Here's a feature from today's Register on the friendship Ater Majok and Charles Okwandu have formed over the past year. They share plenty in common: both are big men with lots of raw potential; both had to sit out the final two months of last season (Majok after getting cleared to enroll at UConn by the NCAA, Okwandu after being declared academically ineligible by the school); both wound up such defensive presences on the practice squad that only one was allowed on the court at the same time while the Huskies were practicing their offense; and, of course, both share African heritage (Majok from Sudan, Okwandu from Nigeria).

Actually, the latter doesn't mean as much as I thought it might.

"Even if (Okwandu) was Chinese or anything ... brothers can be from anywhere," Majok said.

The two are also on the same Greater Hartford Pro-Am summer league team, the Springfield Slamm. Big Chuck has been sidelined for about a week after having his ankle stepped on in a game. It's just precautionary, and he's expected to return to the court for the Slamm's next game, on Friday at 8:15 p.m. against Ryan Gomes and Harte Nissan at the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford. Should be a good test for both Majok and Okwandu.

One other thing: I was reminded while chatting with a UConn fan that Majok has similarities with Charlie Villanueva. Certainly, his propensity to shoot 3's (at least in the pro-am) remind some of a young Villanueva, who also apparently was in love with the 3 at first. Well, UConn's coaching staff recognizes this similarity. They don't mind Majok hoisting up an occasional trey, but they want to start their game inside. Remember, last year the Huskies made more free throws than their opponents attempted!

Majok should get a chance to showcase his perimeter skills from time to time. On the Huskies' secondary fast break, the four-man trails. So, Majok will have the chance to spot up and pop some 3's.

Took in the lone game at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am this evening and watched the Springfield Slamm (featuring UConn freshmen Darius Smith and Ater Majok) defeat the Mizner All-Stars, 104-88.

Majok and Smith didn't get to leave campus until about 15 minutes before the game was supposed to start and didn't arrive at Hartford's Sport & Medical Sciences Academy until about five minutes were left in the first quarter. They didn't enter the game until the second quarter and both looked a bit rusty early on after the long drive. In fact, neither scored a point in the first half.

The latter half was a different story.

Majok looked pretty good, knocking down a few long-range jumpers, making a few nice passes and displaying some impressive athleticism for a 6-foot-10 player. He committed five fouls and made a few poor decisions (at one point dribbling the ball behind his back deftly at midcourt, only to throw away a long pass) but overall was fine. He scored eight points.

Smith was simply magnificent. He scored 15 points on a variety of drives to the lane, a couple of jumpers, even a putback of a Majok missed fallaway jumper:



Smith is quick, intense and energetic. He's non-stop on defense and pushes the ball well on offense. He's an excellent ballhandler and just looks fundamentally sound at everything he does. Smith could stand to get a little stronger, but otherwise, there's a lot to like here.

Here's a couple more clips of Smith (No. 31) and Majok (No. 32) in action:





Smith finished with 15 points to spearhead the win.

Also, Charles Okwandu (normally on the Slamm team) didn't make the trip due to a sore ankle. Jonathan Mandeldove was in the house and said that he's waiting on a grade from summer school to see if he's OK academically. Jim Calhoun told me last week that Mandeldove's status for this upcoming season was "up in the air" due to academic issues.

Went over to the Greater Hartford Pro-Am last night at the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford. As always, some good run on display, particularly last night's nightcap between Ryan Gomes' Harte Nissan against All Axxess Entertainment.

Gomes was terrific, as one would expect from a double-figures NBA scorer. What most impressed me, however, was his competitiveness. He hit a terrific driving layup while being fouled with less than 30 seconds left, and went to the free throw line. After knocking down the foul shot to give his team a fairly insurmountable five-point lead, Gomes pumped his fist in joy.

Here's the top scorer in Providence College basketball history (and, of course, subject of one of Jim Calhoun's greatest rants), who averaged about 13 ppg. for the Minnesota Timberwolves last year, and he's pumped and excited about winning a summer league basketball game.

"Every time you step on the floor, you want to win," Gomes said. "It's about competitiveness. I missed a lot of free throws, too, so when I made one, I was excited."

Gomes, a Waterbury native, has been playing in this league for every year but one since about his sophomore year at PC. He loves coming back every summer.

