UConn incoming freshmen Napheesa Collier, De'Janae Boykin and Katie Lou Samuelson are among the players who have accepted invitations to try out for the U.S. U-19 team along with UConn rising sophomore forward Gabby Williams and UConn Class of 2016 commit Crystal Dangerfield.

Samuelson was the leading scorer on the U.S. team which won the FIBA U-17 World Championship for Women as she averaged 13.9 points per game and also had a ream-leading 19 3-pointers. Boykin was also a member of the team. Boykin started all seven games, was second on the team with an average of 6.1 rebounds, was tied for second with 16 assists.

Collier was a key member of the U.S. team which won the FIBA Americas U18 Championships. She finished ranked third in the tournament in scoring (14.0 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (8.6). She also finished fifth with a 56.4 field-goal percentage, third with an average of 1 blocked shot per contest, was fourth in assist/turnover ratio, led all players with a 55.6 3-point percentage and was 10th in steals.

UConn Class of 2016 recruiting target Lauren Cox, the leading rebound on the U-17 team, is among the top candidates to make the team competing in the U-19 World Championship for Women.

The 12-member team will be selected during the trials which run from May 14-17 and will play in the FIBA U19 World Championship in Chekhov, Russia from July 18-26.

The list of players heading to the trials for the World University Games and Pan Am Games will be announced at 2 p.m. UConn's Breanna Stewart said she would be a part of the WUG trials.


HOLMES, WEST VIRGINIA HEADING TO MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
As I previous reported, former Hillhouse star Bria Holmes will get her homecoming game as part of the third annual Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge.

The event wraps up with four games being played at Mohegan Sun Arena including Holmes' West Virginia team playing Yale at 4 p.m. Meriden native and former UConn guard Sadie Edwards' Southern California team will be playing Iona at noon although Edwards will not yet be eligible to play as she won't be able to suit up for the Trojans until the fall semester is completed.

Here is the full schedule

Chapel Hill, N.C. Campus Round ScheduleNovember 20Fairleigh Dickinson at North Carolina
Iona vs. Yale
November 21
Iona at North Carolina
Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Yale
November 22Yale at North Carolina
Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Iona

Spokane, Wash. Campus Round ScheduleNovember 22West Virginia at Gonzaga
Grand Canyon vs. Southern California
November 23Grand Canyon at Gonzaga
Southern California vs. West Virginia
November 24Southern California at Gonzaga
Grand Canyon vs. West Virginia

Mohegan Sun Arena Schedule – November 29 10 a.m. – Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Grand Canyon
12 p.m. – Iona vs. Southern California
2 p.m. – Gonzaga vs. North Carolina
4 p.m. – Yale vs. West Virginia

I doubt there is a Connecticut high school point guard who doesn't dream of running the show at UConn.

However, living a dream isn't always as easy as it might seem.

Meriden native Sadie Edwards could barely believe her good fortune when she was offered a scholarship by UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma during a visit to campus. The reality is she should have gone home and gave it a little more thought and there were those in her camp who were suggesting she do just that. But how can you pass on a chance to play at UConn? So Edwards said yes.

Well, after six games and 29 minutes, Edwards is now looking for a new school as UConn announced that she is transferring at the end of the fall semester.

Here is the official release from UConn

Freshman guard Sadie Edwards has decided to transfer from the University of Connecticut women's basketball program, as announced by head coach Geno Auriemma on Tuesday.

“Sadie is a great kid who will be missed by the coaching staff and her teammates,” Auriemma said.  “Getting to know Sadie and her family has been a pleasure but she has voiced her desire to play more and we have come to the mutual agreement that this can best be accomplished at a different school.  I wish Sadie nothing but the best in the future.”

Edwards will complete her final exams this week prior to finalizing her transfer.

The Meriden, Conn. native played in six games, averaging 4.8 minutes per contest.

The reality is that Edwards was receiving walk-on minutes (her last appearance came on Saturday when she checked into the Notre Dame game with 38 seconds left to play along with walk-ons Tierney Lawlor and Briana Pulido) and that was not expected to change. Kia Nurse was already starting, Gabby Williams carving out a niche coming off the bench and Courtney Ekmark expected to do that same when she recovers from the stress reaction in her right foot. With UConn bringing in another highly-rated class dominated by perimeter players and top Class of 2016 point guard Crystal Dangerfield already having committed, Edwards was going to have a hard time earning quality minutes at UConn.

The last time I spoke to Edwards came in between UConn's two preseason games after she was the lone available scholarship player to play fewer than 10 minutes in the exhibition opener against West Chester.

"I don't look at it as getting more minutes, I look at it as getting better and that will come," Edwards said.

"It is challenging but there is a lot to learn, my teammates help me out a lot. There is a lot to learn but my teammates have helped me to be the best I can be."

Edwards has had a tough go of it with a member of her immediate family dealing with some serious health issues and then after leaving Mercy to play in New York's Nazareth High School, Nazareth coach Apache Paschall died in January of 2012 at the age of 38. Edwards finished out her high school career in New Jersey playing for Blair Academy.

One of the highlights of UConn's early season practices is seeing how the freshmen get acclimated.

It wasn't that big of a deal last year with Saniya Chong the only new scholarship player but yesterday was the introduction of freshmen Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams as well as transfer Natalie Butler.

I consider this group to be one of the more intriguing collection of newcomers since I have been covering the team.

You have Edwards, the Meriden native who spent a season playing in New York and two more at Blair Academy in New Jersey. Butler is a rebounding machine and a rare transfer into the program. Ekmark made the unusual decision to bypass her senior season of high school and had a variety of different basketball experiences over the last year. Nurse's experience with the Canadian national team has been well documented and then there is Williams, a top five finisher in the high jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials who saw her final two high school seasons end prematurely due to torn ACLs.

