Since I've been covering UConn (and my first season on the beat was 1999-2000) it's been pretty easy to see how Geno Auriemma's assistant coaches are utilized.

Chris Dailey would work with the post players as would another assistant (first it was Jamelle Elliott and more recently Marisa Moseley). The other assistant (first it was Tonya Cardoza and now Shea Ralph) worked with the guards.

Ever since seeing that Jasmine Lister will work with the guards after she was hired as an assistant coach, I was wondering if it would force a shift in Ralph's duties. I finally got around to asking Auriemma about how Lister replacing Moseley on the staff would impact the coaching responsibilities tonight at the first of the UConn Road Show events.

"There is no offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in our program," Auriemma said. "Shea's not going to move from where she is, she has such a great connection with these kids and as far as what CD is going to be doing, we've got some ideas moving forward about how we want to move our players around. We looked at our roster and it doesn't seem to me like we have a center so maybe we just say, 'OK, you guys down that end, you guys down this end' and not care much about who is where.

"There are just not that many big kids who want to play in the lane, the game has moved away from it in a certain sense. I still believe in it but I don't even know anymore what I see."

The players are back on campus meaning that the coaches get to see them (in small doses) playing pickup and going through conditioning drills so I got some updates.

First, the news is good on Mikayla Coombs return to the court. Her freshman season ended abruptly due to a blood clot issue forcing her to miss the NCAA tournament. That's a little different than a player coming off an ankle, knee or shoulder injury but Auriemma said things are progressing nicely.

"She's doing some individuals, haven't seen her play but a lot of the individual stuff she can go full (court) so we'll see where that takes her," Auriemma said. "If it is not completely gone, it will be. They have given her a clean bill of health going forward."

All-American Katie Lou Samuelson is no longer wearing a walking boot after undergoing surgery on the left ankle that she hurt early in the season but Auriemma said she is not yet cleared for basketball activities.

The best bit of UConn women's basketball related news I heard (actually I saw) was that Megan Walker headed to Missouri to go through workouts with Napheesa Collier. The sessions are run by Alex Bazzell who calls himself  a "NBA/WNBA Skills Trainer" on his Twitter account. One of the workouts was posted on Twitter and it showed Collier and Walker hitting jumping after jumper and going through a grueling workout. Bazzell's work with Collier played a key role in her development at UConn and I couldn't imagine a better role model for Walker than Collier. The competition didn't stop there. Samuelson can't take part in pickup games yet but she does make the call on which players are on which teams. Auriemma is delighted to hear that Samuelson makes certain that Collier and Walker are not only on opposing teams but have to guard each other.

"They had a little go at each today which I thought was good," Auriemma said. "I think the more of that, the better. (Lou) makes sure Pheesa and Megan are on opposite teams guarding each other so I think that will play out pretty well. I think it will help Megan a lot, Pheesa might be the best player she guards all year so not a bad way to start training."

It might already be out there but with UConn announcing that it will face Vanderbilt on Nov. 17 at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase, it got me wondering if that was going to be the season opener. Fortunately, among tonight's attendees was UConn's Senior Associate Director of Athletics/External Relations Neal Eskine, who is the point man for the women's basketball schedule and he said that the home game against Ohio State will be the season opener.

In several months time Crystal Dangerfield will be throwing passes to talented freshmen Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker in practices and games at UConn. However, she doesn't need to wait that long to get used to sharing the court with her soon to be college teammates.

Dangerfield, the only player in the U.S. U-19 training camp who was a member of the team to win the  2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, has relishing the chance to develop chemistry with Coombs and Walker.

"Mikayla, she is out here playing defense, getting steals, getting her hands on the ball, knocking down 3s and playing really well," Dangerfield said. "Megan, she is doing her thing. Smooth is all I can say about her, she is hitting those shots and running the floor really well."

Two years ago Dangerfield has the chance to play with Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. All three of the future Huskies made the U19 team but Samuelson relinquished her spot to tend to some family business. Collier was the leading rebounder and No. 1 scorer on the gold-medal winning team while Dangerfield was second on the squad with 14 steals and third with 19 assists in seven games.

"It definitely helps," Dangerfield said. "Playing with Napheesa, during the year a pick and roll with her, it is (as simple as) breathing almost, it is easy. Just being able to play with both of them, they have been on my team (in 5 on 5 drills) and being able to build the chemistry before we get on the campus at the end of the month so when we get in there, we will keep building on it."

