It's hardly a stunning announcement considering that she has led Great Britain in scoring for the last six friendlies but former Cheshire Academy star Johannah Leedham has been officially named to Great Britain's Olympic women's basketball team.

"Being selected in the final 12 as an individual is a very proud moment for me and is something I will cherish forever," Leedham said in a press release announcing the team's selection. "I'm really excited to be in the Olympic Village, I can't quite imagine how great it is going to be at the moment.

"For us as a team it is unbelievable. We have come so far in recent years and achieved what was needed to qualify for London 2012. We are so excited to be at the Olympics, we have worked so hard and all the girls definitely deserve their place. We can't wait to get going."

Leedham is joined by Dominique Allen, Rose Anderson, Kim Butler, Stef Collins, Temi Fagbenle, Chantelle Handy, Julie Page, Natalie Stafford, Azania Stewart, Rachael Vanderwal, Jenaya Wade-Fray

Leedham has emerged as Great Britain's most consistent offensive option during the Olympic tuneup games. She was named the MVP of the International Foundation Tournament played earlier this month in Turkey even though Great Britain lost to Turkey in the tournament.

The news was not as good for former Connecticut Sun guard Erin Phillips who was not named to Australia's Olympic squad.

Phillips played for Australia in the 2008 Olympics and 2010 World Championships but was not among 12 players named to the squad. Unlike Lauren Jackson, Liz Cambage and Jenna O'Hea, Phillips opted to play in the WNBA during the early part of the season. It's uncertain whether that had anything to do with Phillips being left off the squad.

Laura (Summerton) Hodges, who played 44 games with the Connecticut Sun during the 2005 and 2006 seasons and drew three starting assignments during the 2006 season, did make the squad.

Former Connecticut Sun guard signed with the Seattle Storm on Wednesday. Phillips was signed as an unrestricted free agent.

A year ago the Sun was close to trading Phillips' rights but the deal fell through. My understanding of Phillips' situation was that her rights would be owned by the Sun and she would be classified as a "reserve" player as long as they offered her a contract. Obviously that is no longer the case or Seattle would not have been able to sign her as an unrestricted free agent.

Before UConn's game against Oklahoma on Monday, Thibault, assistant coach Scott Hawk and general manager Chris Sienko will be sitting down with members of the media so we'll be able to find out the dynamics of Phillips' situation but the bottom line is she was not going to come back to Connecticut so good for her that she was able to sign up with the defending WNBA champions.

With the Sun getting nothing in return for Phillips and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota's decision to skip the upcoming WNBA season, it would appear as if Danielle McCray will be playing a rather crucial role for the Sun in the upcoming season.

McCray is playing well in Israel, averaging 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.8 steals per game for Hapoel Rishon Lezion. She is one of three Connecticut Sun players in Israel as Kerri Gardin is averaging 16.5 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.2 steals for Elizur Holon and Renee Montgomery is averaging 18.4 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals for Maccabi Ashdod.

Staying on the subject of overseas basketball, the first round series in the EuroLeague are now all in the books.

Ros Casares, Cras Basket Taranto, Bourges Basket and four-time defending champion Spartak Moscow Region won the decisive third games on Wednesday. Former UConn star Sue Bird had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists in Spartak's 69-63 victory over Beretta-Famila.

The quarterfinals begin on Feb. 22 with Fenerbahce playing Spartak, UMMC Ekaterinburg (led by the Connecticut Sun's Sandrine Gruda) facing Cras Basket Taranto, Wisla Can-Pack meeting Halcon Avenida and Ros Casares playing Bourges Basket. A player to watch for Halcon Avenida is Alba Torrens, who is averaging 16.3 points per game. Her WNBA rights are owned by the Sun but there's no word about whether she plans to come over to the U.S. after playing for Spain in the EuroCup.

While the WNBA opted to be All-Star game free in the upcoming season, there is still a mid-season event for former UConn stars and members of the Connecticut Sun to take part in.

Voting for the EuroLeague Women All-Star Game 2010, which will be held on Mar. 9 in in Gdynia, Poland, began today.

Former UConn star Diana Taurasi figures to be one of the leading vote-getters for the "Rest of the World" squad once again while the Connecticut Sun's Sandrine Gruda and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota are among the top candidates to earn starting spots for Europe.

Fan balloting runs until Jan. 31. The UConn players on the ballot are Svetlana Abrosimova, Charde Houston, Asjha Jones and Renee Montgomery while Jones' Connecticut Sun teammates Lindsay Whalen, Amber Holt and Erin Phillips as well as Alba Torrens, a third-round pick of Connecticut's in April's WNBA draft. Fans will get to pick the starting lineups for both teams while the league will vote on the reserves.

The first order of business is clearing up one fact - Sunday's season finale for the Connecticut Sun will tip at 3 p.m. Apparently there has been some confusion regarding the start time of the game against the Indiana Fever at Mohegan Sun.

There is no confusion regarding the Sun's playoff hopes. Atlanta's 88-64 win on Friday night knocked Connecticut out of the postseason race. It was a stunning way for Connecticut's run of playoff appearances to end, being run off the court by a second-year franchise. Now the first-place Fever come to town and it will be interesting to see how the Sun players respond.

In reality, the playoff exit did not come last night but with Asjha Jones strained Achilles' tendon. With Lindsay Whalen, the MVP runner-up last season, not able to approach her previous level of excellence on a regular basis and rising star Sandrine Gruda not nearly as effective without Jones as she was with her, the Sun stumbled down the stretch. It took the Sun rallying from double-digit deficits for wins against New York and Minnesota and an overtime victory against New York for Connecticut to avoid going 0-10 without Jones in the lineup.

The only positive is that the Sun should finally get a top five draft pick for the first time since trading Shannon Johnson to get the No. 4 overall pick back in 2004. That turned out pretty good with Whalen coming to Connecticut.

While it's unlikely that the Sun would be in position to take either Jayne Appel of Stanford or UConn's Tina Charles unless the draft lottery works to their favor, somebody like Kansas wing Danielle McCray would be a nice fit in Connecticut.

Looking back at the drafts, it is pretty clear that outside of Gruda, which the Sun stole with the last pick of the first round in 2007 draft, Connecticut has not made very good use of the draft in recent years. Whether it is taking Kamesha Hairston over Camille Little in 2007, trading away its 2005 and 2006 first rounders for Margo Dydek (although Dydek did play a role in Connecticut having the best record in the WNBA in 2006) or passing on Nicky Anosike to draft Ketia Swanier last year, some questionable personnel moves in recent years set up the Sun for what happened this year. Add in the curious decision to leave Erika de Souza unprotected in favor of Erin Phillips, allowing de Souza to head to Atlanta and become a key piece in the Dream's rapid rise and the Sun are exactly what they should be - a non-playoff team.

Had the Sun kept de Souza, there would have been no reason to draft Chante Black in the first round this year and could have picked Shavonte Zellous instead. Sorry, but if you around the league and offered to trade de Souza and Zellous for Phillips and Black, the universal response would be "where do I sign?"

The Sun reached into the overseas market and there's no questioning the skill level of Gruda, Phillips and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota but still you are playing with fire every time you attempt to build a team around a European or in Phillips' case, an Australian. I realize it has worked pretty well with Lauren Jackson in Seattle but with the European Championships conflicting with the WNBA season, the status of Gruda will be one of those "let's wait and see" propositions. The prospects of a top four or five pick teaming with Jones, Whalen and Gruda are pretty promising but what about if there is no Gruda? It's a little bit of a different story, isn't it?

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.

It was a successful day all around in Connecticut Sun land.

Not only did the Sun avoid opening the season 0-2 for the first time since 2004 but Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda, who will join the Sun when the EuroBasket Championships are over, led their teams to opening-round victories on Sunday.

The Sun, which lost to Washington in Saturday's season opener, rebounded with a 66-57 win at New York. Lindsay Whalen, the runner-up in the league MVP voting last season, had another strong game with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Erin Phillips, who did not score against the Mystics, had 13 points including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter when New York was threatening to steal the game. Tamika Whitmore came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds and Asjha Jones added 10 points. Kiesha Brown, picked up late in the preseason after Washington cut her, had her second straight solid outing off the bench with seven points and four rebounds. Perhaps most importantly, after managing just five offensive rebounds against Washington, Connecticut had 16 offensive rebounds (five by Whalen) and outrebounded New York 47-33. Former UConn star Ashley Battle was a bright spot for the Liberty with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

Jekabsone-Zogota had a game-high 20 points in Latvia's 85-52 win over Poland. Gruda, despite early foul trouble, had a game-high 23 points as well as seven rebounds in France's 76-61 win over Italy.

Former UConn and Connecticut Sun forward Svetlana Abrosimova had 16 points, five rebounds and four steals in Russia's 74-61 win over Turkey.

Just got off the phone with Connecticut Sun general manager Chris Sienko who said the final bit of paperwork on Barbara Turner's contract came through and she is signed up for the upcoming season.

Turner's signing means that the Sun have its top six scorers returning. Turner, who averaged 8 points and 3.2 rebounds for the Sun in 2008, becomes the 10th player under contract for the coming season joining Lindsay Whalen, Ashja Jones, Tamika Whitmore, Amber Holt, Kerri Gardin, Sandrine Gruda, Erin Phillips, Ketia Swanier and Danielle Page on the roster. They accounted for 87 percent of Connecticut's points, 82 percent of the rebounds and 84 percent of the assists.

The Sun have offers out to unrestricted free agents Tamika Raymond and Svetlana Abrosimova and restricted free agent Jamie Carey. The team is continuing to negotiate with Anete Jekabsone, the fourth-leading scorer in the 2008 Olympics. Sienko said "we are not worried" about coming to terms with the 25-year-old guard. Lauren Ervin, the Sun's third-round pick, is also expected to be in training camp according to Sienko.

Although the roster limits have been cut from a maximum of 13 to 11, the training camp roster rules have not been altered. No WNBA team can have more than 15 players at camp at any time. With so many of the Sun players having European commitments, that should not be an issue or prohibit them from signing all the players from last year's team they want to.