All five were out there early and often during the portion of practice the media was allowed to watch. There were nervous moments as they attempted to learn the different drills, absorb the coaching from Geno Auriemma and his staff as well as the encouragement they were getting from their more experienced teammates.

"It was tough in the beginning but we kind of caught on," Nurse said. "It was something we were excited to be a part of."

Ekmark echoed her classmate and roommate's take on her first official practice as a Husky.

"It is awesome," Ekmark said. "Obviously we are fired up and excited for our first college practice, it was good, it was fun. It was a different level of intensity for all of us because it is a different jump from high school to college.

"Moriah (Jefferson) and Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) are really helpful. I know to me I can talk to them if I ever need help with anything and I can ask them  so it is really nice to have them here and it is fun playing with them also."

Nurse is grateful to have leaders like Jefferson and Mosqueda-Lewis to help show her the way.

"They are great leaders," Nurse said, "They give us everything we need to know and we are never surprised with anything thanks to them. They are great basketball players, have great basketball IQs and we just learn from them every day."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said one of the points of emphasis with the newcomers is to have them make shots. With a grueling preseason conditioning program and the way the challenging practices take a toll on them, they are going to have to learn how to fight through the fatigue.

"Everything is new right now so we are learning a lot of new stuff," Ekmark said. "We are trying to keep our legs on our shots but you have to keep shooting."

Nurse just recently got back to campus after spending most of the summer with the Canadian national team. It was time well spent as Nurse was a starting guard on a team which finished fifth in the FIBA World Championship for Women.

"I feel great," Nurse said, "I got a couple days off when I came back. Your body can only take so much and my body got used to playing for a long time all the time so I am lucky to have the staff here that help you rehab everything."

One of the biggest concerns was going to be if Nurse fell too far behind academically due to all the class time she missed while she was overseas. Turns out there was no cause for concern.

"I caught up," Nurse said, "The teachers have been really great and my room was spotless due to Courtney, she kept it clean. Everybody has been really great, the academics center, everybody has worked really hard and I am really grateful for them."

It's looking like the rosters for tomorrow night's scrimmage will not be announced until tomorrow morning so stay tuned. By the sounds of it, UConn is putting together quite the program to pay homage to its championship pedigree. More details will be coming out in the next 18 hours although Wener Ladder announced it will be presenting the ladders the men's and women's teams used to cut down the nets after winning the national titles in April.

It almost seems preposterous to think that some opposing coaches have attempted to use Geno Auriemma's appointment as the U.S. coach at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics against him. However, that is exactly what has happened as there are rival coaches telling top recruits that Auriemma is too busy coaching the national team when he should be pursuing them.

Since first being named to coach the U.S. Senior Women's National Team all Auriemma has done is led UConn to a record of 183-11, the last five Final Fours and the Huskies have won three national titles during that span.

"I have read it before," Auriemma said, "USA Basketball is going to be the demise of our recruiting. I just hope it doesn't keep hurting us like it has been hurting us these past four years."

Auriemma didn't become a Hall of Famer by not being able to adjust on the fly. He knew that there were times when he should have been on the recruiting trail when his U.S. national team duties prevented that. This time around he was a little more proactive when it came to identifying top prospects in the Classes of 2015 and 2016 (the new NCAA regulations allowing earlier contact with recruits aided in this task).

"We did a lot during the spring and it paid off. We did a lot last winter and it paid off. I think the kids know that I m not going to be around in September so when I get back that first week in October, we will pick up right from there."

UConn, coming off signing an outstanding class with the additions of Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams, has already secured commitments from top 10 Class of 2015 players De'Janae Boykin, Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. UConn would love to add either Asia Durr or Arike Ogunbowale to the class signing with UConn in November. The Huskies are also ahead of the game when it comes to the Class of 2016 as six of the top eight players in ESPN HoopGurlz rankings (Lauren Cox, Jaelyn Brown, Sabrina Ionescu, Tori McCoy, Crystal Dangerfield and Erin Boley) are on UConn's recruiting radar. Add in  Kelly Jekot, another player UConn is very high on, and the Huskies have set themselves up to have another top-flight recruiting class.

 "Some people took advantage of it (the new rules allowing unlimited contact by way of text message, phone call and social media at the end of their sophomore year) and some people didn't," Auriemma said. "Some people thought it was a great idea and some people didn't think it was a great idea. To me the biggest advantage of the rule change is you can have contact with the kids early so you can find out at an earlier age whether there is an interest level and you are wasting all this time recruiting somebody and finding out at the last minute it was for nothing. At least now you find out right away, I want this kid or I don't want them. This kid wants us or doesn't want us. Identifying who we think we can get and working really hard to get them up to school, get them involved. For us, once we get them on campus and once they've spend enough time with our players, the rest is not that difficult."

NURSE, CANADA HOSTS BRAZIL
Three of UConn's four current freshmen are on campus. The only one missing is Nurse but she has a pretty good reason as she is training with the Canadian national team.

Today, Friday and Saturday she will be in action when Canada hosts Brazil in three international friendlies. I haven't seen any links for a live stream or live stats but you can try to get updates using the #canvsbrayeg hashtag on Twitter.

Joining a program that has won the last two national titles and became just the second women's team to post a 40-0 record isn't the easiest of tasks but in the eyes of UConn's most experienced players, the newcomers on the 2014-15 UConn squad are handling themselves just fine.

"Sadie (Edwards) is doing a great job of getting to the hole, Courtney (Ekmark) lights it up from the outside," rising junior guard Moriah Jefferson said. "I haven't really gotten to play with Gabby (Williams) and Kia (Nurse) yet but they are doing a really good job with workouts and everything so I am excited.

