While the conventional wisdom for a while among most observers – including the UConn coaching staff – had been that Durand Scott intended on going to the University of Miami, the Huskies got an unexpected phone call last week that gave them a bit of hope.

Scott’s mother, Faith Lyn, called the Huskies’ coaching staff and gave the impression that she really wanted her son to go to Storrs. UConn clinged to that hope for a few days, but in the end, Scott had made up his mind to head down to Miami long ago.

Can’t win ‘em all. With Scott, a talented 6-4 combo guard, now out of the picture, UConn has three other similar players on its radar: Desmar Jackson, a 6-4, 165-pound senior at John F. Kennedy High in Warren, Ohio; and Rico Pickett, a 6-4 combo guard, and James Beatty, a 6-foot point guard, who are both playing at Miami-Dade Junior College.

The Huskies saw Jackson at practice yesterday but haven’t seen him in game action yet. He’s long and athletic, but needs to improve his outside shooting.

UConn has seen both Pickett and Beatty play. Pickett comes with some baggage: he was suspended indefinitely at the end of his freshman year at Alabama last April and immediately transferred to Miami-Dade. Apparently, Pickett isn’t a bad kid, but reports were that he missed or was late for numerous academic responsibilities in his first year under ‘Bama coach Mark Gottfried. (Sound like another Alabama native we know who’ll be re-joining the Huskies in a few weeks?)