The 12-member team will be announced tomorrow. UConn Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier and Class of 2018 recruiting target Christyn Williams are also among the 33 players vying for spots on the team.

Mikayla Coombs already knew that she would be spending a few unforgettable days in New York by virtue of being selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic.
Little did she know, however, that she would be seeing a familiar face on the sidelines as she is part of the third annual Jordan Brand game.

Jan Azar, who coached the UConn signee for the last six seasons at the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corner, Georgia, is one of three coaches for the West team which includes Coombs.

"It is bittersweet," Coombs said of her final high school game shortly before Wednesday's practice began at the HSS Training Center in Brooklyn. "The reason I think I am on the West team is because my high school coach is coaching the West so it is our last go around and I am excited about that.
"We are actually super close so just the fact that she is here and able to coach me, I am super
excited."

Azar still remembers the first time Coombs came into the gym to take part in a practice at Wesleyan. The wide-eyed seventh grader had already been cut from softball and volleyball teams.

"Mikayla wanted to uphold the tradition we had already set at Wesleyan," Azar said. "When she began playing basketball back in seventh grade for us, she knew what she was getting into and she wanted to be a part of something special. When she went out with that knee injury (in the first game of her sophomore season) but I have never seen somebody more excited than Mikayla was as an injured player winning a state championship.

"She spoke at our banquet the other night about that, talked to the other kids about finding what you are good at. Just because it looks like you have the world doesn't mean you haven't had to work for it. She was cut from both of those teams in seventh grade and really dove into basketball. I think the work that she put in is what put her at this level. I knew she was going to be special, it depended on the work she wanted to put in to utilize that."

There were plenty of things that Azar could say about Coombs, what an unselfish player she is but the greatest tribute came when the other seven seniors on this year's state championship Wesleyan team paid their way to Chicago so they could see Coombs play in the McDonald's All-American Game.

Another tribute came when UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that Coombs' ability to impact a game even if her shots aren't falling reminds him of current UConn star guard Kia Nurse at a similar time in their respectively careers.

"She is an unselfish person and that translates to the court," Azar said. "I think that is a great comparison and an honor for Mikayla to be compared to somebody like that so for somebody to look up to and aspire to play like, I think it is great for her."

Coombs was a teammate of fellow UConn signee Megan Walker in the McDonald's game but she may have to guard either Walker or another UConn commit Lexi Gordon in Friday's Jordan Brand Classic.

"I think it will give me a look into what practices are like," Coombs said. "It will be fun. I got to play with Megan and now I play against her so I think it will be cool, a different perspective."

Coombs got a taste of just how competitive things are when she took part in pickup games against her fellow commits and the current UConn players during her official visit so she has some idea of what she is getting into.

"I think they are just fighters," Coombs said. "Even when we went to go scrimmage them, you could tell that even losing in scrimmages was (upsetting) to them. Lou is super competitive, Phee is super competitive, Gabby is competitive so I think it is a good environment for us because some people think winning is important but they take it seriously."

So does Coombs.

She entered a program that has played in the state title game every year since 2004. Forced to the bench with early foul trouble in the Georgia Private School 1A title game against rival Holy Innocents. Coombs had 10 points in the second quarter as Wesleyan rallied from a 17-point deficit to win the program's 12th title in the last 17 seasons. True to her nature, she impacted the game in the fourth quarter not with an offensive explosion but with stout defense, pinpoint passes and rebounds in traffic.

"She came in that second quarter, put up 10 points right away and I think that just let her
teammates know that she was there, follow me and I will lead you,"Azar said. "I think the rest of the game, it was more about involving her teammates and bringing them along with her which I think she did a really good job of, she gave them a lot of confidence.

"Once she started scoring so much, they really started keying on her and because we have some
really talented players, once they keyed on her it left her teammates open to distribute the
basketball. Mikayla didn't care how many points she had, she just wanted to win."

That is an attribute that should serve her well at the next level.

"I think my game is based off doing the little things and helping my team in any way I can," Coombs said. "It is just finding my spot at UConn and trying to help them succeed the way they have been doing."

Azar will be watching on from afar. It will be the first time that one of her players will suit up for Hall of Fame UConn coach Geno Auriemma but she has seen plenty of her star pupils play major-college basketball. Nikki Luckhurst played at Tulane, Anne Marie Armstrong and Kaelyn Causwell suited up at Georgia while more recently former Wesleyan players have gone to Auburn and Clemson.

