ESPN is reporting that former UConn offensive lineman Donald Thomas, who was expected to start at left guard, will need surgery to repair a torn quad and he is expected to be sidelined for the entire 2014 season. The Colts made it official when Thomas was placed on injured reserve.

Thomas suffered the same injury in the second game of the 2013 season and missed the rest of the season. He was injured during Wednesday's practice and reports said that Thomas was understandably emotional as he left the practice field.

As for this year's UConn team, the official point spreads for the opening week games were posted on Phil Steele's blog and UConn is a 17-point underdog to BYU. Only five other visiting teams are favored by more points than the Cougars as Alabama (a 27-point favorite at West Virginia), Marshall (plus 24 at Miami of Ohio), UCLA (plus 23.5 at Virginia) top the list while Florida State and Ohio State are 17.5-point favorites at Oklahoma State and Navy respectively.

According to his Twitter account, defensive back Justice Pettus-Dixon out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore has committed to UConn.

NextLevel_chief @JusticePD_3

Proud to say that i am officially committed to the university of Connecticut #GoHuskiesskies

The 247sports.com recruiting database lists offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Marshall and North Carolina State for Pettus-Dixon.

I haven't seen any stats from his junior season but here is a video of Pettus-Dixon recording a sack from the St. Frances Academy team site. He attended U.S. Army National Combine in January and was named to the first team all-star squad on defense.

It wasn't all good news coming out of Maryland as Nevonne McCrimmon, a running back out of Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore, tweeted a few minutes ago that he committed to Toledo over UConn.

When it came time for Bob Diaco to figure out which of his players would be accompanying him to Newport, R.I. for the American Athletic Conference media day, it didn't take him very long to pick senior receiver Geremy Davis and cornerback Byron Jones.

Diaco said it wasn't even their football exploits - as impressive as they are. Instead, it was their work as true student-athletes and positive role models that resulted in them joining Diaco as members of UConn's travel party.

Let's start with the football. Diaco did not hold back in raving about the two players who could very well be playing on Sundays a year from now.
"Geremy has an incredible catch radius, he is very physical. he can not only get open based on short space but he get open with body control and strength," Diaco said. "Those guys usually do well in games at college but also at the next level when they get a chance. He may not line up and run the very fastest time but he doesn't use that for separation and the ability to get open so he has some unique traits. He reminds me of Michael Floyd, a guy we were around (at Notre Dame), (Larry) Fitzgerald at Pitt, I am not saying he is at that level yet but that (frame) where he is hard to cover, he wins a lot of individual matchups because he is more physical than the defensive backs who are going to try to defend him and he is faster and quicker than the linebackers who try to cover him and he has great, great hands. If it is in his catch radius, it is a lock."

I followed up by mentioning that Davis said that during practices he would seek out Jones so he could test himself against the best.

"It is great because they are competing against each other constantly," Diaco said. "Byron, in terms of size, speed, athleticism you could put his numbers up against anybody in the country and anybody in the country who has achieved over the last 10 years. He is big, real fast, crazy explosive, excellent change of direction, he can bend and twist, these are all things you are going to see."

As I mentioned in the story which ran in today's paper, Davis and Jones have chosen to become roommates. As Diaco pointed out, they also happen to be two of the best students on the UConn football team. Davis has already graduated and is currently closing in on a second degree while Jones is a decorated student-athlete.

Going through graduation ceremonies was a very special moment for Davis.

"We are student-athletes, students first," Davis said. "I would feel like I let them down if I came here (and didn't graduate), I wanted them to see me get my degree. My mom, grandma, my girlfriend and (fellow receiver) John Green came to see me graduate and they saw me walk across that (stage) to get my degree."

A source with ties to the NFL told me recently that Davis and Jones are the only seniors considered to be draftable players. Of course players like Alex Mateas, Angelo Pruitt, B.J. McBryde could play their way onto the radar of NFL teams with strong senior seasons.

It is not something that Davis or Jones is fretting about these days.

"I haven't really thought about it," Davis said. "I don't want to be that guy who says 'I am going to this place.' I love these guys and I want to grow with them."

