Time will tell how the UConn coaching staff does in adding post players in the next recruiting class but the 2017-18 Huskies will have some size up front thanks to another transfer joining the program.

Batouly Camara, a former Blair Academy star who spent her freshman season at Kentucky, will be joining former Duke star Azura' Stevens as transfers joining the Huskies since the end of the season.

Camara is a versatile 6-foot-2 forward from New York who averaged a double-double as a senior. In her three seasons at Blair, she led the Buccaneers to a 62-8 record and three consecutive Mid-Atlantic Prep league titles.

Here's a video I shot when Camara took part in the USA Basketball U-18 national team trials back in 2014.

Camara averaged 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game as a freshman at Kentucky.

She had a career-high 11 rebounds against UNC-Asheville in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In a loss at South Carolina Camara had a career-high 14 points to go with nine rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 25 minutes before fouling out. She also had eight points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in an overtime win against Tennessee.

Camara previously announced that she would be transferring out of Kentucky, one of six players to transfer, another was dismissed and multiple players who have committed to play for the Wildcats have backed out of those pledges.

This will mark the first time UConn has three transfers on its roster as Camara and Stevens joins Natalie Butler, who is set for her second season on the court at UConn after transferring from Georgetown.

On the 2004-05 season UConn's roster featured junior-college transfer Rashidit Sadiq and Brittany Hunter, who played at Duke as a freshman. Hunter had to sit out that season and by the time she played in a game with the Huskies, Sadiq was no longer a part of the program. Rita Williams also went the junior-college route, spending her freshman season at Mitchell Community College and teamed with former University of Arizona product Sarah Northway for two seasons. However, Mitchell was part of UConn's plans coming out of high school so including her in a list of transfers is kind of hard to do even though she officially would be included as a transfer.

Both Camara and Stevens would have to sit out the upcoming season. Stevens will have two years of eligibility remaining while Camara would have three.

UConn has 13 scholarship players for the upcoming season and with only Saniya Chong and Tierney Lawlor leaving at season's end. UConn has two commitments (Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon) in the next class so there are two remaining scholarships in the Class of 2017.

The Hartford Courant was the first to report that Camara was likely to land at UConn.

NURSE TO MISS EARLY PORTION OF CANADA'S OLYMPIC PREPARATIONS
The Canadian women's national team is currently in Edmonton for the first stage of its Olympic preparations before leaving to play five international friendlies in Spain and France. However, UConn rising junior guard Kia Nurse is not currently with the team and according to a team spokesperson, neither Nurse nor any of the WNBA players in the player pool will be taking part in the European tour.

There's no cause for concern regarding Nurse as she is back at UConn to what was termed "school commitments" but is expected to join the team this summer. The move makes sense as Nurse looked like she was exhausted by the end of what was a hectic summer for her and the Canadian program which won the Pan Am Games and FIBA Americas title. As the team's leading scorer in both events, Nurse will obviously be a member of the squad and by remaining in Connecticut, she won't be overworked this summer. Canada still has two more training camps, a three-game set of exhibitions against China as well as more international friendlies being held in the U.S. and perhaps in Connecticut shortly before the team leaves for the Olympics.

FORMER HUSKIES MAKING NEWS
A couple of items to report regarding former UConn stars.

First, Tamika Williams was hired at Penn State after leaving her job as an assistant coach at Kentucky. Also, Jamelle Elliott will serve as an advanced scout for the U.S. team at the Olympics.

Cincinnati, where Elliott serves as the head women's basketball coach, announced the news earlier today. Ironically, she will join her former teammate and classmate in the court coach/advance scout as Jen Rizzotti will also handle those chores.

What's interesting with Williams' appointment is that she coached Camara in her final season at Kentucky and now one of the players she will get to coach at Penn State is UConn transfer De'Janae Boykin.

Also, former UConn star Carla Berube and former UConn assistant coach Tonya Cardoza were named court coaches at the upcoming U-17 and U-18 national team trials.

The U-17 trials run from Thursday-Monday with the U-18s running from Saturday-Monday.

