A graduate of Bridgeport Central High School,  Williams led the Big East with  11 sacks last season,  and finished his college career as UConn’s all-time sacks leader.  He was an All-Big East First Team Selection.

Drummond played in sixty games for the Detroit Pistons this season, missing time late in the season because of an injury.

Drummond is the ninth former Husky named to an  All-Rookie Team, the first since Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams in 2006-07.

Drummond received five first-team votes,  15 second-team votes.

Members of the 2013 NBA All-Rookie First Team are were Damian Lillard of Portland, Bradley Beal of Washington, Anthony Davis of New Orleans, Dion Waiters of Cleveland, and Harrison Barnes of Golden State.

Other  Second Team members are Jonas Valanciunas of Toronto, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Charlotte, Kyle Singler of Detroit, and Tyler Zeller of Cleveland.

UConn spokesman Phil Chardis says doctors shaved down the some bone during procedures at the end of March and April to relieve a condition known as femoral acetabular impingement or FAI.

The school says the recovery time is expected to be between three and four months and Calhoun should be back for the start of his sophomore season.

The 6-foot-5 guard from Brooklyn, N.Y. averaged just over 11 points per game as a freshman.
 

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)    

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A tribal casino in Connecticut is bidding to host the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for the new American Athletic Conference.

Chris Sienko, vice president for the Mohegan Sun, which includes a 9,500-seat arena that is home to the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, said the resort is interested in hosting one or both tournaments.

“We have no insight as to whether we’ll be chosen or be a finalist,” said Sienko, who also serves as general manager for the WNBA team. “We’re just going through the same process that everyone else is going through to be vetted out by the AAC.”

Conference officials confirm the venue is in the running, but said the sites for each tournament will be chosen separately by the presidents and athletic directors of the member schools, with input from coaches. The topic will be discussed at the upcoming conference meetings, which begin May 20.

The conference is also considering cities such as Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis and Hartford to host the men’s tournament. It is also looking at venues for the women’s tournament in places such as central Florida. Hartford’s XL Center, where the Big East has held its tournament since 2004, also remains in the mix, officials said.

“Due to the powerful fan base in Connecticut and the past success of our championship over the past 10 years in Connecticut, consideration of multiple venues in that state makes sense as we work to consider a group of venues across our footprint and secure our future direction,” said Danielle Donehew, the Big East’s associate commissioner for women’s basketball who will continue with the AAC.

The decision comes at the same time the XL Center is changing management. Chris Lawrence, the building’s new general manager, said they are also hopeful they can bring one or both tournaments to Hartford.

“It’s something new for them and an opportunity for them to get out and see what else is out there, but we’re going to go out and put our foot forward and see how things shake out,” he said. “That track record of proven success here, I think speaks for itself. It’s kind of up to us to make sure we’re engaged with the league and in constant communication with them.”

Big East spokesman Chuck Sullivan said the AAC hopes to make its decisions in the next 60 days.

The casino, which is owned by the Mohegan tribe, has made pitches in the past to host the Big East women’s tournament. But the idea was rejected by presidents of several Catholic schools, who objected to playing at a gambling venue.

Those schools have split off to form their own conference, which is keeping the Big East name. Sienko said they are hopeful the current AAC institutions, which will include UConn, will be more receptive.

“With so many tournaments now being played in Las Vegas, we think that a lot of conferences are now understanding that you need to go someplace where it’s more viable for your conference to showcase itself and what it has to offer,” Sienko said.

The Pac-12 this year held its men’s tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, one of four conference tournaments held in that city. Atlantic City, N.J., has also hosted the Atlantic 10 tournament in Boardwalk Hall, which sits among a strip of casinos.

The Sun currently hosts the annual Hall of Fame Tip Off tournament, has hosted other NCAA games and serves as the site for the state high school basketball championships.

Sienko said his resort offers the conference amenities few other venues can match, including a hotel and box office on site, 30 restaurants, retail shops and 13,000 free parking spaces.

UConn’s athletic director, Warde Manuel, said he doesn’t see gambling as an issue, especially because the Mohegan Sun does not have a sports book.

“I think we’re past the idea that having a tournament in an arena attached to a casino, that in some type of way we’re influencing people to gamble,” he said. “I don’t see that tie.”

UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma said it makes sense to put the tournaments in Connecticut, where UConn with its eight NCAA women’s titles and three men’s titles is the conference’s biggest name.

“Given the fact that the league is so new and we are kind of geographically challenged, so to speak, in terms of finding someplace in the middle, I would hope that this is viewed the same way Madison Square Garden was viewed by the Big East,” he said.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)    

Williams was the 124th overall pick of the draft.

He had 42 tackles, including 13.5 for loss and 11.5 sacks in his senior season for Connecticut, following his junior season when he had 12.5 sacks, which was good for fifth in the country.

The Texans selected Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins with the 27th overall pick on Thursday.

Houston picked South Carolina safety D.J. Swearinger in the second round Friday and North Carolina offensive tackle Brennan Williams and LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery in the third round.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

HOUSTON (AP) _ The Houston Texans selected Jacksonville State wide receiver Alan Bonner, Bowling Green defensive tackle Chris Jones and Connecticut tight end Ryan Griffin in the sixth round of the NFL draft Saturday after moving to bolster their linebacker corps.

Bonner was taken with the 195th pick before taking Jones with the 198th selection and Griffin with the 201st overall pick.

Ryan Griffin (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Bonner caught 50 passes for 859 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior. Jones, who was a third-team AP All-American and named MAC Defensive Player of the Year, had 42 tackles, including 19 for loss and 12.5 sacks. Griffin caught 29 passes for 484 yards and six touchdowns for Connecticut.

Houston traded with Oakland to get the 176th pick, sending the 184th pick and the Texans’ seventh round selection, the 233rd pick, to the Raiders. Houston traded back earlier in the day, sending the 160th overall pick to the St. Louis Rams for the 184th and 198th picks.

Houston began the day selecting Connecticut outside linebacker Trevardo Williams in the fourth round with the 124th pick. Earlier in the sixth round, the Texans picked San Jose State offensive tackle David Quessenberry with the 176th overall selection.

Houston Texans linebackers coach Reggie Herring said Williams adds speed to the Texans’ special teams and defense.

Herring said Williams could play with Montgomery at the strong side linebacker position, and the selections give the Texans the options to possibly move outside linebacker Brooks Reed inside.

“Brooks Reed has played inside for us at times,” Herring said. “We feel very comfortable with that move if that is an option to get our best eleven on the field.”

Herring said that Reed embraced the idea after the season and he was excited about it.

“That’s something I don’t want to get nailed down to right now,” Herring said. “I would feel extremely, and I know (defensive coordinator) Wade (Phillips) feels the same way, extremely comfortable with moving Brooks Reed inside. Like I said, I’ve got a highlight tape of him playing inside last year and he might be, without hurting anybody’s feelings, he might be the second best (inside linebacker) on campus right now.”

Adding Williams and Montgomery gives the Texans more linebackers, which Herring said in the Texans’ system, the more linebackers, the better.

“They give flexibility within your system, which is critical,” Herring said. “Our numbers outside were down.”

Herring said that despite his size, Williams is fast.

“The guy can fly, and the transition to this league without knowing any technique or fundamental skills on rushing the passer in this league, if you are fast, you have a chance to be successful early before you even learn any techniques,” Herring said. “Fast is important.”

Williams said he played at defensive end, stand up and like a linebacker in college, but several things set him apart from other defensive ends.

