I have to admit that the tragic news coming out of UConn today makes me a bit conflicted and reluctant to go too nuts writing about the latest commitment to the Huskies' women's basketball program, even a special talent like Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

In the pecking order of what's important in the world, the news that one of the - if not the - best high school junior in the country has committed to the Huskies pales to what the friends and family of the late Jasper Howard must be experiencing at the current time.

I never met Howard, a star cornerback for the UConn football team, who was murdered on the UConn campus early Sunday morning. But after watching a poignant piece put together by WTNH's John Pierson which showcased the fun-loving, bubbly personality of Howard, I was overcome with a profound feeling of what a terrible loss his death was. I am not talking about who will take over his role as the Huskies' shut-down corner or who will be asked to go back and field punts but the loss of the first person in his family to go to college. The loss of a person eager to turn his NFL contract into a way to find a better life for his family. A kid who left the hard streets of Miami (where I lived for two years before heading to Connecticut) to make a better life for himself.

But my job is covering the UConn women's basketball team and recruiting is certainly news. I think sometimes that people go overboard in the excitement over players they have never seen play. I find it curious that with so many key players returning from an undefeated national championship team, every time I run into a UConn fan or get an e-mail, it is never about Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene or Lorin Dixon but Bria Hartley, Chiney Ogwumike and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. When I wrote a lengthy blog a few weeks back on who would be visiting UConn to take in the First Night event as well as the first official practices, my blog had as many hits that day as the previous three days combined so I do understand that the Huskymaniacs love their recruiting info.

At times, tracking recruiting makes me uncomfortable as I attempt to balance my readers' desire to know what's going on with the recruit and her family's right to live their lives without unwanted intrusions from me. That is why somebody else will be reaching out to Hartley's family. I had called Bria's dad a couple of times over the last several months but haven't heard back recently. I take that as a cue that they want their space and they will get it, at least from me. When she commits, I will place a call but not before unless I hear from her family first. I know it may not be the way for you to get the latest on Bria's decision but it is the proper thing for me to do as a person.

I was in contact with somebody close to Hillhouse's dazzling sophomore Bria Holmes, who is on UConn's recruiting radar, checking to see if she was planning to come to Storrs for the First Night festivities. They pleaded with me to not turn her life into a circus. I had no problem agreeing to that. While I will be periodically checking in with my sources if UConn gets serious with the 6-foot Holmes, out of respect for her and those closest to her trying to let her live as normal a life as she can, you will not be seeing wall to wall coverage of Holmes. We will not be dropping the ball on keeping tabs on her but will also not be going overboard either.

Now if you have made it through that long-winded, rambling dissertation, I come to the point of the blog - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

I have never seen her play but know she was the leading scorer and tied for the team lead in 3-pointers on the U.S. Under-16 national team's run to the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. I also know she was named California's Gatorade Player of the Year as a SOPHOMORE. That just does not happen in a basketball-rich state like California. I know that Mosqueda-Lewis averaged nearly 23 points per game for Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif. even though the team had two other players talented enough to make the U.S. Under-16 national team.

I spoke with Kaleena via phone when she was in Colorado Springs for the U-16 national team trials this summer and was immediately struck by her infectious personality. I spoke to her right around the time rumors were circulating that she had committed to UConn. She addressed those rumors head on and of course I asked her about her impressions when she was at one of UConn's practices in January. That portion of the interview was included in the story I wrote about her commitment for the Register but I was struck as much by other parts of our interview.

Her personality struck me as having a bit of the regalness of Maya Moore with some of the playfulness of a Renee Montgomery. More than anything, she came across as a good teammate and a really nice kid.

She was absolutely elated that her fellow Mater Dei teammates Alexyz Vaoiletama and Jordan Adams would be joining her in Mexico as members of the U.S. Under-16 national team competing in the qualifying tournament into the 2010 Under-17 World Championships.

"It is incredible, it makes it more comfortable to be able to interact on this team and have people here that I know are always going to be on my side and be with me," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "It is a great thing to have both of my teammates from high school here with me. At first we were all nervous, scared and we said if one of is makes it, two of us make it, if somebody doesn't we are still going to be together but when all three of us heard our names called, the looks on our faces when we saw each other after because we weren't sitting near each other but when we all came together, we all started crying and all happy that we got to do this together."

Then as I asked her if she was overwhelmed by a sense of history considering how many Olympians trained on the same facility she was practicing at when she gleefully told me the story of her securing an autograph from swimmer Michael Phelps. That was when I realized that for as talented as she was, she is still just a kid. A kid with enough gumption to approach one of the most decorated U.S. Olympic athletes of all time, but still an extremely likeable kid.

Here is the story in her own words:

"We walked around the campus and got a little tour. Michael Phelps was here the first day we were here. When you walk on the campus, you feel all the great people who have been here before you. I got his autograph when he was walking out of the dining area. I know there are a ton of great athletes out there, getting Michael Phelps, a man who got seven gold medals in one Olympic was incredible. I told everybody as soon as I got it."

While I would imagine that the fans out there will react to news of Mosqueda-Lewis' commitment with the same sense of elation they felt when Maya Moore committed to UConn, I would ask you to put things into the proper perspective. Yes, this is a great get for the Huskies but it also comes at a time where the UConn family is mourning the loss of one of its brightest stars.