UConn Class of 2017 commits Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon are among 150 players competing for 12 spots on the U.S. taking part in the FIBA U-17 World Championships while 30 players including UConn incoming freshman Crystal Dangerfield and Class of 2017 recruiting target Megan Walker are taking part in the U18 camp. Walker is part of the U.S. squad playing in the FIBA Women's 3x3 U18 World Championships from June 1-5 in Kazakhstan so the four players on that squad will be leaving on Sunday and only take part in Saturday's sessions.

The outcome of the national semifinal was no longer in question but there was still work to be done when Natalie Butler checking into the game with 7:47 left to play.

For more than six minutes the 6-foot-5 Butler had a chance to go head to head with Oregon State's 6-foot-6 senior center Ruth Hamblin. Nobody was more interested to see how Butler would fare more than the UConn coaching staff.

Six seconds after getting into the game Butler hit a jumper. From the time Butler checked in until Hamblin came out of the game with 1:25 remaining Butler was 1 for 3 from the floor, had three points and one rebound while Hamblin had two points (on 1 of 3 shooting) with three rebounds.

The numbers, however, are irrelevant. Butler had a year to get accustomed to UConn's way of doing things when she redshirted following her transfer from Georgetown. This past season it was about getting back on the court in live game situations. Moving forward, Butler will be counted on to be a regular contributor and that span of 6:22 going against Hamblin might have been the most valuable stretch of playing time she has received all season.

"Going against a big girl like that is always a valuable lesson, it is an experience that can really help you," Butler said. "She is a really talented post player, she moves really well for her size. From what I understand she comes from humble backgrounds, just seems like a good person who works hard. I hope she goes far. She brought the team to the Final Four as a player going against her was great, I learned a lot and posting up, being a big guy in the post, when you go against girls who are better than you, how do you try to get a shot off? It was an awesome experience and I wish her the best.

"I was looking at her and she is definitely a role model type of player. She just seems like a good person, she is a leader and she makes a heck of impact on her team and you can see that her team responds to her. I would love to fill a spot like that."

Nobody is going to ask Butler to be a player like Breanna Stewart or even Morgan Tuck. However, looking at Hamblin play, I couldn't help but wonder if Butler could end up being that type of player (not including Hamblin's incredible shot-blocking ability) over the next two seasons.

"The ability to not foul, rebound, contest shots and just have the experience of being in the Final Four so for our team it is a great thing and for Natalie it is an awesome thing," UConn assistant coach Marisa Moseley said.

"She has great size, great touch from up to 15 feet and she is good passer. It is so different because this year she has made some plays from the high post and she is a great screener. I am excited for her continuing development and can't wait to get back and work with her."

UConn returns four players who were in the main rotation and certainly expectations are high for rising juniors Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams and sophomores-to-be Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. While there will be plenty of eyes on incoming freshmen Molly Bent, Crystal Dangerfield and Kyla Irwin, another trio of players have a chance to make an impact as well.

Saniya Chong averaged 12.4 minutes, Butler played 12 minutes a game while Courtney Ekmark was in there 8.9 games per contest. There will be ample opportunities for more playing time with the departure of All-Americans Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck. Obviously they aren't going to replace UConn's Big Three and won't be asked to do so but a jump in playing time and productivity would be a major help moving forward.

"I have a ways to go in the offseason, I need to put in overtime and work really hard," Chong said. "I have to make sure I am a leader and a role model. Looking at the seniors, they have been the biggest role models for us, following in their footsteps will be the best thing. Just coming in , being one of the only seniors plus T (Tierney Lawlor), I think that we have a long way to go but I think we will be OK."

There was a stretch of games when it was Ekmark who was first player to enter the game after the main seven-player rotation of Jefferson, Stewart, Tuck, Nurse, Williams, Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Perhaps it was just UConn coach Geno Auriemma sending a message to Chong and Butler or maybe it was a case of Ekmark displaying some signs of growth.
"It is always hard to play here but it definitely has been easier than my freshman year," Ekmark said. "Sophomore year with more experience, you have been here before and you know how it all goes so it has gone better for me.

"I think it is really important to show up every day with the same attitude, work my butt off no matter what happens. As long as I can control the things that I can control, that is what I need to do."