“My speed, my versatility, my explosiveness, my agility, my athleticism,” Williams said. “I have the whole package.”

The Texans selected Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins with the 27th overall pick on Thursday. Houston picked South Carolina safety D.J. Swearinger in the second round at 57th overall before selecting North Carolina offensive tackle Brennan Williams and LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery in the third round with the 89th and 95th overall selections, respectively.
 (© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sophomores Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels also ended speculation and told UConn they plan to stay in school.

Napier says he’s looking forward to continuing work toward his college degree and to “becoming a stronger leader for my teammates on and off the court.”  He says he thinks UConn has a strong team for the 2013-2014 season,   “and we’re excited about playing for a conference championship and in the NCAA Tournament.”

With 17.1 points per game last season,  Napier was the Huskies’ leading scorer.  He also led in assists and steals.

He thanked his family, especially his mother for her inspiration,  and Coach Kevin Ollie and the UConn coaching staff for their understanding,  and thanked his teammates,  singling out Brendan Allen and Enosch Wolf.  And Napier offered a special thanks to Coach Emeritus Jim Calhoun for helping him sort through the pros and cons of the decision.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Former Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun and UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma were inducted Wednesday into the state’s Hall of Fame.

The coaches, both already members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had their names added to a wall that includes such Connecticut icons as author Mark Twain, lexicographer Noah Webster and baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson.

Calhoun guided the Huskies to three national titles in his 26 years at UConn before retiring after the 2011-12 season.

“It’s really great,” he said. “It only took me 26 years, but it took Mark Twain 150 to get into the Hall of Fame.”

Auriemma, who coached his team to the program’s eighth national title earlier this month, joked that he was there to represent actor Paul Newman, a 2009 inductee.

“It’s unbelievably rewarding and humbling and you’re grateful and appreciative anytime someone wants to honor you for what you’ve done,” Auriemma said. “And certainly some of the names on that wall are some of the greatest names in the history of not just Connecticut, but in the history of their field.”

The two other members of this year’s class were Roger Sherman, a founding father who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and toy maker A.C. Gilbert, best known for creating the Erector Set.

The small Hall of Fame is located in the state Legislative Office Building adjacent to the state Capitol

It was established in 2005 to recognize the outstanding achievements of people from Connecticut, both nationally and internationally. Only 16 people are members.

State Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. said there is no doubt the two basketball coaches belong on that list for their work in motivating young people to become winners.

“They have lifted up our state university, not only for us to see, in terms of their accomplishments, but all across America,” he said.

The induction ceremony coincided with the annual “Husky Day” at the state Capitol, which included a reception for the school’s basketball and football teams.

As usual, lawmakers and staffers fawned over the players and coaches, many asking for autographs. Some brought basketballs to sign. Others brought their children with them in the hopes of getting a photo with a player or coach.

Several encouraged Shabazz Napier, a junior guard on the men’s basketball team, to stay in school one more year.

Napier, who is considering entering the NBA draft, said he has not yet made a decision.
 (© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

School officials and state lawmakers tell The Associated Press the pair will be inducted on Wednesday at the Legislative Office Building.

Calhoun, who retired after the 2012 season, guided the Huskies to three national titles in his 26 years at UConn. Auriemma coached his team to that program’s eighth national championship earlier this month.

The Connecticut Hall of Fame was established in 2005 to recognize the outstanding achievements of people from Connecticut.

The induction ceremony coincides with the annual “Husky Day” at the Capitol, which will include appearances by members of the schools’ athletic teams.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Brimah, who is six-foot-eleven and 215 pounds is originally from Ghan a  and,  a childhood soccer player,  has only been playing organized basketball for three years.  He currently lives in Miami and is a senior at Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School.

He expects to study hospitality management at UConn.

The Huskies debuted  Weist’s offense in the Blue and White Spring football game Saturday at Rentschler Field with mixed results.

The final score of the controlled scrimmage was 6-0 after two Bobby Puyol field goals of 46 and 20-yards. UConn didn’t divide up the roster into two teams because of injuries.

“It could have been more exciting, “ Weist said. “We know we have talent. We’ve got playmakers. Our job is to put it together and put them in position to make plays.”

Quarterback Chandler Whitmer was 8 of 14 for 140 yards and an interception. Backup Casey Cochran was 7 of 18 for 101 yards and Scott McCummings was 1 of 6 for 9 yards.

“With a new coordinator, it’s a different attitude and different approach,” Whitmer said. “That’s something we need to bring. We were lethargic last year and didn’t have enough energy. That’s the biggest thing (Weist) brings in.”

The Huskies passing game included Whitmer finding Deshon Foxx three times for 70 yards. Freshman wide receiver Dhameer Bradley made a 53-yard catch to account for the big play in the game.

The rushing game struggled with two-year starter Lyle McCombs carrying the ball four times for only 2 yards. Defensive end Tim Willman had three tackles and two sacks to lead the defense.

The Huskies are coming off consecutive 5-7 seasons with struggling offenses. Pasqualoni relieved long-time assistant George DeLeone of the play-calling duties after the offense ranked 110th in the NCAA last year at 318 yards per game. UConn was 117th among 120 teams in rushing yards per game.

Weist worked on Butch Jones’ staff at Cincinnati and previously was the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky.

“Today was a scaled-down version,” Pasqualoni said. “I think it was typical of way spring games go.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Kelly Hardwick filed the lawsuit in New York last June, alleging she was being kept off the security detail at the London Olympics after spurning sexual advances from Auriemma on a trip to Russia in 2009. Auriemma, who coached the USA women’s basketball team to a gold medal in London last year, denied the allegations.

The Connecticut Post reports  that Supreme Court Justice Cynthia S. Kern dismissed the case on April 11. She ruled that her court had no jurisdiction because Auriemma doesn’t live or work in New York.

Hardwick’s lawyer appealed Kern’s decision Tuesday to the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.
___
Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins are expected to be the top three selections in this year’s highly touted WNBA draft. After that, it’s anybody’s guess.

Phoenix has the envied No. 1 pick in the draft Monday night and it’s anticipated that the Mercury will select Griner, the 6-foot-8 Baylor standout who averaged 23.8 points _ third-best in the country _ and 4.14 blocked shots as a senior. The two-time AP women’s college basketball Player of the Year finished her career as the No. 2 scorer in NCAA history with 3,283 points and set records with 748 blocks and 18 dunks.

“She’s no doubt going to be an impact player right away,” Tulsa coach Gary Kloppenburg said on a national media conference call. “Defensively, great shot-blocking, just clogging the lane even with the new (defensive 3-second) rule she’s mobile enough she’s going to be able to understand the two-point line, getting in, getting out.

“Offensively, you really have to double-team her and she’s so skilled down there with all her array of shots. Her passing ability has improved so much, she’s going to really tilt that team with that low-post presence.”

Griner, who is expected to bolster a Mercury team that finished 7-27 a year ago, gained national attention as a high school player when videos of her dunking went viral on the Internet. She went on to a dominant college career while drawing new fans to the women’s game and helping the Bears win the national championship in 2012.

Washington coach Mike Thibault, entering his first season with the Mystics after spending the previous 10 in Connecticut, also praised Griner’s skills while disputing the notion the high-scoring Mercury will need to alter their high-speed offense to accommodate the defensive stalwart.

“I strongly disagree,” he said. “I think she will enhance the way they play. People think they have to slow down for her. How many better outlet passers are there going to be in our league than her to start the break with a rebound and an outlet pass? She may not get across half court before they take the shot, but the break will get a good start.”

