It appears as if all three UConn commits will be signing on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

Brianna Banks, a 5-foot-9 guard from Newnan, Ga., will be signing her letter of intent at 8 a.m. at a ceremony at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Ga.

Banks, who transferred to Fayette County from Northgate High, will be signing alongside three of her new teammates as Kyra King is headed to Brewton Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Ga., Taybreanna Crouch is headed to Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga. and Elem Ibiam will be playing collegiately at the University of South Carolina.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, a 6-0 guard/forward from Anaheim, Calif., will be signing her letter of intent in a ceremony at Mater Dei High at 10:45 a.m. Kiah Stokes, a 6-foot-3 forward/center from Marion, Iowa, is expected to sign in a ceremony at Linn-Mar HS after Stokes returns from playing in the first round of the state tournament with the Linn-Mar volleyball program. Linn-Mar will face Iowa City West in the 4A quarterfinals in Cedar Rapids at noon (1 p.m. Eastern time) so it looks like the signing fesitivities would take place in the early afternoon.

UCONN ALUMS LIGHTING IT UP
With UConn's second and final exhibition game a couple days from now, I figured it would be a good time to update how former Huskies are doing with their European teams. I've attempted to find all the former UConn players overseas but it's possible I've missed some and welcome any additions as I plan on providing periodic updates.

Tina Charles (Nadezhda, Russia): Averaging 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals
Kalana Greene (Gorzow, Poland): Averaging 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
Charde Houston (Good Angels Kosice, Slovakia): Averaging 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks. Had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 76-57 loss to USO Mondeville on Wednesday.
Kaili McLaren (Apollon Ptolemaidos, Greece): Averaging 16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal per game. Had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals in 71-68 loss to Panathinaikos Athens on Wednesday.
Renee Montgomery (Maccabi Ashdod, Israel): Averaging 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.7 turnovers a game. In her last game, Montgomery had 32 points, four assists and six steals in 76-68 win over Elitzur Holon on Nov. 1.
Diana Taurasi (Fenerbahce, Turkey): Averaging 29 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals. In 109-92 win over Gospic Croatia on Wednesday, she had 34 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals and was named the EuroLeague Player of the Week.
Barbara Turner (Pankup Ted Kayseri Kolejspor, Turkey): Averaging 12 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks

With Anete Jekabsone-Zogota, the 2007 FIBA Europe Player of the Year, taking part in her first practice with the Connecticut Sun on Sunday one player had to let go.

Former UConn star Barbara Turner, who at this point last year was being touted as a candidate for the WNBA's Sixth Player of the Year award, got the bad news that her run with team was over.

Turner was acquired in a trade with the Houston Comets last season and provided a spark off the bench. She worked hard on improving her perimeter game, spending time working with former NBA guard John Lucas the last two years. However, she never could get going offensively this season and even more damaging to Turner's chances of staying with the squad, she began to hesitate when given an open look. With the addition of Kiesha Brown, who can also play point guard, and Tan White, who were both picked up off waivers, something had to give. Although Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault loves Turner's toughness, the fact is that with shortened rosters in the WNBA, he could not afford to keep a reserve wing reluctant to shoot.

The Sun are not done adjusting its roster. With Sandrine Gruda expected to join the team later this week in Indiana, another player will need to be let go.

If the Sun let go rookie Lauren Ervin as expected, the roster will be rather imposing with Jekabsone-Zogota and Gruda joining starters Asjha Jones, Lindsay Whalen, Erin Phillips, Kerri Gardin and Chante Black (who may be back in time for Thursday's game at Indiana). Add in veteran Tamika Whitmore, Amber Holt (expected back at some point in July after suffering a hand injury in the preseason), Brown and White and the Sun have a roster capable of securing the franchise's elusive first WNBA title.

At some point in the next five, one member of the Connecticut Sun will be let go as Anete Jekabsone-Zogota will be activated.

Maybe I was imagining things, but I could have sworn that former UConn star Barbara Turner received louder cheers last night than at any other game I have been at. Perhaps the Sun faithful realize that it could be Turner's swan song? Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault, who handles all the player personnel decisions, wasn't about to spill the beans if he has already made his decision.

It is not a moment Thibault is looking forward to. Making matters worse for Thibault, a second player will need to be let go when Sandrine Gruda joins the team when they are in Indiana later this week.