"I think she is going into a program that we all look up to and they get it, those kids get it," Azar said. "It is a team-first atmosphere. She is going to add (the qualities) that Geno recruits to bring in there, those are kids who understand team first. She will add that along with all of these other kids who are coming in because the selfishness is not there with Mikayla and Mikayla is not a selfish player.

"I can't wait. I have never been to UConn for a game. I will be traveling. I have a daughter in
eighth grade, a son who is in the fifth grade so we will be making some trips, seeing some games
in person, that atmosphere is great for girls sports for general so I can't wait."

A pair of future Huskies will take the court later on today for the McDonald's All-American Game.
Megan Walker, who has been earning nearly every national player of the year honor, will be among the headliners in the game being held in Chicago. However, her UConn-bound teammate on East squad has flown under a radar just a bit.

The 5-foot-10 Mikayla Coombs averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals in leading the Wesleyan School to the Georgia Private School 1A title, the 12th for the program since 2002. UConn coach Geno Auriemma compared the way she plays the game to current star guard Kia Nurse in the sense that she can impact the game in a variety of ways regardless of whether her shot is falling.

I asked UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph, who will be Coombs' position coach, for her thoughts on the UConn incoming freshman.

"She has an impact everywhere on the floor," Ralph said. "She plays hard, she is a great defender, she can do a lot of different things on offense, she is a competitor and she can play a lot of of different positions. For Mikayla, she has a really interesting upside because she can do all the stuff and she embraces it. She can rebound and is an all around player."

The game will start at 5 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker capped her brilliant senior season with an undefeated season and third straight state championship. One of her rewards is being awarded one of the most prestigious honors.

Walker was named the winner of the Naismith Trophy becoming eighth former, current or future Husky to win the award joining Tamika Williams, Diana Taurasi, Ann Strother, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson. She also joins La'Keshia Frett and Kara Lawson as the only Virginia high school players to win the award.

“Megan is so deserving of this award. She holds herself to a maturity level of people many years her senior. She is humble yet confident, and is always helping everyone on the team improve,” said Larry Starr, Monacan High School coach in a release. “Megan is a great teammate, leader, and person and will represent the Naismith Trophy with dignity and class.”

Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game and saved her best for last with 18 points in a 60-59 win over King's Fork in the Virginia 4A title game including the game-winning basket with 14 seconds left to play.

Walker had six 30-point games and nine double-doubles as a senior and helped Monacan end the season on a 53-game winning streak.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma made his way down to Walker's final game at Monacan so he witnessed Walker's brilliant fourth-quarter performance.

"There is not a lot that Meg can't do," Auriemma said. "I am looking forward to getting her up here, let's put it that way. When you are her size (6-foot-1) you are not limited to just one thing. She is like Lou (Katie Lou Samuelson), not as tall but you can put her anywhere on the floor and be successful. It is just a matter of repetition and being put in the situation where you aren't the best player on the floor every minute of every day. There is a reason why everybody in America thought she was the best player because of the many things that she can do and not the one thing that she can do."

Being at the game enabled Auriemma to act like her coach for a few moments after the game.

"I always tend to look at things funny, 'Meg you were amazing in that fourth quarter, 18 points the game-winning bucket, just took over the game. You know Meg if you had done that in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter you wouldn't have been down 11 and you wouldn't need to be a hero," Auriemma said. "She looks at me, 'yeah, I know.' What she did in that fourth quarter, she is capable of doing that the entire game but she is a high school kid and she doesn't know enough about that, we are dealing with that with Crystal (Dangerfield). When these kids are in high school and they know that, 'OK, game is on the line, time for me to take over ...'

Auriemma was thrilled that Walker and fellow UConn signee Mikayla Coombs ended their (non all-star game) high school careers by winning state titles and doing it on the same day was extra special.

"I am happy for them that they were able to win championships," Auriemma said. "Mikayla does it completely different, she has a lot of Kia Nurse in her, she just accomplishes a lot. She is going
to give us a different kind of dimension that we don't have right now."

Andra Espinoza-Hunter is New York's Gatorade state player of the year
making 8th time in last 12 years a UConn recruit wins New York honor

UConn incoming freshmen Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Megan Walker were selected as the Gatorade state players of the year in Georgia, New York and Virginia respectively making them eligible for the Gatorade National Player of Year honor.

Coombs averaged  16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals per game in leading the Wesleyan School to the Georgia 4A Private School state title.

