HARTFORD, Conn. — He was the last one with the ball, throwing it toward the ceiling of Reliant Stadium, his pogo stick legs bouncing off the floor while teammate Shabazz Napier jumped on his back, the joy of UConn’s championship run written in his smile.
That was the image of Jeremy Lamb in April, and back then at UConn you could talk about the joy of both the present and the future. This always defiant program had done it again; back from the NIT, back from trouble the NCAA, to reach the pinnacle of college basketball. And as 68-year old Jim Calhoun watched that celebration, crouched down on the sidelines, clapping as the final seconds of his third national title melted away, it was an astounding realization.
At that moment, with a core of young stars returning and more on the way, his program had never been stronger.
But that portrait of UConn basketball has turned out to be fleeting, and now they focus on the present only because the future seems so much worse.
Following their latest setback, a humbling 79-64 loss to Marquette on Saturday, Lamb sat in a room underneath the XL Center, his eyes fixated on the floor. He couldn’t make sense of what was happening to his team, his program, barely able to talk between sniffles that sounded like tears.
Ranked No. 4 in the preseason, UConn is 16-10 and in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Devoid of chemistry and leadership, the Huskies struggle to score in the halfcourt and get outhustled on almost a nightly basis. Their overwhelming talent has been betrayed by chronic lack of passion and fragility, a point driven home Saturday when freshman Ryan Boatright’s trash talk earned a technical foul with 15:31 remaining. UConn had been surging to that point, playing its best basketball in weeks, cutting a double-digit lead to four points. Within 30 seconds, though, the deficit was back to nine and UConn appeared to give up.
The struggles have been accentuated by the absence of Calhoun, who took a medical leave of absence on Feb. 3 to deal with a back problem and will miss his sixth straight game tonight at Villanova. And if there was ever any doubt about the dysfunctional state of the team he left behind, it was erased when Napier brought locker room problems public Saturday, blasting his teammates for their lack of toughness and desire.
“I told the guys, ‘I have to question a lot of you guys’ hearts. You’re not giving it your all,’” Napier said. “I make mistakes, but at the same time I learn from my mistakes and make sure I apologize. I’m not perfect. The only reason I’m speaking out is because I’m the captain and at the end of the day I feel as though I’m the only one who wants to speak out. Everybody else wants to get in the locker room and stay quiet like we just died.”
There is no other way to say it. UConn basketball is not a pleasant place to be right now. And yet, there is also the realization this may be as good as it gets for a while. As bad as this season has turned out for UConn, there is simply no conceivable future that is better.
The growing chatter around UConn is that Calhoun, who turns 69 in May, may never coach again. It’s almost impossible to believe that a man so stubborn and so proud would just walk away from this team, this season and especially the $8 million he’s owed through 2014. Yes, even with all the millions he’s already made, that money still matters to the man who once screamed “Not a dime back!” to a reporter asking him to justify why he should be the state’s highest-paid employee.
But Calhoun is as smart as he is stubborn, and he knows what is on the horizon. The NCAA has banned UConn from the 2013 NCAA tournament for its poor Academic Progress Rate, a formula the NCAA uses to replace graduation rates.
Though UConn is going to appeal, a reversal seems highly unlikely after the NCAA rejected the school’s request to exchange the tournament ban for a reduction in regular season games. Barring an unprecedented cave-in from Indianapolis, UConn will suffer the indignity of playing next year without any hope of a postseason.
While current players are careful not to speculate on the future, multiple industry sources expect Lamb to turn pro after this season, as well as 6-foot-11 freshman Andre Drummond, who will be a lottery pick despite producing for UConn at a rate far below his talent level. Though Boatright is far from ready for the NBA, he has pro talent and would have a good chance to get drafted somewhere if he chose to leave.
A number of sources also expect big man Alex Oriakhi, who has seemed disinterested playing behind Drummond, to transfer and play his senior year without having to sit out.
Those potential defections would leave UConn in a dire situation, with little talent on the roster and not much coming in to replace it. UConn’s only current recruit for next year, Omar Calhoun, does not necessarily project to be an instant impact player in the Big East.
And then there’s the greater unknown of what happens if Jim Calhoun steps away. His desire for assistant and former player Kevin Ollie to get the job is well-established. Whether the 39-year old Ollie is ready for a job like UConn is another matter altogether.
Storrs, Conn., is an unlikely place for a basketball power; far unlikelier than Bloomington, Ind. Yet Indiana’s nuclear winter is just now ending in Tom Crean’s fourth season, and no matter whether Calhoun returns this year, next or calls it quits altogether, UConn is almost certainly in for a similar slog back.
And even though the players all know it, UConn still can’t conjure the urgency to get the most out of this season, can’t find consistency from one possession to the next and can’t find the verve that carried them to a title last season.
“We don’t know if [Calhoun’s] coming back or not. It’s definitely a concern. We’ll leave that in God’s hands,” Oriakhi said. “All we can do is win ballgames.”