""They are coming in with the same mentality of work hard and we have had no problems so far and hopefully it just stays that way. I am proud of them so far and I like the way they are approaching it. Natalie (Butler, a 6-5 transfer from Georgetown) is good, she is a good post player and really versatile in the post. She has a lot of different moves and she has a nice jumper as well. She gets the year off and the training with the coaches, I am sure it will develop her even more."

While Butler will need to sit out this season due to NCAA regulations on transfers, the quartet of Edwards, Ekmark, Nurse and Williams could all have prominent roles as the Huskies attempt to fill the void left by the graduation of All-Americans Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley.

"They all have their own different assets," Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. "Sadie is really athletic, Courtney is very smart player, a very good shooter, Gabby we haven't seen her play yet because she can't do contact (drills) but when Kia was here and played pick-up, she is smart, she is aggressive, she is really good. I am just excited for them to play. Natalie is coming and she is a strong post player, she works hard every day and she wants to get better. It is a different feeling because they don't know anything but to try to keep everybody happy, try to work hard and whatever you say they are like 'OK, OK, we are going to try to do that.' It is nice to come in and you kind of get a chance to mold them into great UConn players, show them UConn values and what we expect here at UConn and they just want to make sure they meet those expectations." 

While Geno Auriemma didn't make it to the Travelers Championship this week, he does have some time set aside for golf-related activities in the coming weeks.

On Monday will be the annual Geno Auriemma's Fore The Kids charity golf tournament at Hartford Golf Club with returning starters Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson as well as freshmen Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark and Gabby Williams expected to be volunteering at the event. Then, from July 18-20 he will be playing in the prestigious American Century Championships. Auriemma will be joined by former UConn men's basketball star Ray Allen and former NFL quarterback Steve Young, a star QB at Greenwich High before he headed to BYU. There is expected to be around 80 celebrities playing in the event in Lake Tahoe.

BOYKIN STARTS IN U-17 FRIENDLY

UConn recruiting target Arike Ogunbowale goes in for two of her team-high
16 points as UConn commit De'Janae Boykin look on in victory over China

UConn commit De'Janae Boykin started and finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals as the U.S. U-17 team prepared for the upcoming FIBA U-18 World Championships by beating China 89-49 in an international friendly.

UConn recruiting target Arike Ogunbowale led six U.S. players in double figures with 16 points. UConn recruiting targets Asia Durr and Lauren Cox added 13 and 10 points respectively. UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson did not play in the game due to illness and she is considered day to day. The U.S. will play exhibitions against Canada on Saturday and host France on Sunday before heading to the Czech Republic, the site of the World Championships.

Here are quotes from Ogunbowale and fellow UConn recruiting target Sabrina Ionescu courtesy of USA Basketball.

Sabrina Ionescu
On tonight's game:
I think we played really well for our first game. We ran a lot of plays, and I think we executed like we were supposed to. I think we came out and played really well.

How can this team improve?
I think it is about keeping up the intensity throughout the whole game, even when we get tired. We need to play with a lot of effort, like we should play.

On the team's chemistry:
We are getting to know each other better and what everyone's strengths and weaknesses are, so I think throughout these next couple of days, I think we are just going to get better and better.

On playing in the team's first game:
It felt great finally playing against another team beside ourselves or our scrimmage opponent. Finally, we are executing our plays and playing in a real game, and it is just going to make us better.

Arike Ogunbowale
On tonight's game:
I was just really excited to play against another team, besides our teammates and the boy's team we scrimmaged, so it was really fun to get out there.

Did you think the team had played well?
I think we played well. We kept the intensity up the whole game, even through substitutions, so I think we did really good.

On the second quarter run:
Coach told us to keep the intensity up and not let down, and we did that.

While a prior commitment kept UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma from making an appearance at the Travelers Championship, associate head coach Chris Dailey has made herself at home at TPC River Highlands.

On Monday Dailey took part in a Pro-Am. On Wednesday she was back in Cromwell to play in a charity mini-golf event along with UConn AD Warde Manuel and football coach Bob Diaco in the morning before playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am in the afternoon.

"Last year was easier," Dailey said after the mini-golf event. "They made the degree of difficulty harder but it was fun. I played on Monday so they let bad golfers play in a lot of events here. They give opportunities to everybody. The people are really nice and I have met a lot of great people."

Dailey said while the coaches are allowed to work with the players on a limited basis, the UConn staff doesn't plan on overworking the team during the summer.

"We have done some individuals but it is a hard balance between taking advantage of the rule and not killing them now in June," Dailey said. "It is a long season, if you are any good you play from September to April so we are trying to balance that. They are working really hard in the weight room and done some individuals which I think is really helpful for the freshmen because they don't know what to expect."

Only half of the freshman class has been taking advantage of spending most of June on campus as Kia Nurse is at Canada's training camp and Gabby Williams just arrived following graduation. It has given Sadie Edwards and Courtney Ekmark a chance to get comfortable on campus.

"I think that no matter how prepared you think you are, your head is spinning for the first two weeks trying to figure it all out," Dailey said. "I would say they have all adjusted to it pretty well."

There will be more on how the offseason work has been going when Auriemma and the players are made available at Auriemma's anual golf tournament on Monday. Dailey said that reigning national player of the year Breanna Stewart will have a conflict with her summer session schedule so she will not be there on Monday. Also, Nurse will be with the Canadian national team and won't be there either. Of course, Brianna Banks will also be absent as she made the decision to transfer to a school yet to be announced.

"You are always disappointed when somebody leaves you program but we wish Bri the best," Dailey said. "Everybody deserves a second chance and hopefully with hers she will make the best of it. I think everybody has to make a personal decision and this was a personal decision by Bri and her family and I just hope it works out well."