Espinoza-Hunter is averaging 37.8 points, 7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3 steals per game for Ossining High School including a 40-point effort to clinch a spot in the New York AA semifinals.
Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 rebounds per game to lead Monacan High School to its third straight Virginia 4A title.

UConn recruiting targets Aliyah Boston and Christyn Williams were the state players of the year in Massachusetts and Arkansas respectively while the Connecticut winner McKenna Dale of E.O. Smith who has committed to Brown.

It is the second Gatorade state player of the year honor for Walker and Williams, who announced via her Twitter account yesterday that UConn joins Baylor, Notre Dame, Tennessee and UCLA are her five finalists.

It was a day that UConn incoming freshmen Mikalya Coombs and Megan Walker won't soon forget.

The two future Huskies played starring roles as their teams rallied from double-digit deficits to lead their teams to state titles.

Mikayla Coombs had 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals as her Wesleyan School team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half to win the Georgia Class A Private School title with a 51-48 win over Holy Innocents.

Coombs had 10 points in a 12-2 Wesleyan run in the second quarter which cut the deficit to seven points heading into the locker room at halftime. In the third quarter she had five points in a span of 14 seconds to tie the game at 41.

Fellow senior Natalie Armstrong finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds as Wesleyan won its 12th state title since 2002. For the seniors it was the second title in the last three seasons but Coombs missed that 2015 championship game as she suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season.

Holy Innocents' was responsible for eight of Wesleyan's 16 losses in the last three seasons including one in the 2016 state final.

She finishes her career as Wesleyan's seventh all-time leading scorer with 1,338 points, was seventh in rebounding (642) and blocked shots (93) and eighth in steals (318).

Walker finished with 35 points doing much of her damage at the free-throw line where she was 15 for 24. She also had 11 rebounds, six blocked shots and five steals. Walker had 18 points in the fourth quarter including the go-ahead basket with 14 seconds left to play. She finishes her career tied with Angela Mickens for 27th on Virginia's list of career scorers.

Coombs and Walker will both be playing in the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic games.

UConn signees Mikayla Coombs  and Megan Walker were among 24 players selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game.

Coombs is averaging 15.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.8 steals per game at the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Walker is averaging 25.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and three steals per game for undefeated Monacan (Va.) High. She has four 30-point games as a senior.

Walker and Coombs will play on the East team.

The McDonald's All-American Game will be played on Mar. 29 at the United Center in Chicago. At least one future UConn product has played in 14 of the first 15 McDonald's games with the lone exception coming in 2013.

It was a rather memorable trip to South Carolina for a pair of future Huskies.

Megan Walker was named the most valuable player at the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational after leading her Monacan (Va.) High School team to the title.

In the championship game Walker had game-high totals of 22 points and four steals in a 54-49 win ovr Winder-Barrow out of Winder, Georgia.

UConn Class of 2018 recruiting target Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 16 points and 22 rebounds for Winder-Barrow.

Walker averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3.7 steals to lead Monacan to a 4-0 record including a victory over nationally-ranked Norcross.

Fellow UConn incoming freshman Mikayla Coombs had a pair of double-doubles as the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners went 2-2 in the tournament. Coombs averaged 19.8, 7.3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals a game. She also recorded the 1,000 point of her high school career in the tournament, a milestone that obviously would have come much quicker had she not suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of her sophomore season.

Nelson-Ododa averaged 21.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game in the tournament  which began Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and wrapped up with four games today.

Walker was named the tournament's most valuable player, Nelson-Ododa was named the most outstanding player while Coombs earned all-tournament team honors.

I'm going to be doing the family thing for the next few days so barring any major developments, I won't be posting here likely until we get close to the Maryland game, With last night's game starting so late, my updated story off the win over Nebraska did not make it into the paper.

Also, here's the story on senior guard Saniya Chong returning to the court after missing the last two games with a concussion.

Since I spent and am spending a decent amount of my day in airports in three different states today, I had time to do a little checking on recent UConn players with eight offensive rebounds in a game since Napheesa Collier accomplished that feat last night.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is the last Husky to do that, hauling down eight offensive boards in a 2014 NCAA tournament game against BYU and she also accomplished the feat in a regular-season game against Baylor during the 2012-13 season. Breanna Stewart's career high was eight against during her freshman season. Maya Moore hauled down nine offensive rebounds in a 2008 game against Syracuse.

