Daniel Hamilton

“I can see myself at UConn,” he told SNY.tv following the visit.

“Me and Coach [Kevin] Ollie got along real well. I’ve known him since before he was the coach at UConn.”

Hamilton is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Los Angeles St. John Bosco and the younger brother of Jordan Hamilton, who plays for the Denver Nuggets, and Isaac Hamilton, who plays at UTEP.

Ranked No. 28 in the Rivals 150 for the Class of 2014, Hamilton holds offers from UTEP, UConn, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado, UNLV, San Diego State, Washington and Arizona State.

He has no other visits planned at the moment, but UConn is right up there for now.

“It went well,” he said. “I could see myself there.”

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Shabazz Napier

UConn was banned from the postseason this year because of sub-standard APR scores but can now look to making it back after settling into the American Athletic Conference that will also feature defending NCAA champion Louisville, Memphis, Temple, Cincinnati, SMU and Rutgers, among others.

“We think we have a great team for next season,” Napier said, “and we’re excited about playing for a conference championship and in the NCAA Tournament.”

Napier was not projected to go drafted and scouts thought he should return to school. His decision follows those of Louisville guard Russ Smith and Creighton forward Doug McDermott on Thursday.

“I think Shabazz’s decision is great for him and great for the university,” said UConn head coach Kevin Ollie. “I believe that first and foremost, it will give him a chance to earn his degree, which is something I know he’ll really cherish.

“At the same time, he’ll continue to hone his skills as a lead guard and contribute to us continuing the success of UConn basketball, but also he will keep cultivating

Napier led the Huskies in scoring last season at 17.1 points per game. Boatright, a sophmore, was second on the team in scoring (15.4) and assists (4.4), while Daniels, a sophomore, was third in scoring (12.1) and tops in rebounding (5.5).

“I’m pleased that all three of them will continue their education next year and their development as young men,” Ollie said. “As far as basketball is concerned, all of them improved last season and I expect that to continue through next year. We’re all looking forward to what’s ahead of us.”

The Huskies also bring in New York guard Terrence Samuel, who can now study under Boatright and Napier, and forwards Kentan Facey of New York and Amida Brimah of Florida.

With only 10 teams in the American Athletic Conference — the football schools from the old Big East — UConn should be right up near the top along with Louisville.

**For the latest on Who’s In and Who’s Out of the NBA Draft, click here.

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NEW YORK — Kentan Facey

“As far as Boat and Napier is concerned, I think they have a lot of experience,” the 6-foot-8 Facey told SNY.tv last week at the Jordan Brand Regional Game, where he went for a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds as White beat Black, 114-102. “They’ll probably be one of the best backcourts that we’ll have for the season. And for the new conference that we’re going in [the American Athletic Conference], they definitely will bring a lot of experience towards that.”

Facey also believes future UConn teammate Terrence Samuel – who had eight points and four boards in the win — would benefit from playing with Napier and Boatright.

“They pretty much are bigger guards, so he’ll definitely learn the style of play through them, practicing with them every day and stuff like that,” said Facey, who helped lead Long Island Lutheran to the New York State Federation AA championship game, where they lost to Christ the King.

Napier, a 5-foot-11 junior point guard, is undecided about his future and has until the April 28 NBA deadline to decide whether he will return to campus or declare for the Draft.

“Probably around the 25th or 26th [or April], that’s when I am going to decide whether I’m going to stay or going to go,” Napier told the Hartford Courant. “I continue to talk to my family, I talk to my mother every day about it. I’m just weighing the pros and cons, weighing my options. Growing up, I always thought one day, hopefully, I’d be able to provide for my family. That’s the thing that matters so much.”

Boatright, a 5-1 sophomore off guard, is also weighing his future options.

“They’re still thinking things over,” coach Kevin Ollie told the Courant. “It’s still a fluid situation, but I think they’re going to be — hopefully — back. And I’m going to go forward like they’re coming back. But if they decide to put their name in the draft, we’ll go forward and try to put them in the best shape possible. Shabazz, I know, is still injured a little and he has needed a little time to rest. Hopefully, he has had a lot of time to think about the decision, and he makes a wise decision for himself and his family.”

