SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.) has been named one of six finalists for the 2014 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, announced today by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The UConn senior guard leads UConn in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals and helped guide the Huskies to 24 victories in the regular season, including 12 conference wins. Napier finished among the top five AAC players in eight different offensive categories.

Joining Napier in the final six are UCLA’s Kyle Anderson, Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, North Carolina’s Marcus Paige, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft and Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet.

The Cousy Award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in men’s college basketball. The original list of 47 candidates was narrowed down to the list of six student-athletes by a nationally-based committee.

“The Cousy Award screening committee took on the tough job of choosing from many talented point guardsto determine this list of six players who represent the leadership skills that Bob Cousy exhibited,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “Each of these candidates has consistently proven that they are worthy of this prestigious award.”

Napier, who was named the conference’s Player of the Year Wednesday and was a unanimous first team All-Conference pick, has already been named a U.S. Basketball Writers Association first team All-American, the District I Player of the Year, and an All-District selection. The 6-1 guard is on the final watch lists of the John Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, The Oscar Robertson Trophy, and the Senior CLASS Award.

“It was a tough process to narrow down the list of already exceptional point guards to only six, but these six men deserve to be fighting for the award and recognized as some of the greatest point guards in college basketball,” said Ken Kaufman, Chair of the Bob Cousy Award and former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). “We are excited to see what these six can do for the remainder of the season and recognize the winner at the Final Four.”

UConn’s Kemba Walker captured the Cousy Award in 2011. Other previous winners include Kendall Marshall (North Carolina), Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s), Raymond Felton (North Carolina), Dee Brown (Illinois), Acie Law (Texas A&M), DJ Augustin (Texas), Ty Lawson (North Carolina), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland), and last year’s recipient Trey Burke (Michigan).

The final six players in contention for the award will be presented to Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The Hall of Fame committee is made up of top college basketball personnel including media members, Sports Information Directors, Hall of Famers and head coaches. The winner of the 2014 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame’s Class Announcement on Championship Monday in North Texas as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.

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

STORRS, Conn. – Sophomore forward Breanna Stewart has been named National Player of the Year by espnW while senior center Stefanie Dolson and senior guard Bria Hartley each earned espnW All-America status, as announced on Friday.  Stewart was selected as a First Team All-American while Dolson and Hartley each earned Second Team honors.

View the espnW All-America release here and the Player of the Year release here.

Stewart, who was recently selected as the 2013-14 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, is leading the top-ranked Huskies at 19.7 points per game and is second on the squad at 8.1 rebounds per contest.  She ranks in the league’s top-10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, blocks and free throw percentage.

The North Syracuse, N.Y. native was honored as the 2014 American Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 21.7 points per game en route to leading UConn to the inaugural title.  The 2013-14 American Conference Preseason Player of the Year has been selected as the USBWA National Player of the Week and is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award.

Dolson, a 2013-14 All-American Athletic Conference First Team pick, is averaging 12.4 points and leads the squad at 9.2 rebounds per contest.  She is seventh nationally in field goal percentage and recently became only the fifth Husky all-time, along with Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Rebecca Lobo, and Jamelle Elliott, to register at least 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.  The 2013-14 American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Sportsmanship Award winner, Dolson is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award.

Hartley, a 2013-14 All-American Conference First Team selection, is second on the team with 16.4 points per game and 150 assists. She is in the league’s top-five in scoring, assists, assist-to-turnover ratio, steals and three-point field goal percentage and has scored 20 or more points 11 times this year.  The USBWA National Player of the Week on January 20, Hartley is only the second Husky all-time, along with Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, to post at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.

UConn enters NCAA Tournament play with a 34-0 record, marking the sixth time the Huskies begin NCAA action with an unblemished record.  The team recently won its 19^th conference tournament title and will compete in its 26^th consecutive NCAA Tournament.