I also asked Dailey whether Morgan Tuck was back to doing basketball-related drills as she is coming back from knee surgery which ended her sophomore season prematurely.

"She is doing some conditioning but I don't know if she if doing the whole (basketball) thing yet, running around," Dailey said..

In other basketball-related news I asked Manuel how close they were to finishing work on the basketball practice facility.

"Hopefully it will be finished this week or next week, we will get the keys and just like a new house we will have to do in there, move some things to fill it up and that is what we are working on," Manuel said. "It will be a great day."

With July being such a hectic month for recruiting we'll have to wait to see when a ceremony is held in honor of the completion of the practice facility.

UConn incoming freshman Sadie Edwards had 20 points to lead her Suburban All-Stars team to 72-69 victory over the City All-Stars in the second annual Girls All City Classic at the Haverford (Pa.) School.

Edwards was named the MVP for the Suburban team.

Kevin Lynch @klhoops

Philly all star game @Sadie14Edwards ( UConn)scores 20, wins MVP and leads her team to victory 72-69

Next up for the Meriden native is for her to enroll at UConn for the summer session and start taking part in pick-up games.

Kiah Gillespie's spirited bid to become the first Connecticut native to make a women's national team in 15 years ended this morning when she was not one of the 12 players named to the U-17 national team.

However, the way the Capital Prep rising senior held her own against the nation's very best bodes well for her future and it gives Meriden yet another major college prospect to call its own.

Damika Martinez was the eighth-leading scorer in women's Division I basketball last season, averaging 24.9 points a game as a junior at Iona. Sadie Edwards is part of the four-member incoming freshman class for two-time defending national champion UConn and now Gillespie was among the final 46 players competing for spots on the U-17 squad.

"People don't think Meriden has good basketball players but we have some, we have my brother and he is going to New Haven and we have some good players out here. We are being slept on but sometimes you do better when you are slept on."

Gillespie is aware of the two Meriden phenoms who preceded her.

"We used to play Mercy all the time and used to play against Sadie," Gillespie said. "I haven't spoke to her in a while and Martinez, I used to see her a lot. she was kind of like Sadie, playing with all the boys and I was thinking 'wow, I have to get like that some day.'"

UConn signee Sadie Edwards was a fifth-team selection on the MaxPreps All-American team.

Edwards, a Meriden native, averaged 15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.5 steals as a senior at Blair Academy.

The team was well represented with underclassmen on UConn's recruiting radar.

Napheesa Collier, a 6-foot-2 forward at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, and Katie Lou Samuelson, a 6-foot-3 wing from Mater Dei in Santa Ana, Calif., were named to the first team. As luck would have it, they are among the talented high school juniors currently at UConn on official visits.

Kalani Brown, a 6-foot-5 junior from Salmen High in Slidell, La., and Asia Durr, a 5-foot-9 junior out of St. Pius X Catholic in Atlanta, were thord-team selections.

UConn commits Sadie Edwards and Gabby Williams as well as Class of 2014 recruiting target A’ja Wilson were among 24 players selected to play in the girls’ McDonald All-American game which will be played on Apr. 2 at the United Center in Chicago.

Edwards, a Meriden native who is in her second season at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., will become the second Connecticut native to play in the girls’ McDonald’s All-American game. Former Hillhouse star Bria Holmes, now the leading scorer at West Virginia, played in the 2012 game.

Edwards, a 5-foot-10 guard, is averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as a senior.

Williams, a 5-foot-11 wing, is averaging 19.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 4.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game at Reed High School in Sparks, Nev.

Wilson, a 6-foot-5 forward, is averaging 36.1 points, 15.9 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 5 blocks per game at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, S.C. highlighted by four games with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds.

Last year was the first time since a girls’ game was added to the schedule in 2002 that a future UConn player did not take part in the game as 22 players who would suit up for the Huskies have played in the game.

There will be no WBCA High School All-American Game at the Final Four although in an email to the Register, Jack Watford of the WBCA said there are hopes of bringing the game back in the future.

Here's breakdown of former and current Huskies to play in previous McDonald's games

2002: Willnett Crockett, Ann Strother, Barbara Turner and Nicole Wolff
2003: Brittany Hunter
2004: Charde Houston
2005: Renee Montgomery
2006: Tina Charles, Kaili McLaren
2007: Lorin Dixon, Maya Moore
2008: Tiffany Hayes
2009: Kelly Faris
2010: Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, Samarie Walker
2011: Brianna Banks, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kiah Stokes
2012: Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck

As the final seconds ticked off the clock and Blair Academy improved to 8-2 win Saturday's 57-36 win over Mount St. Dominic Academy, I walked onto the court at Shabazz High in Newark, N.J. with the intention of introducing myself to Blair Academy coach Quint Clarke. However, I never got that far.

I had emailed Clarke last week to verify that date and time of today's game because I was going to use my trip to Rutgers as a chance to catch up with Blair Academy senior guard and UConn signee Sadie Edwards.

Edwards obviously knew I was coming because I was stepped onto the court she came right up to me and introduced herself. As we walked off the court to find a quiet place to conduct the interview she asked me "do you get to go to all the UConn games?" I told her that I did and she said "what a cool job."

Obviously Edwards is pretty fired up about heading to UConn.

"It still feeling unreal," Edwards said. "I am going to college and I am going to Connecticut. I grew up watching Connecticut and the great teams that they have had in the past. I have always been a fan and I have always admired the coaches and players that come through the program. They are not just great players but great people so to be a part  of it is really going to be a blessing."

