Commitments of top high school seniors are starting to roll in and yet UConn has yet to receive a pledge from one member of the Class of 2013.

UConn recruited Diamond DeShields and Taya Reimer hard but they opted to commit to North Carolina and Notre Dame respectively. The Huskies are known to be recruiting guards Saniya Chong and Linnae Harper and forward Erica McCall.

If UConn doesn't get any commitments that would leave the Huskies with eight players on the team next season. Certainly it would be a special eight players but it would also put the Huskies in the position of having to close out easy victories with at least two starters on the court which could result in a key player getting hurt at the end of a 50-point victory. That is not something the Huskies want to have to deal with.\

When I sat down with Geno Auriemma yesterday (before he headed out on recruiting trips to Chicago and then Atlanta) I asked him if he'd be more open accepting walk ons next season in order to avoid using starters during garbage time and he said he would be but also that they are still working to get to an ideal 12-player roster. That could mean that he knows of a Jacquie Fernandes type of player or players who could join the team next season either on scholarship or as a non-scholarship player (with 11 players on this year's team there are no such concerns).

Auriemma isn't allowed to comment on an specific recruit until they sign letters of intent but looking at the three members of the Class of 2013 on UConn's recruiting radar it is looking more and more like Harper is the longest of long shots to land at UConn. Although attempts to reach her high school coach have been unsuccessful, I've heard that UCLA and Miami are among the teams she is planning to visit. I'm not even sure if Harper will end up visiting UConn and if that is the case she certainly won't be coming to UConn. 

McCall is interesting because she is a California kid who has been accepted at Stanford but UConn is still going after her hard enough to lead me to believe that they like their chances of getting her. Saniya Chong, a New York guard, would be a natural fit both basketball wise and geographically at UConn but don't discount Louisville or even Ohio State in the pursuit of the Ossining High star. The good news is that McCall and Chong are both expected to be in attendance the weekend of Oct. 12-13 when the Huskies host their First Night on Friday night and their first official practice the next morning (with a possible appearance at the UConn/Temple football game). UConn's track record of closing the deal when recruits come to First Night is pretty impressive.

The good news is that this is not the first rodeo for the UConn coaching staff. They knew pretty much from the time they signed the class of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson that it would be difficult to follow up with a dynamic class the following year. However, while their rivals have been going hard after top Class of 2013 targets, the UConn coaches have been spending quite a bit of time getting a jump recruiting in the Class of 2014. UConn already has a commitment from Arizona guard Courtney Ekmark and have been out to see Brianna Turner, Recee' Caldwell, A'ja Wilson while Sierra Calhoun and LaJahna Drummer are also in the mix with the Huskies so the feeling is that UConn could end up with a strong class in the Class of 2014 even if the haul from the current recruiting class isn't as large as some people may like.

Former UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields had 29 points as the United States rolled to an 86-47 win over Canada in the FIBA U17 World Championships. UConn targets Linnae Harper (four points, three rebounds, two steals), Erica McCall (five points, six rebounds, two steals) and Brianna Turner (four points, three rebounds) helped the U.S. improve to 2-0 in pool play. The U.S. will face fellow undefeated teams Italy on Sunday and Belgium on Tuesday before wrapping up play in Group A against Mali on Wednesday.

Don't even try telling Breanna Stewart that it was little more than a glorified practice. Whenever they are keeping score and there are two teams on the court the UConn incoming freshman wants nothing more than for her team to come out on top.

However, in a scrimmage between the U.S. Under-18 and U-17 national teams it was the younger squad which had the upper hand and led for the first 3 1/2 quarters.

Then Stewart displayed the form that has made her the winner of every national high school player of the year award.

Baskets by Erica McCall, Rebecca Greenwell (a 3-pointer) and Mercedes Russell pushed a two-point U-17 lead to a nine-point cushion midway through the fourth quarter. Then Stewart went to work as she started a 10-0 run by the U-18s with a jumper and capped the run with back to back 3-pointers. She would add a couple of assists, take a charge, grab a couple of rebounds as the U-18s ended the game on a 21-5 run to cap a 73-66 win on Wednesday night.

