One of the benefits of UConn's impressive regular season is a pair of byes in the Big East tournament. The Huskies, who wrapped up an undefeated regular season with a 10-point win at Rutgers on Monday, won't play again until Sunday at 2 p.m. against Cincinnati, Marquette or South Florida in the Big East quarterfinals at the XL Center.

Tomorrow the All-Big East teams as well as the conference's sixth player of the year, defensive player of the year, most improved player and sportsmanship award. The player of the year, coach of the year, freshman of the year and scholar-athlete award will be announced at a press conference between the two sessions on Friday at the XL Center.

All is not quiet elsewhere as the three high school players who have committed to UConn will have some key games coming up this week.

Kelly Faris, a 5-foot-11 senior guard at Heritage Christian in Indianapolis, Ind. will lead the Eagles against Oak Hill in Indiana's Class 2A championship game Saturday at around 12:30 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Faris and Heritage Christian will be going after its fourth straight 2A title.

The only two juniors to orally commit to UConn will also be in quest of championships.

Junior center Stefanie Dolson will lead Minisink Valley in Slate Hill, N.Y. against Monroe-Woodbury Thursday at 6 p.m. in the New York Section 9 Class AA semifinal. With a win, Dolson and Minisink Valley will play either Warwick or Kingston in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. final at either Mount Saint Mary College or SUNY New Paltz.

Samarie Walker, a 6-foot-1 forward at Chaminade Julienne in Dayton, Ohio, will lead her squad against Mason High School in the Ohio Division I District 4 championship game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Harrison High School.

As for the other high school juniors atop UConn's recruiting radar, the seasons for Bria Hartley's North Babylon (N.Y.) High and Michala Johnson of Montini Catholic of Lombard, Ill. came to an end.

Hartley had 18 points but North Babylon, playing without senior and St. John's signee Eugeneia McPherson who was suspended for what was reported as an incident in a school hallway, lost to Copiague 58-49 in Saturday's New York Suffolk County Class AA semifinal. According to Hartley's father, the family is hoping to visit UConn either during the Big East tournament or when the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament are at Gampel Pavilion.

Johnson, who suffered a season-ending knee injjury in the first game of the season, could only watch as Montini Catholic fell to Marshall High out of Chicago 40-37 in the Loyola University Class 3A Supersectional on Monday. Johnson is planning to visit UConn's campus later this month and is expected to be on hand when UConn watches the NCAA tournament selection show on Mar. 16.

Sheronne Vails, a 6-foot-4 forward at Arundel High of Gambrills, Md., will lead her team against South River Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Maryland Class 4A East Regional semifinals. Vails had six points in a 70-22 win over Broadneck in the quarterfinals. Vails was selected as the female athlete of the week by the Baltimore Sun. The story said that Vails is down to Duke, Georgia, Louisville and Connecticut. I received an e-mail from Vails' mother Pearl on Tuesday saying that her daughter had impressive visits to Duke and Georgia but the basketball focus in the next two weeks is solely on Arundel's quest for a state title. Vails, a strong student with a 3.4 grade point average, went into the postseason averaging 12.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 3.7 blocks on an Arundel squad with four players averaging more than 10 points per game.

Here's more of what Pearl Vails had to say in her most recent e-mail to me updating Sheronne's recruiting process.

"Sheronne has not made a decision yet and will probably visit a few other schools before the busy AAU circuit which may include a couple of SEC and Big 10 schools that has gotten her attention. In reference to Uconn, we have not heard much from them as of lately. Right now, Sheronne's focus for the next 2 weeks is to try and win the State championship."

Laguna Hills junior guard Lauren Engeln, the only uncommitted junior known to be holding a scholarship offer from UConn, saw her season end with a loss to Mater Dei in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Class II-A quarterfinals on Feb. 28. Mater Dei, led by highly-touted sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, will play Beverly Hills in Friday's championship game.