New York coach Bill Laimbeer, back in the league after a nearly four-year absence, believes the biggest adjustment Griner may have to make is to the physical play in the WNBA especially after Louisville played her tough defensively in a win over Baylor in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

“That’s everyday business in the WNBA,” Laimbeer said. “It’s a physical league, they’re grown women. They’re much bigger and stronger than the college ladies out there.”

Chicago is likely to take Delaware’s Delle Donne with the second pick, followed by Notre Dame star Diggins going to Kloppenburg’s Shock at No. 3.

The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne, who can play all three positions, was second in the nation in scoring (26.0 ppg) and averaged 8.5 rebounds. She ended her career with 3,039 career points _ fifth all-time in NCAA history.

“We haven’t seen a player like her come into our league,” Kloppenburg said of Delle Donne’s versatility. “I guess the comparison is to Lauren Jackson, but in a way she’s got a greater skill set than even Lauren with her ability to put the ball on the floor.”

Though Delle Donne is most likely headed to the Sky, a team that last season finished one game out of reaching the playoffs for the first time its seven-year history, she’s prepared to play in either Chicago or Tulsa.

“I’m going to be thrilled wherever I end up,” she said. “I’ve heard Chicago is an amazing place to live so I’d really be excited moving to the city. That’s a very talented team and I think it would be an awesome opportunity to really take (that) team to the next level.”

Diggins also had a strong senior season, averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 steals while helping the Irish reach the Final Four, where it lost to eventual champion UConn.

“She’s a great player and has those intangibles,” Kloppenburg said. “I think she’s one of those that can impact our league right away and we know she’s an extremely hard worker and will put the time in to get better.”

Other players expected to be taken in the first round include guards Alex Bentley (Penn State), Kelly Faris (UConn), and Tayler Hill (Ohio State), forward Tianna Hawkins (Maryland) and center Kelsey Bone (Texas A&M).

“The talent is spread throughout the positions,” Diggins said. “There’s a lot of players that have the potential to come in and make an immediate impact and be franchise players for their teams. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

After the big three are taken, Washington will begin the uncertain portion of the draft with the fourth pick, and New York has two of the next three selections _ with Seattle in between at No. 6. San Antonio will pick eighth, followed by defending champion Indiana, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Minnesota to complete the first of three rounds.

“The joke around here is I have the first pick in the other draft,” Thibault said with a laugh before acknowledging a Mystics team that finished a league-worst 5-29 last season has plenty of holes. “We’ve narrowed it down to three or four players. We’re going back and forth as a staff and that’s the decision we have to make.”

Laimbeer said the Liberty will be looking for a post player with one of their first-round picks, most likely at No. 5, and then the best available to fill a need with the other selection.

“Mike’s driving the bus right now,” he said. “It’s a matter of who’s there and we won’t know that until Mike picks and sets off a chain of events.”

Training camps open May 5, with the league’s 17th season set to being on May 24.

___

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(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

About 10,000 fans lined Hartford’s Bushnell Park on a cold and windy Sunday afternoon to cheer the national champion UConn women as they passed by on the top of a double-decker bus, tossing Mardi Gras beads down to the crowd below.

“We wanted to give the fans a little taste of what it was like for us down there in New Orleans,” said sophomore forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

The Huskies carried with them the NCAA championship trophy, which they brought back from Louisiana last week after winning the program’s eighth title with a 93-60 victory over Louisville.

Skylin Foster, 8, of Vernon was one of the lucky ones to catch a string of beads from a player.

“Actually two of the players,” she said. “I got some for my little sister. I like the players because they are fast, and I bet they can beat boys.”

The crowd was much smaller than in previous years and well short of the 300,000 people who in 2004 celebrated the duel championships won by the UConn men and women.

“I don’t know if people have just gotten used to them winning and it’s just another national championship,” said Maita Parainca, a fan from Bloomfield. “It’s a little disappointing.”

The eight NCAA titles ties Tennessee for the most by a women’s program.

Between the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the Huskies have won 11 NCAA titles since 1995.

This was the Huskies second victory celebration this week. A crowd of about 2,000 greeted the team when they returned from New Orleans on Wednesday.

Barbara Levine, 58, of North Haven said she would not have missed it for the world.

“UConn basketball is right up there with God, mom and apple pie as far as I’m concerned” she said.

“We don’t really have professional sports in Connecticut, and the UConn women are just great to watch, and they are great kids.”

Connecticut finished the season 35-4, losing only to last year’s champion, Baylor, and three times to rival Notre Dame. They avenged those losses in the national semifinals.

Over the past three seasons, UConn has lost just 11 games _ including twice in the Final Four. Nine of the defeats came to Notre Dame and Baylor. With Irish star Skylar Diggins and Baylor’s Brittney Griner graduating and heading to the WNBA, it’s easy to start talking dynasty.

The Huskies lose only three players, Kelly Faris, Caroline Doty and little-used Heather Buck to graduation.

Freshman Breanna Stewart, who finished with 104 points in five NCAA tournament games and was the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, said her goal is to participate in four of these parades.

“The goal at UConn is to win national championships,” she said. “So we can try. Why not try?”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A parade has been scheduled for Sunday in Hartford to honor Connecticut’s national champion women’s basketball team. It will kick off at 4 p.m. and begin and end at the state Capitol. It will be followed by a rally, which is expected to include remarks from Governor Dannel Malloy, UConn coach Geno Auriemma and some players.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The school says the new sleeker-looking dog will appear on all UConn athletic uniforms beginning in the fall.

The new logo comes out of a marketing partnership between the school’s athletic department and Nike, which helped design it at no cost to the school. It is part of a larger effort to replace disparate logos used by different Husky teams.

The school says athletes and coaches had input into the design.

The logo was supposed to be released at press event scheduled for April 18, but an image of it appeared on a site selling UConn merchandise, and quickly made its way to UConn chat rooms and other Internet sites on Thursday.
 
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

STORRS, Conn. (AP) _ The Connecticut women’s basketball team returned to campus Wednesday, wearing warm-up jackets with “Gr8ness” printed on the back and carrying with them the program’s eighth NCAA championship trophy.

Dozens of fans greeted the Huskies at Bradley International Airport and more than 2,000 others gathered on a plaza across from Gampel Pavilion, the school’s basketball arena, for a ceremony to welcome the team home.

“This is the reason why I came here,” said Ellen Machalick, 20, a sophomore from Norwich, who grew up watching the Huskies win titles. “Just to be part of a school that is so proud to wear their sweatshirts and wear the Husky on their hats. It’s a great thing to be a part of.”

The team, which beat Louisville 93-60 on Tuesday night, boarded double-decker buses for a “victory lap” around campus, before heading to the ceremony.

This is the school’s 11th basketball championship since 1995 and the eighth for the women, tying a record set by the University of Tennessee. But this was the first time the university held a parade on campus.

In the past, the team held a victory ceremony inside the arena, with a parade at a later date through the streets of Hartford. The school decided to change things up this year in an attempt to get the campus more involved.

Few people lined the parade route, but cars stopped and honked their horns as the double-decker bus passed by. The real celebration began when the bus arrived at the plaza, where the pep band played the school fight song and the crowd cheered and held up signs, including several marriage proposals for players.

“I did not expect to have a crowd like this, unbelievable” said senior Kelly Faris.