One thing I didn't get into the story that I wrote yesterday is that redshirt freshman receiver Thomas Lucas drew plenty of praise from Davis. Unfortunately, sometimes when I shift from my tape recorder application on my phone to shooting video, my tape recorder will shut off and that is what happened when Davis spoke about Lucas but Davis said that Lucas, who started preseason camp during his true freshman season as a defensive back, has incredible hands and big-play ability. Lucas, tailback Josh Marriner and tight ends Tommy Myers and Quinn Thompson are the redshirt freshmen who I think could add some big-play ability to the UConn offense this season. Unfortunately I am anticipating getting to see too much of the preseason practices but hopefully I will be able to see those players in action in the media access portion of the practices we will be able to witness.

Finally, I wrote a story on Stratford's Tyler Matakevich, a junior linebacker at Temple for today's paper. At media day I asked him if UConn freshman Steve Hashemi was at St. Joseph High School when Matakevich was and it turns out that he was. Matakevich said he has been in touch with Hashemi, offering any support he can.

"I have known him and his family for a while," Matakevich said. "I think staying in state and playing at UConn, I think that's awesome  I talk to him all the time and he calls me when he is struggling and I wish the best of luck to him."

UConn football coach Bob Diaco has garnered a reputation for boundless enthusiasm and straight-shooting bluntness in his short time here in Connecticut.

He displayed plenty of both during Tuesday's American Athletic Conference football media day. He was never more to the point about the prospects in the upcoming season than when asked about the state of an offensive line which lost four seniors off a unit that has struggled mightily in the last couple of seasons.

"There are not a whole lot of dudes there that are going to be able to play competitive, winning football for 12 games this season so they are getting better," Diaco said. "I would say that is one position where I can't wait to see in their pads and see the growth that has been made over the last eight months physically and mentally and also see the interaction and how the newcomers fit into that role."

The line figures to get a boost from the return of senior guard Gus Cruz.

Cruz started the final four games of the 2012 season and first five contests last year at right guard before he was shut down due to a cardiac issue which left his football career very much in limbo.

Diaco said that Cruz has been cleared and he is expected to be on the field when UConn holds its first preseason practice on Saturday.

"My understanding , almost every single player is going to be a full go on day one," Diaco said. "We'll take anybody 6-3 plus, 300 pounds who can run well and bend and twist, absolutely."

Cruz, always considered to be popular with his teammates, only improved his place on the team and in the locker room with the way he dealt with his medical scare.

"Gus is probably one of the funniest guys I know," UConn senior receiver Geremy Davis said. "In spite of having that issue, you can still see that faith that he believes in. He was still joking around, laughing and showing everything he can in the weight room and in the training room. Thank God he gets to play his senior year. You never know who is going to play and to get that opportunity to play again, I am happy for him and I hope he takes advantage of it and becomes that leader that all of us know he can be.

"Gus is very vocal and the words that he uses and the offensive line, he would help them grow. I remember when we were redshirting as freshmen and we were having that slump at the end of the season he was the one who spoke up and his words really touched everybody and that was when we won five in a row.

Cruz enters preseason camp as the co-No. 1 guy at right guard on UConn's depth chart.

If you want to engage UConn football coach Bob Diaco in a lengthy discussion about his team I would suggest just mentioning the name Josh Marriner.

There may not  be a player who has seen his stock rise more since the end of the 2013 season than the redshirt freshman from Chesapeake, Virginia.

With some high-profile freshmen including two-time New Haven Register State Football Most Valuable Player Arkeel Newsome and the return of Lyle McCombs, Max DeLorenzo and the potential of Joe Williams being thrown in the mix,Marriner's name was rarely mentioned when discussions of UConn tailbacks were starting up.

Well, McCombs (UConn's leading rusher in each of the last three seasons) and Williams are no longer a part of the program and Marriner's star is most certainly on the rise.

In UConn's preseason depth chart he is listed as a co-No. 1 guy at tailback along with DeLorenzo.

Diaco could not say enough good things about the 5-foot-9, 193-pound Marriner.

"Josh is pound for pound the strongest player on our team," Diaco said at Tuesday's American Athletic Conference football media day. "This guy is fast, he is strong, he is powerful. he is a tackle breaker with leg drive, he can push through tacklers and he can also make you miss, he's got some gas to otherwise extend runs that are needed. He is such a fantastic young guy, I can't say enough good things about him,selfless, a great teammate, works hard, one of the hardest workers on the team. He has been so fun to coach."