Meantime, the 6-8 Facey could play a big role next season since UConn is weak in the frontcourt.

Two UConn bigs had off-court issues during the offseason, with Tyler Olander getting arrested in March for trespassing on spring break in Panama City, Fla., and  Enosch Wolf, the 7-foot-1 junior from Germany, getting arrested in February and charged with third-degree burglary.

Olanders’s legal issue has been resolved after doing community service.

Wolf is suspended until the end of the semester, and his future will be determined then.

UConn also expects to bring back 6-8 sophomore DeAndre Daniels, 6-5 freshman guard Omar Calhoun and 6-9 freshman forward Philip Nolan.

“I’ve been talking to Coach [Ollie] and he’s telling me, ‘Just come in and work hard,’” Facey said. “With [6-11 Florida commit] Amida [Brimah] and myself coming in, I think we’ll be good whether we [don't] return anybody or it’s just us two coming back.”

A native of Trelawny, Jamaica, Facey has only played basketball for four years total, three in the U.S., so he feels he hasn’t developed any really bad habits, which should help him going forward.

“I think I play harder,” he said. “I think that’s the thing that stands out most about my game, playing harder.”

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The former McDonald’s All-American who played 35 games as a freshman for the Wolfpack uring the 2012-13 season has signed a financial aid agreement to complete his transfer to UConn.

Purvis, a 6-3, 195-pound guard from Raleigh, N.C., will have to sit out the 2013-14 season as per NCAA transfer rules, although he will be able to practice with the Huskies. He will have three years of eligibility remaining, starting in 2014-15.

“Rodney is a great athlete, but first and foremost a great person,” UConn head coach Kevin Ollie said. “We’re very excited that he will be a part of our program.”

Purvis played in all 35 games for the 24-11 Wolfpack last season, starting 23 and averaging 25.5 minutes per game. He averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, shot 44.2 percent overall and 38.5 percent from three-point range. He played 32 minutes and scored seven points in N.C. State’s 69-65 victory over UConn in the Jimmy V Classic last December in Madison Square Garden.

“Rodney is a solid, strong guard who can score in a lot of ways,” Ollie said. “He gets to the hole and he was a good three-point shooter last year. In pick-and-roll situations, we can use him a lot. He loves the up-tempo game. Plus, we can use his versatility. He can play the one, he can play the two, he’s even big enough to play the three, like we used Omar (Calhoun) this year.”

Ollie expects Purvis to help the Huskies even during the 2013-14 season.

“He brings us leadership, even next year,” Ollie said. “No, he won’t be playing, but he gives us a high-caliber basketball player that we can practice against every day. And he’s going to improve just by going against our guards, going through our workouts, and developing. Then, when he plays the following year, he’s going to be hungry, he’ll be chomping at the bit to play. Rodney will come right in and add stability to the backcourt and that’s something we’ll welcome. And he won’t be a freshman. He’ll be a junior maturity-wise.”

Purvis is a product of Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh and he was named the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year, the Associated Press North Carolina Men’s Prep Basketball Player of the Year, and a McDonald’s All-American in 2011-12. In addition, he was a member of the USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U-18 Championship.

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“I really trust coach [Kevin] Ollie,” Purvis, who averaged 8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds, told the Raleigh News & Observer. “They have a great tradition of producing NBA guards and that’s where I want to be someday.”

The 6-foot-3 Purvis must sit a year, but will slot in beginning in 2014-15 after Shabazz Napier is gone and Ryan Boatright could be.

Purvis is a McDonald’s All-American who started 23 games and averaged 25.5 minutes per game last year at N.C. State.

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By BRENDAN McGAIR

Special to ZAGSBLOG 

STORRS, Conn. – Nothing like sticking knife in your opponent’s back on the way out the door.

Taking the floor one final time as a Big East men’s basketball participant, Connecticut authored an emotional and appropriate final chapter Saturday against a Providence squad that was starting to gain steam in the NCAA Tournament conversation. Instead, the Huskies turned out the lights in a thrilling 63-59 overtime verdict at Gampel Pavillion that left the Friars (17-13 overall, 9-9 in Big East play) with some serious heavy lifting to do at next week’s Big East Tournament.

