A Little Of This, A Little Of That

The school year is winding down at UConn and that means some of the Huskies talk will go quiet as well. Of course, UConn news doesn’t stop during the summer, so while there may not be any one topic that stands out, there are certainly a few things worth discussing – starting with the bad.

 Coombs-McDaniel arrested

 Presumably anyone who is a UConn fan heard by now that Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was arrested last week for possession of marijuana. My first thought, and still current thought, was that it was stupid. Never did I think it was a sign of trouble with the program, and I think that’s an important distinction to make. When Marcus Williams and A.J. Price were arrested in 2005, it showed a sign of complete dysfunction and lawlessness in the program. It was not only stupid, but it reflected very poorly on the program as a whole that players would steal computers, try to pawn them, lie to police, etc.

 Coombs-McDaniel’s alleged transgression reminded me that he’s a college kid who was not thinking clearly. That makes him no different than a large percentage of other college students. If found guilty, does he deserve to be punished? Of course. But thankfully, the news doesn’t appear to have ballooned any more than it should have, which happens all too often when a team is coming off a great moment.

The talk out of Storrs now centers on whether or not Coombs-McDaniel will transfer. If he does, I hope it has nothing to do with this incident. That includes not only that he would be punished by being dismissed by the university (unlikely), but that Calhoun would use the transgression as a chance to quietly usher him out the door. If Coombs-McDaniel transfers, hopefully it is his own decision. Way too often players (at all schools) “decide” to transfer when they would rather not.

 Another set of pro players

The 2011 NFL Draft is this weekend and while there is no Donald Brown or Darius Butler in this class, it still is another solid group of players.

One of the signs of a good college program isn’t that they turn out professional players, it is that they consistently turn out college players. East Carolina isn’t known as a great producer of talent because maybe the best running back in the NFL – Chris Johnson – came from that program. But who are the other products?

Honestly, UConn hasn’t had a very productive NFL player yet. Brown has been disappointing, and Butler, William Beatty, Dan Orlovsky and others have been also. But guess what, not all the players that come out of LSU or Florida or USC are successful either. It is about the volume of players they put in the NFL. The more that go to the next level, the greater chance of producing stars – which then, in turn, improve the university’s program.

This year, players like Jordan Todman, Anthony Sherman and Lawrence Wilson enter the draft relatively untouted. UConn had no first round picks. That’s fine. Let a chunk of players enter the league every year and the rest will take care of itself.

Those gritty, gutty resurgent Huskies

If you were excited by the hype surrounding the UConn baseball team (fueled by people like me), you probably were disappointed a few weeks in and – god forbid – tuned out the news that followed. After starting a disappointing 8-9 before playing their first home game, they’ve gone 21-2-1. That includes a 13-2 record in the Big East. They have a two-game lead over Pittsburgh for first in the conference. They play a three-game set with Rutgers this weekend and then have nine more conference games.

George Springer, who was a potential No. 1 overall pick in this year’s MLB draft also started slowly. Look at his statistics now, and he’s hitting .380 with eight home runs, 20 doubles and 20 steals. His draft stock is slowly rising back up as well. His fellow probably first round pick (ESPN’s Keith Law says between picks 11-20), Matt Barnes never slumped. The ace has thrown 78 innings to the tune of a 0.92 ERA and 0.73 WHIP. Those numbers aren’t good. They’re absurd.

Go and check out a game in Storrs if you get the chance, because Springer and Barnes are literally the best players in program history. In three years, there’s a good chance one or both will be ready to challenge Charles Nagy for the best MLB player in UConn history.