The Huskies will play host to the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, beginning on March 23 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.  Seedings and pairings will be announced on Monday, March 17 on ESPN.

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

FORT MYERS, FL – Prior to today's game against the Twins, the Boston Red Sox made the following roster moves:

Right-handed pitchers Anthony Ranaudo and Alex Wilson, infielder Garin Cecchini, and outfielders Bryce Brentz and Alex Hassan were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Right-handed pitchers Matt Barnes, Miguel Celestino and Noe Ramirez, left-handed pitcher Henry Owens, catcher Blake Swihart, and infielders Heiker Meneses and Travis Shaw were reassigned to minor league camp.

The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.

With these moves, the Red Sox now have 46 players in big league camp, including 35 players from the 40-man roster, and 11 non-roster invitees.

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

ST. LOUIS – University of Connecticut senior guard Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.) has been named a First Team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association, as announced by the organization Wednesday.

Napier, who was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year earlier today, led the Huskies in points (17.8), rebounds (6.0), assists (5.2) and steals (1.8) this season, becoming the only UConn player to ever lead in each of those categories throughout a regular season. His 19.3 points per game in American Athletic Conference play were the second-highest mark among all players, and he earned Conference Player of the Week Honors five times throughout UConn's 2013-14 campaign.

His efforts propelled Connecticut to a 24-7 regular season record, which included two wins over the nationally ranked Memphis Tigers, who the Huskies face in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship Thursday night. Napier poured in a career-high 34 points on 10-of-21 shooting in UConn’s 86-81 overtime victory over Memphis on Feb. 15.

Arizona guard Nick Johnson, Duke forward Jabari Parker, Louisville guard Russ Smith and Creighton forward Doug McDermott rounded out the remaining spots on USBWA’s All-America First Team. McDermott led the nation in scoring, averaging 26.5 points a game, while Smith was named to the All-Conference First Team along with Napier.   

Napier has also been named as a finalist for the Naismith Trophy, Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, Senior CLASS Award and the John Wooden Award. No. 21 Connecticut’s game against No. 19 Memphis is set for a 9 p.m. tipoff and it can be seen on ESPNU and heard on the UConn IMG Radio Network.

2013-14 USBWA Men's All-America Team

First Team
Nick Johnson, G, Arizona
Doug McDermott, F, Creighton
Shabazz Napier, G, UConn
Jabari Parker, F, Duke
Russ Smith, G, Louisville

Second Team
Cleanthony Early, F, Wichita State
Melvin Ejim, F, Iowa State
C.J. Fair, F, Syracuse
Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati
Andrew Wiggins, G, Kansas

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

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 12, 2014) — After an outstanding season in which he led UConn to 12 conference victories, senior guard Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.) was named Wednesday as the American Athletic Conference 2014 Player of the Year.

Napier, who was recognized Tuesday as a unanimous selection to the All-Conference first team, was given the Player of the Year award by Commissioner Mike Aresco at the American Athletic Conference awards luncheon, the kickoff to the four-day American 2014 Championship, held at the FedExForum. The awards are decided by a vote of the league's 10 head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.

Napier is the first UConn player since Hasheem Thabeet in 2008-09 to be named a conference Player of the Year. It marks the eighth time UConn has had a Player of the Year, all previously in the Big East Conference — Donyell Marshall (1993-94), Ray Allen (1995-96), Richard Hamilton (1997-98), Hamilton again (1998-99), Caron Butler (2001-02),  Emeka Okafor (2003-04), Thabeet, and Napier.   

In a conference loaded with nationally-acclaimed guards, no American Athletic Conference player has been more valuable to his team this season than Napier, who leads the 24-7 Huskies in scoring (17.8), rebounding (6.0), assists (5.2), steals (1.8) and minutes played (34.8). 

