The first two rounds are in the books at the EuroBasket Championships and three of the top 14 scorers are players who were drafted by the Connecticut Sun.

Johannah Leedham, a third-round pick of the Sun in 2010 who attending Connecticut's training camp and was one of the last players cut, finished ranked third in scoring with an average of 16.8 points, 7.5 rebounds,  a tournament-leading 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game although it wasn't enough to help Great Britain advance in the tournament. Despite finishing with the same 2-3 record as the Czech Republic, Great Britain lost the tiebreaker and was eliminated after pool play.

Alba Torrens, selected in the third round in 2009, is eighth in scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game as Spain went 6-0 in pool play to set up a showdown with the Czech Republic tomorrow in the quarterfinals..

Sandrine Gruda, taken by the Sun in the first round of the 2007 draft, averaged 12 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals as France went 6-0 in pool play and will meet Sweden in the quarterfinals.

The Sun still own the rights to Torrens and Gruda but Leedham, a former star at Cheshire Academy, is free to sign with any WNBA team.

The teams of the three former Connecticut Sun draft picks all advanced to the second round at the EuroBasket Championships.

Alba Torrens led Spain to the Group B title by averaging 19.7 points (the second most during the first portion of the tournament) to go with 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists. Sandrine Gruda led France to the Group C title with a 3-0 record. Gruda averaged 9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1 steal and 0.7. blocks. Johannah Leedham's Great Britain team finished 2-1 in Group C with the only loss coming today to France. Leedham averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in the three games.

The biggest news coming out of the first round is that perennial World Championship medal contender Russia failed to qualify for the second round after going 1-2 in Group B and therefore will not be eligible to play in the 2014 World Championships due to the first-round ouster.

There's a couple of days off before the second round of pool play begins on Thursday. Spain carries a 2-0 record into Group F play while France and Great Britain open play in Pool F with 2-0 and 1-1 records respectively.

Maria Stepanova had 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead Russia a 59-42 win over Turkey in the EuroBasket gold-medal game.

Former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova did not score but had five rebounds in 14 minutes for Russia.

Abrosimova, who played six games for the Connecticut Sun in the 2008 season, is one of five players with ties to the Sun who played in the tournament.

Abrosimova averaging 5.9 points and 3.8 rebounds.

Former Sun forward Sandrine Gruda led champion France in both scoring (121 points) and rebounding (56) in the nine tournament games.

Johannah Leedham, a third-round pick by Connecticut in the 2010 WNBA draft, led Great Britain with 72 points in six games.

Evanthia Maltsi (who played 26 games for the Sun in 2007) averaged 13.7 points, 7.0 rebounds in three games for Greece.

Alba Torrens, taken by the Sun in the third round of the 2009 WNBA draft, led Spain with 83 points in six games.

Gruda, Torrens and Leedham were among the top 15 scorers in the tournament. Maltsi would have been including among the top tournament scorers but with Greece eliminated after the first round of pool play, she did not play enough games to qualify.

Sandrine Gruda, who played in 85 games from 2008-10 for the Connecticut Sun, had 26 points to lead France to a 63-56 win over the Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game at the EuroBasket championships.

Gruda was 12 of 14 from the field and added six rebounds and four assists.

Although she scored in double figures in six of the first eight games of the tournament, it was a bit of an offensive struggle at times for Gruda in the tournament. In the semifinal loss to Turkey, she was 1 of 7 and finished with four points in 37 minutes. Gruda finished the tournament averaging 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds.

The gold medal game is coming up shortly with former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova leading her Russia squad against Turkey.

Former Cheshire Academy star Johannah Leedham had four points, three rebounds and two assists but her Great Britain squad lost 55-40 in the opening day of the EuroBasket.

Leedham is one of three former Connecticut Sun draft picks playing in the tournament.

Alba Torrens had 18 points, three rebounds and four assists as Spain defeated 79-69 while Sandrine Gruda and France will play Croatia later today.


U.S. U-16 GOES FOR GOLD
The United States will play Brazil tonight at 9 in the championship game of the FIBA Americas U16 Championship.

The U.S. team has been dominant, outscoring its first four opponents by a 2 to 1 margin.

