Kevin Ollie takes over today as coach of Connecticut, succeeding his current boss and former coach at UConn, Jim Calhoun. Both were part of a combination farewell/introductory press conference today in Storrs that took listeners through his rocky beginning at Boston’s Northeastern, his drive down to his own introductory presser at UConn with the Boston Globe‘s Jackie MacMullan, and his three national titles. Those 26 years are hard to sum up, with his history with the NCAA’s infractions committee abutting his three title plaques, in one easy way. There are so many moments from that span that you’ll see a lot of top-10 lists. Read More »

It’s no secret that the NBA is on the mainstream backburner right now — stuck in that period when everybody is paying attention to football and the MLB playoff chase, when pretty much every important free agent has been signed, and when training camp isn’t exactly right around the corner. But in places like Oklahoma City, they’re just as basketball-obsessed as they were during the NBA Finals. Even on days when there’s no other NBA news to report, there’s still something coming out of OKC. Lately it’s been all about James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Read More »

Last season’s UConn men’s basketball team had one of the craziest and rarest runs to an NCAA Championship that we’ve ever seen. 11 straight postseason wins eventually climaxed with a 53-46 win over Butler for the program’s third NCAA Championship. For such an incredible season, amazingly no one had covered the whole story: how they all got there, the expectations (or lack thereof) and the motivation. Until now. Read More »

While this might not be as good as Arizona’s intro video, the defending national champions do a pretty good job.

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*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down Big East giant Syracuse earlier today, we’ll keep this going with No. 4-ranked UConn (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

Wednesday afternoon, the UConn men’s basketball team took part in the annual Husky Run outside of the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. On this cool fall day, the atmosphere was light and relaxed. They were signing autographs, coaches and players were joking around, and former UConn stars Kemba Walker and Hasheem Thabeet were reliving their days in Storrs.

The season officially begins tonight, and the laid-back autumn days are coming to an end for the defending national champions. Read More »

No NBA players will be hitting up Bank of America if they’re in need of loans during the lockout. Why, just go to Kobe Bryant. He’ll hand out loans. Seriously. Billy Hunter, president of the Players Association, told the Los Angeles Times that the Laker star is intimately involved in the talks and negotiations and that he’s (along with other unnamed players) prepared to offer loans to players who may need help during the lockout … Read More »

We have all witnessed history. On many, many levels. We wake up this morning with UConn as champions of college basketball; the Huskies the last team standing at the end of an absolutely incredible postseason rampage that included winning five Big East Tournament games in five days and then reeling off the six Ws needed to win the NCAA Tournament. That type of run would have been considered unreal for a top-ranked team – the fact that it was put together by a UConn squad that wasn’t even ranked until Week 4 of the season and then entered the Big East Tourney as a No. 9 seed is just absurd. History will remember this Connecticut squad as one of the most unlikely championship teams in college basketball history … Kemba Walker should donate his kicks (Air Jordan 6-17-23) to Springfield. He’s been wearing these ever since the start of the Big East Tournament and hasn’t lost since. After the Big East tourney, he told us he was ready to go get six more Ws … To the game … Read More »

Monday’s National Championship game is set after UConn and Butler emerged victorious from two hard-fought semi-final games yesterday in Houston. In the heavyweight game, the Huskies took out the Kentucky Wildcats behind Kemba Walker’s 18 points, seven dimes and six boards. The game was won in the backcourt, as Walker and mates Shabazz Napier (four points) and Jeremy Lamb (12 points) outplayed the Kentucky duo of Brandon Knight (17 points on 6-23 shooting) and Doron Lamb (13 points). Kentucky was down 10 at intermission but came storming back in the second half to tie it up. Down two with the ball and 16 seconds left on the clock, Kentucky came out of a timeout and ran a “play” that saw Knight dribble around for several seconds before passing to DeAndre Liggins for a fadeaway, contested 30-footer that had no chance. Ballgame … Read More »

Words. Julian Caldwell

The symbolism of freshman guard Jeremy Lamb taking an assist from junior Kemba Walker to put UConn up by one point late in the Big East Tournament final, and freshman Shabazz Napier nailing the final two free throws was almost too perfect.

Most of the attention on UConn’s backcourt goes to Walker, the explosive scorer who is expected to graduate this year and enter the NBA Draft with his stock sky high. Yet Walker is symbolically passing the ball off to freshmen guards Lamb and Napier, who have become integral pieces in the current success of the Huskies, and will likely play bigger roles in any future triumphs. Read More »