"I like watching them play every time they are on TV," Edwards said. "It gives me chills, I can't wait to get up there. I know I am going to learn a ton, I know I am going to have a lot of fun and I know it is going to be a great experience. I met Gabby and Courtney on my visit. I haven't met Kia yet but I can't wait to meet her, she is a great player and I think it will be a ton of fun playing with them

"It is an incredible feeling, I think Connecticut has the best fans in the world. I was watching their game against Duke and of course Cameron Indoor, they are known for the Cameron Crazies and it is really loud in there but even through that you can hear the Connecticut fans cheering and that is pretty special. You go all around the United States and Connecticut has such loyal fan base that travels and there are fans all over the country and it is an incredible vibe, an incredible feeling to be around people who really love to support the team.

Edwards is excited to be a part of one of the nation's top recruiting classes as she will be joined by fellow incoming freshmen Courtney Ekmark, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams.

"I think we are kind of similar," Edwards said. "I think we all bring things to the table that may be the same or may be different but I think that we will work together. He (UConn coach Geno Auriemma) always does his best getting his teams to gel and getting the teams to play well together, letting everybody play to their strengths so I will definitely work very nicely.

"They are doing really well. I know Courtney is not playing but Gabby is doing very well and I am glad for her coming off that injury, it is nice to see that she is playing extremely well. I am glad everybody is playing well, that sends a message that we have a really good recruiting class and I think Coach will get the most out of us and help us get to be the best we can be."

Edwards sprained her ankle in a recent game against Potter's House and missed her third straight game although she thinks she will be able to return when Blair Academy plays Lawrenceville on Wednesday. It was impressive seeing how Edwards acted like an assistant coach rather than pouting because she was unable to play. After pretty much every timeout she would gather the five players around her and give them last second advice.

"It is not the most fun to sit out and not be able to play," Edwards said. "Obviously I want to be out there but I think I still try to take as much away rm the game as possible by watching, I think I learn a lot. I learned a lot about my teammates so I think it will help me and I will come back better.

"Even though I am not on the floor I can still try to help my team as much as I can from being on the sideline. I think my teammates listen to me and we try to listen to each other as much as we can so it is very important for me to engage with them as much as I can even though I can't play."

Edwards has made tremendous improvement being a point guard since her freshman season at Mercy High School and she is looking to constantly improve as a player.

"I think I have gotten better with being able to do more," Edwards said, "I think at the beginning of the season, our of our best inside players (Batouly Camara) was hurt so I had to rebound the ball a lot more and now I have become so much a better rebounder and I have learned to just do whatever the coach needs me to do which I definitely think will help me next year."

While it was not easy for Edwards to leave home to first play at Nazareth High in Brooklyn and then the last two seasons at Blair Academy, she knows it made her a better player.

"It has helped me. While I am out here we play against some of the best teams on the East coast so being able to run my team and control the tempo of the game in those situations, being able to score when I need to, being able to get my teammates the ball it definitely is a challenge because we play against very good teams.

"I think what helped me is learning how to be effective being on a team with really good players. When I played in Connecticut I always had the ball in my hands, I was very ball dominant. I have a bigger job of getting them the ball and running the team. If you can be good on a team when everybody else is good, that is how you know you are good so I think that definitely helped me."

Edwards said she is hoping to make it to the Rutgers game on Sunday and she should be able to be in attendance at the American Athletic Conference tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena and perhaps even the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament which UConn will host.

Camara really impressed me and somebody is going to get themselves a pretty talented 6-foot-2 forward who worked hard inside but also showed the ability to step out and hit from the perimeter. Blair Academy freshman Andra Espinoza-Hunter (a former teammate of UConn freshman guard Saniya Chong who is making a run at breaking Bria Hartley's unofficial record for most UConn games attended by the high school player) hit six 3-pointers in the game.

UConn signee Sadie Edwards had 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks (according to a tweet by Chris Ryan of the Newark Star-Ledger) as Blair Academy defeated Fenway (Mass.) High 59-38 in the Festival of the Phoenix at University High School in Newark, N.J.  on Saturday.

Blair Academy (3-1) will face Bishop McDevitt tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. on the second and final day of the event.

Gabby Williams had 12 points in her second game back at Reed High in Sparks, Nev. but that was not the big story in Friday's 85-45 win over Hug as Williams' teammate Tyler Sumpter hit 14 (yes, that it correct 14) 3-pointers and scored 50 points.

UConn's run to 1995 national title and TV exposure
enabled UConn to secure commitments from Georgia
phenom Maya Moore and Californian Diana Taurasi

As UConn officially sent out a release on the signing of four players during the early signing period it was impossible to see the hometowns of Phoenix, Sparks, Nev. and Hamilton, Ontario and not be immediately struck by how much times have changed.

The first eight classes signed by Geno Auriemma after he arrived at UConn were comprised entirely from players on the Eastern seaboard. Pennsylvania was a particular favorite recruiting spot for Auriemma, Chris Dailey and the rest of the UConn staff. Players from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Virginia were also in those early signing class.

The pendulum began to swing during the Huskies run to the first of eight national titles during the 1994-95 season. The following season freshmen included Oregon's Tammy Arnold and Ohio's Amy Hughes. The following year marked the first time that UConn signed a class with players made up exclusively from spots outside UConn's recruiting primary area as North Carolina native Shea Ralph was joined by Oklahoma natives Stacy Hansmeyer and Paige Sauer.

Now if you look at UConn's all-time leading scorers, the current top 13 includes a player from Georgia (Maya Moore) one from California (Diana Taurasi), others from Russia (Svetlana Abrosimova), West Virginia (Renee Montgomery), Florida (Tiffany Hayes), North Carolina (Ralph) and Ohio (Barbara Turner).