The campus bookstore, the UConn Co-op, sold more than 600 championship shirts on Wednesday, said Bob Hawley, the stores merchandise manager. A bigger shipment was set to arrive on Thursday.
But the crowd actually was smaller than during the early days of the UConn dynasty, when thousands of fans would fill the arena for the victory celebration.

“The sad part is this is new for this team,” said Bill Salvatore, 64, of Vernon. “The problem is, people think of this like a professional team, where you get the same players year after year. It doesn’t matter how many times they win the championship, this is the first year for this team, and people should be here supporting them.”

They may get another chance. Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said discussions were underway on holding another event at the state Capitol.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said winning a title never gets routine for him nor does seeing the joy on the faces of the players, especially the underclassmen who were not a part of the program’s last title in 2010.

“We’ve got eight players on our team and they were just like those students were last night,” he said. “This is what they hope and dream of when they go to college.

“And for me being in that locker room and seeing their reaction, it never ceases to amaze me how much kids enjoy this kind of stuff,” he said. “And it makes coaching fun.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ His eighth national championship in hand, Geno Auriemma wanted to savor the moment and not talk about a dynasty just yet.

He had just tied Pat Summitt for the most titles in in NCAA history and wasn’t ready to discuss a repeat. Yet it’s hard to not see the Huskies winning more titles with freshman Breanna Stewart and sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis leading the way.

“We feel like all we can go is up from here,” said Mosqueda-Lewis, who scored 18 points. “We have so many young people and so many people with experience in a national championship game. That’s only going to make us better.”

A scary thought for the rest of women’s college basketball.

Stewart scored 18 of her 23 points in a dazzling first half and Connecticut (35-4) rolled to a 93-60 rout of Louisville on Tuesday night, the most lopsided victory in a title game. It put the Huskies back atop college basketball after missing the championship game the past two years.

Auriemma has never lost the game in eight appearances.

“The only person I compare myself to is Pat Summitt and to be there in that spot with her means a lot to me,” Auriemma said. “The fact that I tied Pat Summitt’s record puts you in the category of the greatest women’s basketball coach that ever lived.”

And while Auriemma said he didn’t want to look ahead, he added: “Stewie certainly is different than any other college player that’s playing right now.”

She certainly is.

The freshman was unstoppable, hitting shots from almost everywhere to be selected the Most Outstanding Player for the Final Four. Stewart is only the fourth freshman to have that honor and the first since 1987. Even her father in the stands repeatedly said, “Wow,” as his daughter took the game over and Cardinals men’s coach Rick Pitino, in town to cheer on the Louisville women, called her one of the best freshman in basketball.

“This is unbelievable,” Stewart said. “This is what we’ve thought about since the beginning of the season. And now to be here and actually win it, it’s a great feeling and I don’t think it’s going to set in for a while. I just played really confident and stopped thinking. When I second-guess myself, nothing good comes out of that.”

After Auriemma cut down the final strand of the net, his team carried him around the court in celebration. Summitt, who stepped down a year ago and suffers from early-onset dementia, released a statement through her son, Tyler.

“Congratulations to Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut Huskies on a remarkable season and an eighth national title,” she said. “Geno is a proven champion and a leader in our game. My best to him, his family, his team and staff.”

The loss ended an unprecedented tournament run by Louisville. The Cardinals became the first No. 5 seed to make the championship game, pulling off the greatest upset in tournament history when they beat Brittney Griner and Baylor in the regional semifinals. Jeff Walz’s team then beat Tennessee in the regional final before topping Cal in the Final Four.

“The run we went on was remarkable and something I’ll always remember” Walz said. “We’re walking out with our head high and proud of what we’ve done.”

The Cardinals just didn’t have enough to beat their Big East foe. Louisville was trying to become just the second school to win both the men’s and women’s championship in the same season and the first since UConn in 2004.

Pitino, fresh off his team’s 82-76 win in the title game over Michigan on Monday night, was sitting behind the Cardinals bench, trying to spur on the women’s team. He talked to the players at their pregame meal and told them to just enjoy the moment and have fun in the game.

It wasn’t to be. Instead, the trip to the Big Easy marked the beginning of the Stewart era.

Sharpshooting from deep or pounding the boards, she had one of the most remarkable runs of any first-year player in the NCAA tournament. Stewart finished with 104 points in only five games– she missed the first-round rout of Idaho to rest a sore calf– the most by any first-year player since 2000, according to STATS. UConn’s Maya Moore held the previous mark with 93 points.

The 6-foot-4 star had a performance reminiscent of two of the all-time greats. As freshmen, Cheryl Miller guided USC to a title in 1983 and Chamique Holdsclaw led Tennessee to a championship in 1996. Stewart accomplished something in her first season that UConn greats Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Moore never did– win a championship.

The Syracuse native scored seven points during the pivotal 19-0 run that turned a four-point deficit into a double-digit lead and put the Cardinals in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

Stewart later swooped in for an incredible offensive rebound that she put back to make it 39-23. The Huskies led 48-29 at the half as Stewart had 18 points; the 19-point advantage fell four points short of the championship record set by Tennessee against Louisiana Tech in 1998.

“We rushed a lot, we started to panic a bit,” Walz said. “They started executing.”

UConn dashed any hopes of a Louisville comeback going on a 12-2 run after the Cardinals had cut its deficit to 60-44. The only question during the last 10 minutes would be whether this was the biggest blowout in title game history, and the Huskies easily surpassed Tennessee’s 23-point win over Louisiana Tech in 1987.

The Huskies beat Louisville by 22 points in the 2009 title game. Louisville was trying to become the lowest seed to win a NCAA championship on the women’s side. Villanova, as an eight seed, was the lowest to win it on the men’s side back in 1985.

UConn hit 13 of its 26 3-pointers, including four by senior Kelly Faris, who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Schimmel sisters, who really carried Louisville in the tournament, had a rough go against UConn. Shoni Schimmel missed her first six shots and finished with just nine points on 3-of-15 shooting. Jude Schimmel was saddled with three fouls in the first half.

“We made a miracle run in this tournament and will always remember that,” said Sara Hammond, who led Louisville with 15 points.
___
Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The top 25 teams in the final USA Today Women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2012-13 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:<
^                       Record  Pts Pvs
   1. Connecticut (30)     35-4   774   3
2. Notre Dame           35-2   719   2
3. Louisville           29-9   703  17
4. Baylor (1)           34-2   675   1
5. California           32-4   658   6
6. Duke                 33-3   604   5
7. Stanford             33-3   588   4
8. Kentucky             30-6   557   7
9. Tennessee            27-8   527   9
10. Georgia              28-7   468  13
11. Maryland             26-8   448  10
12. Penn State           26-6   411   8
13. Delaware             32-4   391  16
14. Texas A&M            25-10  333  11
15. UCLA                 26-8   305  12
16. South Carolina       25-8   270  14
16. Dayton               28-3   270  15
18. Nebraska             25-9   228  25
19. North Carolina       29-7   197  18
20. Purdue               25-9   153  21
21. LSU                  22-12  150   -
22. Iowa State           24-9   140  23
23. Oklahoma             24-11   96   -
24. Wisconsin-Green Bay  29-3    82  20
25. Kansas               20-14   81   -
Others receiving votes: Colorado 65; Syracuse 46; Florida State 42; Oklahoma State 37; South Florida 35; Iowa 9; Drexel 6; Michigan State 3; Toledo 2; Marist 1; San Diego State 1.