Here are the options listed alphabetically:
Kiesha Brown: The guard was picked up in the preseason after she was waived by Washington and has made an impact both on the court and in the locker room. She gives the Sun another point guard which enables Thibault to rest both Lindsay Whalen and Erin Phillips and utilize Phillips more at the off guard. Brown is also emerging as a team leader in the short time she has been in Connecticut. I'd be surprised if she was let go.
Lauren Ervin: Showed some range on her jumper last night but with Chante Black possibly back for the Thursday game at Indiana and Gruda also coming in, Ervin like a likely choice to be cut although she may be the second one waived just in case Gruda and Black aren't available.
Barbara Turner: Turner was acquired last year to give the Sun some instant offense off the bench. However, Turner has become a shooter who either is reluctant to shoot or can't find the range. That's a tough combination. Turner is shooting 20.9 percent from the field and is 4 for 25 from 3-pointer range (16 percent). Ouch. Thibault loves her toughness. Turner was the first sub he summoned last night when Kerri Gardin was struggling to guard Chamique Holdsclaw and Turner's physical play seemed to bother Holdsclaw.
Tan White: Another veteran picks up off the waiver wire, White is a gifted offensive player who trails only Asjha Jones in shots per 40 minutes which is just fine by Thibault. She understands her role and has added a spark off the bench since she joined the Sun.
Tamika Whitmore: The longest of the long shots to be let go. Whitmore has struggled at times offensively this season but she is fourth on the team in minutes played. She just offers too much in the leadership department and getting caught short with post players is never a good thing so expect her to stick around.

We should know in a few hours but I believe Turner will be the first cut and Ervin will be the second to go. Then again, I thought second-round pick Lyndra Littles was going to make the team out of training camp.

One last thought - Latvia certainly takes its basketball seriously. There was a member of the media from Latvia at Mohegan Sun Arena awaiting Jekabsone-Zogota's arrival. She was supposed to be touching down in New York around the time the Sun's game was wrapping up. With the Sun expected to take the floor at about 3, look for the move to be announced before that since the team will need to stay at the 11-player limit.

Even before the question was raised at the post-game press conference, Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault thought it best to be proactive.

So he let the media know that he had nothing concrete to report on the status of rookie center Chante Black who injured her left elbow in the third quarter of Sunday's win over San Antonio.

Thibault said Black would have x-rays taken tonight with an MRI set for tomorrow. Expect an update on her status at some point tomorrow afternoon.

The fact that Black was sitting comfortably in the locker room after the game, fielding questions from reporters seems to indicate it is not that serious but since I have no medical background, I will wait until I let the experts do their jobs before I further update Black's status.

"I just wanted to shut up from screaming as fast as I could," Black said. "You just don't know what is going on exactly, you just know that you are hurt and want to know what it is. I don't know but I am sure it will turn out for the best."

Black, who scored in double figures for the first time in her young WNBA career, had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Thibault said the timetable has not changed for European stars Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda. Thibault said they should arrive in between Saturday's home game against Atlanta and a July 2 contest at Indiana. What that means is that Saturday's game will be the final one with the current roster and Thibault will have some tough choices to make as he will need to cut two players when Jekabsone-Zogota and Gruda report to camp. The play of Kiesha Brown and Tan White, both picked up on waivers, will make his decision all the more difficult. It was not a good sign that former UConn star Barbara Turner passed up open jumpers for most of the game while Brown and White were more assertive.

Former UConn star Jessica Moore's run with the Los Angeles Sparks ended when she was the final players cut from a team considered to be a favorite to win the WNBA title.

Moore, who began her career by playing six games with Charlotte in 2005, played in 106 games with the Sparks over the last four seasons. She started 50 games for the Sparks in the 2006 and 2007 seasons but simply got caught up in the numbers game in Los Angeles.

She is the third former Husky to be cut in the preseason. Kelly Schumacher was let go by Washington while Ketia Swanier was waived by Connecticut before getting picked up by Phoenix.

Swanier made the Mercury's opening-day roster, one of nine UConn players on WNBA rosters to start the season.

Connecticut (Barbara Turner and Asjha Jones), Minnesota (Renee Montgomery and Charde Houston), Phoenix (Swanier and Diana Taurasi) and Seattle (Sue Bird and Swin Cash) have two ex-Huskies while Ashley Battle will begin her fifth season with the New York Liberty.

By my unofficial tally (and followers of this blog know how great my math is and know that I will never be a candidate to become a CPA if I chose to change careers) Tennessee leads the way with 13 former Lady Vols on the opening-day rosters followed by Connecticut's nine, Georgia (seven), LSU and Rutgers (with six each) and North Carolina with five lead the list of top college feeder programs for the WNBA.