Assuming that Dangerfield is as good as advertised, that gives UConn five players certain to be in the main rotation. If Butler, Chong and Ekmark are able to take that next step and earn the confidence from the coaches to play in every situation and not just when the game's outcome is no longer in doubt, it would make the 2016-17 season go a little more stress-free.
"The summer is going to be a huge part of my development next year and just getting me mentally for it," Butler said. "These last couple of years, it has been a little bit of a struggle but I am pretty happy to be here on this team. I am looking forward to the next chapter, I want to step up and be a factor for this team."

Moseley, along with associate head coach Chris Dailey, works with the post players so she will not only be overseeing Butler's progress but is also eager to work with Irwin, a 6-foot-2 star out of State College (Pa.) High who had a spectacular senior season but is still a bit of an under the radar recruit.

"She just has a contagious personality, a work ethic, she loves the game, loves her teammates," Moseley said. "I have never seen somebody more happy for other people's success and she is skilled. I can't wait. With her, her body will change, her game will change but she has the right mindset, she is a coach's kid so I am excited for her to become a part of the program."

ANOTHER FIRST FOR UCONN
I missed this when it happened on Tuesday night but with Collier and Nurse each recording a steal in the national-championship game, this year's team is the first in program history to have five players with at least 50 steals.

Jefferson had a team-high 95 steals followed by Williams' 72 and Stewart's 67. Collier and Nurse finished with 50 steals each.

The 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2006-07 and 2012-13 UConn teams had four players with at least 50 steals.

This year's squad also set a program record with a free-throw percentage of 80.0 with Collier (91.7 percent), Jefferson (89.4) and Chong (85.7) all shooting better than 85 percent. The real story, however, was Williams. She hit only 46.2 percent of her free throws as a freshman but finished at 75 percent this season. Among players averaging at least one foul shot per game, it was the largest one-year improvement since Marlene Stager went from 51.3 percent in the 1979-80 season to 88.1 during the 1980-81 campaign. If the criteria changed to a made free throw per game, Williams would have the greatest jump in foul shot accuracy in program history.

"It is definitely an approach," Williams said. "I think mentally I think I have grown. It started with 'I hope I don't miss this.' I attacked it in different ways."
Finally, Stewart (4,256) and Jefferson (4,130) finished sixth and 11th in UConn history on the minutes played list. Bria Hartley's record of 4,731 seems to be safe for a while as the active UConn leader in terms of minutes played is Kia Nurse and she would need to average nearly 35 minutes per game in her final two seasons to make a run at that record.

A couple of things took place at Tuesday's practice involving Natalie Butler that caught my eye.

First, Butler took the court with nothing on her left hand, wrist or thumb. There was no tape, no splint, nothing limiting the sophomore center's range of motion. Then in a drill, I saw Butler aggressively post up in perfect position to catch, shoot and score. However when the ball landed in her hands, Butler didn't even turn and look at the basket. Acting as if it was a hot potato, Butler fired a pass to a closely-guarded Breanna Stewart on the perimeter.

I brought up both topics with Butler after Tuesday's practice. I especially wanted to know if there was a time when she took off the splint and wanted to take her frustrations out on the protective unit she has been wearing for what much seem like an eternity to her.

"(Monday) during practice I got frustrated because the ball kept bouncing off of it and I had a lot of tape so I ripped it off and just threw it," Butler said. "I was so mad so I kind of had that reaction of 'I am not playing with this thing.' I was cleared so I was allowed to do that. You have to get adjusted to it again because I have mobility with the splint, there was a splint underneath my tape so it was restricted, it is weird being able to catch the ball, it is weird being able to shoot left handed with motion and mobility so it is going to be an adjustment but I happy that it is finally out."

Butler was a double-double machine as a freshman at UConn which made her quick pass to Stewart when she was in perfect in position to score in the lane somewhat surprising to me.

"One thing for me is I try to be a good teammate, I want to get teammates open and I want to get open shots," Butler said. "In that case, that was not a smart decision because she was covered and I had a wide open baseline layup. It is one of those things where you have to make a smarter decision on the court.
"Getting that feel, it is completely different playing with these guys. Last year I played more a defensive role (in practice) so being on offense, playing with them in games, it is an adjustment. It is reading those situations, when do you pass it? When do you shoot? When is it your time to go 1 on 1? It is just learning and it is going to come with time. You can see other players go through it and improve like the freshmen who can in last year.