The Huskies are set to arrive at Bradley International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and give brief remarks before returning to campus. The team will then ride around campus in an open-air, double-decker bus accompanied by the UConn pep band and cheerleaders beginning at about 5:15 p.m.

The celebration will conclude with speeches by coach Geno Auriemma and players at Fairfield Way Plaza near the Student Union.

The victory lap will replace rallies held at Gampel Pavilion after previous championship wins. It’s not clear if a parade will be held in Hartford like in past years.

UConn beat Louisville 93-60 Tuesday night for the team’s eighth national title.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Doors to Gampel will open at 7:30 before the 8:30 p.m. UConn-Louisville game.  The game will be shown on a large screen and concession stands will be open.  No outside food or drink will be permitted.

In the Huskies final six games of the regular season, last year’s national high school player of the year averaged just over seven points.

In the six she has played in the postseason, Stewart has averaged more than 17 points and five rebounds, while blocking 14 shots. Her performance earned Most Outstanding Play honors in the Bridgeport Regional and helped UConn reach its sixth straight Final Four.

“I can’t get inside her head and I can’t say for sure what it was, but I know there was a different look about her,” Auriemma said after the Huskies beat Kentucky in the regional final. “I went to West Chester State University, If I went to Yale or someplace like that, I would say her countenance has changed.”

Auriemma said he thinks other teams have been surprised by the ability of the gangly 6-foot-4 Stewart to run the floor, shoot from the outside and block shots underneath.

“When you look at her, you just don’t expect her to do the things that she does,” he said. “There’s something about Stewie that when it’s going well for her, I just have confidence that she can do anything on the basketball court, on both ends of the floor.”

Stewart acknowledges she has become a more focused player in recent days, but says the change in productivity has more to do with accountability than countenance.

“I feel like I’m a player that’s being able to be relied on by my teammates,” Stewart said. “Right now, that’s what I want to be able to do. Throughout the season, there were times where I wasn’t able to completely say that my teammates were able to rely on me and I think now I would say that they are.”

And she’s not the only freshman that has become more reliable.

Speedy point guard Moriah Jefferson has been a defensive stopper and a new offensive option for the Huskies in the NCAA tournament. The 5-7 guard had 10 points in 26 minutes against Maryland and 10 in 27 minutes against Kentucky.

“I think any time you come out and play well on a big stage like this, and are getting ready to go into an even bigger stage, it gives you confidence,” Jefferson said.

Auriemma has been pairing Jefferson more with junior point guard Bria Hartley. That gives the Huskies two guards on the court at the same time who can handle pressure, allowing Hartley to concentrate more on scoring.

“Defensively, they were great last weekend,” Auriemma said. “Offensively they were both super aggressive. It changes our team, obviously, when the two of them are like that.”

Jefferson played just 16 total minutes in the team’s three losses this season to Notre Dame. Irish coach Muffet McGraw said the Huskies could be a different team if she plays more than that in their fourth meeting on Sunday.

“She just is so quick, and she really seems to like the transition game,” McGraw said. “So she presents some problems, because she puts their game at a little higher pace.”

The Huskies’ third freshman, forward Morgan Tuck, has come back from an early season knee injury to be a steady contributor off the bench. Tuck had eight points, hitting four of her five shots against Maryland, and added six points against Kentucky.

She may be needed to help spell junior center Stefanie Dolson, who has been playing with a stress fracture in her right ankle and plantar fasciitis in her left foot.

“I trust her and her teammates trust her,” Auriemma said. “I won’t hesitate to put Morgan out there early and often on Sunday, and I think she’s going to have a huge national championship tournament.”

There is the question of whether the bright lights of the Final Four might affect the freshmen. But Stewart said after playing a full season with games against teams such as Baylor, Notre Dame, Stanford and Louisville they are ready for this.

“I think the freshmen thing is over and there’s not time for the excuse of, `Oh, she’s a freshman,”’ Stewart said. “We’ve been playing for five months now, and we know what we’re doing.”

Besides UConn, schools in the AAC starting with the 2014-2015 academic year will  be the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, East Carolina University, the University of Houston, the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, the University of South Florida, Temple University, Tulane University and the University of Tulsa.

For the 2013-2014 season Rutgers, Louisville, Connecticut, South Florida, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Memphis, Houston, SMU and Temple will be members,  with Rutgers and Louisville leaving after 2013 and Tulane, East Carolina and Tulsa added in 2014. The Naval Academy will become a football-only member in 2015

Aresco says in all the talks about a new name,  versions including the word “American” topped the list.  He says it’s a nod to tradition,  while showing the conference’s determination to have “national impact and appeal.”

The Big East breaks up after this season. Before it does, the women’s Final Four will be played in New Orleans with three Big East teams: Auriemma’s UConn, along with Notre Dame and Louisville.

Auriemma says that’s how he’d want the Big East era to end, even if he’d rather not meet rival Notre Dame again in Sunday’s semifinal round.

California, which plays Louisville, is the only team left to spoil the Big East’s party in the Big Easy.

Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb says it’s a “neat dynamic to be the outsiders,” adding her team takes an “additional sense of pride” in representing the West Coast.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel says the the school “couldn’t be more pleased.  “  He points out there is a strong UConn fan base in and around New York City,  Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said it will be a great experience for Maryland players and fasns.

Maryland, who made the NIT this season,  will have all five starters returning,  UConn Coach Kevin Ollie expects the Huskies top six scorers and top five rebounders all to return,  including All-Big East first team pick Shabazz Napier.

UConn has won three of the teams’ five previous meetings.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) _ Scouts and coaches from 29 NFL teams showed up at the University of Connecticut Wednesday for the school’s annual pro day workouts in advance of next month’s draft.

Fourteen Huskies participated in drills such as the 40-yard dash, the vertical jump and the bench press. But many of those watching were keyed in on four players who impressed at last month’s NFL combine in Indianapolis.

Defensive end Trevardo Williams, linebacker Sio Moore and cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson are all expected to go in the first few rounds.

Wreh-Wilson was the only one of the four to run a 40-yard dash Wednesday, completing it in a hand-timed 4.34 seconds, much better than the 4.58 he ran last month.

“I really wanted to put a stamp on it,” Wreh-Wilson said. “Show them how fast I really am, show them how athletic I really am, so there’s no question marks.”

Williams ran the 40 in 4.57 seconds in Indianapolis, the best time of any defensive lineman at the combine. But at 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, he’s projected as a linebacker at the next level and did position drills on Wednesday at that spot, despite being hampered by an injured right ankle.

He said it was nerve racking to look up and see people such as New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick watching him.

“I’m like, `Oh my God, put up your best effort Trevardo, come on,”’ he said.

The workouts also gave the scouts a chance to see some Huskies who were not invited to Indianapolis. Defensive tackle Ryan Wirth, wide receiver and return specialist Nick Williams, and tight end Ryan Griffin all put up some impressive numbers.

Wirth, who bench-pressed 225 pounds 33 times, had a vertical leap of 331/2 inches and ran a 4.88 hand-timed 40, said he’s just hoping one team will see him as a good fit.

“That’s out of my control, that’s up to one of the 32 teams,” he said. “I know if I end up somewhere, they will get 100 percent of me.”

Moore ran a 4.65 40-yard dash and did 29 bench press repetitions in Indianapolis. He also ranked near the top at his position in the vertical jump, broad jump and several other drills.

Gratz did more bench press repetitions, 22, than any other cornerback at the combine. But he and Moore did nothing but position drills Wednesday.