A couple other quick items from media day.

Diaco said he figures to play with a 4-3 defense about half the time and will be in a 3-4 the rest of the time. He also said he expects every player to be medically cleared to take part in the first practice on Saturday. That includes guard Gus Cruz, who started the first five games of the season before being shut down with a cardiac issue. Also, Diaco would not reveal when the team captains would be named but he said they will not be appointed by him but chosen after a vote by the members of the team.

There will be plenty more from the day's festivities to come.

UConn posted a depth chart in its preseason prospectus being handed out at American Athletic Conference media day. Not a ton of surprises and plenty of co-starters being listed. Actually, all Casey Cochran, Chandler Whitmer and Tim Boyle all named as starters at quarterback.

On the offensive line Richard Levy is the No. 1 left tackle, Zach Rugg and Gus Cruz are the co-starters at LG, Alex Mateas and Tyler Samra are the starters at center and right guard while Andreas Knappe and Dalton Gifford are co-starters at right tackle.

There are no surprises at the offensive skill positions as Max DeLorenzo (tailback), Jazz Clax (fullback), Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx (receiver) and Sean McQuillan (tight end) are the starters although redshirt freshman Josh Marriner is the Co-No. 1 guy at tailback.

What's interesting is that on defense they list starters in a 4-3 formation even though the Huskies are expected to play a 3-4.

No real surprises here as Angelo Pruitt and Reuben Frank are the defensive ends, B.J. McBryde and Julian Campenni are at defensive tackle and nose guard while Graham Stewart, Marquise Vann and Jefferson Ashiru are the linebackers. The secondary features starting corners Byron Jones and Jhavon Williams with returning starters Obi Melifonwu and Andrew Adams the No. 1 guys at safety.

Freshmen Thomas Hopkins (left offensive tackle), Tommy Myers (tight end), Josh Marriner (tailback), Thomas Lucas (receiver), Foley Fatukasi (defensive tackle), Cole Ormsby (defensive end), Cameron Stapleton (linebacker) and Jamar Summers (cornerback and only true freshman on two-deep chart).

Marriner is listed as one of the two kickoff returners along with Foxx. Foxx, Dhameer Bradley and Nick Vitale are in in the mix as punt returners while Justin Wain and Bobby Puyol are the starters at punter and kicker.

The Bob Diaco era at UConn is going to begin with less than lofty expectations

UConn was picked to finish in a tie for ninth in the 11-team American Athletic Conference in a vote of media members.

Cincinnati, whivh received 17 of the 35 first-place votes, was picked to win the title followed by defending champion Central Florida and Houston. East Carolina came in at No. 4, the highest of the new additions to the league.

UConn is coming off a 3-9 season but ended the year with three straight wins including victories over Temple and Memphis, teams picked to finish ahead of the Huskies.

The Huskies return five players on offense who started at least six games last season  in receivers Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx, center Alex Mateas, tight end Sean McQuillan and tackle Dalton Gifford.

On defense the Huskies lose its top two players as linebacker Yawin Smallwood and defensive tackle Shamar Stephen are now vying for spots with the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings respectively. Defensive linemen Angelo Pruitt and Julian Campenni, linebackers Marquise Vann, Graham Stewart and Jefferson Ashiru, cornerbacks Byron Jones and Jhavon Williams and safeties Obi Melifonwu and Andrew Adams are the experienced returnees on defense.

2014 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
1. Cincinnati (17 first-place votes)   311
2. Central Florida (7)                      298
3. Houston (8)                               286
4. East Carolina                              262
5. SMU                                          158
6. South Florida                              157
7. Memphis                                    133
8. Temple                                       105
9. UConn and Tulane                       98
11. Tulsa                                         94

It has been quite the eventful offseason in terms of player departures at UConn with top rusher Lyle McCombs, dynamic receiver Shakim Phillips and opening game starting offensive tackle Xavier Hemingway among those no longer part of the UConn program.

However, taking a quick look through the recently posted 2014 roster, it looks as if everybody expected back is on the roster with the exception of reserve defensive lineman Brendan Battles-Santos.