In conference games, the 6-1 standout finished the regular season ranked second in the league in scoring (19.3), third in assists (4.7), second in free throw percentage (.901), fifth in steals (1.8), fifth in three-pointers made (2.3), fifth in defensive rebounds (4.8), fourth in minutes played (35.1), 14^th in three-point shooting percentage (.360), and 13^th in overall rebounding (5.7).

Napier was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week five times and to the conference's weekly Honor Roll nine times. He recorded six doubles-doubles this season, including the second triple-double of his career on Nov. 11 against Yale. He has had 10 games of 20 points or more, two of at least 30 points, and has led the Huskies in scoring 18 times.

Napier — already named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association District I Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and a USBWA first-team All-American — is on the final watch list of nearly every major national award, including the John Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, the Oscar Robertson Trophy, the Senior CLASS Award, and the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Cincinnati, which went 15-3 in conference play to earn a share of the first American Athletic Conference regular season-season championship, won three individual awards Wednesday. Head coach Mick Cronin was named the American Coach of the Year, while forward Justin Jackson was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Guard Sean Kilpatrick, who led the conference in points per game (22.2), was awarded the Sportsmanship Award.

Memphis also won multiple awards, as forward Austin Nichols earned Rookie of the Year honors and guard Michael Dixon Jr. was named the Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 13.3 points off the bench in all 18 conference games. Louisville forward Montezl Harris was tabbed the Most Improved Player and Temple forward Jimmy McDonnell was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference’s academics affairs committee.

Napier and the Huskies, seeded No. 4 in the tournament, will begin play in The American 2014 Championship with a quarterfinal game on Thursday night (9 p.m. EDT) against No. 5 Memphis. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

2014 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Honors

Player of the Year
Shabazz Napier, G, UConn

Coach of the Year
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati

Rookie of the Year
Austin Nichols, F, Memphis

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jimmy McDonnell, F, Temple

Defensive Player of the Year
Justin Jackson, F, Cincinnati

Sixth Man of the Year
Michael Dixon Jr., G, Memphis

Most Improved Player
Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville

Sportsmanship Award
Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati

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

STORRS, Conn. – The 2014 University of Connecticut football schedule was released on Tuesday by the American Athletic Conference and features six opponents who played in post-season bowl games in 2013. UConn will play a seven-game home schedule at Rentschler Field this season under first-year head coach Bob Diaco.

The Huskies open the season with three non-conference home games against BYU (Friday, Aug. 29, 8 p.m. on ESPN), Stony Brook (Saturday, Sept. 6) and Boise State (Saturday, Sept. 13). BYU played in the Fight Hunger Bowl and Boise State played in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. UConn's other non-conference game of the season will be against Army on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Yankee Stadium. That game will be televised by the CBS Sports Network.

The American Athletic Conference schedule kicks off on Friday, Sept.16 when the Huskies travel to USF for a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2.

UConn plays host to Temple on Saturday, Sept. 27 and, after a bye week, the Huskies play its first-ever game against Tulane when it travels to New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 11. After another bye is another first-time opponent for UConn with a trip to East Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 23 for an ESPNU game.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl champion UCF visits Rentschler Field on Saturday, Nov. 1, and the Huskies play the Army game the following week. UConn wraps up the regular season with conference games at home against Cincinnati on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Memphis on Saturday, Nov. 29 and home against SMU on Saturday, Dec. 6. Cincinnati played in the Belk Bowl last season.

2014 UConn Huskies Football Schedule

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

STORRS, Conn. – University of Connecticut women’s basketball standout Bria Hartley has been selected as one of 19 nominees for the James E. Sullivan Award, which honors the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete, as announced by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) on Tuesday, March 11.  Cast your vote for Bria at aausports.org!

Tuesday marks the first day of voting to find the winner of the 2013 AAU Sullivan Award. Voting is open to the public and will account for one-third of the athlete’s overall score.

The nominees were nominated by someone who thought they fit the requirements of outstanding athletic ability, strong character, leadership and sportsmanship. The public can cast their vote by going to www.aausports.org.