"I set it up by putting myself in foul trouble a little bit but in the second half I wanted to step it up and lead the team," Stewart said. "We started to make a run and took control."

Stewart led all scorers in the scrimmage with 18 points and also had nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Thirteen of her points came in the second half including eight in the fourth quarter.

Here's a fact from the scrimmage that should warm the hearts of UConn fans - of the four U-18 players who scored in double figures in the game three will be freshmen at UConn this season. Morgan Tuck had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals while Moriah Jefferson ended up with 12 points as well. The other double-digit scorer for the U-18s was UConn recruiting target Jannah Tucker as she finished with 10 points.

Former UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields, who committed to North Carolina, led the U-17s with 14 points, Kaela Davis had 11 points while Russell had six points and nine rebounds.

After the two US teams scrimmaged at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Field House, they met up with Brazil.

The U-18s played the first half and outscored Brazil 21-19 behind nine points from Maryland commit Lexie Brown. The U-17s played Brazil in the third and fourth quarter and outscored the Brazilians (coached by former WNBA star Janeth Arcain) 38-23 behind 10 points from Kaela Davis.

Among those in attendance were former UConn star Rebecca Lobo who was doing some homework since she will be broadcasting the scrimmages between Brazil and the U.S. on Thursday. At 4 p.m. the U.S. U-17 squad will play Brazil followed by the U-18s meeting Brazil. Both games will be shown live on ESPN3.

Although the U.S. teams are here through Friday, I will be heading home tomorrow night.

I have plenty of tape left to transcribe and videos to edit but look for plenty more from my three days in Orlando and Kissimmee. My story on Jefferson was supposed to run in tomorrow's edition of the Register but was pushed back to make room for the story on Courtney Ekmark committing to UConn. The plan is to do an extended piece on Stewart figures to run on Sunday. I had an informative interview with U.S. women's national team director Carol Callan today about Stewart so look for some of those quotes this weekend. I also talked to her about UConn recruiting target Saniya Chong. Among other items to look for in this blog will be Diamond DeShields talking about her decision to pass on UConn among others to commit to North Carolina, more on UConn recruiting targets Erica McCall, Linnae Harper and Jannah Tucker although the focus will not be on the recruiting but what makes them special players.

I have some recruiting stuff on Brianna Turner and Kendall Cooper. I have some interesting stuff from an interview with Ekmark during last week's trials which one of these days I will get around to posting.

UConn's entire incoming freshman class of Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck are among 26 players who will be vying for spots on the U.S. Under-18 national team.

UConn recruiting target Saniya Chong is also among the U-18 invitees while the list of players heading to try out for the U-17 team includes eight players known to be on UConn's recruiting radar in Sierra Calhoun, Diamond DeShields, Courtney Ekmark, Linnae Harper, Erica McCall, Karlie Samuelson, Jannah Tucker and Brianna Turner.

The trials will be held from May 18-21 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. with the U17 team being announced on May 20 and the U18 squad being named on the 21st. Both teams will head to Lake Buena Vista, Fla. for a training camp from May 28-June 2 and then will head back to Colorado Springs for more training in early August. The U-18 team will play in the FIBA America U18 Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico from Aug. 15-19 while the U17 squad will compete in the FIBA U17 World Championships from Aug. 17-26 in Amsterdam.

UConn fans are understandably fired up about the incoming recruiting class of consensus national high school player of the year Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson (who is rated as the top guard in her class) and Morgan Tuck, who had as impressive a season as any incoming freshman. The three of them make up the nation's top-ranked class and there's plenty of reasons for UConn fans to be giddy.

However, I've been doing this long enough to know that this is going to be a challenging year of recruiting for the UConn coaches. Other coaches have already gone to the well with the "you'll never play there" card. Recent history would indicate that signing a large class, even with six available scholarships seems unlikely.