The best news is that every player who signed with UConn in February is also on the roster although it was a little surprising to see Steve Hashemi listed as a tight end and not as an offensive lineman. There have also been some number changes, mostly involving the young wide receivers as Noel Thomas is now No. 5, Thomas Lucas is No. 8, Brian Lemelle will wear No. 18 and Blake Feagles is No. 82.

There's also plenty of new walk-ons on the roster including Tim Adanti, a tight end out of Derby, former Bunnell defensive back Joseph Bivona, Dan Carbonaro, an offensive lineman from Oxford, former Barlow linebacker Alex Gallaer, Nyrell Moore, who is a cornerback out of West Haven High, former RHAM quarterback Will Rishell, receiver James Sullivan (who played at Xavier) and a pair of Shelton High products - running back Jason Thompson and linebacker Kyle Zielinski. There are also a pair of new kickers on the roster as Chase Briley out of Capital Prep and Rocky Hill's Andrew Paluch, who booted a 42-yard field goal during the Moe's "Clutch Kick" promo at Rentschler in November.

As for the departures, here is a list of the players with remaining eligibility who were on the team roster for the 2013 finale against Memphis (including walk-ons).
Brendan Battles-Santos, DL
Ty-Meer Brown, DB\
Rick Harrison, K/P
Xavier Hemingway, OT
Lyle McCombs, RB
Scott McCummings, QB/WR
E.J. Norris, TE
Shakim Phillips WR
Liam Sallquist, TE
Donald Slater, LB
Kivon Taylor QB
Zach Taylor, LB
Joe Williams, RB

Players report to camp on Aug. 1 with the first practice being held the following day.

Former UConn stars Yawin Smallwood and Shamar Stephen trying
 to make it onto the active rosters of Atlanta and Minnesota

With NFL training camps upon us I thought it would be a good time to take a look at where the 22 former UConn products stand in their quest to be on the active rosters. In the for what it is worth department, ESPN had each of its NFL team bloggers predict the opening game rosters and of the 21 former Huskies on rosters at that point (Lawrence Wilson had yet to signed by St. Louis) 16 of them made the cut. For those wondering, Kashif Moore, Yawin Smallwood, Shamar Stephen, Nick Williams and Trevardo Williams were the players who did not make the projected rosters of their respective teams.

Will Beatty is back on field for the New York Giants

Will Beatty, OT New York Giants: Was cleared to practice earlier this week as he has returned sooner than expected from broken leg suffered in 2013 regular-season finale.
Tyvon Branch, S Oakland : Another former Husky looking to rebound after seeing 2013 season ended due to broken leg
Donald Brown, RB San Diego: Although he is in a crowded backfield, expectations are high for the former first-round pick in his first season with the Chargers
Darius Butler, DB Indianapolis: Has found a home with the Colts, his third NFL team. Posted a career-high 54 tackles and four interceptions last season.
Marcus Easley, WR Buffalo: Had his first two career regular-season catches last year but it was his work as the Bills' leader in special-teams tackle that has him in position to return for a fourth season
Dwayne Gratz, CB Jacksonville: Expectations are extremely high for the second-year cornerback who had 32 tackles and two interceptions in 10 games as a rookie
Ryan Griffin, TE Houston With Owen Daniels now with the Ravens, opportunity could be knocking for Griffin who had 14 catches in final three games of 2013 season.
Danny Lansanah, LB Tampa Bay: His appearance in 2013 regular-season finale against New Orleans was his first since 2008. He will likely need to contribute on special teams to make the team this season.
Robert McClain, DB Atlanta: One of the true success stories, McClain has 126 tackles and has 15 pass breakups over the last two seasons and he's found a home in Atlanta.
Kashif Moore, WR Pittsburgh: Moore faces an uphill climb to make the team after the Steelers signed Lance Moore and Darius Heyward-Bey and drafted Martavis Bryant.
Sio Moore, LB Oakland: After registering 50 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a rookie, Moore moves to the weakside outside linebacking spot and is being pushed by Miles Burris for the starting spot.