But time is running out for UConn, and not just on this season. In April, it looked like Calhoun would have the last laugh on everybody, but last laughs only work when you walk out on top. It’s looking more and more like that chance has already passed him by.
That was the image of Jeremy Lamb in April, and back then at UConn you could talk about the joy of both the present and the future. This always defiant program had done it again; back from the NIT, back from trouble the NCAA, to reach the pinnacle of college basketball. And as 68-year old Jim Calhoun watched that celebration, crouched down on the sidelines, clapping as the final seconds of his third national title melted away, it was an astounding realization.
At that moment, with a core of young stars returning and more on the way, his program had never been stronger.
But that portrait of UConn basketball has turned out to be fleeting, and now they focus on the present only because the future seems so much worse.
Following their latest setback, a humbling 79-64 loss to Marquette on Saturday, Lamb sat in a room underneath the XL Center, his eyes fixated on the floor. He couldn’t make sense of what was happening to his team, his program, barely able to talk between sniffles that sounded like tears.
Ranked No. 4 in the preseason, UConn is 16-10 and in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Devoid of chemistry and leadership, the Huskies struggle to score in the halfcourt and get outhustled on almost a nightly basis. Their overwhelming talent has been betrayed by chronic lack of passion and fragility, a point driven home Saturday when freshman Ryan Boatright’s trash talk earned a technical foul with 15:31 remaining. UConn had been surging to that point, playing its best basketball in weeks, cutting a double-digit lead to four points. Within 30 seconds, though, the deficit was back to nine and UConn appeared to give up.
The struggles have been accentuated by the absence of Calhoun, who took a medical leave of absence on Feb. 3 to deal with a back problem and will miss his sixth straight game tonight at Villanova. And if there was ever any doubt about the dysfunctional state of the team he left behind, it was erased when Napier brought locker room problems public Saturday, blasting his teammates for their lack of toughness and desire.
“I told the guys, ‘I have to question a lot of you guys’ hearts. You’re not giving it your all,’” Napier said. “I make mistakes, but at the same time I learn from my mistakes and make sure I apologize. I’m not perfect. The only reason I’m speaking out is because I’m the captain and at the end of the day I feel as though I’m the only one who wants to speak out. Everybody else wants to get in the locker room and stay quiet like we just died.”
There is no other way to say it. UConn basketball is not a pleasant place to be right now. And yet, there is also the realization this may be as good as it gets for a while. As bad as this season has turned out for UConn, there is simply no conceivable future that is better.
The growing chatter around UConn is that Calhoun, who turns 69 in May, may never coach again. It’s almost impossible to believe that a man so stubborn and so proud would just walk away from this team, this season and especially the $8 million he’s owed through 2014. Yes, even with all the millions he’s already made, that money still matters to the man who once screamed “Not a dime back!” to a reporter asking him to justify why he should be the state’s highest-paid employee.
But Calhoun is as smart as he is stubborn, and he knows what is on the horizon. The NCAA has banned UConn from the 2013 NCAA tournament for its poor Academic Progress Rate, a formula the NCAA uses to replace graduation rates.
Though UConn is going to appeal, a reversal seems highly unlikely after the NCAA rejected the school’s request to exchange the tournament ban for a reduction in regular season games. Barring an unprecedented cave-in from Indianapolis, UConn will suffer the indignity of playing next year without any hope of a postseason.
While current players are careful not to speculate on the future, multiple industry sources expect Lamb to turn pro after this season, as well as 6-foot-11 freshman Andre Drummond, who will be a lottery pick despite producing for UConn at a rate far below his talent level. Though Boatright is far from ready for the NBA, he has pro talent and would have a good chance to get drafted somewhere if he chose to leave.
A number of sources also expect big man Alex Oriakhi, who has seemed disinterested playing behind Drummond, to transfer and play his senior year without having to sit out.
Those potential defections would leave UConn in a dire situation, with little talent on the roster and not much coming in to replace it. UConn’s only current recruit for next year, Omar Calhoun, does not necessarily project to be an instant impact player in the Big East.
And then there’s the greater unknown of what happens if Jim Calhoun steps away. His desire for assistant and former player Kevin Ollie to get the job is well-established. Whether the 39-year old Ollie is ready for a job like UConn is another matter altogether.
Storrs, Conn., is an unlikely place for a basketball power; far unlikelier than Bloomington, Ind. Yet Indiana’s nuclear winter is just now ending in Tom Crean’s fourth season, and no matter whether Calhoun returns this year, next or calls it quits altogether, UConn is almost certainly in for a similar slog back.
And even though the players all know it, UConn still can’t conjure the urgency to get the most out of this season, can’t find consistency from one possession to the next and can’t find the verve that carried them to a title last season.
“We don’t know if [Calhoun’s] coming back or not. It’s definitely a concern. We’ll leave that in God’s hands,” Oriakhi said. “All we can do is win ballgames.”
But time is running out for UConn, and not just on this season. In April, it looked like Calhoun would have the last laugh on everybody, but last laughs only work when you walk out on top. It’s looking more and more like that chance has already passed him by.