Moore said that after the combine and playing in two all-star games, he thinks teams know he can play as well as any other linebacker in the country. His numbers compare favorably to players such as Manti Te’o, who ran 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the combine in Indianapolis and 4.69 at Notre Dame’s pro day.

“I can’t be confident depending on them,” Moore said. “I’m confident depending on me, because of what I do. I knew when I stepped on the field that no matter what, I’m going to be one of the best guys on the field. It’s not about, well he went (to school) here and he went here.”

Connecticut has had 11 players drafted over the last four years, and 13 were on NFL rosters last season, including defensive backs Tyvon Branch, Darius Butler, and Robert McClain.

“Cornerback U,” Wreh-Wilson said. “Every year for the past five or six years, there’s been a corner.”

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said all the former Huskies approached the pro day as the biggest job interview of their lives and came in prepared. He said that reflected well on the school and his staff.

“Hopefully it illustrates that we are working at football here at a fairly high level,” he said. “We hope that people in football … regard UConn as a place where they are pretty serious and pretty committed to doing this thing and doing it the right way.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco say the East Carolina Pirates compete in 19 intercollegiate sports.  Besides football, it fields teams in men’s and women’s basketball,  in men’s baseball, cross country, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field,  and women’s cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball.

This year’s men’s basketball team is in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and the women went to the women’s NIT.

East Carolina University,  with its main campus in Greenville, North Carolina,  has been a member of Conference USA.

Beginning with the 2014-15 academic year, the Big East,  operating under a new name,  will consist of the University of Connecticut, the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, East Carolina University, the University of Houston, the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, the University of South Florida, Temple University and Tulane University. The U.S. Naval Academy will become a football-only member in 2015.

The conference that plans to rename itself this spring has signed a deal with CBS Sports to televise basketball games through the end of the season in 2020. CBS will have the first selection from conference and nonconference games, including those played at neutral sites.

The conference did not reveal financial terms of the deal, which provides up to 12 appearances on CBS each season, half of which will be league games. Starting in 2014, the league’s basketball lineup will include Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple, South Florida, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, SMU and Tulane.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

STORRS, Conn. (AP) _ Vanderbilt’s players tried to take the placards from their NCAA tournament news conference Friday as souvenirs.

St. Joseph’s asked if they could get a photo with Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma.

Idaho’s kids talked about the excitement of making the team’s second ever trip to the tournament, and the program’s third trip to the eastern time zone.

But for UConn (29-4), making its 25th straight tournament appearance, Friday was about starting a run at a sixth straight Final Four and an eighth national title.

“There’s expectations here,” guard Kelly Faris said. “I think there are times that we take it for granted that we are a part of the tournament every year, but it goes back to what’s expected of us and what’s expected of this program and what coach has built here.”

UConn faces 16th-seeded Idaho (17-15) in the first round on Saturday.  Guard Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said the Huskies are not looking past the Western Athletic Conference champions, but understand that a first-round win is not really their goal, just a step toward it.

“When you come to Connecticut, you know you have a really good chance of winning a national championship,” she said. “And whatever work you are willing to put in to get there, determines whether you get a national championship. That’s where we are now.”

Auriemma said he’s still tinkering with his lineup after two losses this month to No. 2 Notre Dame, a team that has beaten UConn in each of the last two Final Fours.

Junior center Stefanie Dolson and sophomore forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis will start against the Vandals, but the other spots, he said are up for grabs.

“We’ve tried every combination through practice and sometimes they all look good and sometimes none of them looks good and sometimes it looks OK,” he said. “I’ve got some thoughts, but I want to make sure I’ve exhausted all the possibilities before I make a decision.”

Meanwhile, Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he wants his team, which starts three freshmen and a sophomore, just to enjoy the experience of being WAC champions and part of the field of 64.

“This is their reward for all the hard work and all the practices and all the time and the blood, sweat and the tears that they’ve put in,” he said.

Should Connecticut get past Idaho, the Huskies will face either No. 8 seed Vanderbilt or No. 9 seed St. Joseph’s in the second round.

Vanderbilt (20-11) comes into its 14th straight NCAA tournament on the mend after an injury-plagued season that forced coach Melanie Balcomb to use seven different starting lineups.

The Commodores lost center Stephanie Holzer for the season to a knee injury in an exhibition game. Starting guard Kady Schrann has played only sparingly after an ankle injury suffered in January. And the team’s biggest outside threat, Christina Foggie, has been coming off the bench after suffering a late-season knee injury that kept her out four games.

“I think the injuries really helped us come together more as a team, and play good basketball and play well when we needed to,” said forward Tiffany Clarke, who has led the team in scoring this season, averaging almost 17 points. “A lot of people wrote us off due to our injuries, but we didn’t write ourselves off and I think that’s the most important thing.”

Balcomb said other players have stepped up, including three freshmen, making a healthier team more dangerous.

“We haven’t played our best game yet,” guard Jasmine Lister said. “I think our mission is to get to that best game and actually, like, peak.”

St. Joseph’s (23-8) comes into its first tournament since 2000 after beating top-seed Dayton in the Atlantic 10 semifinals and winning the championship game by a point over Fordham.

“Our team has a great fight in us,” forward Chatilla van Grinsven said. “Being here in the NCAA tournament for the first time in so many years means so much for us.”

The Hawks are led by Maryland transfer Natasha Cloud and senior guard Ashley Prim, who is from nearby Ansonia, Conn. She was able to get tickets for more than 30 friends and family to watch Saturday as she ties the school record for games played.

“It’s a great cap to my senior year,” she said. “We’re refusing to lose. We made it here and we’re going to go as far as we possibly can without any regrets.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Obama’s pick was announced Friday on ESPN. In his 2013 bracket, he has Baylor defeating Notre Dame in the April 9 final in New Orleans, a repeat of last year’s NCAA title matchup.

The president also selected Connecticut and California to advance to the Final Four. Baylor features 6-foot-8 dunking sensation Griner. Her team is on a 30-game winning streak after an early loss to Stanford.

Obama filled out his bracket Tuesday before departing on his Middle East trip. He picked Indiana to beat Louisville for the men’s title.

Baylor, Connecticut and Notre Dame are the women’s No. 1 seeds and California is a No. 2.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

NEW YORK (AP) _ The two conferences growing out of the old Big East are moving forward.

Butler, Creighton and Xavier will join the so-called Catholic 7 schools in the new basketball conference keeping the Big East name, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement will not take place until Wednesday, when it will be made in conjunction with a news conference on the league’s broadcast deal with Fox.

Georgetown, St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette and DePaul left to form a new league for next season.

Meanwhile, their old colleagues announced a broadcasting deal with ESPN on Tuesday. The unnamed conference’s contract for football, basketball and other sports runs through the 2019-20 season and pays about $20 million a year.

Along with a new name, that league still needs a conference basketball tournament site, a revenue-sharing system and a 12th football member.

The Catholic 7 negotiated to keep their basketball tourney in Madison Square Garden. Xavier and Butler are leaving the Atlantic 10, while Creighton departs the Missouri Valley Conference.

Butler spent just one season in the A-10, rising rapidly in the college basketball world after making the national championship game in 2010 and ’11 out of the Horizon League.

Xavier has long been one of the top basketball programs outside what were the power six conferences. Before missing the NCAA tournament this season, it was one of only eight schools in the country to make at least seven straight NCAA appearances.

Creighton is a No. 7 seed in this year’s tourney after winning its second straight MVC tournament title.