"I think the area that you recruit from sometimes has to do with the level your program is at," Auriemma said. "(When) we started wherever we could drive to in a reasonable time that is our recruiting base so we made a decision that if we could recruit that triangle , Boston-Pittsburgh-Washington, D.C. if we could be good in that area than we could be good. Back then, if we could drive there in four or five hours, let's go recruit those kids because they might not know who we are at least they know who we are playing against. Once games starting being televised and people across the country could watch us play and we got to a level of success that meant there would be kids from all over the country and in some cases other countries that were watching play so then it became much easier to get involved with those kids."

It is a double-edged sword as most of UConn's recruiting misses in the recent years have done as much with geography than basketball issues. Auriemma tries to play devil's advocate with recruits from places where driving to home games is not an option.

"I tell them they should stay home, that is the first thing I should tell them," Auriemma said. "Who wouldn't want to play close to home. That works for some kids but not the kids we are recruiting, they know what we have is pretty unique."

While a class including Courtney Ekmark, Sadie Edwards, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams will be rated as one of the best classes nationally, the Huskies may not be done as they are still very much involved with the nation's No. 1 player A'ja Wilson out of South Carolina. The 6-foot-5 Wilson will not be signing during the early period which ends today and she will not complete her official visits until after her senior season at Heathwood Hall is completed.

Regardless of which towns they grew up in, the constant among all recruits is the ability to deal with the relentless pursuit of perfection as Auriemma is constantly pushing his players. Case in point, sophomore Breanna Stewart had a spectacular first half offensively with 19 points in a win at Maryland. At halftime Stewart did not receive words of praise from her head coach but a tongue lashing for not pulling down a single rebound.

"I think when it comes the type of person, it goes it is a different thing, everybody is different but it is just the mindset you have to have," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "You have to be comfortable with being yelled at and every little thing you do criticized and be willing to learn. It is tough but when people know this is where they want to come, they make the decision."

Auriemma talked about Ekmark, Edwards and Williams yesterday since their letters of intent have been received. With Nurse's letter now having been received, Auriemma can speak about her after tonight's game. Here is an interesting story about how Nurse wrote when she was in seventh grade that her dream was to play at UConn.

While UConn is not doing with its pursuit of Class of 2014 prospects, the letters from commits Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark and Gabby Williams are expected to be signed and faxed today.

According to Blair Academy coach Quint Clarke, there will be a short ceremony before practice today when Edwards will sign her letter. According to Williams' mom, it is the same deal at Reed High School when Williams will be one of two athletes to sign at around 3:15 local time (6:15 p.m. in Connecticut). Softball pitcher Jacke Sertic will sign with North Dakota State.

I'm not exactly sure how the signing is going to be done with Courtney Ekmark since she is being homeschooled for her senior season. Her dad Curtis emailed me on Monday saying that they hadn't really discussed it yet so perhaps it will be similar to Breanna Stewart, who signed her letter on the roof of the family car.

The national early signing period began today and runs through Nov. 20.

Canadian national team guard Kia Nurse could make her decision before the end of the early signing period but the nation's No. 1 recruit A'ja Wilson is not expected to sign until the late period.

Three highly-touted high school juniors including recent commitment Sadie Edwards are expected to be in the stands when UConn plays Idaho in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Edwards, a Meriden resident who now attends Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., committed earlier this week after making an unofficial visit.

Fellow New Jersey star Taylor Rooks, a 6-foot forward who was recently named New Jersey's Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 27.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocked shots as a junior at Gill St. Bernard in Gladstone, N.J., caught the attention of UConn recruiters when she had a huge game (34 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots) against UConn recruiting target Sierra Calhoun's Christ the King squad with UConn coach Geno Auriemma in the stands for the early February game. The Clarence, N.Y. resident also has a 4.2 grade point average and is said to be a relentless competitor on the court.

Also expected to be at the game is Gabby Williams, a 5-foot-11 guard at Reed High in Sparks, Nev.

Williams is a dynamic athletic who finished fifth in the high school at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials but the day after UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph went to see her play, Williams tore the ACL in her right knee. She was averaging 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game heading into the game she suffered the  injury.

Another player on UConn's radar is 6-foot forward Lexi Gussert out of Forest Park High School in Crystal Falls, Mich.

Gussert was selected as the Associated Press Class D Player of the Year in Michigan last week after averaging 27.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game as a junior.

Also, I noticed that the New York Mr. Basketball Award was presented to Christ the King's Jon Severe after the Royals' game in the Federation tournament. It would not shock me to see the same thing happen tomorrow night with New York Miss Basketball since UConn signee Saniya Chong would seem like the no brainer pick to win the award and she will lead Ossining against Bishop Ford in Saturday night's Federation Class AA title game.

Finally, the Orange County Register announced its Player of the Year and it went to UConn Class of 2015 recruiting target Katie Lou Samuelson beating out an impressive field of candidates including her older sister Karlie who is headed to Stanford in the fall.

The commitment of Meriden's Sadie Edwards gives UConn pledges from two of the top perimeter players in the Class of 2014 (to go with Courtney Ekmark) and it would not be a shocker to see another perimeter player be a part of the this recruiting class. However, the ultimate grade of this class could ultimately be determined by the abilities of the Huskies to secure commitments from inside players.

Connecticut coaches have made multiple trips to see A'ja Wilson and Kathryn Westbeld play and the two already have scholarship offers.

Wilson is considered by many to be the best prospect in her class is an intriguing player. When she was a freshman she played on the perimeter before growing a couple of inches before the start of her sophomore season. Now she is listed at 6-5 but does not consider herself a prototype low-post prospect. However, that shouldn't be taken as a sign that she doesn't mix things up. She has averaged more than 14 rebounds in her four seasons at Heathwood Hall Episcopal in Columbia, S.C. (Wilson suited up as an eighth grader).