In essence, Saturday’s contest against PC was UConn’s version of a scene normally reserved for Madison Square Garden in early March. The postseason-ineligible Huskies were also basketball’s version of the walking wounded with Omar Calhoun (wrist) and Tyler Orlander (broken foot) sitting on coach Kevin Ollie’s bench in street clothes. Guard Shabazz Napier was cleared shortly before the noontime tip-off after missing UConn’s previous two games with foot discomfort.

“He had no lateral movement,” Ollie pointed out about Napier. “I thought we were down to six players, but we were going to fight and try to get a win.”

Despite the bum wheel, Napier was plenty effective against the Friars. The junior from Roxbury, Mass. provided Ollie with 44 tough minutes that saw him collect 16 points,

eight rebounds, four steals and four assists. Ryan Boatright’s miraculous 3-point play with 19 seconds remaining in the extra session was the cherry on top of a 23-point sundae while sophomore DeAndre Daniels continued his strong of late, burning Providence both inside and outside for 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

“Those kids are very good players and played with pride and determination,” said PC coach head coach Ed Cooley. “Give them credit, they made plays to win the game.”

UConn’s talented trio combined for all but five of the team’s points. After the final horn hounded and Ollie & Co. had secured their 20th victory and 10th in the Big East, an on-court ceremony was held to thank a group of young men that busted their collective tales despite knowing heading into the season that there would be no postseason, the result of academic troubles.

“The resolve and resilience they showed, I couldn’t be happier and I hope they stick together,” said Ollie.

With his first year as the Huskies’ head man behind him, Ollie’s look at the future also included the seismic shift that awaits this proud program. The America 12 beckons for Connecticut with games against Syracuse, Georgetown and St. John’s replaced with matchups against Memphis, Temple and Central Florida.

“I love my athletic director (Warde Manuel) and his passion and I’m just along for the ride. I know he’s going to take us to great places and I just can’t wait,” stated Ollie, whose Huskies fared much better in the rebounding department, winning the battle of the boards, 39-38, after the Friars owned the glass in the season’s first meeting (55-24).

While UConn’s last hurrah in the Big East proved sweet, PC departed Storrs with a sour taste in its collective mouth. Falling in overtime to the Huskies for the second time this winter, the Friars spent most of the contest stuck in neutral. The backcourt of Vincent Council and Bryce Cotton combined to shoot 7-for-25, 1-for-12 from 3-point territory. A preseason first team all-Big East selection, Council (six points in 42 minutes) turned the ball over five times and was badly fooled on a Napier 3-pointer at the top of the game. Spinning around completely, Napier swished a trey that put Connecticut up 53-50 with 3:23 remaining.

Cotton’s quiet afternoon – nine points for the Big East’s top point producer in 45 minutes – was due to the glove work of Connecticut’s R.J. Evans. The transfer from Holy Cross was honored prior to the game as part of “Senior Day” festivities, then went out and smothered Cotton as part of 42 minutes of stinginess.

“R.J. made every catch and screen tough for Bryce,” said Ollie. “When Bryce shoots it, he can rattle them off. He can hit three or four in a row. They got up as many as (four points with 12:17 left in the second half), but there weren’t any dagger threes that he seems to come up with.”

Despite letting a 55-53 lead slip away late in regulation, the Friars had a chance to

prevent the game from drifting into OT. Holding the ball at the top of the key, Cotton made his move inside five seconds before swinging the ball to LaDontae Henton, who was bottled up on the left block. The Huskies gobbled up the loose ball and called timeout with 1.1 seconds remaining, but the last ditch attempt yielded nothing. Five additional minutes were put on the scoreboard with the Friars and Huskies all even at 55-apiece.

UConn scored the first four points of the extra session before a putback by freshman Josh Fortune (10 points and two 3-pointers) brought the Friars to within 59-57. A Connecticut turnover turned into two free throws by Henton to square matters with 45.8 seconds flashing on the scoreboard.

With nine seconds on the shot clock, Boatright got Cotton to bite for a dagger of a shot that sent the 10,167 paying customers into hysteria. Boatright added the free throw to stretch the lead to three, which is what Cotton attempted and missed with 10 seconds left.

After scoring six points on four shots in the first 20 minutes, PC junior Kadeem Batts came alive to post 14 points and 12 rebounds – his fifth double double in 2012-13. Playing in his first and quite possibly his last college game in the state of Connecticut, New Haven native and PC freshman Kris Dunn had 11 points and four rebounds before fouling out in overtime.

It’s now off to the Big Apple for Friars, who following Saturday’s disappointment will need to make a major statement at Madison Square Garden just to enter the NCAA’s bubble discussion. Should PC end up being a one-and-done casualty in NYC, it’s prospects for the National Invitational Tournament could prove shaky as well.

Photo credit: AP

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By JOHN F. SILVER

HARTFORD, Conn. — It’s a rivalry that is 33 years old and in the fast moving world of college sports, that’s about as old as rivals get.

Syracuse and UConn are two of the marquee programs in the Big East. For ages, Jim Boeheim matched up with Jim Calhoun with their all-time wins record at times close enough where a week could change who was on top of the other.

The two schools became the epitome of Big East basketball.

The schools have played 88 times overall and 70 times as conference mates. In that time, UConn has won three national titles and been to four Final Fours while the Orange have three Final Fours to their credit and won the championship behind Carmelo Anthony in 2003.

That rivalry came to an end, at least for the time being on Wednesday, as UConn defeated No. 6 Syracuse for the first time in three tries in a 66-58 win.

The game was an ESPN featured game during rivalry week taking its rightful place before Duke-North Carolina.

Will the game ever be played again?

Syracuse is off to the ACC. The Catholic schools are forming their own league and Rutgers and Louisville are also leaving for the Big Ten and ACC, respectively. UConn’s left in what is going to be a new and lesser Big East starting next season.

This is the last time the two rivals will play with the Huskies being ineligible for the Big East and NCAA tournaments.

“It’s hard with the rivalry being over,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. “It’s hard and we hope we can play them somewhere else.”

Boeheim has never minced words at his disappointment about the Big East breaking up. He’s also blunt about the prospects of this game staying on the schedule. Before the Big East, Boeheim noted that St. Bonaventure was the Orange’s biggest rival.

Syracuse and St. Bonnies haven’t played in a decade. That doesn’t bode well for UConn-Syracuse in coming years.

“It’s been a great series,” Boeheim said. “Connecticut and Syracuse have had so many great games over the years. It’s one of those things that goes away…the league wasn’t able to be kept together. I feel bad about the whole thing. If we signed the football contract two years ago we wouldn’t have this.”

Boeheim is of course referring to the Big East turning down a lucrative television offer from ESPN two years ago that would have paid each team in the league $11-13 million. The league decided to try its hand in the open market, but was raided with Syracuse and Pittsburgh going to the ACC last year, and this past year Louisville to the ACC and Rutgers to the Big Ten. In response to all the turmoil, the Catholic seven of Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, DePaul, Villanova and Seton Hall elected to start their own league, which could begin in 2014.

UConn is left with Cincinnati and South Florida in the Big East with a host of C-USA schools coming in over the next two years.

The games between UConn and Syracuse have always been memorable, with the six-overtime game in the Big East quarterfinal in 2009 among the 14 times the schools have met in the Big East tournament.

Perhaps UConn’s first coming of age victory came in the 1990 Big East title game when the school won its first Big East men’s championship over a Derrick Coleman-led Orange team in Madison Square Garden.

For most of that time, Calhoun has roamed the sidelines battling Boeheim. Calhoun was back at the XL Center on Wednesday and spoke with the New Haven Register about the UConn-Syracuse rivalry.

“There isn’t any question in my mind they’ve been our No. 1 rival in the Big East,” Calhoun told the Register. “I don’t remember a game played with them that wasn’t meaningful.”

Ollie was first introduced to UConn through the Big East television package and games against Syracuse. He watched the two foes battle it out in the late 80s and early 90s as a player at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles. The Big East had that kind of national reach in basketball.