For those trying to keep score at home, the currently unnamed league will include South Florida, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple, Memphis, Central Florida, SMU and Houston in 2013. East Carolina and Tulane are to join in 2014, and Navy is scheduled for football in 2015.

The conference is seeking a 12th football school so it can play a title game in ’15.

ESPN senior vice president Burke Magnus believes the new alliances will strengthen the league’s members in recruiting and fan support, making its games more and more appealing as time goes on.

“We’re excited about the upside here,” said Magnus, who heads the network’s college sports programming.

The conference’s commissioner, Mike Aresco, says it plans to announce a new name this spring, perhaps as early as next month, to get marketing started quickly. Branding groups, school presidents and business partners are being consulted to narrow the list.

Fans already are weighing in through social media.

“It’s like a national focus group,” Aresco said.

The conference also needs to soon choose a conference basketball tournament site for next year. It will probably be in a city where a member school plays.

Other tasks include determining how to distribute the money from departing schools’ exit fees and other sources.

ESPN has been affiliated with the Big East in its various incarnations for more than three decades. The network will own rights to at least 66 football games and 170 men’s basketball games annually for various platforms, licensing some to other channels.

Magnus said it had not been determined yet if the conference would have a weekly basketball fixture on ESPN like the longstanding “Big Monday” games. Some football will be played on Thursday and Friday, but there has been no talk of Tuesdays, Aresco said.

With Texas schools joining, Aresco added, conference officials will be sensitive to conflicts with that state’s beloved Friday night high school football games.

Aresco is confident the Catholic 7 schools will face their former fellow Big East members in basketball in future nonconference games because the split was amicable. The league expects to announce an additional over-the-air TV deal for basketball next week; its current contract is with CBS.

ESPN’s existing football agreement with the Big East ran through 2013, while the 2013-14 season will act as a bridge year for the conference’s basketball rights; the new contract kicks in for the 2014-15 school year.

There’s a slight chance the football title game could start in 2014. Aresco says it will likely be held on campus, as the Pac-12 does, at least for the first few years.

___

AP Sports Writer Joe Kay contributed to this report.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ The University of Connecticut plans to add more than 2,000 temporary seats to its 40,000-seat football stadium for September’s game against Michigan.

The seats are needed, because UConn agreed to provide 5,000 tickets to the Wolverines for that game, 2,000 more than the normal allocation to visiting teams, UConn spokesman Mike Enright said Friday.

“We obviously can’t sell season tickets without the Michigan game in them,” Enright said. “So it would pretty much make of the difference, and allow us to sell the same number of season tickets.”

Enright says plans are still in the early stages, but the seats likely will be erected in the open area behind the west end zone of the stadium.

The Sept. 21 game is the second half of a home-and-home series with Michigan. The Wolverines beat the Huskies 30-10 in Ann Arbor in 2010, the first game played after major renovations to Michigan Stadium. The attendance at that game was 113,090.

Michigan had talked to Connecticut about moving the game out of East Hartford to a larger stadium to accommodate its alumni in the Northeast.

But the game is the marquee matchup on UConn’s home schedule, and Connecticut declined.

The state of Connecticut, which owns the stadium, also would have had a say in any plan to move the game. The lease agreement between the state Office of Policy and Management and UConn explicitly requires the Huskies play all of its home football games at Rentschler Field through June 30, 2023.

Under the deal, the state could have sought an injunction or financial compensation if the game had been moved. A 2008 report from the state Office of Legislative Research estimated the loss in profit to the state for moving a game would be approximately $500,000.

Michigan could have bought its way out the game contract for $2 million, but Dave Brandon, the school’s athletic director, told AnnArbor.com last August that the school would not do that.

“We agreed to play them, we negotiated the contract, my predecessor did that and I’m not going to come in and screw up (UConn’s) schedule and then run around trying to find another game,” he said at the time.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Linstad built the program at UConn, hired when the team was established for the 2000-01 season. She has a career record of 322-290-31 in her 13 seasons at Connecticut and eight at Northeastern, ranking sixth on the NCAA Division I wins list.

Linstad never won a Hockey East title at UConn, but coached the Huskies into the championship game in 2005 and 2010.  She also coached the USA’s Under-18 team to a silver medal at the 2012 World Championship in the Czech Republic.

But, the Huskies won just seven games over the past two years, finishing this season a disappointing 3-29-3.

The school said it will conduct a national search for her successor.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ Notre Dame will join the Atlantic Coast Conference starting next season, a year earlier than expected, following the split among the Big East’s football schools and seven Catholic schools that forming their own basketball-focused conference.

The move was announced Tuesday by Notre Dame following a vote by Big East presidents. It comes six months after Notre Dame surprisingly opted to join the ACC in all sports except football and hockey. Tuesday’s move means Notre Dame will join the ACC at the same time as fellow Big East members Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which announced earlier they would join the league. Louisville is expected to join the ACC after next season.

The move means Notre Dame coaches can move forward with scheduling for the 2013-14 school year.

“It removes the uncertainty that made it hard for our coaches and athletes, so we’re very happy to resolve that for them,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a telephone interview.

Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco said the move made sense for the league.

“The Big East can now focus fully on its future alignment and rebranding efforts,” he said.

Swarbrick would not comment on whether Notre Dame paid an exit fee or other financial terms of the agreement. He said the decision to join the ACC early evolved over time, saying Notre Dame had been in constant touch with the ACC.

“It was an ongoing conversation,” he said. “These were daily conversations over weeks and months with the ACC, Big East and the Catholic 7.”

As recently as last month it appeared Notre Dame would remain in the Big East for one more season, with Swarbrick telling coaches to proceed with scheduling for next season under the assumption the Irish would be in the Big East for a 19th season. That was based on the assumption the seven Catholic schools would not be able to form their own league in time for next season.

Last week, Aresco said the seven Catholic schools were leaving effective July 1 and taking the Big East name with them. A person familiar with the negotiations last week told The Associated Press the football members, which do not include Notre Dame, will receive a payment of about $100 million from the conference and NCAA men’s basketball tournament funds, with the bulk of the money going to holdover members Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida.

The remaining members for next season of the yet-to-be-named league are Temple, Rutgers and Louisville, along with incoming members Memphis, Central Florida, SMU and Houston. Rutgers is expected to join the Big Ten after next season. Tulane and East Carolina are scheduled to join in 2014, and Navy in 2015.

The seven Catholic schools that will make up the new Big East are: Georgetown, St. John’s, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette and DePaul.

Swarbrick said the move gives Notre Dame stability, especially for non-revenue sports, saying it was best for Notre Dame to join the ACC as soon as possible.

“Once we made a decision like we made, everybody psychologically moves on. You’re better off getting there,” he said.

The ACC has already announced a basketball scheduling model for Notre Dame’s arrival. In October, the league said the men would stay with an 18-game slate that would pair each team with two scheduling partners that each team played twice a year. Notre Dame’s scheduling partners are Boston College and Georgia Tech.

On the women’s side, the league is going back to a 16-game schedule. Scheduling partners have yet to be determined.

For football, Notre Dame is scheduled to play five games a year against ACC teams starting in 2014.  The ACC is also scheduled to add Louisville from the Big East in 2014.

___

AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo and AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard contributed to this report.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

UConn, Big Ten regular season champion Indiana, Boston College and Washington each will host two regional games on campus Nov. 14 to 17 before the tournament removes to Madison Square Garden Nov. 21-22.