When UConn signed the class of Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty, Heather Buck and Elena Delle Donne what followed was a one-player class of Kelly Faris. The same thing happened the year after UConn inked the Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams, Keirsten Walters class in the late 1990s.

So between now and November's early signing period what can UConn fans expect?

Well, for one thing it appears as if the UConn coaches are keeping tabs on more prospects than they have during similar scenarios. The last thing the Huskies want is to have uneven classes so in a perfect world a class of two or three players would be ideal next year.

Among the players considered to be recruiting targets are Diamond DeShields, Taya Reimer, Karlie Samuelson, Erica McCall and Saniya Chong. Jannah Tucker's name has been mentioned in connection with UConn in the past and there have been some rumblings that UConn is keeping its eye on Linnae Harper as well. Although UConn has six available scholarships for next year I'd be surprised to see a class of more than three. Which of the players mentioned actually commit to UConn is still anybody's guess. I would not anticipate any commitments coming in the near future for the Huskies and with UConn coach Geno Auriemma spending much of his summer working with the U.S. national team it will be an interesting process to say the least.

When you add in UConn's pursuit of prized sophomores like Brianna Turner and Courtney Ekmark and this could be one of the more intriguing seven months for the UConn brain trust.

ESPN HoopGurlz released its final "Star Watch" and not only did UConn signee Breanna Stewart predictably finish at No. 1 but her soon to be fellow Husky Morgan Tuck ended up No. 2 on the list.

Class of 2013 UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields landed on the list at No. 9 while highly-touted sophomore Courtney Ekmark, who was at the XL Center for UConn's regular-season finale against Notre Dame, finished seventh.

In recent years it seemed inevitable that the UConn women's basketball team would be seeing a team it faced during the regular season during a run to the Final Four. Last year few introductions were necessary when Connecticut had to beat Georgetown in the Sweet 16 and Duke in the Elite Eight.

However, the selection committee changed things up a little bit this year. Of the 15 teams UConn could have faced in the Kingston bracket, the only one which had faced UConn this season was Rutgers. Any thoughts of a third meeting this season between the Huskies and Scarlet Knights were dashed quickly when Rutgers lost in the first round.

Now Penn State, a team UConn has not played since 2008, is the next obstacle on Sunday afternoon. If UConn wins it would need to beat either Kentucky or Gonzaga. UConn and Kentucky have not met since 1999 while UConn and Gonzaga have never played.

"I think it is good both ways," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I like the fact that they don't know as much about us as some of those teams did last year. I don't know as much about them as I would like to know. I like the fact that they don't know as much about us probably more than I like that we know little about them. When we get caught up on what we need to know then I like it a lot because I would like to think we are not always team to play against even thought you have a week to get ready."

DESHIELDS DOWN TO FIVE SCHOOLS
According to a story in the Gwinnett Daily Post announcing UConn recruiting target Diamond DeSheilds as the paper's player of the year, the highly-sought after 6-2 junior has cut her list of schools to Connecticut, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee. Not too many surprises in her list of five but I'd be surprised to see DeShields make a decision any time soon.

UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields was back on the court for her Norcross (Ga.) team on Tuesday night after missing the final six games of the regular season with an injured left wrist.

The junior wing did not start but did have 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots as Norcross defeated Mountain View 52-38 in the 7-AAAAA quarterfinals. With the win Norcross advances to Friday's regional semifinals. Norcross will play the winner of tonight's game between Collins Hill (yes, the same school where UConn's all-time leading scorer Maya Moore played her high school ball) and Mill Creek.

UConn signee Morgan Tuck and her Bolingbrook (Ill.) team also opened postseason play on Tuesday. It wasn't much of a game as Bolingbrook defeated Downers Grove North either 92-19 or 92-17 depending on which website you happen to visit. Bolingbrook will play West Aurora on Thursday in the final of the Bolingbrook 4A regional.

