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.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they’ll take on the St. Joseph’s Hawks for the right to advance to the Sweet 16 in Lincoln, NE at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU. You can also catch the game online or your mobile device at WatchESPN. If you live locally in Connecticut and can’t catch the game on television or online, you can always listen to Bob Joyce and Debbie Fiske on the UConn IMG Radio Network.

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

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Video: Huskies All-Access Looks at UConn Women’s Win Over Prairie View [sox & dawgs]

Saint Joseph’s special to Philly native Auriemma [carl adamec – snyuconn.com]

For Dolson, big numbers but one regret [carl adamec – snyuconn.com]

Happy To Be A Hawk [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Almost Time To Say Goodbye To Dolson And Hartley [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Preview: Saint Joseph’s next in line for Huskies (analysis) [roger cleaveland – waterbury republican-american]

Huskies Made Video To Honor Auriemma [rich elliott – ct post]

Great Pass By Jefferson, No Dunk For Stewart [rich elliott – ct post]

From Recruit To Head Coach, Griffin and Auriemma Go Way Back [rich elliott – ct post]

Auriemma’s Ties To Gardler Span More Than 20 Years [rich elliott – ct post]

Shields family no strangers to UConn’s Auriemma [jim fuller – new haven register]

Chaos rules in Lincoln bracket [jim fuller – new haven register]

Balanced Attack Helps UConn Shake Off Rust in NCAA Tournament Opener [uconnhuskies.com]

Women’s Hoops Hosts Saint Joseph’s in Second Round Action on Tuesday [uconnhuskies.com]

St. Joe’s relishes challenge of playing No. 1 UConn [ct post]

In Geno’s Mind, Ollie Is No. 1 When It Comes To Seeding [hartford courant]

Picture Perfect: Auriemma Likes UConn’s Maturity Level [hartford courant]

Notebook: A Fond Farewell To Gampel For Dolson, Hartley [hartford courant]

Ties that bind [journal inquirer]

UConn seniors Dolson, Hartley to play one final game at Gampel [new haven register]

Auriemma knows Saint Joseph’s Shields family well [new haven register]

UConn women play for spot in Sweet 16 tonight [the day]

Huskies better when they go through Dolson [waterbury republican-american]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Want To Attend UConn’s Garden Party? It’s Going To Cost You … [dom amore – hartford courant]

Tickets for UConn’s Sweet 16 Game are Expensive — And Going Fast [david borges – new haven register]

MSG is UConn Country [john silver – snyuconn.com]

Men’s Basketball NCAA East Regional Tickets Sold Out [uconnhuskies.com]

Boatright steps up to push UConn to Sweet 16 [ct post]

Thanks To UConn, NCAA Regionals At Madison Square Garden Now More Expensive Than Final Four Tickets [forbes]

In Geno’s Mind, Ollie Is No. 1 When It Comes To Seeding [hartford courant]

MSG tickets in high demand [new haven register]

UConn men can’t wait to return to Garden [the day]

Unlikely heroes step forward for Huskies [waterbury republican-american]

What I Learned From Buffalo: UConn Huskies and Dayton Flyers [si.com]

UConn last remaining hope for Eastern teams [providence journal]

Cyclones’ Sweet 16 foe knows Garden intimately [the gazette]

UConn Football links

UConn Football Springs Back Into Practice [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football 2014 Spring Practice No. 4 Highlights [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco Talks About Spring Practice No. 4 [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco on What He Wants To Accomplish [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco Talks About The Different Position Groups [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco Talks About Where Team Is [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco Talks About His Offensive Line [sox & dawgs]

No Real Scrimmages Outside Blue-White, Practices Too Valuable; News, Notes [desmond conner – hartford courant]

McClain, Griffin lead UConn products in NFL pay distribution [jim fuller – new haven register]

Some continuity in offensive line [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Football Returns To Practice [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn football back to work after spring break [ct post]

Diaco: Huskies Had No Trouble Shaking Off Spring Break Rust [hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. As Cubs look at third, Olt says defense won’t be an issue [csn chicago]

Baseball. UConn Baseball vs. Hartford Moved [uconnhuskies.com]

Softball. Tuesday’s Softball Game vs. Sacred Heart Rescheduled to May 1 [uconnhuskies.com]

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

The UConn Huskies football team returned to the practice field for the first time since March 14 and as you might expect, there was a little rust to be removed and maybe a post spring break hangover.

Early on during the media portion of practice, the players were going through a conditioning drill and Diaco wasn’t happy. He made sure to let his team know. They did it again. He was still not happy. Finally, after doing it a third time, he was pleased.

Before the team broke off into individual drills, he spoke to the team and told them to “raise the level of your intensity, raise the level of your focus”.

After practice, he seemed pleased that his charges had done just that especially given the situation of practicing the day after spring break ended.

“A Monday after a spring break always could be a hairy situation for teams across the country but I feel like the team went and handled practice four well, ” Diaco said. “It wasn’t anything that was extraordinary but, I know and the coaches know what it feels like as a player to go on spring break and come back and spring break ends Sunday and to come back on Monday and be electric, it’s just not realistic.”

It did help that he and his staff set up practice to scrape that rust off and get back to the focus of UConn football.

We really set up practice today to not ask the players to have to do that, to really acclimatize a bit and they handled that well,” said Diaco. “They [the players] would be the first to tell you that shaking off the spring break rust took a little bit of time but they did. So it fit the model that the coaches were expecting and we were pleased to have a successful practice four.”

Diaco has a plan in place of where he’d like to see the team after Saturday’s practice where high school coaches from around the state and region will be in attendance.

“I’d like to see the team begin to transition from survival to, for lack of a better word, attack,” Diaco said. “A physical assault and a mental attack, where they’re not just surviving. So by design, we’ll have smart installation. Today was virtually no installation, offense, defense and special teams. It was a shining and polishing, a re-engagement of the first three practices.

“We’ll do the same thing at the end of the week. By Saturday there will be more guys that know what to do and can cut it loose and are cutting it loose. Right now we’ve got a lot of guys that are trying, expending a lot of energy, in a haphazard way. We’d like that to begin more directed and more controlled where we can have guys cutting it loose in a play they clearly know. I’d like to think we can accomplish that by the end of the week.”

There’s definitely a different vibe around this team then the one that was felt in the fall. But like Diaco has, we can’t look back to the past.

We can only look forward, forward to a solid UConn football team.

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

photo credit: ian bethune – sox & dawgs

Just like the UConn Huskies football team and the rest of the students at the school, I took a bit of a spring break myself.

I can definitely say without a shadow of a doubt that mine was no where near exciting as theirs might have been or probably wise. But nonetheless, we are both back and ready to get to work.

The last media interaction with the UConn football team came 10 days ago when they held practice at 6 a.m. New head coach Bob Diaco got their blood flowing early on with the “rodeo drill.”

“The Rodeo is one of four or five drills that we rotate through our full-padded practices that ramp up, in a controlled setting, the principles of football, block destruction, tackling, blocking, running, ball security in a controlled setting,” Diaco said. “All things that need to be present and worked on every day no matter what has happened. …” Pad level, blocking, foot action, hand violence and speed, ball security, shed, wrap up, foot acceleration. Those are things that need to be worked on every day.”

I’ll be honest I wasn’t up there to see it but it was the talk of the locker room after practice.

Oh it was awesome,” linebacker Marquise Vann said. “It’s definitely a change of pace.”

That drill is really fun,” safety Andrew Adams said. “It brings intensity to practice. Everybody gets fired up. It gets everybody going, gets a blood-rush toward the beginning of practice.”

There’s just 11 practices left until the spring game on April 12th. Obviously there’s a lot of work to do offensively and defensively before then.

Diaco did say that he saw improvement from everyone from the first practice to the third practice. Now with the fourth practice on Monday afternoon, I’d expect there to be some rust.

But with Diaco as the head coach, I’m sure that rust will be cleaned up right away.

Kivon Taylor Suspended

During his press conference on the 14th, Diaco announced that QB Kivon Taylor has been suspended indefinitely by the university.

“Mr. Taylor was suspended by the university and the athletic department and the team based on the violation of athletic department, university, team policy,” Diaco said. “It’s indefinite. There are some factors that will get evaluated by the athletic department and sports performance team that will then re-engage Mr. Taylor.”

I’ll have more later tonight or early tomorrow morning on practice number four.

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

thanks to John Silver of the Journal Inquirer for the video. Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant also has video up on his Instagram page.