Not only is UConn rolling along with five wins over ranked teams but the highly-touted quartet of incoming freshmen are also in the midst of impressive seasons.

Mikayla Coombs had two 25-point games for undefeated Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Coombs wasn't listed as one of the top scorers in a 75-8 win over WD Mohammed but in the other seven games Coombs is averaging 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.7 steals per game.

Coombs has been flirting with triple-doubles all season with 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals against Effingham County, 25 points, six rebounds and six steals versus Tattnall County. In her most recent game, she had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals and 2 blocked shots in a 56-18 win over St. Pius X.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter has scored at least 40 points in three of the first four games at Ossining (N.Y.) High School. Thanks to her coach Dan Ricci updating his team's stats on MaxPreps, I can pass on more information that I have for the other three incoming freshmen.

She had 40 points in a season-opening loss to Roland Park Country and games of 49, 38 and 40 in
wins over Hathaway Brown, Scarsdale and Albany.
Also, 17 appears to be a preferred number for Espinoza-Hunter as she has 17 3-pointers, 17 assists and 17 steals in the four games.

Lexi Gordon began the season by scoring 20 points in each of the first five games for LD Bell in Hurst, Texas and has nine 20-point performances. I don't have the individual scoring totals from a 47-43 loss to Cedar Hill, but in the other 14 games she is averaging 20.5 points per game.

Megan Walker has three 30-point games in the first four games of the season and since she is showing up as not having scored in a win over Clover Hill, I am going to assume that she didn't play in that game.

In the other three games she has scored 30, 36 and 31 points and is averaging 32.3 points and 10 rebounds per game.

There's a chance Coombs' and Walker's teams could meet in the upcoming Crescom Bank Holiday Invitational but since Wesleyan and Monacan are in opposite parts of the bracket, it wouldn't happen until the championship game or late in the consolation bracket.

Wesleyan faces a 4-1 Franklin County team out of Frankfort, Kentucky in the first round on Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Franklin County is led by Xavier signee Princess Stewart.

Monacan's first game is against Prairie View out of Henderson, Colorado with a potential game of ranked teams awaiting in the second round if No. 19 Monacan and No. 6 Norcross (Ga.) win on Saturday.

We're still about three weeks away from the girls' high school basketball season starting up in Connecticut but a couple of recent UConn signees have already embarked on their senior seasons.

Recently, Lexi Gordon scored the 2,000th point of her career as she is averaging more than 20 points per game in the early stages this season.

Mikayla Coombs is also off to a strong start for the undefeated Wesleyan School.

Coombs has flirted with double-doubles in her last two games and through three games this season she is averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 4.7 steals per game.

In her most recent game Coombs had 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals in a 90-38 win over Tattnall County. Wesleyan has scored more than 90 points in the last two games.

The seasons for the other two signees (Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Megan Walker) won't start until next month.

It should be noted that Walker's Monacan High and Coombs' Wesleyan School teams will both be playing in the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational next month at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and there's a chance the teams could meet up on the final day of the tournament on Dec. 22.

I've spoken to UConn senior guard Saniya Chong countless times over the last four years and always resisted the temptation to ask her about Andra Espinoza-Hunter, her former teammate at UConn since it would be a violation of NCAA rules for Chong to talk about her until Espinoza-Hunter signed her national letter of intent.

Well, Espinoza-Hunter put her signature on the dotted line on Wednesday and is officially part of UConn's four-player incoming recruiting class so I got Chong's take on Espinoza-Hunter after today's practice.

"It was awesome playing with her," said Chong, a teammate with Espinoza-Hunter during her junior and senior seasons when Andra was a seventh and eighth grader. "She can do all different things on the court, she can get to the basket, play defense so with her it made the team even better.

"She will fit in right away because she works hard, she is always focused and really excited. You see her here all the times coming to games, coming  to practice so I am sure she is ready to jump in and show what we can do."

Espinoza-Hunter helped Ossining to the 2012 and 2013 New York Class AA titles. After spending three seasons at Blair Academy, she has decided to play her final her senior season at Ossining.

"That is amazing to start off and now to finish especially with her being home," Chong said. "I think she loves that. She misses her friends, she misses her family and being in that home environment is really great,"

Batouly Camara, a transfer from Kentucky who is sitting out this season, played with Espinoza-Hunter for two seasons at Blair Academy.

Espinoza-Hunter said it was "the best day ever" when she heard the news that she would be teammates with Camara again

Camara will get to play with Espinoza-Hunter for three more years which is something she is really excited about.

