Releasing the hounds

It has been 214 days since the men's basketball team lost to Michigan State in the 2009 Final Four.

In that time, UConn graduated three seniors, in addition to Hasheem Thabeet's decision to leave one year early for the NBA draft. Thabeet and A.J. Price were taken with the No. 2 and 52 picks in the draft by the Memphis Grizzlies and the Indiana Pacers, respectively.

In June, coach Jim Calhoun was hospitalized after he collapsed following a 50-mile charity bicycle ride during which he fell and broke five ribs.

It's been a busy off-season for the men in Storrs.

Tonight, the past 214 days become history, as the pre-season No. 14 Huskies open up the 2009-2010 season at the XL Center in Hartford with an exhibition game against American International College at 7 p.m.

"Everybody on the team can run, everyone on the team can jump, everybody can shoot," said UConn forward Ater Majok. "It's going to be a fun year."

Last season, UConn also opened up their exhibition play against AIC. Thabeet led the Huskies with 21 points as they beat the Yellow Jackets 83-58 at Gampel Pavilion.

This year, the Huskies will start play without the 6-foot-11 Majok after the NCAA clearinghouse declared him ineligible until the conclusion of the 2009 fall semester.

Until Majok can play, the frontcourt duties will be left to senior Gavin Edwards, senior Jonathan Mandeldove, junior Charles Okwandu, and freshman Alex Oriakhi.

But against the Yellow Jackets, the Huskies lack of size will be trumped by AIC's own lack of size. On the team roster, there are no Yellow Jackets listed at center, nor are there any players taller than 6-foot-6.

With the departures of Price, Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie, Calhoun and the Huskies have added four freshmen to this year's squad.

Oriakhi, a 6-foot-9 forward/center combo McDonald's All-American from New Hampshire, adds another post threat to Calhoun's offense. Joining Oriakhi is his high school teammate is 6-foot-7 forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel.

At the guard-spot, 6-foot-1 Darius Smith and 6-foot-5 Jamaal Trice will hope to supplement the already strong backcourt combination of Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker. As a senior at John Marshall High School in Chicago, Smith averaged 23 points seven rebounds and seven steals per game.

With a lot of holes to fill, the freshmen will play a vital part in determining the Huskies' success this season.

"I think we have more kids that can do things with the basketball," Calhoun said. "I have no idea how that translates. To have a better record would be really a stretch, but to have a really good record, and be really good by February would not be a stretch. We could be really, really good when it's all said and done."

Two weeks ago, the Huskies were selected third in the Big East pre-season poll. UConn was one of three teams to receive any first-place votes.

Villanova was selected to win the Big East regular season championship, with West Virginia taking second.

"The greatest thing about our league this year is that we have two teams in Villanova and West Virginia who have really separated themselves because they have a lot of experience," Calhoun said. "After that, if you told me who No. 3 was or No. 12, I would tell you, 'I don't know how you did that because quite frankly it just seems to be stacked into the fact that our league has so much depth.'"

Dyson and Walker were named to the All-Big East preseason team while Stanley Robinson was named All-Big East Honorable Mention.

Dyson missed the final 12 games of the season last year, after undergoing surgery to correct a torn meniscus. Over the summer, Dyson was named MVP of the Greater Hartford Pro-Am Summer Basketball League after averaging 42 points per game as a player for Next Level Training.