"It's nice, and it's great competition, that's why I like to come back and play," said Gomes, who has homes in both Minnesota and Waterbury. "I play here and I play in a league in New York City, so every day I've got a game to play. I like coming back here so some of my family members who don't travel to Minnesota get to see me play. And I like playing against these guys ... it's good coming back and playing with those guys, give them motivation and work on my game, also. I get a little conditioning."

Gomes has another year on his contract with the T'wolves, after which the team could exercise an option, or he could become a free agent. Will he evere be a teammate of Ricky Rubio?

"I don't know. Our general manager went over there (Tuesday), I think, to try to work on a deal to see if he can come over this year. If not, the good thing about it is, we'll still have his rights when he does decide to come over. But the buyout is such a large number. Do you wait another year and it becomes lower?"

Can Rubio play?

"I think he can. He has a lot of flash and flair to his game. I think he can help us because he's a great passer. You can't teach that kind of stuff. Shooting, yeah, but when you can see the court, he'll help us out getting a lot of guys get shots. Especially guys like me, so I'd love to have him."

***Yes, I know, this is a UConn blog. There's one pro-am game tonight at 8:15 p.m. between the Springfield Slamm and the Mizner All-Stars. UConn's Ater Majok and Charles Okwandu play for the Slamm (though Okwandu has been slowed recently by an ankle injury).

Brought the family up to Toronto this weekend to catch the Sox-Blue Jays on Sunday (Roy Halladay's last game in a Jays uniform?), and just got the good news for UConn fans that Ater Majok will play for the Huskies this season.

Obviously, this is good news for the Huskies. Majok may not have overly impressed NBA scouts, but they all agree on his potential and upside. He has talent, he's 6-foot-10 with about a 7-2 wingspan, and he's a bright kid with the capacity to learn under Jim Calhoun & staff -- who have done a pretty good job developing big men over the years.

With Majok in the fold, UConn boasts a talented -- if inexperienced -- front line. As it stands now, vastly improved 7-footer Charles Okwandu would be the Huskies' starting center and 6-9 senior Gavin Edwards the power forward. But both could be pushed by Alex Oriakhi, the 6-9, 245-pound freshman who's been favorably compared, physically, to ex-Providence reboundin' fool Michael Smith, and now Majok. (We're not counting 7-foot senior Jonathan Mandeldove right now because he played a grand total of 16 minutes last year and may not even play this season due to academic issues).

UConn's backcourt will be its strength next year. The questions will reside in the frontcourt. The Huskies will be young up front -- but there's little question they'll also be very talented.

Will Calhoun vs. Pearl replace Geno vs. Summit as the defining rivalry between UConn and the University of Tennessee?






While the UConn-Tennessee women's basketball rivalry may be on ice, the respective men's teams may start up a rivalry of their own this season.

According to a well-placed university source, the Huskies are looking to host Pearl and his Volunteers this season, shoring up what's already a tough non-conference schedule for UConn. It would be just the second time the two programs have ever met in men's basketball. Tennessee topped UConn, 65-51, in an NCAA South Regional second round game on March 19, 2000 in Birmingham, Ala.

The game, which hasn't been finalized yet, would likely be played late in the season.

The Huskies will also play in the preseason National Invitational Tournament (where they could end up playing Duke) and will play Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9 as part of the third annual SEC/Big East Invitational. They will also travel to Michigan for a bout with the Wolverines.

In other UConn news:

***Little-used 7-foot senior center Jonathan Mandeldove has some academic issues, and it's "up in the air" whether he'll play for the Huskies this season, according to UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

***Calhoun said he is "95 percent" sure that Ater Majok will remain at UConn and forego heading over to Europe to play professionally. Majok would be eligible to play for the Huskies in mid-December.

***Calhoun attended Rip Hamilton's wedding in Boca Raton last week. Kevin Freeman was in the wedding party, and Khalid El-Amin was the only member of the 1999 national championship team's starting five that wasn't in attendance.

Also present: Tom Moore, Dave Leitao and Karl Hobbs, among others. (Presumably, Josh Nochimson wasn't there. Sorry, couldn't resist).

***If anyone's wondering why prized, 6-9 recruit Andre Drummond of Capital Prep hasn't been playing in the Greater Hartford Pro-Am this week, it's because he's traveling with an AAU team.