"It will be awesome to play with Andra again, we have known each other since we was in fifth grade and I was in seventh so we had a great relationship and I am so glad she is coming here," Camara said. "The opportunity to play with her at Blair, to watch her grow into the young woman that she is today it just makes me so happy."

So what will Espinoza-Hunter bring to the table when she comes to UConn?

"Just energy, she is a competitor in everything she does so that is what she is going to bring on and off the court," Camara said.

Espinoza-Hunter joins Mikalya Coombs, Lexi Gordon and Megan Walker as part of a highly-touted incoming freshman class. All-Star Girls Report, which includes the transfers of Camara and Azura' Stevens in the ratings, has UConn with the No. 1 recruiting class.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma had to wait until Thursday as Walker, the top-rated recruit in the class, completed the class with her commitment. He said it was a relatively stress free process.

"As we were going through the recruiting process I thought we were recruiting some really good kids who had a pretty good idea of what we are looking for," Auriemma said. "For the most part every one those kids was kind of easy to recruit. They were really knowledgeable about what have and what we have to offer, what they could accomplish there.

"It is a group that has the potential to do a lot of great things. Individually they are all probably at different levels right now, some have played at a higher level have more experience than others but I think as a group they bring a lot of things that right now if you look at our team they are going to get an opportunity to show what they've got right away. I think they are pretty versatile as a group, I don't think we have anybody who is locked in being a one-dimensional type of kids so I think all in all we helped ourselves a lot "

What is interesting about how UConn recruits is only a select few are invited for visits to campus. This year that was definitely the case as the only four players to take official visits to UConn were the four players who committed and then signed with the Huskies.

"We don't waste our time with kids we don't think we can get or kids that we think it is going to be a major struggle," Auriemma said. "We know before we ask a kid to come on an official visit, we know because a lot of them have been here before. We have a pretty good idea that it is going to be us and somebody else or it is no more than three schools generally so our chances of getting them are pretty good. That doesn't mean we are going to get all of them but we are also willing to not have a great recruiting class if we don't get the kids we want. I have really started to believe with all of my heart 'that kid you don't get isn't going to hurt you. Bringing in the wrong kid is going to hurt you so we've rather not get anybody than bring in the wrong kid. I think everyone of these kids coming in has the right temperament, the right kind of player for us."

They all know each other, they have all spent time together. There are not looking over each other's shoulder. We told them up front that your success at Connecticut has nothing to do with who else is coming and we understand that 

SNY GAMES AVAILABLE ON ESPN3
I happened to noticed that the UConn men's season opener, which aired on SNY, was not available on ESPN3 and the last time I checked with the folks at UConn they were still waiting to hear back from ESPN to see if the SNY games will be streamed live on ESPN3 (outside of the SNY coverage area).

I was told they have heard back and those 17 games airing on SNY will be available on ESPN3 as will the games on ESPN and ESPN2.

Lexi Gordon is part of talented four-player class signed by UConn

There was a time when news actually broke during national signing week but in recent years players tended to commit earlier and earlier . That all changed earlier tonight.

Megan Walker, considered by most recruiting insiders as the best player in the Class of 2017, announced that she was signing with UConn.

Walker, a pretty humble kid, actually made the announcement with a bit of flair as she got up walked around a table at Monacan High School and began popping balloons with the colors of her two other finalists - Notre Dame and Texas. That left only blue and white balloons remaining and with friends and onlookers shrieking with delight, she took off a jacket to reveal that she was wearing a UConn shirt.

I have to be honest, if you asked me after UConn returned from the Final Four, I would have been certain that Walker would be the latest No. 1 ranked recruit to sign with the Huskies. But in recent months Texas, aided by newly-hired assistant coach Tina Thompson, made a spirited run at getting a commitment from the highly-skilled Walker. Walker did form a close bond with fellow UConn signees Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon but she strikes me as the type of kid who is probably pretty good friends with players who signed with Notre Dame and Texas.

As a junior at Monacan Walker had games with 50 points another one with 14 rebounds, one with 10 steals and the games with her two highest assist totals came in the postseason, She also had seven games with more than one 3-pointer. Walker wears the same number (32) that Maya Moore did in high school and has attributes similar to what Moore had coming out of high school. She handled the Maya Moore question with tremendous class on a live interview with ESPN.

It is also worthy of mention that Walker led all U.S. players in minutes played at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championships  Here is a blog I did with her after an interview during the USA Basketball U18 trials in May.