Rebecca Greenwell leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 points per game, and also had a team-best nine 3-pointers and 15 steals. Mercedes Russell is averaging 12 points and team-high 11.3 rebounds. She is leading the tournament with 45 rebounds and 17 blocked shots. Stephanie Mavunga (12 points per game) and Jatarie White (11.3 points) also score in double figures for the U.S. while UConn recruiting target Taya Reimer is averaging 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds.

The casual observer might think that a former UConn star would be grinning from ear to ear with the news that she was being traded to the Connecticut Sun.

For Kalana Greene, that is only partly true.

She was ecstatic at the prospects of playing in front of many of the same fans who rooted for her during her UConn days and she is extremely close friends with her former UConn and current Connecticut Sun teammates Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery.

But during Monday's media day at Mohegan Sun Arena, Greene admitted that leaving behind her teammates and fans in New York was not easy for her.

"It was bittersweet," said Greene, one of four UConn graduates among the 15 players at the first day of Connecticut Sun training camp. "I miss New York, I love New York but I just felt numb. It was surreal. I didn't think it was going to happen and it happened. I didn't know how to feel. I don't think until I came back to the United States that I thought 'I am going back to Connecticut.' The emotions were pretty weird.

"It is always good to play the sport you love with people you love, people you are familiar with. It is going to be fun but at the end of the day you still have a job to get done, a lot of expectations to live up to."

While Greene was on an emotional roller coaster as she heard the rumors of her being traded to the Sun, Charles and Montgomery were so happy they could barely contain their enthusiasm.

"I got all these tweets 'are you excited, can you believe it?'" Montgomery said. "I was just like 'what is going on?' I knew it was draft day but I didn't know if I should be excited about. TT (Charles) hit me up and said 'yo, K-Bear (Montgomery's nickname for Greene) is coming to our team.' It is hard to explain. Obviously first off I am excited that she is my friend and another one of my closen friends on the team and then player wise, she did a lot against us for New York last. She came in got rebounds, scored, got and ones and was just disruptive. Now she can do it for us."

The biggest news to come out of the first day of training camp was that Thibault said Sandrine Gruda "probably won't be here at all."

The belief was that Gruda would join the team at the end of the European Championships but apparently she is going to follow the lead of fellow European Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and skip the upcoming WNBA season.

There will be more on the scrimmage the Sun played either later tonight or tomorrow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anete Jekabsone-Zogota, who started 14 games and averaged 7.2 points per contest for the Connecticut Sun during the 2010 season, said in an interview that she is planning to skip the upcoming WNBA season.

I just got off the phone with Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault who said that "nothing is official yet" and that been in contact with Jekabsone-Zogota's agent but wanted to reserve further comment until the final decision has been made.

While the translation of the interview to English is a little choppy, it does seem as if the 27-year-old Jekabsone-Zogota isn't planning to return to the WNBA any time soon.

"It is a very valuable experience, there is a very good level of basketball," Jekabsone-Zogota said. "(They have) strong players, qualified coaches, a very good organization. It requires great strength (to play). It's all determined by my 'inner voice'. This time (it) is a feeling, after a year or two probably will be slightly different. Certainly not (going to) say (never).

"It is an honor to play there, no doubt," Jekabsone-Zogota said. "It is a new experience. Yes, the first year I've had times when I wanted to throw everything aside and go home."

Jekabsone-Zogota appeared in 46 games over the previous two seasons for the Sun, averaging 8.7 points per game.

The Sun just announced the signings of Tan White and Kerri Gardin and will be adding Danielle McCray, who was the second of the team's two first-round draft picks a year ago. McCray missed the entire 2010 WNBA season with a knee injury. McCray has been playing well with Hapoel Rishon Le-Zion in Israel as she has scored at least 20 points in each of her last three games. She will not be the 3-point threat that Jekabsone-Zogota was but has shown the ability to get to the free throw line during her time in Israel. Playing for Rishon Lezion, McCray is averaging 17.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.8 steals.

