UConn, American No Longer a Thing
The Story: It was just a formality, but the Hartford Courant obtained the letter written by UConn formalizing its withdrawal from the American Athletic Conference with the intention of going to the Big East.
DIVORCE COMPLETE: This is the final indication that UConn is headed out of the conference and says it’s leaving July 21, 2022. Hooray for basketball fans! Mike Aresco still sounds like a jilted lover, and we hope his trying to rationalize UConn’s motives stops. UConn left because its fans didn’t like playing in the American. End of story.
WHAT? 2022?! Don’t panic. And no, it wasn’t a typo (we’ll get to that later). The Huskies are obligated to stay in the league for the next two years. The Huskies will also owe $10 million when they leave. UConn can leave early but is likely going to have to pay a bigger buyout to go before that date.
CAN WE GET THE NAMES RIGHT? Here’s a tip in a breakup — get his/her name right. Not only did UConn tell the league it is leaving, but it also misidentified of one of the schools. Take a look at the CC line for UConn’s letter. It was forwarded to the president of the University of Southern Florida. Where? Exactly. The letter had the name of USF wrong — University of South Florida — which is just a typo from UConn’s staff but I am sure is not well-received by the membership. Also, on a side note, that’s a tough mistake to make when you have to negotiate an exit fee and maybe try to keep your football team in the conference.
I do give credit for UConn including Tulane University in the CC. I forgot it was in the league, too.
BOTTOM LINE: UConn is headed to the Big East.
Edsall Stocks Up on Tight Ends
The Story: Who says not having a league is a problem for the football team? It is still getting commitments, pulling in a pair of tight ends in Brendan Heatherman from Stafford, Virginia, and Brandon Niemenski from Mountain Top, Pennsylvania.
WHO IS HEATHERMAN? Heatherman, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, plays at Mountain View High School, but tore an ACL in May that put him on the outs from some major schools. Before his injury, Wake Forest. Virginia Tech and Virginia were recruiting him and he had even gone on a visit to Cincinnati. He held offers from Appalachian State, Army, Charlotte, Penn, William & Mary and Youngstown State. He is likely to miss his senior season as he recovers and it could be two years until he sees the field if he redshirts at UConn.
WHO IS NIEMENSKI? Niemesnki is considered one of the top 100 players in talent-rich Pennsylvania, according to PennLive, and impressed at several camps. Reports suggest he is a big receiving target at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds and had offers from Sacred Heart, Bowling Green, Yale and Albany.
Looking just on size and highlights, Niemenski looks like more of a WR/TE hybrid while Heatherman has the blocking ability of a lineman.
OUR TAKE: I know what you are thinking. Two tight ends added? Did Randy Edsall ask Bob Diaco for advice on where to recruit? Relax. These two players make sense and don’t appear to be the same. Take a look at Heatherman’s highlights. He looks like an offensive guard moving some players. That’s nine commits for the Huskies before August camp and that is well ahead of last year’s pace and a good start considering the uncertain future of the football program.
Morning Read
THE ESPY FOR OUR FAVORITE COACH GOES TO: None other than Jim Calhoun, who received an ESPY Award on Wednesday. The video from the award show makes us want to cry.
ICYMI IN THE COURANT: The Courant has run a nice string of stories on the newcomers and men’s basketball players the last week. Good job, Dom.
- R.J. Cole is a high-major player.
- Akok Akok working on his game.
- Mamadou Diarra finds some peace.
- Isaiah Whaley reads all your nasty tweets.