Finally, UConn coach Geno Auriemma was in attendance at the Ridgeview/Mira Monte game on Tuesday night. Auriemma was there to see 6-foot-3 Ridgeview junior Erica McCall play. McCall had 17 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.

According to an Atlanta Journal Constitution blog post, UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields could be back soon after missing six games with an injured wrist.

"She sees the doctor today (today) and we’ll just have to see,’’ Norcross coach Angie Hembree said in the blog post. “We’ve played six games without her. We’ve lost to two pretty good teams (North Gwinnett and Mill Creek). We’re going to get her back this week. I think we’re going to be fine. It’s a marathon, not a (sprint). We’re hanging in there."

Keeping on the subject of the state playoffs, UConn signees Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart will begin state tournament play this week.

Tuck will lead her Bolingbrook (Ill.) High team against either Downers Grove North or Plainfield North in the semifinals of the Naperville (Neuqua Valley) Sectional tomorrow.  If Bolingbrook wins tomorrow, it would advance to the regional finals on Thursday.

Stewart's Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.) team also received a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Rome Free Academy/Nottingham game on Friday in New York's Section III Class AA tournament. The section final is set for Mar. 2 at the Carrier Dome.

Stefanie Dolson's and Rachel Coffey's names were forever intertwined during their brilliance high school careers.

Dolson's Minisink Valley and Coffey's Kingston squads were always on a collision course to meet in the sectional finals and their individual brilliance was typically the focus of newspaper articles advancing the colossal showdowns.

The rivals will meet again tonight as Dolson is UConn's starting center while Coffey is a guard who has started 12 of 20 games for Syracuse.

"I can't tell you how many times in the newspaper, it was never Minisink vs. Kingston. It was always Stefanie vs. Rachel which I don't understand because we are completely positions but it was always a huge rivalry because it was always us two in the finals," Dolson said. "Any time we played them, it was fun.
"It is interesting. It is always fun to see somebody make it to a college basketball team from the same town or area you are from. I know for me personally, I don't have man of them because of where I am from so to see Rachel there, I am really happy for her and glad that she made it because I knew playing against her in high school that she is a great player. hat she made it to Syracuse and is starting now, I am really proud that, we are not from same town, but from the same area, county."

DESHIELDS HOPING TO BE BACK FOR STATE PLAYOFFS
Upon hearing the news that UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields suffered a wrist injury that will sideline her for the next few weeks, I reached out to Norcross (Ga.) High coach Angie Hembree to see how long she expects the highly-touted junior to be sidelined.

"Diamond injured her left wrist in our game with North Gwinnett," Hembree said in an e-mail on Friday morning. "This is her non shooting hand and we expect her to be back in time for the playoffs."

Norcross is in Georgia's AAAAA class and the state tournament begins on either Feb. 24 or 25.

Thanks to the Texas Home Educators Sports Association (THESA) Riders coach Alan Burt, I have UConn signee Moriah Jefferson's up to date statstics.

Jefferson is averaging 18 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists. 5.6 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Jefferson is shooting 57 percent from the field, 49 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line and she has committed just 1.6 turnovers per contest. In 33 games, Jefferson has scored 20 points 13 times and 30 points three times.

The THESA Riders are 33-5 going into tonight's game against a 32-0 Pflugerville squad led by North Texas signee Itiana Taylor and American University commit Ari Booth.

MIXED BAG ON INJURY FRONT FOR UCONN TARGETS
While reports recently surfaced stating that UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields could be sidelined for 2-3 weeks with a wrist injury, another high school junior being pursued by the Huskies has returned to action.

Karlie Samuelson, a wing out of Edison (Calif.) High, missed 10 games with a sprained ankle. In her first game she, Samuelson had 28 points and had four 3-pointers in a 75-59 win over The Bishop's School on Saturday.

The United States team which won the U-19 World Championship for Women were named the 2011 team of the year by USA Basketball.

Not only was the team coached by former UConn great Jen Rizzotti but also four of the top five scorers either currently play for UConn or in the case of leading scorer Breanna Stewart, has signed a letter of intent with Connecticut.

Joining Stewart on the squad were UConn sophomores Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley, freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and another UConn signee Morgan Tuck as well as UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields.

The team certainly deserves recognition for winning the world title but if I had a vote (which I do not) I would have selected the U.S. 3x3 girls team that was forced to play in the semifinals with just two players when Rebecca Greenwell suffered a knee injury and UConn recruiting target Taya Reimer was already out with a sprained ankle. The team lost in the semifinals and in the bronze-medal game but received an honorary bronze medal for their efforts.

Also, USA Basketball will hold a press conference to announce its Olympic assistant coaches on Friday in Chicago. Hmm, UConn is playing at DePaul on Saturday and DePaul coach Doug Bruno has been an assistant with head coach Geno Auriemma during the run to the World Championship gold medal. Something tells me there will be a Bruno sighting at the press conference (especially since the DePaul official athletic site will be providing a live stream of the press conference). Barring any traveling issues, I'm planning to be at the press conference and will file a report when it becomes official.

If you haven't already checked out ESPN's story on yesterday's showdown between UConn commits Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, I'd advise you to do it. There is a great photo of the two future teammates mixing it up taken by Chris Hansen which is worthy of taking a look at.

Stewart had 15 points to lead Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.) to a 43-40 win over Tuck's Bolingbrook (Ill.) squad at the Nike Tournament of Champions at Hamilton (Ariz.) High,

In other news out of the tournament, UConn recruiting target Karlie Samuelson suffered an ankle injury in Edison (Calif.) High's 67-51 win over Centennial out of Las Vegas.

Another player being looked at by the Huskies in the Class of 2013 is Diamond DeShields. With UConn in South Carolina to play Charleston, Geno Auriemma headed over to the Crescent Bank Holiday Invitational in Myrtle Beach (about a two hour ride from Charleston) to see DeShields' Norcross (Ga.) team beat St. James. DeShields had 24 points, half of them coming on four 3-pointers, in the 95-22 win.

Although it did not happen in the tournament, it is also worth noting that ESPN is reporting that Malayna Johnson, the sister of UConn forward Michala Johnson, has committed to Wisconsin.

Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, UConn's entire recruiting class, were among seven players named to the watch list for the Naismith Girls' High School Player of the Year award. UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields is the only non-senior on the list.

Jefferson is a 5-foot-7 guard from Glenn Heights, Tex. who is home schooled and plays for the THESA Riders. Stewart is a 6-foot-4 forward/center out of Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.) High and the top player in the current high school senior class while Tuck is a 6-foot-2 forward who already has two 30-point games for Bolingbrook (Ill.) High this season.

Joining DeShields, a 6-1 wing out of Norcross (Ga.) on the list are former UConn recruiting targets Jewell Loyd and Jordan Adams, who have signed with Notre Dame and Southern California respectively and Duke commit Alexis Jones.

The winner will be announced in March. Current UConn freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was last year's winner.

I'm a day late on this but thought people might be interested to know that UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields had 34 points and seven 3-pointers to lead Norcross (Ga.) High to a 75-46 win over Collins Hill (yes, the same Collins Hill where Maya Moore starred at) on Monday.

DeShields, a 6-1 junior, did her damage despite checking out of the game with 2 minutes left in the third quarter as Norcross improved to 3-2. It's kind of ironic that two of the three wins come against Moore's alma mater and also Fayette County where UConn freshman Brianna Banks played as a senior.

Next up for Norcross is a home game against Peachtree Ridge on Friday followed by a three-day tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. beginning on Monday. With UConn headed to South Carolina for a Dec. 21 game against the College of Charleston, I'd be shocked if at least one UConn coach wasn't in attendance for at least one of those games in the Crescent Bank Invitational.

Speaking of recruiting trips, something tells me that not all the UConn coaches will head directly from Waco, Texas to Charleston as a detour to Arizona to check out the Nike Tournament of Champions would seem a natural destination for at least one member of the UConn staff considering the incredible field put together by tournament organizers. As previously mentioned in this blog, UConn signees Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart will square off when Bolingbrook (Ill.) plays Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.) in the first game for both teams in the Joe Smith Division on Monday. At the same time, UConn recruiting target Karlie Samuelson will lead her Edison (Calif.) team against Centennial High out of Las Vegas.

ESPN picked six players as candidates for national high school player of the year honors and making the cut are UConn signees Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck as well as UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields.

Stewart, a 6-foot-4 senior forward at Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.), was the top choice and there is no surprise there. If the hype surrounding current UConn freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis has been intense enough that Geno Auriemma has taken to referring to Mosqueda-Lewis to "Baby Jesus" to the media, one can only imagine what nickname he will come up with for the multi-faceted Stewart.  Next on the list is Duke incoming freshman Alexis Jones followed by Tuck, a 6-foot-2 forward at Bolingbrook (Ill.) High and DeShields, a 6-foot-2 junior wing at Norcross (Ga.) High. Former UConn recruiting target and University of Southern California commit Jordan Adams (a former high school teammate of Mosqueda-Lewis) and Nazareth sophomore Bianca Cuevas round out the list of candidates.

The other day, I reported that UConn commit Breanna Stewart will be in Houston as she trains with the U.S. squad competing in the Pan Am Games on the day that UConn will be having its first official practice.

Now I can pass along that it doesn't look like Moriah Jefferson, also committed to UConn, will be in the house for UConn's First Night festivities on Oct. 14 or the first official practice on the 15th.

I reached out to her coach with the THESA Riders and here is what Alan Burt had to say about Moriah's plans for that weekend.

"At this point Moriah will not be attending on Oct 14/15," Burt said in an e-mail. "She is planning her visit at a later date, but at this point does not have an exact time."

I am still waiting to hear about UConn commit Morgan Tuck. When I interviewed her when she was training with the U.S. Under-19 national team, she said she planned on being at UConn that weekend. I reached out to Bolingbrook High coach Anthony Smith just to make sure that was still the case. I had previously reported that Class of 2013 recruiting target Karlie Samuelson was not expected to make the trip to Storrs for that weekend.


Xylina McDaniel, the last uncommitted player on UConn's recruiting radar from the Class of 2012, is expected to come up that weekend and it will be interesting to see which other recruits will be present.

Speaking of the Class of 2013, two of the top players being pursued by UConn are slated to square off on Nov. 30 when Taya Reimer and Hamilton Southeastern play at the Stephanie Mavunga-led Brownsburg squad. UConn will be hosting Towson that night so I wouldn't expect any UConn coaches at that game.

UConn not only has made the top four in the list of schools in contention for South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year Xylina McDaniel, but her AAU coach Roger Wiley said that Connecticut and South Carolina are the schools she mentions as her top choices in the conversations he has had with the versatile 6-foot-1 forward.

McDaniel narrowed her list to UConn, South Carolina, North Carolina and Providence although Wiley said he was not sure of the exact dates she will be visiting those schools. But there is no mistaking where her heart lies.

"She mentions South Carolina and Connecticut pretty often," said Wiley, who coaches McDaniel on the South Carolina 76ers AAU program. "They would have to be considered her favorites.

"Connecticut is a pretty impressive school while South Carolina is close to home."

Wiley said Providence, the most surprising school on her list of finalists, has been involved with McDaniel for quite some time and she has developed a bond with the coaches at that school. He also said she doesn't plan to expand her list and she has communicated to other school that those are her four finalists. DePaul, Rutgers and Oklahoma are among those schools that Wiley said had aggressively been pursuing the daughter of former NBA star Xavier McDaniel.

Wiley said the intention is for McDaniel to take all four visits before making her college choice although he admitted he has seen players fall in love with a school and commit before taking all the scheduled visits.