Despite being sidelined at the beginning of her junior season with a wrist injury, Wilson was spectacular during the 2012-13 season. She recorded a double-double in all 21 games she played in and finished the season shooting 69 percent from the field. Her final numbers were 28.7 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 3.2 steals and 5.3 blocks per game. She stepped out and was 5 of 8 from 3-point range.

Wilson has yet to make a visit to UConn but everything I've heard is that there is plenty of mutual interest.

Westbeld is a 6-foot-2 forward led Fairmont High in Kettering, Ohio to their first state title. Westbeld had double-doubles in all four games in Ohio's Division 1 tournament and averaged 15.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Fairmont had lost to Twinsburg in the Division 1 championship game during her freshman and sophomore seasons before preventing Twinsburg's bid for a three-peat with a 52-48 victory.

The game was rebroadcast on SportsTime Ohio yesterday and I taped the game to see Westbeld play. I could see why the Huskies are pursuing her. She is an extremely well-rounded player who can score inside and out, sets screens, helped break the press and looked comfortable handling the ball out on the perimeter. One recruiting source I spoke to compared her game to Louisville's Sara Hammond. The player she reminded me of was Kelsey Griffin of the Connecticut Sun.

Westbeld's final numbers were 14.5 points (on 66.3 percent shooting), 9.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.7 blocked shots. She is a product of the highly successful Dayton Lady HoopStars AAU program and is the type of highly-skilled player the Huskies (and any other program for that matter) love to coach.

She was also one of five players named to the JJHuddle.com All-Ohio first team

A day after making an unofficial visit to UConn, Meriden's Sadie Edwards committed to UConn.

The offer came when Edwards and her mother Lisa were on campus to check out UConn's practice and they were able to stick around to see the road the Huskies would face when the NCAA pairings were released.

Edwards went home, thought about it overnight and called UConn coach Geno Auriemma on Tuesday to say she was committing.

"It was exciting but I was in shock still," Edwards said. "I've always dreamed since I was 6 years old and I grew up in Connecticut  wanting to go there. I had ups and downs in my career so there were times when I didn't know if I was gong to make it or get to make it that high but just hearing him say that he wanted me to come there just showed me how much the hard work paid off

"I think it is almost every girls basketball player from Connecticut's dream to have the opportunity to go to Connecticut. It is such a great program with so much tradition. I get to play in front of some of the greatest fans in the country with some of the greatest players in the country, the greatest coaching staff in the country and to get the opportunity to consistently compete for a conference championship, national championship. You get better and just to be in a state that loves basketball so much and really have an appreciation for the UConn women's basketball thing, it is a real special thing."

Edwards played at Mercy as a freshman before transferring to New York powerhouse Nazareth to play for legendary coach Apache Paschall. After Paschall, a series of events transpired which led to her transferring to Blair Academy where she played this season.

"I think my journey has had a lot of ups and downs and it has been difficult at times. I have worked really, really hard for this. There have been good days, bad days and days where you want to give it up and days when (you wonder) if you will ever get there or you aren't good enough but I think I have people around me who supported me, people around me who helped me get better."

At Blair Academy the 5-foot-10 Edwards had a chance to grow into her role as a point guard. She was a dynamic scorer but is more of a combination shooting guard/point guard than she was when she was at Mercy.

"I am much more comfortable playing point guard. I like creating shots for others," said Edwards, who had seven 20-point games and four contests with at least 10 assists. "I know I can score but I like and it makes it a lot easier to create shots for others because I can get into the lane or if I score a couple of times and it will be a lot easier to get my teammates shots. I love to pass, I love getting my teammates involved and being at Blair has helped me become a better leader. It has helped me grow as a player and become more vocal and now how to better run a team. I was ale to grow up and learn how to  talk to people and how to run a team with other Division I players and all very talented kids."

Edwards joins Courtney Ekmark, a 6-foot guard from Phoenix, as the UConn commitments from the Class of 2014. She will also be able to play alongside current UConn freshmen Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, a talented sophomore class led by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis as well as incoming freshman Saniya Chong.

"They all want to win and it is very competitive but it is like a family," Edwards said. "I like how they don't focus on individual play, their goal is to win championships and I think that says a lot and I think to be in position every year is something special."

The latest name to emerge as a Class of 2014 recruiting target for UConn is a pretty familiar one.

Sadie Edwards, who grew up in Meriden, played at Mercy as a freshman and helped the Tigers reach the 2011 Class LL championship game where they lost to Career 39-37. She transferred to play for the legendary Apache Paschall at Nazareth in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"It’s a great opportunity,” Edwards said when news broke of her transfer. “It’s not something that comes around often. I’m thankful for that. I get to play with multiple Division I players. It’s an environment where I can get a lot better. It’s exciting.”

However, Edwards' time playing for Paschall was limited as he died in January of 2012. At season's end, in which she earned New York Class AA third-team All-State honors, she made the decision to leave Nazareth and landed at Blair Academy in Blairtown, N.J.

Could she be returning to play basketball in Connecticut?

It's too early to tell. I spoke her Sadie's mother Lisa before I headed up to Hartford for yesterday's UConn/Pittsburgh game and she confirmed what I have been hearing and that is that the 5-foot-10 rising senior does not have a scholarship offer yet. What my recruiting sources are telling me is that UConn likes Edwards, a player who had seven 20-point games and four contests with at least 10 assists during Blair's run to the New England Prep School "A" title but they want to see her play this spring on the AAU circuit.

"Right now she is right at the beginning, right now she has no idea," Lisa Edwards said. 