Walker is far from the only talented prospect in the class.

ESPN has UConn signees Coombs, Gordon and Espinoza-Hunter ranked 14th, 29th and
37th respectively, the Blue Star Report has Coombs and Espinoza-Hunter as top 10 recruits while the
All-Star Girls Report ranks Coombs as the fourth-best prospect in the class. They will also be
joined on the court by transfers Azura Stevens and Batouly Camara who began their collegiate careers at Duke and Kentucky respectively.

Coombs averaged 13.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals as a junior at Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia after missing all but one game during her sophomore season due to a torn ACL. Three of Wesleyan's five losses during the 2015-16 came to Holy Innocents Episcopal and the other two were during the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions.

Gordon had 65 3-pointers as a junior at L.D. Bell High in Hurst, Texas despite constant double and
triple teaming. She finished her junior season averaging 24.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Espinoza-Hunter is the most familiar face of the trio. She began showing up at UConn games when she would accompany Saniya Chong during the 2012-season. Espinoza-Hunter, then only in the eighth grade, was the second-leading scorer on an Ossining (N.Y.) High School team which won the 2013 New York Class AA state title.

Espinoza-Hunter spent the freshman, sophomore and junior seasons at Blair Academy helping Blair to Mid-Atlantic Prep League and New Jersey state titles each season. She is back at Ossining for her
senior season. In the 2016 MAPL tournament Espinoza-Hunter averaged 31.5 points per game with eight 3-pointers in the two games as she would average 25 points per game.

Add in Stevens, who I would have ranked among the top five college players in the country had she remained at Duke, and Camara and it's pretty clear that opponents might want to get to UConn this season because next year's squad is going to be deep, talented and versatile.

Oh, it should also be noted that UConn is also very much in the mix with Christyn Williams and Charli Collier, two of the top prospects in the Class of 2018.

Look for reaction from Geno Auriemma on Saturday as we will have media access that day in preparation for the season opener.

Things have been rather matter of fact on the recruiting trail for UConn this year.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter committed so long ago I could swear I was still in college at the time. Lexi Gordon's name was appearing as a UConn recruiting target not long before she also committed to play at UConn. Mikayla Coombs took a little bit longer but also announced her decision a little earlier than normal. Now there is one more potential piece to be added to UConn's class as Megan Walker, the No. 1 rated player in the Class of 2017, is currently on her official visit at UConn along with Espinoza-Hunter, Gordon and Coombs.

It's a little bit of a different way of doing things as usually the First Night festivities is the prime spot for UConn coach Geno Auriemma, his coaches and players to host top recruits but the decision was made to do it this weekend. The sarcastic side of me would suggest that the decision to do the official visit this weekend instead of during First Night weekend is that the coaches know I won't be at First Night for one of the few times since the UConn football team is playing at South Florida that weekend. The reality is that the timing works well for Walker, who visited Texas last weekend and is set to make her final official visit to Notre Dame next weekend, and Auriemma, who had kind of a busy summer with the whole coaching the U.S. to another Olympic gold medal thing. First Night will be a good time for UConn to bring in some of the top players on UConn's recruiting radar in the Class of 2018.

People have been quick to "break" the news of Walker's commitment but I'd be very surprised if she made any sort of announcement until after her trip to Notre Dame is done. She is rather active on social media so I fully expect the first news of her commitment to come courtesy of her Twitter account.

Here is a link to a story I did on Walker and the recruiting process when she was trying out for the U.S. U-18 team back in May.

When Walker announces her decision, that should wrap up the Class of 2017 for UConn. The Huskies are in the mix with many of the top player in the next recruiting class so it will be interesting to follow the process of players like Christyn Williams, Charli Collier, Sedona Prince and Aquira DeCosta among others.

Mikayla Coombs, a 5-foot-8 guard out of Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia, has become the third player from the Class of 2017 to commit to UConn.

Coombs made her announcement on her Twitter page

MikaylaCoombs

@CoombsMikayla

I am very happy to announce that I have committed to the University of Connecticut ! pic.twitter.com/GxvXZtiAaJ

Normally I'd be on the phone with her at some point today but since I am currently on vacation, I'll most likely wait to touch base with her until later this month or in August.