Tickets for the games at Madison Square Garden are on sale now and may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 866-448-7849 or through Ticketmaster.com.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Connecticut is tough to beat when either its guards or its post players are having a good night. When both are clicking, it’s usually a rout.

Breanna Stewart scored 21 points to lead a balanced offense Sunday and the third-ranked Huskies bounced back from their loss to Notre Dame with a 94-61 win over DePaul in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament on Sunday night.

Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis each added 16 points for the Huskies (28-3), who have won 16 consecutive Big East tournament games. Five UConn players reached double figures.

The Huskies hit 12 shots from behind the arc and outscored DePaul 46-14 in the paint.

“That’s when you know you’ve played well, when you get that kind of balance,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma. “Sometimes you just don’t get it. Sometimes you’re forcing the issue. And today I thought we just played.”

Megan Rogowski had 15 points and Jasmine Penny had 12 for DePaul (21-11).

The second-seeded Huskies have made the tournament semifinals every year since 1989, a string of 25 consecutive quarterfinal wins. They’ve won the tournament five straight years.

UConn will play Syracuse in the semifinals. The 24th-ranked Orange edged Villanova 61-56.

The Huskies never trailed in this one.

They went inside early to Dolson, who had their first six points, and Mosqueda-Lewis provided the outside game. Her second 3-pointer highlighted a 9-0 run that gave UConn an early 25-11 lead. Another 9-0 run made it 39-18.

Dolson’s putback of a Mosqueda-Lewis miss put Connecticut up 49-23 at the half, and stretched that after intermission.

A 12-0 run made it 71-32 midway through the second half and allowed Auriemma to go deep into his bench.

Stewart and Dolson combined to go 17 for 26 from the floor. The Huskies also outrebounded DePaul 47-33.

“I think when we came into the game today, we really picked up the intensity on the glass,” said Mosqueda-Lewis, who led the team with nine boards. “Everybody was going after rebounds, whether it was someone that was starting or anybody who came off the bench.”

Connecticut beat DePaul by 47 points in their only other meeting this season. The Blue Demons played that game without senior Anna Martin, who was sidelined with a deep bone bruise on her left knee, which caused her to miss eight games. They also had to fly in the morning of the game, because of a blizzard that dumped 30 inches of snow in Connecticut.

Sunday, the Blue Demons were again ice cold. The Huskies held them to just 32 percent shooting, and 27 percent in the first half, before the game was out of reach. UConn shot 52 percent from the floor.

Martin finished with nine points, and said the team is still gelling.

“I think with me coming back, too, people find their roles, and one person changes everything” Martin said. “I think our best is yet to come.”

Bria Hartley had 12 points, five rebounds and six assists for Connecticut, but continued to struggle from the field, hitting just five of her 14 shots. Hartley is averaging just nine points this season, after averaging more than 14 a year ago.

Connecticut is vying for a 19th Big East tournament title. They have reached the finals in eight consecutive years.

DePaul (21-11) has gone 4-6 since the end of January, but is expected to get an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament.

The Blue Demons, who made it to the quarterfinals with a 77-69 win over Marquette on Saturday, have now lost 11 straight to UConn.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press

Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins was selected Big East player of the year for the second consecutive season on Friday, leading an Irish sweep of the conference’s three major awards.

Muffet McGraw was voted the coach of the year and guard Jewell Loyd earned freshman of the year honors.

Notre Dame (28-1) won its second straight regular-season Big East title, finishing 16-0 in conference play and earning the top seed in this weekend’s Big East tournament, which started Friday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

The Irish have never won a Big East tournament title, but come into this season’s tournament on a 23-game winning streak.

They were picked in the conference’s pre-season poll to finish second, behind Connecticut. However, the Irish beat UConn twice this season. They’ve been winning games by an average of more than 25 points, despite losing three of its top players from last season, Natalie Novosel, Devereaux Peters and Brittany Mallory, to graduation.

“This team has been unbelievably easy to coach and I appreciate everything they’ve done to get us to where we are right now,” McGraw said.

Diggins led the way, averaging 17.3 points, while dishing out 5.9 assists.

She is the sixth woman to be picked player of the year more than once, joining Villavona’s Shelly Pennefather and Connecticut’s Kerry Bascom, Rebecca Lobo, Dianna Taurasi and Maya Moore.

“I’m glad to say that I finished my four years in the Big East conference, the best conference in the country,” she said Friday, the day the Big East announced seven Catholic schools will form their own basketball conference. Notre Dame plans to join the ACC in all sports except football.

Loyd has averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.

McGraw is 707-257 over her career at Lehigh (88-41) and Notre Dame (619-216), winning her 700th game this year at Villanova on Feb. 5.

Notre Dame went undefeated in the conference for the first time since joining in 1995-96 and became the first team to win six of its last seven games against Connecticut in more than two decades.

DePaul University guard Anna Martin was the only player not from Notre Dame on the podium Friday. She was voted by coaches as the league’s scholar-athlete of the year.

In honors announced Thursday, Martin also earned the sportsmanship award, Syracuse’s Carmen Tyson-Thomas won the Sixth Man Award, UConn’s Kelly Faris won defensive player of the year and shared the most improved award with DePaul’s Brittany Hrynko.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) _ Connecticut heads into its season finale against Providence on Saturday facing a postseason ban, the breakup of the Big East conference, and injuries that could keep four key players on the bench.

But coach Kevin Ollie said none of that will matter to the Huskies (19-10, 9-8 Big East) as they go for their 20th win of the season, already having exceeded the expectations of most people.

“We are going to play hard,” he said. “That last buzzer is going to go off and we’re going to have our heads held high. We’re going to have our chests out, because we played as hard as we possibly can.”

UConn wasn’t expected to come close to 20 wins after losing five underclassmen to transfer and the NBA and seeing Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun retire in the offseason.

They were picked to finish ninth in the conference, and were banned from the NCAA and Big East tournaments based on a low academic performance rate, scores that involved no player on the current team.

But despite having no postseason to play for, this year’s squad shocked then-No. 14 Michigan State in the season opener and were 19-7 going into the last game of February.

Finally, things started to fall apart.

The Huskies lost to No. 7 Georgetown in two overtimes, and also lost leading scorer Shabazz Napier, who aggravated a right-foot injury. The team’s star junior guard hasn’t played since, and the Huskies are 0-3 since the injury.

Niels Giffey, the team’s top player off the bench, broke a finger in the next game, a 61-56 loss at Cincinnati, and is out for the season. Center Tyler Olander followed him to the training room on Wednesday, breaking his left foot in the 65-51 loss at South Florida.

UConn already was playing without 7-foot-1 center Enosch Wolf, who was suspended after being arrested on Feb. 11 during an on-campus domestic disturbance.

Guard Omar Calhoun has been playing with a sprained right wrist for two weeks, and went 1 for 14 against the Bulls.

He and Napier are both listed as questionable for Saturday, but Ollie said both will play if they can.

“I think we owe our fans, if you’re healthy, you should go out and play,” he said. “You never know if it’s your last opportunity to step out on the court.”

The Huskies will host a Providence team (17-12, 9-8) that has won three in a row and seven of its last eight, and will be playing to impress the NCAA tournament committee.

UConn beat the Friars, 82-79, in overtime on January 31.  But Providence has won five of the last eight meetings with UConn and will be a heavy favorite at Gampel Pavilion.

“If we get beat by 50 tomorrow, that’s not going to change anything, the sentiments I have in my hearts for these guys,” Ollie said. “They are going to play hard tomorrow.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. )