"The way I was raised with basketball is if you are in the paint you score and that is what Coach (Marisa) Moseley, Coach (Chris) Dailey and Coach Geno say all the time. I know that and the thing is that when you are being triple teamed, double teamed or you have two big post players on you, you know they are collapsing inside and that is when you kick it outside and you are opening things up for the offense, once it passes inside and you score, you know they are going to collapse you are have to kick it out to the open 3 and if they get rushed at, you are wide open in the post so it is like a give and take system and you have to realize that."

If you take away the South Florida game on Jan. 10 when she only played the final 31 seconds, Butler is averaging 9.3 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting 62.5 percent. While those numbers pale in comparison to the 13.9 points and 13.3 rebounds Butler averaged as a freshman with the Hoyas, she has done enough to think she has a bright future at UConn. Her best effort came in last night's win over Central Florida as Butler, who had not scored more than 11 points in any game with the Huskies, had 20 points on 9 of 11 shooting. She also had six rebounds and three assists.
With starting forward Morgan Tuck set to miss the rest of the game this month as she rests her surgically-repaired right knee, this is the best time for Butler to shake off some of her rust and make an impact with the Huskies.
"It is a mindset and I think right now, it is mind over matter more than anything else," Butler said. "One day at a time get the train going, try to get back on track. It is a special feeling and I want to be a part of what they are doing. I definitely feel like there is a role for me and I just have to continue working."

After sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer rules and then missing the first 10 games of the season after she injured her left thumb during the preseason, Natalie Butler finally made her debut at UConn.

Butler played 23 minutes in wins over Cincinnati and Tulsa. She was 7 of 11 from the field as she contributed 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. I wrote about Butler in my advance for today's Houston game which included part of my interview with assistant coach Marisa Moseley, who along with associate head coach Chris Dailey works with the post players at UConn. Here's more of what Moseley had to say about Butler.

"She has done a great job if you think about how difficult it is coming off a year and a half without playing and I was just happy for her to go out, be really confident, make her first basket and continue her momentum from there.

"Her mindset is really good right now, she is motivated to get better. She came here for the right reasons, she wants to get better. You come off the Big East Rookie of the Year and then you have to sit an entire year and then more with the injury so that was kind of ill-timed but I think it makes you even hungrier. She just has an incredible work ethic. She wants to get better and since she has gotten here, she has gotten better. She is a really unselfish player so sometimes she is looking to make plays for somebody else instead of going in there, burying somebody and get two points but every day we are chipping away from that and she is getting much better.

"She has great touch around the basket and she also had great touch outside. Generally at Connecticut our post players have to be able to hit a 15-footer and by their senior year we want them to be able to hit 3s consistent from 17 feet so to be able to have a big kid who can step out and can stretch the floor for us and be a good passer, we are going to continue to develop those skills."

I asked Moseley to discuss the difference between practicing during a redshirt season and during a season when you are a part of the playing rotation.

"You get a lot less reps offensively (as a redshirt) so you are more just working on defense and conditioning, trying to learn our system but we can't put you out there because that means you are taking away from somebody who actually can play. Now she can be on the Blue (starting) team, get those reps, she can feel comfortable playing with all different combinations of players so I think that makes a huge difference."

BENT IS GIVING BACK
I mentioned UConn incoming freshman Molly Bent's partnership with Special Olympics at Tabor Academy before but with the event set to start on Sunday, I thought I would include a link to a story on how and why Bent got involved.

ESPN TO TELEVISE SUNDAY'S UCONN/USF GAME
Since somebody asked me about this on a previous blog post, I thought I would pass on that Sunday's 5 p.m. game will be televised on ESPN. It is listed as a ESPN/ESPN2 game on both the UConn and South Florida websites and looking at the grid it was not included during the Sunday 5-7 p.m. slot on either station. However, I received a text back from UConn women's basketball sports information director Pat McKenna saying that the game is on ESPN. Currently on ESPN there is a five-hour block of the 2015 CrossFit Games so people who want to watch that would be advised to tune in from 2-5.

