a certain times during the second half, the game didn’t resemble a basketball game. It looked like more of a boxing match. The refereeing was definitely terrible and they were the ones who allowed the play to get the way it did. They were lucky no one got seriously hurt.

Give credit to the Huskies though for stepping and battling it out.

The UConn women are back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Georgetown Hoyas come to Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Louisville Cardinals recap, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Louisville Cardinals 2.7.12 box score

The starting five for the Huskies were Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

UConn shot 36.4% (20-55) from the floor while the Cardinals shot 25% (14-36).

The Huskies had 11 assists on their 20 made baskets.

UConn was 8-of-29 (27.6%) on three pointers. The Cardinals were 5-of-22 (22.7%).

The Huskies went 8-of-10 (80%) from the charity stripe. Louisville shot poorly from the free throw line going 13-of-21 (61.9%).

The Cardinals won the battle of the boards, outrebounding UConn 42-38.

The Huskies outscored the Cardinals 24-8 in the paint.

Both teams had four points on the fast break.

UConn had 10 points off of 20 Louisville turnovers. The Cardinals had 19 points off of 22 Huskies turnovers.

The Huskies had six second chance points to two for the Cardinals.

Louisville’s bench outscored UConn’s 18-11.

Both teams combined for 38 fouls (Huskies had 20, Cardinals had 18).

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Photo credit: AP Photo (No. 5 in gallery)