Voting will remain open until March 23rd at 11:59 EDT.

Hartley, a 2011-12 WBCA/State Farm All-America Team selection, has been honored as a First Team All-Conference selection twice and has earned a spot on the All-Conference Tournament Team on two occasions.  The 2011 Conference Rookie of the Year, Hartley has been named to the NCAA Tournament All-Regional Team twice and was selected to the All-NCAA Tournament Team in 2013.  Earlier this season, she became only the second Husky all-time, along with Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, to post at least 1,500-points, 500-rebounds and 500-assists.  This year has been her finest as she ranks in the league’s top-five in scoring, assists, steals, three-point field goal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Three finalists will be named no later than March 28th and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday, April 11 at the AAU National Headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

The Sullivan Award has been presented annually since 1930, and is based on character, leadership and sportsmanship. Notable recipients of the AAU Sullivan Award include: Mark Spitz, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence Joyner, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, J.J. Redick, Tim Tebow, Shawn Johnson and Missy Franklin.

Nominees for the 2013 James E. Sullivan Award

Ashley Bishop – Baton Twirling
Blake Bortles – University of Central Florida Football
David Boudia – USA Diving
Liz Brenner – Oregon Volleyball, Basketball, Track &Field
Rachel Fattal – USA Water Polo
Joy Woog-Garvey – Inline Hocke
Bria Hartley – University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball
Robert Herbst – AAU Powerlifting
Alex Johnson – University of Miami Volleyball
Katie Ledecky – Olympic Swimmer
Tre Mason – Auburn University Football
AJ McCarron – University of Alabama Football
Cory Ann McGee – University of Florida Track & Field
John Michael Nagel – Taekwondo 
Kelsey Robinson – University of Nebraska Volleyball
Jude Schimmel – University of Louisville Women’s Basketball
Shoni Schimmel – University of Louisville Women’s Basketball
John Urschel – Penn State Footbal
Alli Williams –Saint Francis University Women’s Basketball

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

ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named UConn senior guard Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.) its District I Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Junior guard Ryan Boatright (Aurora, Ill.) was also honored by the USBWA as he joined Napier on the 10-player All-District I Team. The USBWA divides the country into nine districts. Each with its own Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and All-District Team. District I includes all the Division I schools in New England.

Both Napier and Boatright earned the same awards from the USBWA last season.

Napier, who was also named a unanimous American Athletic Conference All-Conference first-team pick on Tuesday, led UConn to a 24-7 season and a place in the Top 25 polls. The 6-1 guard topped the Huskies in scoring (17.8), rebounding (6.0), and assists (5.2), the only player in UConn history to lead in all three categories. He shot 42.6 percent overall and 40.4 percent from three-point range. He ranks seventh on UConn’s all-time scoring list with 1,790 points, fourth in assists with 611, and second in steals with 235. He had six double-doubles this year, including a triple-double against Yale.

Boatright was second only to Napier in minutes played this season for the Huskies. He was third on the team in scoring (12.0) and second in assists (3.5) and steals (1.57). He scored double figures in 19 games this season. He combined with Napier to give the Huskies one of the most explosive backcourts in the country. 

The remainder of the All-District I Team included Ike Azotam (Quinnipiac), Bryce Cotton (Providence), Alex Francis (Bryant), Olivier Hanlan (Boston College), Clancy Rugg (Vermont), Wesley Saunders (Harvard), Maurice Watson (Boston University), and Chaz Williams (Massachusetts). Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg was named the District I Coach of the Year.