Also, on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., SNY will debut the "UConn '95: Birth of a Dynasty" documentary. SNY held a screening of the show for the media before the Tulsa game and while I will have more on it as we get closer to the documentary's airing, I would strongly suggest checking it out.

The comings and goings continue for the defending national champions.

 A day after UConn announced that rising senior guard Brianna Banks would be transferring it was announced that reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Natalie Butler is official.

Butler is a 6-foot-5 rising sophomore from Fairfax Station, Va. and daughter of former Navy men's basketball star Vernon Butler. She averaged 13.9 points, 13.3 rebounds (ranking fifth nationally and first among freshmen) and 1.8 blocked shots per game as a freshman at Georgetown. Butler had 24 double-doubles and had three 20 rebound games. She will have to sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer rules and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

She is the first Division I transfer for UConn since Jessica McCormack came in from Washington but she never played in a regular-season game for the Huskies. Christine Rigby and Brittany Hunter are other players who have transferred to UConn from another Division I program.

"We don't do this," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "In 30 years I have been here, many three or four (Division I transfers) unless it is a game changer and she is a going to be a game changer for us no question about it.

"I asked her 'how many 6-5 kids did you play against this year?' She said 'none, I don't think.' I said 'we didn't play against many in our league. I looked in the ACC and there aren't many in that league. I checked in the Big Ten in that league and I said you 'you are kind of unique.' I think she has a chance to have a huge impact on our team."

Butler was one of the few bright spots in a difficult year at Georgetown. Keith Brown was suspended indefinitely for what the university termed unprofessional behavior and he resigned eight days later. Former WNBA head and assistant coach Jim Lewis came in and served as the interim head coach as the Hoyas finished with an 11-21 record. Georgetown hired former assistant coach Natasha Adair as the head coach. With all that uncertainty, Butler was among those who decided to move on. She reached out to UConn which was not involved in her recruiting coming out of high school but was interested when given a second chance.

"She was one of those kids and she said it herself, I didn't play much and then all of a sudden she was kind of a late bloomer," Auriemma said. "She averaged a double double coming out of high school and playing 30 something minutes and you are 6-5, have really good skills and all of a sudden you end up at UConn.

"I remember I called Doug Bruno and said 'Doug, this kid is interested in transferring, give me a rundown.' He said 'look she is not Stefanie Dolson.' I said 'well when Stefanie Dolson was her age, Stefanie Dolson wasn't Stefanie Dolson.' I think she can develop into somebody just like that, do a lot of those things that Stefanie did, she is a hard worker, her mom and dad are incredibly supportive of her, she wants to be great and I think that ultimately why she chose to play for us because she wants to be great, she almost got away with it.

Having already secure commitments from two of the best forwards in the Class of 2015 with pledges from Napheesa Collier and De'Janae Boykin, could UConn be adding even more size to its future roster?

A source told me that reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Natalie Butler could announce her landing spot by Monday.

UConn is among the possible spots for Butler as she visited the Storrs campus earlier this month after asking for and being granted release from her scholarship at Georgetown..

Butler, a 6-foot-5 rising sophomore from Fairfax Station, Va., averaged 13.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots as a freshman at Georgetown. She was the top rebounding freshman in Division I women's basketball and ranked fifth among all Division I players in rebounds per game. She led the team in rebounding 28 times including games with 21 and 20 rebounds. She had 24 double-doubles and 26 games with at least 10 rebounds. She was the only Georgetown player to start all 32 games but she made the decision to transfer following a difficult season as the Hoyas not only finished with an 11-21 record but head coach Keith Brown was suspended indefinitely following accusations of unprofessional behavior in October and resigned eight days later. Jim Lewis, a former head coach at George Mason and Fordham and spent five seasons coaching in the WNBA, was named the interim head coach but he was not given permanent job. Former Georgetown assistant coach Natasha Adair was named as the Hoyas' head coach last month

Butler averaged 26.2 points, 17.8 rebounds and 10.1 blocked shots per game as a senior at Lake Braddock High while graduating as the team's career leader in rebounds and blocked shots. Butler will have three seasons of eligibility remaining but would have to sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer regulations.