Conference realignment has gutted the Big East and the loss of playing Syracuse is perhaps the most bitter of all pills to swallow for the Huskies.

UConn and Syracuse have been joined at the hip in basketball circles since that 1990 game and that yearly rivalry comes to an end for good. Syracuse joins the ACC while the Huskies stick with the remnants of the Big East. It’s an almost unfathomable turn of events for the two programs.

The Orange’s entrance into the ACC secures the future with a lucrative television contract awaiting. The Orange are set to receive about more than $15 million annually from the ACC as part of its television deal with ESPN.

UConn? It’s been left behind with Cincinnati and South Florida in the conference merry-go round and will receive much less in the next television deal. Reports suggest UConn can look forward to about $2 million a year in TV money and will no longer be in the top college basketball conference in the country.

That meant little on Wednesday, when Syracuse and the Huskies played in front of a vocal crowd of 13,000 plus at the XL Center in Hartford.

The Orange and Huskies played an old-fashioned Big East game that was heavy on drama, physical play and energy.

If this was the last game to be played, UConn and Syracuse went out in style.

**For more, read John’s game story here.

UConn sophomore guard Ryan Boatright can’t stand watching ESPN nowadays.

The Huskies are banned from postseason play and so Boatright gets annoyed every time he sees an NCAA Tournament commercial on the Worldwide Leader.

“I see the daggun’ ‘Journey to the Tourney commercial every other commercial,” Boatright told UConn reporters, as quoted by the New Haven Register from the above video. “I get irritated, so I turn the TV off.”

There will be no NCAA Tournament, no NIT Tournament and no Big East Tournament for the Huskies, who will take 15-5 mark, 5-3 in the Big East into tonight’s tilt with St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s definitely frustrating, especially when you work hard every day,” Boatright said. “You put the work in that we put in, and you see other schools that aren’t even doing as well as you and they’re getting a chance to play in the tournament. It’s frustrating, but we knew going into the season that we weren’t going to be able to (play in the postseason). We’re alright.”

Tonight will mark the last appearance for the Huskies at the Garden this season. Back in December, they lost to N.C. State in the Jimmy V Classic, 69-65.

“We’ve definitely got to make sure we go out there and get a win,” said Boatright, “considering that we dropped the ball against NC State.”

The Johnnies (14-8, 6-4), meantime, had been the Big East’s hottest team — riding a five-game winning streak — before losing Saturday at Georgetown.

The will be without point guard Jamal Branch for tonight’s game because he is out with a sprained MCL.

“When you’re down a starter, it’s something we have to offset,” Johnnies coach Steve Lavin said, adding that Marco Bourgault could start in Branch’s place and that shot-blocking sensation Chris Obekpa will play starter’s minutes.  ”I like our team’s depth.  We had 10 different starting line-ups this season, so our players shouldn’t be scared or have stage fright.  It was my thinking, before the season started, to get this young team as experienced as possible when testing different combinations on the court.”

St. John’s still harbors thoughts of an NCAA Tournament run, while the Huskies must try to play the spoiler on the Garden floor.

“You kinda think about it,” Napier, the reigning Big East player of the week, told the Register.

“The first thing you think about is trying to win the game. After you win the game, that’s probably the second thing you think about. I just wanna go out there and play them with utmost respect and try to win a game. Especially playing for the last time in Madison Square Garden, it’s something special for the whole team … (and) if we win, just think about that we spoiled it a little bit for them.”

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By JOHN F. SILVER

HARTFORD, Conn. – The press row seats aren’t occupied by many NBA scouts anymore.

There seems to be little interest in the University of Connecticut men’s

basketball team these days. The first reason is the lack of postseason eligibility, the second is not one surefire NBA pick that makes scouts and others take notice.

It wasn’t like that last year, when NBA scouts flocked to XL Center and Gampel Pavilion like they were season ticket holders.

That’s not the only difference between last year’s UConn team that began the season ranked in the top 5 and had top 5 talent before meandering through a 20-14 season and an early NCAA tournament exit.

Read the full story here.

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