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A blog on UConn women's basketball.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Connecticut Sun not a player in free agent period

Unlike a year ago when the Connecticut Sun pursued and landed Kara Lawson, Sun coach and personnel director Mike Thibault said on Tuesday that their main objective is getting unrestricted free agent Tan White under contract.

The Sun has the bulk of its 2010 team under contract including reigning WNBA rookie of the year Tina Charles, Lawson, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery, Kelsey Griffin, DeMya Walker and Allison Hightower. White expressed her desire to stay with the Sun at the end of last season when she was Connecticut's fifth-leading scorer and led the team in steals.

Although the Sun traded away its first-round pick in April's WNBA draft, Danielle McCray is expected to join the team. McCray was a first-round pick last season but missed the season while recovering from a knee injury. The Sun also have the rights to Spain's Alba Torrens and England's Johannah Leedham, Connecticut's third-round picks in 2009 and 2010. Both players could get pressure from their respective national team programs.

Although the Sun traded away what proved to be the fourth overall pick in the deal which landed them Griffin, Connecticut will pick 16th in what is being touted as a deep draft and never rule out the possibility of the Sun acquiring a first-round pick.

Finally, it will bear watching when France's Sandrine Gruda and Latvia's Anete Jekabsone-Zogota come over since they have become extremely valuable cogs for the Sun.

The period for speaking with free agents began on Saturday and February 1 is the first day to officially sign a free agent.

Former UConn stars Swin Cash, Svetlana Abrosimova and Ashley Battle are among those on the list of unrestricted free agents.

Here's a breakdown on how the Connecticut Sun players or those whose rights are held by the team are playing overseas

Player Team Country Notable statistics
Tina Charles Nadezhda Russia 19 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.1 blocks
Kerri Gardin* Elitzur Holon Israel 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals
Kelsey Griffin Mizo Pecs 2010 Hungary 9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals
Sandrine Gruda Ekaterinburg Russia 14.6 points, 5.1 rebounds
Allison Hightower Reze Nantes France 11.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals
Anete Jekabsone-Zogota Fenerbahce Turkey 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Johannah Leedham* Gorzow Poland 9.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals
Danielle McCray* Rishon Lezion Israel 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds 3.2 assists
Renee Montgomery Maccabi Ashdod Israel 18.7 points, 3.7 assists, 2.2 steals
Alba Torrens* Halcon Avenida Spain 17.2 points, 2.7 assists, 2.1 steals
DeMya Walker Adelaide Australia 13.1 points, 6 rebounds, 2.4 blocks
Tan White Burhaniye Bld Turkey 11.4 points, 4 rebounds
*-Sun own rights to Gardin, Leedham, McCray and Torrens. Jekabsone-Zogota spent part of EuroLeague season with Spartak Moscow Region. White is an unrestricted free agent

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