I would imagine that if UConn had its way, McDaniel would come up to visit in mid-October so she could be on hand for the First Night festivities as well as UConn's first official practice. Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck were among the recruits who were in attendance for those activities last year and both have committed to UConn. If UConn were to get McDaniel, it would put the capper on what is already an impressive list of commitments as Breanna Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck are considered to be among the top prospects in the Class of 2012.

When I spoke to Tuck at the U-19 training camp, she said she plans on being at Gampel Pavilion the weekend of Oct. 15-17 and Stewart said if it fits into her school, she would be there as well. Considering that Tuck, Jefferson, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kiah Stokes and Brianna Banks were all up at UConn for First Night and the opening practice in 2010 and all committed to UConn (although Mosqueda-Lewis had already committed), obviously that is a key recruiting weekend for the Huskies. It could be even more of a big deal this year since I would imagine the UConn men's program will pay tribute to the national championship the Huskies won. Diamond DeShields, one of the top recruiting targets in the Class of 2013, was also on hand last year and it would not be a surprise to see her make the trip up from Georgia in mid-October as well nor would it be a stunner if fellow Class of 2013 recruiting targets Stephanie Mavunga, Taya Reimer, Karli Samuelson and Jannah Tucker are in the stands on Oct. 15 and 16.

UConn commit Breanna Stewart had 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot while UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields added 11 points and five rebounds as the United States defeated Argentina 83-49 on Saturday to finish with a 3-0 record in Pool B at the FIBA U-19 World Championships.

UConn rising sophomores Bria Hartley (nine points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals) and Stefanie Dolson (seven points), UConn incoming freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had eight points and five rebounds and Connecticut commit Morgan Tuck (five points, seven rebounds) also played key roles in the win.

The U.S. advances to the second round of pool play and take a 2-0 record into the next stage courtesy of its wins over Russia and Japan (who also will advance out of pool B). The United States will play the winner of Saturday's China/Egypt game in its next game on Monday.

After the first three games, the top four scorers for the U.S. are players either enrolled at UConn, committed to the Huskies or being heavily recruited by them.

Stewart leads the U.S. in both scoring (13 points per game) and rebounding (7.3), Hartley leads the team with nine assists and 12 steals while averaging 12.3 points per game. She also has seven of the team's 11 3-pointers. DeShields is averaging 10.3 points per game while Dolson averages 8.7 points while shooting a team-best 73.3 percent from the field. Tuck is averaging 5.3 points and 6 rebounds per game while Mosqueda-Lewis is averaging 3.7 points and 5 rebounds.

Here are some quotes from Dolson, Stewart and Tuck courtesy of USA Basketball

Stefanie Dolson
Was there something you were working on after the game was in hand?
The main focus after we had the big lead was to execute on offense and run our plays through. Argentina had a really good defense. They were pressuring us. So I think it was just executing, buckling down on defense and still getting stops. We lost a little focus at the end of the game. In the games to come, we can’t do that. We need to learn to keep focused and have our minds set for the entire 40-minte game.

On Bria Hartley’s 9-0 run:
That’s Bria being Bria. Bria’s a great player like that. She’s going to push the ball on the offense. She’s going to finish shots, knock down shots and at the same time, find people to pass the ball to. She does a great job. She knows when she’s hot and I know when she’s hot. So, I know when I’m getting the ball, I pass it to her and she’ll knock them down.

On the USA’s depth:
That’s extremely important. There are 12 of us on this team and every one of us can go in there and play great basketball. So everyone needs to be ready to go in, come off the bench and have the energy, the determination that the previous group had. You have to be ready to come off the bench like that. That starts with the energy on the bench. You can’t just be sitting there and not be into the game. As long as you’re sitting on the bench and you’re into the game, you’re going to come in and bring that energy.

Breanna Stewart
On the USA’s 16-0 run in the first quarter:
I think it was because Argentina, they were running us early on and they were trying to get us tired. But then when once we put our next line of subs in, we had fresh legs and they didn’t. Then we were able to go on the run.

