UConn Basketball Adds Two More Recruits….From Germany!

UConn has added two German players to its 2010 Recruiting Class. That means the Huskies will have SEVEN incoming freshmen this fall. The Huskies have received an oral commitment from Enosh Wolf, a 7-foot-1 German center. He will join fellow German Niels Giffey, a 6-6 forward who committed three weeks ago. The two Germans will join forward Michael Bradley, guard Shabazz Napier, guard Jeremy Lamb, forward Roscoe Smith, and forward Tyler Olander as the newest Huskies.

Wolf had scholarship offers from Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Oklahoma. Giffey, whose from Berlin, picked UConn over Louisville, Michigan, Gonzaga and UCLA, citing UConn’s great history of wing players, and specifically Ray Allen.

With these additions UConn increases its recruiting class to seven, and gives them 13 players under scholarship. It also means that the career of Jonathan Mandeldove at UConn is over.

This is a video of Wolf:

UConn News and Notes: June 29, 2010

Overall it’s been a pretty quiet month for UConn athletics, which is to say a good thing. After a rough May with all of the NCAA Violations issues, UConn athletics can start to get focused on the 2010-2011 school year. Here are the latest news, links, and nuggets on UConn sports.

Stanley Robinson

- Former UConn Forward Stanley Robinson was drafted last week by the Orlando Magic as the 59th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. Robinson was expected to go earlier (was once considered a possible lottery pick), but had to settle for the third to last pick in the draft. While his contract will not be as big as he hoped, he might have ended up in the perfect place for him to grow. He’s going to an Orlando team that has become an annual NBA Championship contender. He will get to play with players such as Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Jameer Nelson. Sticks has a great opportunity to make the roster and grow as a player in Orlando. Congrats Stanley.

- In other UConn Basketball news… It looks like Jim Calhoun is set to announce within the next few days that Kevin Ollie and Glenn Miller will join the UConn basketball staff, as the UConn men’s basketball team’s new assistant coach and director of basketball administration, respectively. Ollie and Miller will replace Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, who each resigned last month in the wake of the NCAA’s announcement of alleged recruiting violations by the program.

- The UConn Football team is in the midst of summer workouts as they prepare for the 2010 season, a season with a great deal of hope and expectations. Many college football writers, reporters, and even fans of other schools are looking at UConn to the Big East Champs this season. Rivalry Esq., a respected Big Ten Blog, put out its summer bowl selections, and they seem pretty high on the Huskies.

- UConn Football has already picked up four recruits for the Class of 2011. The Huskies recently held their skills camp for high school players, which is a place where the coaches usually extend offers to players they like, so even more commitments could be coming soon. The four recruits already on board are running back Max DeLorenzo, quarterback Michael Nebrich, offensive lineman Paul Nwokeji, and defensive back David Stevenson.

Lawrence Wilson

- UConn senior linebacker Lawrence Wilson and senior offensive guard Zach Hurd have both been named preseason All-American by the Sporting News. Both players were selected to the third team.

Calhoun Retirement Rumors Hurting Recruiting

From the Associated Press
STORRS, Conn. — Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun says it’s been difficult to convince players to come to Connecticut when other people are telling them he’s about to retire.

The 67-year-old Hall of Famer says that’s why he issued a statement last week reiterating what he’s been saying since December — that he and the school are on the verge of signing a multiyear contract, and that he plans to continue coaching at UConn.

“The reason that we announced something that we already knew is that we were getting killed on the recruiting trails,” Calhoun said Monday. “Nothing drastically has changed. I’m just waiting to get a copy back of the signed contract.”

NIT Tournament Bracket
Following the road to the NIT championship on April 1 at Madison Square Garden. NIT Bracket

A story in New York last week cited people close to Calhoun as saying he would retire at the end of the season. Calhoun said there was no truth to it, but recruits had told him they were hearing the same tales.

“During the year kids are being told that I wasn’t going to come back, they all knew this,” Calhoun said. “I had one guy tell a kid that I told them, and I don’t even speak to the guy.”

Calhoun has won two national championships at Connecticut and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Several off-the-court issues had prompted questions about Calhoun’s future last year, and questions were raised again after he took a medical leave of absence in January, missing seven games with an undisclosed condition.

Calhoun said he doesn’t talk to recruits about any other coach’s personal issues, but knows that some others don’t play by the same rules.

“Do I like it? No,” he said. “Do we do it? I hope that no one on my staff has ever done that. That’s not how we recruit.”

The Huskies (17-15) lost last Tuesday in the first round of the Big East tournament, and will play Northeastern on Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT.

Sophomore guard Kemba Walker said he doesn’t believe the rumors affected the team’s play. Still, he said he’s glad the coach has put the issue to rest.

“I knew he was coming back,” Walker said. “Having him say he was coming back was big especially for recruits. Of course, it’s good for us. That’s the guy we committed ourselves to, so yeah, it’s a good feeling to know he’s coming back.”

Walker said he will sit down with Calhoun after the season is over and discuss whether he should play another year at UConn or declare for the NBA draft.

“He’s going to let me know what the best possible choice is for me,” Walker said. “Coach Calhoun has told guys when to leave and when not to, and from guys [in the NBA], it’s turned out for the best, so I’m going to listen to him.”

UConn will lose seniors Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards to graduation this season. The program has signed two players for next season — center Michael Bradley and guard Jeremy Lamb.

The Huskies have a verbal commitment from highly touted small forward Roscoe Smith.

Recruits and Parents Love UConn Because of Edsall

Hartford Courant beat writer Desmond Conner did a peice on how many recruits are picking UConn as their destination for college football, because of Randy Edsall. It’s a well written article with good insight. Edsall is becoming a household name, which means the UConn football program is progressing.

Click Here For the Story!