Coombs averaged 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game as a junior. With the graduation of leading scorer Cairo Booker (the only other player to score more than 10 points per game last season) I would expect her individual scoring stats to improve next season. The most important thing about her time in high school is how she got used to playing in a winning environment as Wesleyan since the program has won 11 state titles since 2002 and 2003 is the only year they haven't reached a state final since 2001.

Here's a blog entry I did on her during the U.S. U-17 national team trials.

Coombs is ranked fourth in the Class of 2017 by All-Star Girls Report, is sixth in the Blue Star rankings and is No. 21 according to ESPN HoopGurlz.

She joins Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon as players in the next recruiting class committed to UConn.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Mikayla Coombs.

The rising senior guard out of the Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia is trying to set up an official visit to UConn and there is a little bit of time next month for her to make it up to Storrs. There's a slight problem, however.

"I have been talking to Coach Auriemma," Coombs said after Friday's afternoon session at the U.S. U-17 trials in Colorado Springs. "There is a weekend that we are trying to get but if I make this team then I can't go because it is will be hectic but if I make the team, I think I'll be able to go. I think it will be mid-June but I don't know the date yet."

Obviously Coombs hopes to have a tough scheduling decision to make by being one of the 12 players named to represent the U.S. in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Last year she was invited to try out for the U-16 team but a torn ACL suffered early in  her sophomore season ended those dreams.
"It would be a blessing," Coombs said. "I am pretty driven because last year I had to sit out, I got invited and had to sit out because of my knee injury. It would mean a lot to me because I would have accomplished something that I could have done last year."

When Coombs was going through grueling rehab sessions, putting herself in position to make a national team was one of the things helping her to push through when things got tough.

"It helps me a lot because it is a mindset in rehab when it gets tough, you keep going,' Coombs said. "So when I come here and my shot is not falling in just in a game in general where I don't think I am doing well, I just to have to keep pushing."

Coombs views events like the U-17 trials as an opportunity to see where her game stacks up against the nation's best.

"It has been a great experience to play against the nation's best, it has been fun," Coombs said. "It helps me with what I need to work on. When I am working out, I know I want to play against the best and 'this is what I struggled with' so I can focus more on (improving)."

It also helps that Coombs has grown up in one of the top areas nationally for developing girls' basketball talent. Certainly Maya Moore stands at the top of any list of Georgia girls' basketball prodigies. In 2013 three of the top seven on ESPN's recruiting database hailed from Georgia as Kaela Davis, Diamond DeShields and Allisha Gray were ranked No. 2, 3 and 7 with Lexie Brown checking in at No. 15. Coombs is one of three Georgia products ranked in the top 30 by ESPN in the Class of 2017.

"When you go and compete against the best you can always compare them to someone because there is so much talent," Coombs said. "You think 'other players play just like her' and 'I know how to take her on this play.' It helps a lot to know what to compare it to."

Coombs admits that her No. 1 goal at the moment is getting her high school team another championship.

Wesleyan has won 11 state titles in the last 16 seasons including one when Coombs was a sophomore but the bid to repeat ended with an overtime loss to Holy Innocents in the Georgia AA title game. Coombs' knee injury limited her to one game in the only season that Wesleyan has won the state title since she got to high school. Even with the graduation of leading scorer Cairo Booker, Coombs wants nothing else but to be cutting down the nets in her final game with the Lady Wolves.
"It is honestly my main focus because I want to end my senior year on that note with a state championship, that is all I told the team and all we are working for is to win the state championship," said Coombs, a 5-foot-8 guard who averaged 13.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals as a junior. "It will be harder this year because we have moved down to 1A where they are better teams but I think this is our year. I think we can pull it off. We are all very driven so hopefully it is our year."

Coombs said she'd like to have made a college decision before the start of her senior season. She has already visited Penn State and Virginia. She is currently trying to set up visits to UConn and Stanford while an additional visit to Georgia is also a possibility.

Auriemma has made multiple visits to see Coombs play which has certainly made an impression on her.

"It means a lot to me because I know how busy he is and especially in one of my games, he flew into Atlanta and had to drive an hour and a half to Milledgeville, Georgia just to watch me play," Coombs said. "Having him do that stuff, it has an impact on me."

Coombs, a strong student interested in majoring in broadcast journalism, knows what she is looking for in her school of choice.

"A coach who makes me better every day and also academically, that is huge for my family, and where I can succeed in my major so a school I can get the best of both worlds," Coombs said.

If she opts to become the part of the Class of 2017, she could join two players also at the U-17 trials who have committed to UConn already. Here's the story I wrote earlier today on Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon.