Former UConn guard Ketia Swanier was cut by the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.

Swanier, a first-round pick of the Connecticut Sun in 2008, played in 171 career games (counting the playoffs) for Connecticut, Phoenix and Atlanta during her five years in the league.

Swanier appeared in 34 games and started twice for Atlanta during the 2012 season. She averaged 2.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.4 steals per game. She only played five minutes in the playoffs for the Dream.

Swanier's roster spot was placed in jeopardy as Atlanta traded for Jasmine Thomas and drafted Alex Bentley.

Swanier played 13 minutes in Monday's preseason game against Brazil and had two points, one rebound and two assists in the 97-47 victory. Swanier started in Atlanta's preseason opener against Tulsa but did not score in 10 minutes of action.

Even with Kelly Faris being drafted by the Connecticut Sun, the 2013 season will feature the smallest contingent of WNBA players from UConn in some time. Injured veterans Sue Bird (Seattle) and Asjha Jones (Connecticut) are sitting out the 2013 season and free agent Jessica Moore wasn't signed by a team. Now Swanier is looking for a team.

By my count there are nine former Huskies still vying for roster spots.
Swin Cash, Chicago
Tina Charles, Connecticut
Kelly Faris, Connecticut
Kalana Greene, Connecticut
Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta
Charde Houston, Phoenix
Renee Montgomery, Connecticut
Maya Moore, Minnesota
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix

Former UConn guard Tiffany Hayes had a career-high 23 points (shooting 8 of 13 from the field), six rebounds, four assists and one steal as the Atlanta Dream defeated Phoenix 100-93 in overtime on Sunday. Former Husky Ketia Swanier had six points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals as Atlanta won without Olympian Angel McCoughtry. Speaking of stars missing the game, ex UConn star Diana Taurasi missed her 14th game of the season with a hip flexor for Phoenix. UConn grad Charde Houston had 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals for the Mercury.

The Connecticut Sun's impressive success on the road continued with an 86-80 win over defending WNBA champion Minnesota.

Kara Lawson's 22 points and 10 rebounds led the way for the Sun to improve to 12-4 while former Huskies Tina Charles (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Asjha Jones (16 points and 11 rebounds) also had double doubles.

The Sun led by 17 points with 6:54 before Minnesota can roaring back. UConn grad Maya Moore had nine of her team-high 19 points down the stretch as Minnesota pulled within three points. The Sun scored its last eight points from the free-throw line to hold on for the win.

The WNBA's nationally-televised game between Los Angeles and Seattle lost some of its luster when Seattle held out UConn product and Olympian Sue Bird with a hip injury. Los Angeles rolled to an 83-59 win,

After the game Bird talked about missing the game.

Every once in a while you get banged up and timing doesn't work in your favor," Bird said. "Coming into this weekend we had a back-to-back. It was recommended to get as much rest as possible, so it didn't become a long-term issue. If I wake up (Sunday) and feel good, I expect to play."

A year ago the Atlanta Dream did not have a former UConn player on its roster. But with the signing of Jessica Moore, the two-time defending WNBA Eastern Conference champions have three former Huskies among its 11 players.

Moore played for the Connecticut Sun last season averaging 1.7 points in 6.9 minutes per game.

She joins Ketia Swanier, who was signed in the offseason, and Tiffany Hayes, taken in the second round in April's WNBA draft as UConn grads on the Dream.

Moore takes the roster spot which became available when Courtney Paris was waived.

four players including one (Romina Ciappina) expected to challenge former UConn star Tiffany Hayes for a roster spot.

According to a tweet from the team, Ciappina, Brittany Johnson, Chelsea Regins and Aishah Sutherland were all let go.

If my math (and the roster on the Atlanta Dream site) is accurate, Atlanta now has 13 players on its roster. With Erika deSouza not expected to report until after the Olympics, it looks like the Dream has to cut one more player to get down to the 11-player maximum for the season opener. It doesn't figure to be an easy cut. Veteran Laurie Koehn had 21 points in the Dream's only preseason game, Aneika Henry also played well in the preseason game while former UConn stars Hayes and Ketia Swanier are players that drew plenty of praise when I spoke to Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors the day after the WNBA draft. Only three of them figure to make the opening night roster.

Hayes, who joined WNBA veteran Cathrine Kraayeveld as Dream reps signing autographs at tonight's Atlanta Hawks playoff game so read into that whatever you wish.

The Tulsa Shock announced that it has invited former UConn guard Lorin Dixon to its training camp which, by my count, makes 12 former Huskies heading to WNBA training camps.

I'm not going to lie about being a little surprised about Dixon getting an invite. It will be interesting to see how she fares in training camp. I do think that her chance of making the Shock would increase dramatically if Tulsa were to schedule North Carolina in a preseason game or at least let Dixon go up against former North Carolina guard Cetera Degraffenreid, who seemed to bring the best out of Dixon.

All kidding aside, Dixon was a top prospect coming out of Christ the King who can be a disruptive force on the defensive end. She was not much of an offensive threat at UConn so for her to avoid being among the first cuts I would have to think she'd have to look for her own shot a little more than she did during her collegiate career. I'm hoping she'll be around long enough to take part in at least one preseason game. Tulsa plays at Atlanta in its first exhibition game on May 5 and wraps up its preseason schedule by hosting Seattle on May 11.

By my count seven of the WNBA's 12 teams will have UConn grads competing for roster spots. The Connecticut Sun leads the way with four players (Tina Charles, Kalana Greene, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery) while Atlanta (Tiffany Hayes, Ketia Swanier) and Phoenix (Charde Houston, Diana Taurasi) also have more than one former Husky heading to training camp. Chicago (Swin Cash), Minnesota (Maya Moore), Seattle (Sue Bird) and Tulsa (Dixon) have one UConn product each.

Speaking of UConn guards, Bria Hartley was among the 5,500 fans who were at Rentschler Field for UConn's spring football game on Saturday. She was joined by Michala Johnson, who is finishing out the semester before transferring to Wisconsin.

Former UConn star Tiffany Hayes poses with the WNBA's Renee
Brown after being taken by Atlanta with the 14th pick in Monday's
WNBA draft. (Photo courtesy of WNBA)

 I just got off the phone with Atlanta Dream head coach and general manager Marynell Meadors to get her reaction to adding former UConn star Tiffany Hayes to the two-time defending WNBA Eastern Conference champion.

Atlanta sent its first-round pick to Washington in a deal to acquire Lindsey Harding. When the Dream made its first pick of the draft Meadors was stunned to see that Hayes was still available and she wasted little time in deciding to take the 5-foot-10 lefty guard with the 14th overall pick.

"We were elated that she was but surprised that she was still there," Meadors said. "I (like) her energy level, she is very quick and we like that We like to get up and down the court. She is very aggressive. Sometimes she plays a little too fast but will slow down once she gets a little more mature."

Hayes had the luxury of playing alongside Maya Moore for three seasons and is at her best being a secondary scoring option. Atlanta has a go-to player in Angel McCoughtry so Hayes could have a chance to have a role similar to the one she had earlier in her collegiate career.

"She won't have to carry us, she just has to do what she does," Meadors said. "Anybody who comes out of the UConn program knows how to win championships and we like that about her."

Second-round picks are not guaranteed to make the squad. A spot is available since Atlanta chose not to bring back guard Iziane Castro Marques. Meadors she that Hayes will likely have to compete with Romina Ciappina, a member of Belgium's national team, and WNBA veteran Laurie Koehn for one spot on the Atlanta roster.

"There will be three players vying for a position," Meadors said. "Angel McCoughtry  is our starting 3 (small forward). I know that Tiffany is good enough to swing from 2 (shooting guard) to 3 and we have several other players who can do the same thing. I look for her to come in and do really well, just relax and play her game that is what she needs to do.

I also asked Medors about former UConn guard Ketia Swanier, who was signed by the Dream in the offseason.

"I think she brings in a lot of energy and strong skill set for the point guard position," Meadors said. "Last year we had to play Lindsey Harding way too many minutes and so I look for Ketia to come in and really vie for that starting position but I also think the good thing for her is she can swing to the 2 guard slot." 

CARTER SIGNED BY SUN
Former Memphis guard Brittany Carter was signed to a training camp contract by the Connecticut Sun.

The 5-foot-9 Carter played at Georgia as a freshman before transferring to Memphis where she averaged 15.5 points per game. Carter had 71 double-digit scoring games and scored at least 20 points on 25 occasions.

Since the WNBA's initial college draft in 1997 no university has produced first-round picks in five consecutive years. That could change Monday

If Tiffany Hayes is taken in the first round, something that seems rather likely, it would be the fifth straight year that a former Husky had their name called before the start of the second round. There are few things that make UConn's Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma much happier than the knowledge that his players leave better and more skilled than when they arrived.


“I think that is a big part of what we do, that is one of the things we talk a lot about with kids,” Auriemma said. “We are not going to promise that you win a national championship, we are not going to promise that you are going to be player of the year, we are not going to promise that you are going to play in the WNBA but we do tell you that you are going to get a lot better.
 
“If you come here you are going to get a lot better and whatever your goals are you are going to have a chance to reach them. When you get some of the best high school players in the country to come to your school, you would hope that a bunch of them get drafted in the first round otherwise you are not doing your job.”
UConn did not have a first-round pick in the first four WNBA drafts but have had a record 12 No. 1 picks over the last 11 drafts including No. 1 overall picks Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Charles and Moore.
Hayes is expected to be taken in the second half of the first round. However, as the drafting of Ketia Swanier with the 12th overall pick in 2008 proved, it is not out of the question for a former UConn player to go higher than anticipated.
“The top teams have the best players,” Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “It is not an accident that they (UConn) have a player, Tennessee has two or three players, Stanford has a player in this year's draft (expected to be taken in the first round). The best players right now for the most part are going to the best teams. You know with a UConn kid or other players from top programs that they are been well coached and there is an expectation of being good every day. You are not allowed to have slippage days, I think that is one of the attractive parts is that these kids have learned to compete on a daily basis and I think that helps them be prepared for our league.”
Brian Agler led Seattle to the 2010 WNBA title with the aid of former Huskies Sue Bird and Swin Cash so he knows a thing or two about the aura that former UConn players bring to the pro game.
“The one thing I always say about players from Connecticut and players from Tennessee and rich in tradition type programs is that they have always hold their college coaching staffs in high regard,” Agler said. “They continue to be a big part of their lives even after they get to the pro level. I think that is important in our evaluation because they are very team orientated. Tiffany definitely is that, she has had a great career there and I see her going in the first round, she has some versatility and some length but definitely her pedigree going through that program for four years playing on the great teams she has will help her. Each team in our league has high expectations and that is where she comes from.”

The draft begins shortly after 2 p.m. on Monday. The first round will be televised live on ESPN2 with the second and third rounds being shown on ESPNU.

With Minnesota beating San Antonio to reach the Western Conference finals, there will be a UConn alum playing in the WNBA finals for the ninth straight year.

Had San Antonio beaten Minnesota, there would have had a chance of no former Huskies playing for the WNBA title for the first time since Los Angeles beat New York in the 2002 championship series. But with UConn products Diana Taurasi and Ketia Swanier on the Phoenix Mercury while Maya Moore and Charde Houston play for Minnesota, the winner out West will have a definite UConn flavor to it. However, since there are no former Huskies on either the Atlanta Dream or Indiana Fever, if the Eastern Conference champion wins the title then it will be mark the first time the WNBA champ won't have a former UConn player on the team since the Sacramento Monarchs won the title in 2005.

The WNBA's Final Four begins on Thursday when Indiana hosts Atlanta at 7 p.m. followed by Phoenix playing at Minnesota at 9 p.m. Game two is Sunday at Atlanta and Phoenix with Indiana and Minnesota hosting a winner take all game three on Tuesday if the teams split the first two games.

After missing the playoffs for the last two years, the Connecticut Sun clinched a spot on Tuesday night.

It was far from an ideal way of getting into the playoffs as the Sun followed up a puzzling loss at Tulsa by losing 78-66 at San Antonio. But Chicago's loss to New York guaranteed Connecticut one of the four Eastern Conference playoff spots.

"This doesn’t feel real good," Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said after the game. "You’d rather win to get in [the playoffs]. You don’t want to back in. We were going to get in eventually, but it’s not a fun way to have it happen. I’d rather walk off the court with a win and say we did something great tonight. We didn’t do much great tonight."

Veteran forward Asjha Jones, the only member of the 2008 Connecticut Sun team still with the squad, had a similar reaction.

"At least we’re in, right?" Jones said. "The last two years we haven’t gotten to the playoffs, so I guess that’s something to be thankful for tonight. We’re not too proud of our performance, but at least we’re in.”

Three years doesn't sound like a long time but just out of curiousity I looked at the Sun's 2008 statistics to see how much things have changes. Only six of the 14 players who suited up for the Sun in '08 are on active WNBA rosters (Jones, Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen, Indiana guard Erin Phillips, Phoenix guard Ketia Swanier, Washington guard Kerri Gardin and Tulsa forward Amber Holt). Tamika Whitmore, Barbara Turner, Sandrine Gruda, Svetlana Abrosimova, Jamie Carey, Jolene Anderson, Tamika Raymond and Danielle Page were all members of the 2008 Sun squad who haven't played in the league this year.

Think about this year's squad as seven of the 11 players were college kids back in 2008. Renee Montgomery, Kalana Greene and Tina Charles were all teammates at UConn, Kelsey Griffin was enrolled at Nebraska, Danielle McCray was at Kansas, Allison Hightower and Jessica Breland were college students at LSU and North Carolina, Kara Lawson was a member of the Sacramento Monarchs, Tan White was with the Indiana Fever while Jessica Moore played for the Los Angeles Sparks.

With Seattle completing a sweep over Atlanta with a 87-84 over Atlanta in the best of five WNBA championship series on Thursday, here are a few notes about the UConn's impact on the WNBA.

This is the fifth straight year and seventh time in the last eight years that the WNBA champions had a UConn graduate on the team. The 2005 Sacramento Monarchs are the last title winning team with no former Huskies.

Swin Cash becomes the first UConn grad to win three WNBA titles as she was a member of Detroit's 2003 and 2006 championship squads.

Svetlana Abrosimova becomes the eighth UConn product to win it all in the WNBA and the three ex-Huskies (Sue Bird, Cash and Abrosimova) is the most for a WNBA championship squad.

Bird, also a member of Seattle's 2004 championship team, joins Jen Rizzotti (a part of the 1999 and 2000 Houston Comets title winning squads), Diana Taurasi (who led Phoenix to the 2007 and 2009 titles) and Kelly Schumacher (who won consecutive titles with Phoenix in 2007 and Detroit in 2008) as two-time champions.

The 2000-01 UConn squad features five players who have combined to win 10 WNBA titles as Abrosimova and Schumacher were seniors, Bird and Cash juniors and Taurasi a freshman on UConn's Final Four squad.

The other former Huskies to win titles were Kara Wolters with Houston in 1999 and Ketia Swanier, a member of Phoenix's 2009 title-winning team.

SHERWOOD TO LOUISVILLE
It's still a couple of days before we find out whether Sara Hammond picks Louisville or UConn for her college of choice but Louisville did add former UConn forward/center Liz Sherwood to the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. Sherwood's stay at UConn was a brief one as she transferred to Vanderbilt after playing 25 games as a freshman during the 2003-04 season.

SCHEDULE STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
The latest is that a draft of the schedule is being sent out tomorrow (Friday) and it still has to be given the final OK before it gets released. While that could happen tomorrow, it's more likely that it will come next week.

With Indiana and Phoenix winning the third and deciding game in the WNBA's Eastern and Western Conference finals, three former UConn players will be in the finals.

Diana Taurasi, who led Phoenix to the 2007 WNBA title, will be joined by Ketia Swanier while Jessica Moore is a member of the Indiana squad. It also means that for the sixth time in the last seven years, an ex-Husky will be a member of the WNBA championship team.

The streak began in 2003 when Swin Cash was a member of Detroit's title-winning team. The next year Sue Bird and Seattle were WNBA champions. Sacramento, the 2005 champs, had no UConn players. In 2006, Cash and Detroit won again. Taurasi and Kelly Schumacher were Phoenix's 2007 team and last year Schumacher won her second title, this time with Detroit.

Here's the breakdown of UConn players in the WNBA finals
1997: Rebecca Lobo and New York lost in championship game
1998: no UConn players in finals
1999: Jen Rizzotti and Kara Wolters were on victorious Houston team. Lobo was a member of New York squad but was injured.
2000: Rizzotti and Houston won again. Lobo was again injured and could not play for New York.
2001: no UConn players in finals
2002: no UConn players in finals
2003: Swin Cash and Detroit win title
2004: Sue Bird and Seattle win championship, Asjha Jones and Nykesha Sales played for Eastern Conference champion Connecticut
2005: Jones and Sales members of Eastern Conference champ Connecticut
2006: Cash and Detroit win second title
2007: Diana Taurasi and Kelly Schumacher members of Phoenix's championship team, Cash played for Eastern Conference champion Detroit
2008: Schumacher wins her second straight title, this one with Detroit.

The results of the conference finals means that Indiana's Tamika Catchings and the Phoenix duo of Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter will not be able to take part in the U.S. Senior National team training camp which starts Wednesday in Washington, D.C. It will be the first training camp with UConn's Geno Auriemma as the U.S. head coach.

Phoenix's win also brought an end to the career of future Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, one of the faces of the WNBA since its inception in 1997. Leslie held court in the press conference after her Los Angeles team was eliminated and acted with the grace and dignity becoming of her place in the world of women's basketball.

Former UConn stars Diana Taurasi, Ketia Swanier and Jessica Moore have one more obstacle to contend to reach the WNBA finals.

Taurasi had 30 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals while Swanier had two points and one steal as the Phoenix Mercury defeated the San Antonio Silver Stars 100-92 in the deciding game of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.

The win set up a showdown with Los Angeles in the Western Conference finals.

Moore had four points and one rebound in two games as Indiana swept Washington in the Eastern Conference finals. Indiana and defending champion Detroit will square off in the Eastern Conference finals.

The best of three conference finals begin on Wednesday with Indiana playing at Detroit at 8 p.m. followed by Phoenix playing at 10 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPN2.

The series move to Indiana and Phoenix on Friday, starting at 7 and 10 p.m. respectively, and will be carried on NBA TV. The third game, if necessary, will be played on Saturday with Detroit/Indiana tipping off at 7 and LA/Phoenix starting at 10 p.m. Again, both games will be shown on NBA TV.

Among the interested onlookers will be UConn coach Geno Auriemma. The head coach of the U.S. Senior National Team, Auriemma knew some of the best players would not be able to go to the Sept. 29-Oct. 5 training camp in Washington, D.C. because they would be playing in the WNBA finals. With Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter playing for Phoenix, Candace Parker a key member for Los Angeles and Tamika Catchings a leader for Indiana, four of the eight "core" players will be in action in the conference finals.

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.

It appears as if Louisville's Candyce Bingham's post-game comments after Tuesday's win over Cincinnati have riled up some in Husky Nation.

So what did Bingham say to create such a stir?

Well, according to the Associated Press' recap, here are her words: "It's UConn, they're good, they're supposed to be good, but they're very beatable. It's not invincible. It's not anything undoable."

What's the big deal? Apparently Bingham didn't get the memo that all opponents are supposed to bow down to UConn. After all, didn't the season come to an end following UConn's 30-point win at No. 2 North Carolina Monday? Haven't they already awarded the Huskies the 2009 national-championship trophy after humbling the Tar Heels?

Apparently the No. 7 team in the country who are winners of 14 straight games and feature a player (Angel McCoughtry) who could very well be the No. 1 overall pick in April's WNBA draft isn't supposed to believe it can play with UConn.

Maybe it's time for some of the UConn faithful to reflect back on the last time Louisville played a game in the state of Connecticut. Despite McCoughtry and Bingham going a combined 13 for 37 from the floor, the Cardinals only trailed UConn by a point with 5:20 to play in the Big East tournament final at the XL Center, one of the Huskies' home courts. Had Bingham hit a jumper at the 5-minute mark, the Cardinals would have had the lead. UConn lost Charde Houston and Ketia Swanier, who combined for 22 points, 15 rebounds and five steals in UConn's hard-earned 65-59 win as well as Brittany Hunter while adding freshman Tiffany Hayes and welcoming Kalana Greene back from injury. Why shouldn't Louisville think they can come up and give UConn a game while facing pretty much the same team it went toe to toe with last March?

Why is it necessary that every UConn opponent has to proclaim that the undefeated Huskies are the greatest team in the history of the world? Let's not forget that Renee Montgomery was 4 for 19 from the floor in the Big East final and fellow All-Americans Maya Moore and Tina Charles were only 7 for 20. Lorin Dixon, recently inserted into the starting lineup after the season-ending knee injury suffered by freshman Caroline Doty, played just four minutes in the 2008 Big East final and did not score. Key reserve Kaili McLaren had just two points in 32 minutes. So remind me again why should Louisville be shaking in its shoes?

Will Louisville beat UConn? Only time will tell. Should they think they can beat UConn? Why not?

Spare me the garbage of UConn using Bingham's quotes as bulletin-board material. If any UConn players need Geno Auriemma or Chris Dailey to highlight Bingham's quotes in order to get fired up to play the only other team still undefeated in Big East play then they did a poor job in the recruiting process. I doubt that a Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Rebecca Lobo, Shea Ralph, Svetlana Abrosimova or Kerry Bascom would need some outside help to get ready to face the conference team best equipped to knock the Huskies off. If any UConn player needs any additional motivation for Monday's game, it is time to take a long look in the mirror. These are the kinds of games they should be clamoring to play in, facing a veteran, confident team with Final Four aspirations bulletin-board material or no bulletin-board material.

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.