DISTRICT PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

I: Shabazz Napier, Connecticut

II: C.J. Fair, Syracuse

III: Jabari Parker, Duke

IV: Russ Smith, Louisville

V: Nik Stauskas, Michigan

VI: Doug McDermott, Creighton

VII: Cory Jefferson, Baylor

VIII: Cameron Bairstow, New Mexico

IX: Nick Johnson, Arizona

DISTRICT COACHES OF THE YEAR

I: Derek Kellogg, Massachusetts

II: Jay Wright, Villanova

III: Tony Bennett, Virginia

IV: Billy Donovan, Florida

V: John Beilein, Michigan

VI: Gregg Marshall, Wichita State

VII: Larry Brown, SMU

VIII: Craig Neal, New Mexico

IX: Sean Miller, Arizona

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

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – UConn senior Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.)  is one of  three unanimous selections to the 2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference first team, the league announced Tuesday.

The Huskies' star guard, who was a first team All-Big East pick last season and a Big East All-Rookie Team selection in 2010-11, leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and minutes played as UConn heads into The American 2014 Championship later this week at the FedExForum in Memphis. The Huskies stand 24-7 on the season and finished 12-6 in the league, tied for third place with SMU and Memphis.

In addition, UConn freshman center Amida Brimah (Accra, Ghana) was named to the league's All-Rookie Team.

Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick and Louisville's Russ Smith were also unanimous picks to the first team, which is selected by a vote of the league's 10 head coaches, none of whom are allowed to vote for their own players. Along with Napier, all three are finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, which goes to the nation's best player.

Joining the three star senior guards on the first team are Louisville sophomore forward Montrezl Harrell and SMU sophomore guard Nic Moore. One of the five will be named the league's Player of the Year on Wednesday.

In American Athletic Conference games, Napier ranked among the league leaders in numerous categories. He finished second in scoring (19.3), third in assists (4.7), second in free throw percentage (.901), fifth in steals (1.8), fifth in three-pointers made (2.3), fifth in defensive rebounds (4.8), fourth in minutes played (35.1), 14^th in three-point field goal percentage (.360), and 13^th in overall rebounding (5.7).

He was named The American Conference Player of the Week five times and was on the league's weekly Honor Roll nine times. Besides the Wooden Award, he is also on the final watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, the Naismith Trophy, the Senior CLASS Award, and the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Named to the all-conference second team are UCF's Isaiah Sykes, Cincinnati's Justin Jackson, Houston's TaShawn Thomas, Memphis' Shaq Goodwin and  Joe Jackson, and SMU's Markus Kennedy.

Brimah has played in all 31 UConn games this season, starting 17. He is averaging 4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and leads the team in blocked shots with 77. His 2.2 blocked shots averaged was second in the American Athletic Conference.

Named to the All-Rookie Team with Brimah was Memphis' Austin Nichols (unanimous), Louisville's Terry Rozier, and the USF duo of John Egbunu and Chris Perry.

The league will announce its Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man Award, and Sportsmanship Award on Wednesday afternoon at an awards luncheon in Memphis.

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team

Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati *

Shabazz Napier, G, UConn *

Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville

Russ Smith, G, Louisville *

Nic Moore, G, SMU

 2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team

Isaiah Sykes, G, UCF

Justin Jackson, F, Cincinnati

TaShawn Thomas, F, Houston

Shaq Goodwin, F, Memphis

Joe Jackson, G, Memphis

Markus Kennedy, F, SMU

 2014 American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team

Amida Brimah, C, UConn

Terry Rozier, G, Louisville

Austin Nichols, F, Memphis *

John Egbunu, C, USF

Chris Perry, F, USF

 * unanimous selection

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

Here's a look at the numbers posted by the NFL Draft-eligible players from the UConn Huskies football team that participated in UConn's Pro Day.

Please note that Shamar Stephen and Yawin Smallwood didn't participate in the below drills.

We'll have more from UConn's Pro Day coming up, including video and thoughts from the players. Also, the 2014 UConn Football schedule will be out later today.

And if you haven't gotten your tickets for the UConn/Army game at Yankee Stadium in November, tickets went on sale this morning. Head over to UConnTickets.com to get yours now before they are gone.

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

photo credit: patrick raycraft – hartford courant