UConn visited with Sadie a week ago and then she took an unofficial visit to take in Saturday's game against Seton Hall. Lisa Edwards said it was an enjoyable trip for her daughter who got to meet the UConn coaches and players. Since I hadn't heard much about UConn being involved in the recruitment of Edwards, I asked her mom what the level of interest has been.

"Just casual stuff, a birthday card, have a good season," Lisa Edwards said. "With a visit (to UConn) and (UConn) coming in to meet her I would think the interest is there."

Lisa Edwards believes her daughter's experiences the last couple of seasons has helped her on and off the court.

"Everybody likes to say they have grown but she really has come into her own game now," Lisa Edwards said. "Her offense, when you are young offense is important but she is just as happy with 14 assists."

My recruiting sources have told me that UConn would like to sign three perimeter players and two frontcourt  ones in the next class. With Saniya Chong the only incoming freshman to sign with UConn, it's pretty obvious that this is a pivotal recruiting class for the Huskies. It is evident by the number of players the Huskies are linked with that they are going to be looking at more kids this year than they often do because they simply can't afford to just recruit four or five kids and land just one or two of them. As it is the Huskies could be playing with fire with just nine scholarship players on the roster for next season. A transfer here, an injury there and things could get a tad bit tricky.

I don't think it's earth-shattering news if I were to state the A'ja Wilson, a versatile 6-foot-5 forward at Heathwood Hall in Columbia, S.C. is at the top of UConn's recruiting wish list. The Huskies have also offered another forward, Kathryn Westbeld out of Fairmont High in Kettering, Ohio. Of course the Huskies already have a commitment from 6-foot wing Courtney Ekmark out of St. Mary's in Phoenix.

Christ the King guard Sierra Calhoun, whose brother Omar is a standout freshman on UConn's men's basketball team, is another top prospect UConn is involved with. While I previously reported that the interest in highly-touted Texas forward Brianna Turner and speedy Los Angeles guard Jordin Canada appears to have waned a bit, what I am hearing is the Huskies continue to consider them to be recruiting targets. Then there is one of most intriguing prospects in the class in Nevada guard Gabby Williams. Williams is one of the nation's top high jump prospects who finished fifth in the U.S. Olympic trials and UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph went out to Nevada to see her play in a game early this season. Unfortunately, Williams injured her knee the next next day. She had surgery to repair the torn ACL and meniscus earlier this month. Williams has gone on the record as saying that she wants to do both sports in college and her plan is to redshirt in 2016 so she can focus solely on making the Olympic team.

For those interested in such things, the list of players I mentioned feature the top three rated players and six of the top 10 in the Hoopgurlz ratings. Of course they also list Edwards (who comes in at No. 39) as playing at Nazareth so keep that in mind before viewing those ratings as gospel.

I wouldn't anticipate seeing any commitments coming soon especially considering that four of the seven uncommitted players I mentioned above have yet to visit UConn. It's also possible and even likely that more names could emerge in the coming weeks and months.

While UConn commitment Courtney Ekmark had 14 points to lead her St. Mary's team to the Arizona Division I title, fellow Class of 2014 recruiting target A'ja Wilson's Heathwood Hall team fell in the state championship game on Saturday.

Ekmark was the only player in double figures despite playing with a broken nose suffered in an earlier tournament game as St. Mary's defeated fellow Phoenix school Pinnacle 49-37. Pinnacle is the last Arizona team to beat St. Mary's back during the 2011 state tournament. Ekmark had 10 points after Pinnacle took a 28-25 lead late in the third quarter.

Heathwood Hall lost to two-time defending Pinewood Prep in the South Carolina Independent School Association Class AAA championship game despite 30 points from the 6-foot-5 Wilson. Wilson also had 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots as she finished with 20 double-doubles in 21 games. She ended up averaging 28.7 points (while shooting 69 percent from the field), 14.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 3.2 steals and 5.3 blocks per game. She had 12 30-point games with a high of 48 in a Jan. 15 win over Hammond.

Auriemma apparently had some traveling issues when he went to see Wilson play in Friday's semifinals. He was not able to fly into Columbia, S.C. so he had to fly in and out of North Carolina and what I am hearing is he had to drive three hours after flying down there to make it in time for the game.

Another UConn Class of 2014 recruiting target extended her season as Kathryn Westbeld had 12 points in Fairmont's 58-21 win over Sidney in the Ohio Division I Harrison District tournament. Fairmont awaits the winner of the Cincinnati Ursuline/Cincinnati Mother of Mercy game in the Mar. 2 district final.

Closer to home, former Mercy High star Sadie Edwards was in attendance at today's game against Seton Hall.

Edwards, who grew up in Meriden, left Mercy to play for New York powerhouse Nazareth (where she earned third class Class AA all-state honors highlighted by a 28-point game against Christ the King) before transferring to Blair Academy in New Jersey over the summer. Edwards is a 5-foot-10 junior guard who has made the transition from being more of a wing player earlier in her career to playing point guard. I don't have official stats on her but she had some pretty big games for Blair Academy including a triple-double (20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in 70-53 win over Lawrenceville in the Mid-Atlantic Prep School championship game earlier this month. She also had 24 points and 11 assists in a regular-season win over Gill St. Bernard's.

Edwards led Blair Academy to a 21-3 record and the Prep School Class A title where she scored 12 points in the championship game.

Edwards was named a first team All-MAPL selection, named to the all-conference defensive team and was named the newcomer of the year. I was able to find scoring stats from 22 of the 24 games Blair Academy played in (missing both games against The Hill School) and she scored in double figures in 20 of them including seven 20-point games with a scoring average of 17.2 points per game. She also had at least four games with 10 or more assists. I saw a tweet from @weworkhoops which reported that coaches from UConn and Kentucky were in to see Edwards on Tuesday.