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NCAA Basketball

Disappointing Season at UConn, Time for Players to Go

Posted Mar 28, 2008 9:00AM By Charles Rich (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Connecticut Basketball, Big East Basketball

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Well, the players who are of little use anyways. They need to go and free up those vital scholarships.

UConn only has two scholarships available for the incoming class thanks in part to the departure just prior to the season of Marcus Johnson. That means nothing. Coach Jim Calhoun expects to have at least 4 new players for next year.

...Calhoun said he doesn't foresee wholesale changes, but strongly hinted that a couple of players are not welcome back. Others, he said, might be unhappy with the amount of playing time he thinks they'll get next year.

"We feel that life doesn't begin and end on the court," Calhoun said. "It's how we show ourselves as a basketball program. Academics are very important here, and we've had some disappointments. Social behavior is very important here."

Calhoun pointed to the suspensions of guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins in January after they were caught on campus with alcohol. He said "one young man" had really grown from his suspension, and talked about his plans for Dyson, including possible workouts this summer with former Husky Ben Gordon, who plays for the Chicago Bulls.

But Calhoun refused to discuss Wiggins' status.
It figures. Both Dyson and Wiggins have been suspended for a mandatory 30-day period for failed drug tests in their careers. Dyson just happened to be the second leading scorer on the team. Wiggins has been a disappointment as a back-up point guard. Any wonder why Calhoun spoke highly of Dyson learning, while Wiggins doesn't exist?
I'm not saying Wiggins has earned much sympathy, he hasn't. He's been in trouble with the program and hasn't been the model citizen. At the same time, there is clearly a sliding scale based on talent and contributions to the team at work.

The one player, Calhoun isn't trying to rush out the door is Hasheem Thabeet. The 7'3" Center is projected in multiple mock drafts as a mid-first round draft pick. So, rather than argue that he can improve his draft status, he is taking a different angle.
"I'm trying to have him look at the thing 15 years out," Calhoun said.

A native of Tanzania, Thabeet wants to help out people in that country, and is very interested in the NBA's Basketball without Borders program, which does community outreach in Africa, Calhoun said.

"The only way you're going to be a leading figure (in that program), you've got to play," Calhoun said. "You can't be a project."
That's a little hard to swallow. Considering the sheer volume of stiffs pulling down a good paycheck at center, and pulling them down for a long time. Players like DeSagana Diop, Mark Blount, Kwame Brown, Kelvin Cato, Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mihm, Joel Przybilla and Jake Voskuhl have been playing for at least 7 years and don't look to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

It should be, uh, fun to see who gets the boot chooses to leave UConn. Calhoun made this threat last year, and only one player listened and left in the offseason.

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