Went over to Gampel Pavilion this afternoon to see what’s going on up in UConn territory. Apparently, just missed Jerome Dyson, who has been cleared to participate in full-contact drills and pick-up games for the first time since tearing the lateral meniscus in his right knee in February.

Otherwise, had a good chat with associate head coach George Blaney (Jim Calhoun has only been in the office once, for about an hour, since breaking five ribs in a bike crash on June 13), as well as Ater Majok and a few other players. Here’s what we’ve got:

***All indications are that Majok will be on board for the Huskies next season. He’s been working out at Gampel pretty much every day for the past week with UConn’s other players. Perhaps more telling, he has signed up for second-session summer classes at the school that begin in late-July.

“He’s doing everything that indicates that he is (planning on playing for UConn),” Blaney noted
.
Added junior guard Donnell Beverly: “He said he’s staying here, that he’s going to come to school.”

Majok, however, won’t guarantee it.

“I think I’ll be playing at UConn next year,” he said with a wide grin, before adding. “I don’t know yet, but I would really like to … I need a championship, so that might motivate me to come back.”

So, who knows? Majok said his workouts for NBA teams over the past month or so was “a good experience, I learned a lot. It’s good for someone like me who hasn’t played basketball a lot, just to go and learn the game from the veterans and coaches.”

He added that working out with the rest of UConn’s players, particularly the guards, this summer is a positive, “so when I get on the court later, we have something in common, we’ve played together already.”

Majok says the coaching staff tells him he’s a “hybrid four – and that basically, I’m a nightmare for any four-man in the nation. I can shoot the 3, and not a lot of big guys can go out there and handle the ball, things like that. They look at me as a hybrid four – a three or a four who plays the four.”

***It’s June, we realize that. But if the season started tomorrow, Gavin Edwards would be the starting four and Charles Okwandu the starting five.

“Charles is strong, he can rebound, he can really defend,” said Blaney. “He’s a baby offensively, but when you have Kemba (Walker), Jerome and Stanley (Robinson), you’re not looking for a ton of scoring from that position.”

As for Edwards, it’s just a matter of him having as much confidence in himself as the coaching staff has.

“He has all the skills – passing, catching and shooting,” Blaney said. “He has basketball knowledge, he’s one of the smarter players we have, guard or forward. He’s got great speed, he’s got great jumping ability. I think he’s a little bit like Hilton (Armstrong) – he’s kind of grown into his body, he’s made himself a lot stronger.”

Said Edwards: “I think I’ve kind of come into my own now, and I’m ready to believe in myself the way everybody else on the coaching staff does. They’ve been telling me that the (No. 4) spot’s basically mine to lose and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have the confidence to be able to go out there and start and play as well as I have in my best games here.”

***In further evidence of how social-networking affects the college sports landscape, a rumor broke out shortly after the end of last season that 7-foot enter Jonathan Mandeldove was set to transfer. It was even reported by a local news station, apparently as a result of a “tweet” on Mandeldove’s Twitter page.

In fact, Mandeldove, a senior, said transferring from UConn was never a consideration. As for the “tweet”, it was just a joke on Mandeldove’s part.

“I saw (the rumor) and I replied with another tweet, ‘Leaving campus right now,’ because I saw someone was following me and posted it up on another website,” he said. “That was a little prank.”

In fact, Mandeldove’s teammate – little-used junior guard Donnell Beverly – did give some consideration to transferring.

“I thought about it,” Beverly said. “I talked to some people at home, and we figured the best thing for me to do is just to stay here, because my chance will come, I believe that. And I’m under a great coach, anyway. Nobody would be able to get you more ready than coach Calhoun.”

***The Huskies use a VertiMax machine to help players improve their leaping ability. The machine has a harness that players tie around their waist and is connected to a platform by two cords. The players jump (as high as they can) while strapped into the harness and dunk or put in as many layups as they can over a certain amount of time. After the resistance that the machine offers, the players feel they can jump through the roof once unharnessed.

“Everybody raves about it,” said head manager Ben Wood.

Upon stepping onto the machine, making him practically eye-level with the bottom of the basket net, Majok said: “I’m so close (to the rim). Is this how Hasheem feels?”

***Edwards has won the team’s strength and conditioning award the past two years.

***Blaney said Jeff Adrien had two very good workouts over the weekend, with Utah and Charlotte. The Utah workout went particularly well, with Jazz coach (and soon-to-be Hall of Famer) Jerry Sloan in attendance.

“That would be a kind of coach that he’d really do well with,” said Blaney.

***As for Hasheem Thabeet: “All of the pro guys I’ve been talking to, it sounds to me like (he’s) No. 2.”

***Blaney on Calhoun: “He’s trying to get up and move around, get the blood flowing, not be sedentary – and you know he’s going to do more of that than he’s supposed to. Each day, he sounds better. If you catch him at the end of the day, he usually sounds a little tired.”

With Ater Majok officially pulling his name out of the 2009 NBA Draft, there are four players with UConn ties who will be waiting to hear their names called next Thursday night – Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien and Nate Miles (remember him?).

Thabeet is likely to be the No. 2 overall pick; Miles will almost certainly not be selected at all. In between are Price and Adrien, who will await hearing their names with the most suspense.

With less than a week before the draft, here's how the four players size up, and what they can expect on draft day:

THABEET

***Will probably end up at Memphis with the No. 2 pick, though Grizzlies' GM Chris Wallace hasn't settled on anybody yet, and Thabeet has yet to work out for the team. He will work out for the Grizzlies on Saturday. Memphis is also considering dropping down in the draft, which is considered a pretty weak one.

According to the UConn coaching staff, Memphis and Oklahoma City have had the most inquiries about Thabeet.

***There are some worries about a shoulder injury. Not sure if this is related to the infamous DeJuan Blair flip-over. (Maybe this explains why Thabeet seems to have a Johnny Damon-esque throwing arm).

***An NBA director of player development on Thabeet: "He's never going to be a guy you can throw the ball in the post and run your offense through, like the Houston Rockets do with Yao Ming. He's just not that skilled … he's got an advantage with his size and length, but can he make the elbow jumper? … If he gets with a very good point guard who sets him up for dunks, like Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul in New Orleans, he has the ability to roll to the rim pretty much every time."

PRICE:

***Probably a mid-to-late second round pick. First round? "I don't think he's there," said an NBA source.

***Same director of player development on Price: "With A.J., people like his leadership, his ability to get in the lane, make jumpers, pull up around the elbow. The big concerns with A.J., are, defensively, will he be able to slide and stay in front of guys? Can he go side-to-side and keep quicker guys in front of him? Guys got by him fairly regularly in the zone, but the difference is he had Thabeet to protect the rim … (Also), in college he was primarily a shoot-first guy. He got some assists, but it seemed he'd look for his shot first, and it was contested, he'd find someone under the basket for a dunk. Some guys drive into the lane looking to set up their teammates."

*** Reports that Price had an aneurysm in his brain were "misleading," according to the NBA official. "Our team doctor went through the whole medical process (at the pre-draft camp in Chicago) and red-flagged a few guys. A.J. was not one of them."

In fact, a source close to Price said that Price underwent an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiography) that revealed no aneurysm.

***Price has had about seven workouts so far -- including Detroit, Sacramento, Cleveland, Washington, Minnesota – and still has two more lined up, with Denver and with the world-champion Lakers. The Nuggets and Miami Heat have shown the most interest in him thus far.

ADRIEN:

***Late second round, or could go undrafted.

***Our NBA guy on Adrien: "Teams like the kind of player Jeff is. Every team would like a player who rebounds that efficiently, who's that tough, who's not afraid of contact."

The source also noted that Adrien's measurements were "freakish." Though measured at 6-6 ½, Adrien has a 7-2 wingspan.

"That's way more valuable than a guy's size. Guys who are 6-6 with 6-6 wingspans, that doesn't do you much good. Guys like Jeff who are 6-6 with a 7-2 … you don't play basketball to the top of your head. Length is very useful."

***Adrien "needs to work on his shooting," said the source. "He's kind of got a long wind-up, he takes the ball behind his head. He needs to work on shortening his stroke."

***Adrien had also been slowed by tendonitis in his knee recently. "I don't know how serious it is, but it's hurting him right now," the source said last week, noting that at a group workout in Houston last month, Adrien was wearing a brace on one of his knees. "His stride was a little off. He was not running like he was at UConn, when he was healthy."

***If Adrien goes undrafted, it might not be such a bad thing. Second-round draft picks are non-guaranteed, anyway, so a team that drafts him could still cut him by early January. If he goes undrafted, Adrien could pick and choose a better fit for him as a free agent.

The typical route to take would be playing for a team in an NBA summer league, either in Orlando July 6-10 or Las Vegas July 11-20. If the team likes what they see, they'd extend him an invitation to training camp in the fall.

MILES:

***No chance he gets drafted. Miles has had workouts with several NBA teams recently, however.

Said our NBA source: "He's a skilled offensive player, pretty quick … his shooting is pretty special. He's got a good-looking stroke, a quick release."

But …

"Physically, he's weak … he looks like a high school kid … and defensively, he's bad right now. He'd be a below-average college defender."

Character concerns could also scare teams off.

***The economy is also an issue. In the past, most teams were allowed to keep the maximum 15 players on a roster. Now, there's a good chance most teams will be down to 13 or 14. The minimum is 13, and that can go down to 12 for a while. In other words, teams don't have the luxury of drafting guys who are few years away and can languish on the end of the bench for a few years. A couple of years ago, a guy like Miles may have been drafted. This year? No chance.

***Miles will likely end up having to decide whether to play in the NBA Developmental League for lousy money, but with the chance to get called up midseason by the NBA, or play overseas and make better money, but have virtually no chance of getting called to the NBA during the season, since the NBA and FIBA honor each others' contracts.

Most likely, Miles will get selected by a D-League team next fall and work his way to "The League" through that route.

Ater Majok has pulled his name from the 2009 NBA Draft. As explained in the previous post on this blog, that doesn't necessarily mean he will play for UConn next season.

Majok could still opt to go to Europe, where supposedly teams from Italy, Spain and Greece have shown interest in the 6-foot-10 forward. By pulling out of the draft, he affords himself the chance to stay at UConn if nothing materializes in Europe.

It's hardly a surprise that Majok has pulled out. Here's what an NBA director of player personnel had to say about him earlier today, before we knew whether he'd be in the draft or not: "I've never seen the kid, but guys on our staff have said, 'No. Don't even worry about him. He's not a legit NBA player at this point … maybe never.'"

Ouch.

There's no doubt Majok has great potential, but he obviously needs a lot of work on his game. If you ask me, the best tutoring he can get is under Jim Calhoun at UConn -- even though he won't be able to play until December. Think about where Hasheem Thabeet was a couple of years ago, and where he'll be in a couple of weeks -- one of the top five picks in the draft.

It's that kind of tutelage that Majok needs. Even though Europe can offer decent money right off the bat, it says here Majok is better served at UConn for at least a year or two, after which he could be in a position to earn a lot more money.

Just one man's opinon.

Ater Majok must decide by tomorrow (Monday) whether or not to pull his name out of the NBA Draft pool, and by all accounts it appears he will do so.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean he will stay at UConn and play for Jim Calhoun next season.

Professional teams in Spain, Greece and Italy have shown some interest in Majok, according to his former coach, Ed Smith, and he may opt to play overseas. Pulling his name out of the draft would simply give the 6-foot-10 forward the option of returning to UConn if he decides against playing in Europe.

Still, it appears likely that Majok will remain at UConn, where he will be a sophomore next season. A Sudanese native who has lived in Australia for several years, Majok was finally cleared by the NCAA to enroll at UConn last January but won't be eligible to play until December.

Majok had his final NBA workout on Thursday in Chicago, and scouts apparently liked his mobility, length, 7-foot-4 wingspan and speed. But they were also in agreement that Majok needs to improve his core strength, and needs some experience under his belt before he becomes a "big-time prospect."

"Their advice," according to Smith, "is to head back to school, or head where you will play. He needs to play games, games, games, games."

Majok was slated to speak with his parents, who are still in Australia, over this weekend. He also received input from Smith, who seems to think Majok should stay at UConn.

"Jim Calhoun is a proven developer of NBA talent," Smith said. "For him to go over there (to Europe) would have to be something on a par with the coach and system at UConn, something extraordinary like that."

Calhoun said last week that expects Majok to pull his name out of the draft, and that entertaining any offers from European teams would be a mistake.

Majok does have financial concerns. His father helps with the resettlement of refugees in Sydney, and his mother just gave birth to a baby boy – Majok's fifth brother.

"(Money) would be a factor, the type of deal he would get," Smith acknowledged. "But my advice to the family is basically to evaluate it as a long-term investment into your son. You don't want to jump at the first thing you get. There's a lot to say for Coach Calhoun and the University of Connecticut."