What do you need to work on before the next round to continue getting better as a team?
We need to keep working on running through our sets and making sure we know exactly what we’re doing. We also need to work on our defensive rotations and making sure we’re always in the gaps on defense.

Morgan Tuck
On today’s game:
We started off a little slow on the defensive end, but I think we picked it up. When we get stops, we’re a lot better on offense. When you just focus on defense, the game goes our way.

What is it like a one-two punch with your starters wearing down the opponent and the next group knocking them out?
I definitely think that when we make our subs, energy stays in the game and that definitely helps. There’s not a drop off when our starters come out.

What have you learned about the team over the first round and what do you need to work on?
We got to know each other better on the court. We’ve all learned that when we are focused and playing defense like we know we should play, we’ll be fine.

UConn recruiting target Diamond DeShields had 16 points in 19 minutes while UConn commit Breanna Stewart added 14 points, three rebounds, two blocks as the United States defeated Russia 76-53 to improve to 2-0 in pool play at the FIBA U-19 World Championships.

Duke incoming freshman Elizabeth Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds while UConn rising sophomore Bria Hartley had 10 points and five steals. The U.S. stands alone in Pool B with a 2-0 mark and will wrap up preliminary round play against 0-2 Argentina on Saturday at 11:15 a.m.

The U.S. should secure the top seed out of Pool B and will play the third-place finisher in Pool A (which will be the winner of Saturday's China/Egypt game) in the second round of pool play.

Speaking of Hartley, she is a co-captain of the U.S. team along with Tennessee incoming freshman Ariel Massengale.

Hartley's UConn teammate Stefanie Dolson earned praise from U.S. coach and former UConn star Jen Rizzotti for her defensive play against talented Russian star Ksenia Tikonenko.

"She (Dolson) is probably averaging a point a minute because she’s not playing a lot because of her fouls. But she made (Tikonenko) work pretty hard today. Although she got into foul trouble and didn’t play a lot, she kept her from getting in the flow. Again, we were able to get our depth to disrupt her. (Tikonenko) is a phenomenal player and I thought we did a great job defensively on her."

WALKER CUT BY SUN, BRELAND ON THE WAY?

Veteran post DeMya Walker was cut by the WNBA's Connecticut Sun on Friday.

Walker, picked up by Connecticut in the 2010 dispersal draft after the Sacramento Monarchs folded, did not play in the last three games and fell behind former UConn forward/center Jessica Moore in the rotation. Walker appeared in 10 games for the Sun this season and averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8 minutes of action.

"It was a mutual parting of the ways," Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said in a statement. "She wanted to go some place where she had an opportunity to play more. We obviously were going in a different direction with our roster. Jessica Moore was going to be in the rotation. This gives us a chance to bring in a young post to develop for the future."

Former North Carolina star Jessica Breland tweeted that she "just finished packing for Connecticut ... Can't wait to meet my new teammates."

Breland was taken with the first pick of the second round in April's WNBA draft by Minnesota and her rights were traded to New York. She played in nine games for the Liberty and averaged 2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 7.7 minutes per game. She was waived to make room for former DePaul star Felicia Chester, who ironically was selected with the pick after Breland in the draft.

Breland, a 6-foot-3 forward, was being touted as a potential lottery pick before she was sidelined with cancer. Breland missed the entire 2009-10 season. She returned and averaged 12.5 points, 7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks as a senior for the Tar Heels.

BIG EAST, OOPS I MEAN WNBA ALL-STAR GAME IS TOMORROW
With the news that Minnesota Lynx forward/center Rebekkah Brunson has been selected to replace the injured Candace Parker in the Western Conference starting lineup for tomorrow's All-Star game, eight of the 10 starters played collegiately in the Big East including the entire Western Conference starting five as Brunson, a former Georgetown star, joins UConn graduates Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi in the starting lineup. The Eastern Conference starting lineup features another former Husky in Tina Charles as well as Angel McCoughtry and Cappie Pondexter, who starred at Louisville and Rutgers respectively.