Thibault said it will be a wait and see approach with the other three Europeans whose rights are owned by the Sun as Sandrine Gruda, Alba Torrens and Johannah Leedham are expected to play for France, Spain and Great Britain respectively in the European Championships or EuroCup which will run from June 18-July 3 which would mean a mininum of nine Connecticut Sun games being missed if the three come over after the tournament is over. Gruda has played for the Sun in each of the last three seasons and is the most likely of the trio to come over. It would be a crushing blow if Gruda opted to stay in France after the conclusion of the EuroCup. However, the Sun have been patient in the past letting Gruda come over when her European playing commitments are complete and would be very surprised if Gruda simply skipped the entire WNBA season.

When I asked Thibault if the Sun would be more likely to pursue a free agent if the team got the sense that the other Europeans would be staying home, he said that he did not expect that to happen. Reading between the lines, I get the sense that there is a free agent the Sun is keeping on its radar but it won't be as easy to figure out who that is as it was when the team went hard after Kara Lawson a year ago. Considering that Thibault, assistant coach Scott Hawk and general manager Chris Sienko were all at the recent UConn/Duke game (scouting Jasmine Thomas I would imagine) I would think that it is more likely that the Sun would try to put together a package to move up into the first round in April's WNBA draft than it would be to add a free agent from another team.

Connecticut Sun forward Sandrine Gruda and Alba Torrens, whose WNBA rights are owned by the Sun, were named as starters for Europe in the EuroLeague All-Star game which will be played on Mar. 8 in Gydnia, Poland.

Gruda is averaging 14 points and 5.1 rebounds for UMMC Ekaterinburg while Torrens is averaging 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists for Halcon Avenida.

Starters were selected based on fan balloting with Angel McCoughtry, Sylvia Fowles, Candice Dupree, Seimone Augustus and Monica Wright listed as the top vote-getters for the Rest of the World. I say "listed" because former UConn star Diana Taurasi was on the ballot and was the EuroLeague's leading scorer before getting released by Fenerbahce for tested positive for a banned substance. Taurasi, who has gone on the record as saying she never took the drug modafinil, is a fan favorite and it wouldn't shock me if she was the overall leader in fan ballots. Celine Dumerc, Sancho Lyttle and Amaya Valdemoro were the other starters for Europe. The rest of the rosters for the two teams will be announced later with former UConn star Tina Charles almost certain to be added to the Rest of the World squad.

Unlike a year ago when the Connecticut Sun pursued and landed Kara Lawson, Sun coach and personnel director Mike Thibault said on Tuesday that their main objective is getting unrestricted free agent Tan White under contract.

The Sun has the bulk of its 2010 team under contract including reigning WNBA rookie of the year Tina Charles, Lawson, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery, Kelsey Griffin, DeMya Walker and Allison Hightower. White expressed her desire to stay with the Sun at the end of last season when she was Connecticut's fifth-leading scorer and led the team in steals.

Although the Sun traded away its first-round pick in April's WNBA draft, Danielle McCray is expected to join the team. McCray was a first-round pick last season but missed the season while recovering from a knee injury. The Sun also have the rights to Spain's Alba Torrens and England's Johannah Leedham, Connecticut's third-round picks in 2009 and 2010. Both players could get pressure from their respective national team programs.

Although the Sun traded away what proved to be the fourth overall pick in the deal which landed them Griffin, Connecticut will pick 16th in what is being touted as a deep draft and never rule out the possibility of the Sun acquiring a first-round pick.

Finally, it will bear watching when France's Sandrine Gruda and Latvia's Anete Jekabsone-Zogota come over since they have become extremely valuable cogs for the Sun.

The period for speaking with free agents began on Saturday and February 1 is the first day to officially sign a free agent.

Former UConn stars Swin Cash, Svetlana Abrosimova and Ashley Battle are among those on the list of unrestricted free agents.

Here's a breakdown on how the Connecticut Sun players or those whose rights are held by the team are playing overseas

Player Team Country Notable statistics
Tina Charles Nadezhda Russia 19 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.1 blocks
Kerri Gardin* Elitzur Holon Israel 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals
Kelsey Griffin Mizo Pecs 2010 Hungary 9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals
Sandrine Gruda Ekaterinburg Russia 14.6 points, 5.1 rebounds
Allison Hightower Reze Nantes France 11.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals
Anete Jekabsone-Zogota Fenerbahce Turkey 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Johannah Leedham* Gorzow Poland 9.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals
Danielle McCray* Rishon Lezion Israel 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds 3.2 assists
Renee Montgomery Maccabi Ashdod Israel 18.7 points, 3.7 assists, 2.2 steals
Alba Torrens* Halcon Avenida Spain 17.2 points, 2.7 assists, 2.1 steals
DeMya Walker Adelaide Australia 13.1 points, 6 rebounds, 2.4 blocks
Tan White Burhaniye Bld Turkey 11.4 points, 4 rebounds
*-Sun own rights to Gardin, Leedham, McCray and Torrens. Jekabsone-Zogota spent part of EuroLeague season with Spartak Moscow Region. White is an unrestricted free agent

Former UConn star Tina Charles had 24 points and 13 rebounds but her Nadezhda team lost its Euroleague opener 76-68 to Ros Casares.

Ex-Husky Diana Taurasi had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists in her first EuroLeague game with Fenerbahce after a sensational run with Spartak.

Charles' former UConn teammate Kalana Greene had two points, three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in Gorzow's, Charde Houston had six points and two rebounds for Good Angels Kosice.


Here's a breakdown on how the Connecticut Sun players (or those whose rights are held by the Sun fared on opening day/night

Kelsey Griffin (Mizo Pecs 2010): 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals
Sandrine Gruda (UMMC Ekaterinburg): 17 points, 8 rebounds
Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (Spartak): 6 points, 2 rebounds
Johannah Leedham (Gorzow): 8 points, 3 steals
Erin Phillips (Wisla Can-Pak Krakow): 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Alba Torrens (Halcon Avenida): 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

UConn incoming freshmen Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson combined for 16 points and nine rebounds as the U.S. Under-18 national team defeated Canada 57-39 in an exhibition game on Sunday.

Hartley, who played a team-high 30 minutes, 10 points, three rebounds and four steals while Dolson had six points, six rebounds and four blocks in 18 minutes. Chiney Ogwumike, a former UConn recruiting target who signed with Stanford, led the U.S. with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The U.S. team, coached by former UConn star Jen Rizzotti, opens play in the FIBA Americas U-18 Championship for Women on Wednesday against Argentina.

CHARLES, MONTGOMERY DELIVER AGAIN
Former UConn stars Tina Charles (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Renee Montgomery (19 points, four assists) helped the Connecticut Sun wrap up its first extended road trip of the season with a 96-94 win over defending WNBA champion Phoenix on Sunday.

The Sun built up a 21-point lead in the second half and then held off a furious charge by the Mercury for Connecticut's first win in Phoenix since 2005.

Sandrine Gruda had 21 points in her first start of the season for Connecticut, which went 2-1 on the road trip to improve to an Eastern Conference best 8-3.

Former UConn star Asjha Jones had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists while Kelsey Griffin added 11 rebounds for Connecticut, which will host Chicago on Tuesday and Phoenix on Friday before embarking on a season-long six-game road trip.

With Asjha Jones not able to play as she continues to recover from offseason surgery on her injured Achilles tendon and Sandrine Gruda not expected to report until early June, the Connecticut Sun will have nine players in uniform when it opens its season against Chicago Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Salary cap issues forced the Sun to cut both undrafted rookie free agents May Kotsopoulos and Judie Lomax. Connecticut coach Mike Thibault had hoped that he would be able to keep either Kotsopoulos or Lomax until Gruda reported. However, to remain in compliance with the salary cap, he had to cut both of them. If Jones continues to be out of the lineup, Connecticut could petition the WNBA for an additional roster spot until Gruda shows up.

"We could apply to the league because we’re at nine players for a hardship and you can pay them at a per game basis on a minimum salary," Thibault said. "We'll wait until after the weekend and see where we are health wise and see if I want to do that next week."

Thibault seems reluctant to pick up a player off the waiver wire since by the time they learned the Connecticut system, he would have to cut her.

Former Connecticut Sun guard Debbie Black was at practice today and is going to be at tomorrow's game. Always a favorite of the media during her tenure in Connecticut, Black held court with pretty much all the reporters at Friday's practice.

Jones is hoping she will be able to play in the second game of the season and could be aided by the fact that the Sun won't play again until May 21.

"That extra week is great," Jones said. "If it keeps going the way it is now, I think so. I am going for that. I don’t want to put it out there and then if it doesn’t happen, everybody is disappointed but it is good to have your short-term goals and long-term goals. The point is to be there down the road and not to rush back, keep everything in perspective and focus in. I realize I need to be there at the end, I wasn’t there at the end last year."

Jones worked with Connecticut's strength and conditioning coach Joanna Hopkins during practice. At times it looked like she was taking part in an NFL combine, running around a series of cones.

"It is limiting because there are a lot of things I am not capable of doing but I did a lot more running than I did in the past," Jones said. "The Achilles got tired yesterday and there was a lot more cutting, trying to get in for a layup and stuff."

Shortly after the Connecticut Sun's 89-46 win over the Polish National Team, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota arrived at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Jekabsone-Zogota will practice for the first time on Sunday and will play in Tuesday's exhibition finale.

Following the game Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault also hinted that he may look at the waiver wire to add a player to the squad. Earlier in training camp Thibault said he wasn't planning to pick anybody up off waivers but he was singing a different tune on Friday night.

"I have maybe a couple of things to think about," Thibault said. "I kind of told you the other day that I wasn't really looking at other team's (cuts) but I am going to keep an open mind. I think I owe it to myself to look around a little bit. I am not sure I will do anything different. The big difference will be Sandrine (Gruda, expected to report in early June), Anete and Asjha (Jones, who missed her second straight game while recovering from surgery on her left Achilles tendon) and how it goes. It is trying to figure out how the last piece fits with the rest of it."

Rookies Tina Charles and May Kotsopoulos led the Sun with 15 points each while Kara Lawson had 14 points (all in the first quarter) and Tan White had eight points in a span of 51 seconds in the first quarter.

With Sha Brooks, who starred collegiately at Florida, being cut on Wednesday and Kaitlin Sowinski (Sacred Heart), Kailey Klein (Cleveland State) and Pauline Love (Southern Mississippi) being let go on Thursday, the fight for a temporary spot on the Connectict Sun is not quite a crowded.

Currently at the WNBA maximum of 11 players, another cut will need to be made before the start of the regular season since Anete Jekabsone-Zogota could report to the team as soon as Sunday. Sandrine Gruda is not expected to join the Sun until the first week of June meaning that the team will be able to keep either guard May Kotsopoulos, who played at Vermont, or former Columbia forward Judie Lomax until Gruda is added to the active roster.

Brooks seemed to be doomed to land on the waiver wire once she suffered a quadriceps injury during training camp. Sowinski would have been a great story had she made it but probably needs to get a little stronger before she makes a serious run at making a WNBA roster. Love is a little bit of a surprising cut. Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault sought her out during Tuesday's exhibition win over Atlanta for some extra instruction during the break in the action. Love and Lomax seemed to be the two most effective undrafted rookies during the exhibition game although cuts like these are made by evaluating all the practices and not just four quarters against an Atlanta team missing many of its top players.

The Sun will host the Polish national team on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then wrap up its preseason schedule with a game at New York on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.

Tina Charles ushered in her professional career with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 6 blocks as she led the Connecticut Sun to an 86-79 win over the Atlanta Dream.

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault was quick to point out that Charles didn't do her damage against Atlanta's dynamic frontcourt duo of Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle but on the other hand, UConn's all-time leading scorer and rebounder didn't have All-Star Asjha Jones and rising star Sandrine Gruda on the court to take some of the defensive attention off of her.

Charles' output is the most for a Connecticut Sun player in a preseason game since Nykesha Sales, whose UConn scoring record Charles broke, dropped 30 on Phoenix in 2006.

Charles took her impressive debut in stride.

"I was calm," Charles said. "I was fine, I came into the game like any other game I have been playing my senior year. I have teammates who have confidence in me and respect my game, know what I can do is a good thing and it makes me want to go out and perform my best. I feel like that is what I have been developing my game to be my whole life is to be a go-to player, somebody you can count on, somebody your teammate will have respect for and that is something that Coach (Geno) Auriemma taught me that it is not about the wins, it is about having the respect of your teammates."

Connecticut had four players score in double figures and three are rookies as fellow first-round pick Kelsey Griffin had 11 points and second-round selection Allison Hightower finished with 10. Second-year guard Renee Montgomery, acquired in a trade which netted the Sun the No. 1 overall pick in exchange for Lindsay Whalen and the second overall pick, had 12 points and four assists.

If it wasn't clear before, the roster situation is pretty easy to decipher for the Sun. Charles, Griffin, Hightower and Montgomery will be joined on the opening day roster by Jones, DeMya Walker, Kara Lawson, Kerri Gardin, Tan White and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. Since Sandrine Gruda won't be reporting until early June, the Sun can keep one of its training camp invitees until Gruda is put on the active roster. If I was guessing, I would say it will come down to Pauline Love and Judie Lomax vying for that spot. Watching Thibault pull aside Love for an extended coaching session late in Tuesday's preseason game would lead me to deduce that Love, who had more than 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in three seasons at Southern Mississippi, is a frontrunner to make the cut but I thought 2009 second-round pick Lyndra Littles was going to be around longer than she was in the 2009 training camp.

The Sun will have an open practice from 5-7 p.m. at St. Joseph College in West Hartford on Wednesday. Fans can watch the practice for free and there will be an autograph session following practice.

This is a busy week for Charles. She will take the last of her college exams on Wednesday, have another exhibition game on Friday and graduate on Sunday. Charles spoke about what figures to be an emotional day on Sunday as graduation day will be her final official act of what has been a special four years for her at UConn.

"It is going to be really important because my family has (had) my back my whole four years at UConn and they see the basketball aspect but now they get to take in what I have been doing academically," Charles said.

Among the interest spectators at Monday's Connecticut Sun practice was Sacred Heart coach Ed Swanson who was on hand to watch his former player Kaitlin Sowinski take part in training camp as an undrafted free agent.

With Sacred Heart set to play UConn on Dec. 5, naturally I spent some time with Swanson before doing my interviews with Sun players to get his take on playing the Huskies for the second time (UConn won 82-40 on Dec. 31, 2006).

At least one high-ranking official at Sacred Heart basically asked Swanson
"are you nuts" when news surfaced that the Pioneers was facing UConn. But with a veteran squad capable to win the Northeast Conference title, Swanson believes the time is right to play the Huskies again.

"With a senior-laden backcourt, a couple juniors so I think we have some people who can handle that situation," Swanson said. "It's the best RPI game in the country and it is an experience. Our players want to experience it. They grew up watching UConn and watched it the last two years (when UConn won an NCAA Division I record 78 straight games). It is as much about the experience from the game and helping us grow a little and gain a little bit more exposure for our program.

"They call specific years but I don't think if a team is young ... We have Alicia Apo, Maggie Cosgrove, Mo Reilly will be seniors and Callan Taylor will be a junior, that will help them a little bit and help our program mature at a different pace."

Swanson has positive memories from that 2006 game against UConn.

"If you remember that game, we were up five with five minutes to go in the first half and from that point on, I wish the game could have ended then," Swanson said. "They were a top 10 program and we got something out of it. That was the game where we kind of gained a lot of momentum for the rest of the year.

"We got exactly out of it what we wanted to and hopefully next year we will take that same mindset into the game. They say that everything is great leading up to the game except for the game and I look at it the other way, I'm hoping we get something out of it that we can parlay (into the NEC season)."

Naturally Swanson was fired up to see Sowinski getting a chance to earn a spot on the Sun. While the odds are stacked against her, it was still a special moment for Swanson and his two assistant coaches who were also in attendance.

"It is exciting to see one of our players at this level," Swanson said. "I thought a couple years ago Amanda Pape could have been (in a WNBA camp). She played overseas and didn't have as good of an experience as Caitlin did but it is great to see a kid who came in and as a freshman averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds on our '06 (Northeast Conference championship team) and now is in a WNBA camp."


Now for a few notes from Monday's practice. Tina Charles was not there, she was back at UConn taking a final exam and will graduate on Sunday. Her fellow rookies will be bypassing their graduation ceremonies. Nebraska's graduation is Saturday but Kelsey Griffin is not planning to fly back for the ceremony. LSU's graduation is May 21 but rookie guard Allison Hightower will be in uniform with the Sun for a game at Atlanta that day rather than accepting her degree. Hightower did say that LSU was willing to allow her to walk across the stage during the graduation ceremony in the fall so her family can bask with her in her special moment.

Asjha Jones missed practice again as she recovers from surgery to clean out debris in her left Achilles tendon. She is hoping to be cleared to practice next week. Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said she would probably need to practice at least twice before he would consider playing her in the May 15 season opener against Chicago.

"I don't want her playing until everybody is comfortable. I want her being comfortable, I want them to be comfortable with it," Thibault said. "If it is the first game, great. If it is the second game, OK, I'll live with that. It is the long haul that is important. The plan is still for her to practice next week, we'll see. I don't want her reinjuring herself because she came back too soon."

Thibault said Anete Jekabsone-Zogota could practice as soon as Sunday which means she could see time in the preseason finale against New York on May 11. Sandrine Gruda is still planning to stay in Europe for a bit and probably won't report until the first week of camp.

Kara Lawson, Renee Montgomery, Kerri Gardin, DeMya Walker and Charles is the expected starting lineup for Tuesday's 11 a.m. exhibition game against Atlanta. Guard Sha Brooks, slowed by a quadriceps injury, missed practice on Monday and is questionable for Tuesday's exhibition game.

Although Thibault doesn't have to make a cut until Jekabsone-Zogota reports, he said he may make some moves in the middle of the week. However, it will be a one-way street as a lack of cap space will prevent the Sun from claiming a veteran off waivers without cutting another veteran.

It seems rather clear that Connecticut's roster will consist of Montgomery, Lawson, Jones, Gardin, Walker, Charles, Griffin, Hightower, Tan White, Jekabsone-Zogota and Gruda. One spot is available until Gruda reports meaning one of the six free agent invitees (Sowinski, Brooks, former Columbia star Judie Lomax, ex-Vermont standout May Kotsopoulos, Southern Mississippi product Pauline Love and former Cleveland State star Kailey Klein) appear to be vying for the one roster spot available until Gruda is added to the active roster.

If the Sun is looking to add a candidate for the WNBA's All-interview team to the roster, it would be wise to put in a claim for former Penn State star Tyra Grant, who was cut by Phoenix on Monday.

Grant was the Mercury's second-round pick (No. 24 overall) in April's WNBA draft. During Grant's junior season, Penn State was playing UConn in the Maggie Dixon Classic. With Penn State having a home game against Dayton the same weekend that the Yale volleyball team was playing in the NCAA tournament at Penn State, my bosses sent me down there to cover the volleyball tournament while getting some advance stuff for the upcoming Penn State game. Talking to Grant was a memorable enough experience that when I was in Colorado Springs for the U.S. Basketball training camp, I mentioned to USA Basketball's Jenny Maag that if she was looking for a quotable player to focus on, she should consider interviewing Grant. She took my advice and was not disappointed.

The early returns from a hectic offseason spent making over the Connecticut Sun will be on display when the team plays its first exhibition game against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday at 11 a.m. The following day there will be an open practice at St. Joseph College in West Hartford. There will be no admission for fans to watch the 5-7 p.m. practice at the O'Connell Center and an autograph session will follow.

The exhibition game figures to feature some of the talented newcomers brought in since perennial All-Star forward Asjha Jones is expected to be sidelined as she continues to recover from surgery to remove debris from her injured left Achilles tendon while European stars Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda aren't expected to be in camp in time for the exhibition game.

When former UConn star Asjha Jones decided to leave her UMMC Ekaterinburg team shortly before Christmas, her hope was that the injured Achilles tendon injury would heal without the assistance of surgery.

Waiting for a couple months upon returning home, Jones and the Connecticut Sun medical staff finally scheduled a surgery. The result is that Jones is still a reluctant spectator as the WNBA franchise opened training camp on Monday.

Jones should miss at least the first half of training camp. She may be back in time to play in the final exhibition game at New York on May 11. Even if she has to skip all three preseason games, Jones is hoping she will be ready to go for the May 15 regular-season opener against Chicago.

"We waited," Jones said. "We didn't do it right away to see if it would heal on its own and it didn't. It didn't progress far enough, we waited as long as we could and it (the surgery) had to happen."

The injury forced Jones to miss the final 11 games of the season, the first time she was sidelined for a prolonged period during her WNBA career. After winning two of the first three games without Jones, the Sun predictably struggled without the All-Star forward to carry the offensive load. The Sun lost five straight games all by at least 10 points and missed the playoffs for the first time since relocating from Orlando before the 2003 season.

"It hard to look back on that," Jones said. "It drives you forward. Even little things, where to sit on the bench do you want to sit in the middle of the team, do you want to sit by the coaches? It is hard to figure all of that stuff out. You want to help but you can't. You have KG (Kerri Gardin) playing the 4 (power forward) and that is not where she belongs. I felt guilty because now they are being put in a position where they shouldn't be."

With Jones out of action and the trio of Tan White, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda expected to be late arrivals, third-year forwad Gardin is the only person currently practicing with the team who has appeared in a game with the Sun. Lindsay Whalen is now in Minnesota after a trade which netted Connecticut former UConn teammates Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles. Amber Holt and Chante Black were traded to Tulsa (formerly Detroit), Tamika Whitmore was released while Erin Phillips and Kiesha Brown were not re-signed.

Former Sacramento Monarchs teammates Kara Lawson and DeMya Walker are among the new additions, joining Montgomery, Charles and fellow 2010 WNBA draftees Kelsey Griffin and Allison Hightower on a new-look Connecticut squad. Five training camp invitees including former Sacred Heart University star Kaitlin Sowinski were brought in. A sixth player, former Florida State guard Alicia Gladden, was not able to make it so a replacement for her is expected to be named shortly.

White, one of many travelers impacted by volcano in Iceland, could arrive by Wednesday according to Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault. Jekabsone-Zogota and Gruda are on opposite teams playing for Spartak Moscow Region and UMMC Ekaterinburg in the best of five Russian championship series. Jekabsone-Zogota could be in camp by the first week of May while Gruda is expected to miss at least the first five games before arriving in early June.

With the announcement of guards Sha Brooks (Florida), Alicia Gladden (Florida State) and May Kotsopoulos (Vermont), forwards Judie Lomax (Columbia) and Pauline Love (Southern Mississippi) and center Sarah Sowinski (Sacred Heart) being invited to training camp, it's fair to surmise that the Sun isn't planning to add a veteran off the waiver wire - at the current time.

With Sandrine Gruda not expected to join the Sun until early June because of her European and French national team playing commitments, two of the invitees could make the opening day roster. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota will also not be there for the start of camp.

There are some interesting stories among the invitees. I remember Brooks when Florida played at UConn in the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. She is a player and I could certainly see her sticking around for a bit especially for a Connecticut team lacking for guards at the current time. If Kara Lawson isn't able to go at the start of training camp because of a previous knee injury she aggravated during the recent U.S. national team training session and Tan White trying to get a flight to the U.S. at the current time, that leaves Montgomery and rookie Allison Hightower as the only ballhandling guards for the start of camp. Gladden is also interesting since she is coming off a solid season playing for Energa Torun in Poland. Kotsopoulos is more of a wing player who was a productive scorer at Vermont who may hold the distinction of being the first player in league history to go from interning to the team one year to trying out for the squad the following year.

Lomax was the Ivy League Player of the Year while Love is the only one of the roster camp invitees currently listed on the Connecticut Sun's roster on the WNBA website, not that you can read too much into that. Both were very productive but undersized posts who averaged double-doubles in college. Sowinski is a player I know the Sun coaches and others in WNBA circles kept tabs on.

Many years these invited players are little more than warm bodies which allow coaches to run a training camp but this year the competition should be fierce with those players knowing that there are spots available for them to earn.

I should be able to learn more when I head down to the first day of training camp on Monday in New London. It should be noted that 13 of the 15 players on the training camp roster at the start of camp where not with the team when the 2009 training camp commences as the six invitees are joined by rookies Tina Charles, Kelsey Griffin and Hightower, offseason acquisitions Montgomery, Lawson and DeMya Walker while White was plucked off the waiver wire last year. Asjha Jones and Kerri Gardin are the only holdovers.