Dan Orlovsky, QB Detroit: After playing in three games over the last two seasons in Tampa Bay, he was signed to be Matt Stafford's backup in Detroit. He'll likely have to beat out Kellen Moore, who has been with the Lions for two seasons without appearing in a game, to be the No. 2 QB.
Kendall Reyes, DL San Diego: Reyes, heading into his third season, was second on the Chargers with five sacks last season.
Anthony Sherman, FB Kansas City: For the second year in a row Sherman will be asked to lead the way for Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles.
Yawin Smallwood, LB Atlanta: Like most seventh-round picks, it will not be easy for Smallwood to land on the opening day roster especially after the Falcons signed Tim Dobbins and Pat Angerer to help fill the void left by the injured Sean Weatherspoon.
Shamar Stephen, DT Minnesota: There has been nothing but positive reviews for Stephen, also taken in the seventh round in this year's draft. As is the case with Smallwood, Stephen is going to have to impress during training camp to put himself in position to make the squad.
Donald Thomas, OG Indianapolis: Thomas suffered a season-ending torn quad in the second game of the 2013 season but he was recently cleared to practice.
Jordan Todman, RB Jacksonville: With Maurice Jones-Drew now in Oakland Todman will be pushing Toby Gerhart for carries for the Jaguars.
Nick Williams, WR Washington: Williams made the Redskins as an undrafted rookie free agent but with Washington signing Desean Jackson and Andre Roberts and drafting Ryan Grant, he has his work cut out for him.
Trevardo Williams, LB Houston: The fourth-round pick in last year's draft hasn't had the chance to show what he can do. He spent his rookie season on injured reserve and is currently on the physically unable to perform list due to the knee injury. The fact that he wasn't cut seems to be an indication that new coach Bill O'Brien is willing to wait to see what Williams is capable of.
Lawrence Wilson, LB St. Louis: Signed earlier this week by the Rams, the much traveled Wilson will need to open eyes during training camp. Wilson has been with Carolina, Tennessee, New Orleans and Chicago but has yet to appear in a regular season game although he has recorded 21 tackles in 11 career preseason games.
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, CB Tennessee: With Alterraun Verner headed off to Tampa Bay Wreh-Wilson is competing for a starting cornerback spot in his second season.

There have been plenty of questions concerning former UConn offensive lineman Will Beatty's timetable for a return to the football field following the horrific injury he suffered in the 2013 season finale for the New York Giants.

Well, the speculation came to an end yesterday as Beatty took part in drills, on a limited basis.

Beatty was cleared to practice on Monday which was a major landmark in his return from a fractured tibia he suffered in the third quarter in the December game against the Washington Redskins.

Beatty started all 16 games for the first time in his career but had a disappointing season. The return to football drills is the first step for Beatty, a second-round pick by the New York Giants in the 2009 NFL Draft, as he looks to return to the form that earned him a five-year contract worth nearly $40 million.

Senior cornerback Byron Jones is one of two UConn players expected to be
in attendance at next week's American Athletic Conference media day

After taking the last two weeks off, I figured I would attempt to recap what I missed.

Let's start with the hiring of Darrell Perkins at Old Dominion.

Perkins spent the last four seasons at UConn coaching the safeties last season after spending the previous three seasons coaching all the defensive backs.Perkins will coach the cornerbacks at Old Dominion while former UConn assistant Kermit Buggs will coach the safeties. Also, former graduate assistant Jordan Orlovsky has been named as a grad assistant at Old Dominion.

It looks like every coach from last year's team except offensive coordinator T.J. Weist, the interim coach for the final eight games has found a landing spot.

Paul Pasqualoni: Defensive Line coach Chicago Bears
George DeLeone: Assistant Offensive Line coach Cleveland Browns
Shane Day: Assistant Offensive Line coach/offensive quality control Washington Redskins
Mike Foley: Offensive Line coach UConn
Hank Hughes: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers coach Cincinnati
Kermit Buggs: Safeties coach Old Dominion
Shane Fogarty: Offensive Coordinator Colby
Darrell Perkins: Cornerbacks coach Old Dominion
Jonathan Wholley: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers coach Fordham

Also, former UConn grad assistant Michael Digman has been hired as the quarterbacks coach at Central Connecticut and Doug Shearer is a grad assistant at North Carolina State.

LEE COMMITS TO UCONN
UConn received a commitment from Chris Lee, a tight end out of Severna Park. The 6-foot-7 Lee is also a member of the basketball team which reached the Maryland 4A quarterfinals. Lee's best game as a junior might have come against South River when he had four catches for 50 yards including a 15-yard touchdown. He finished with 18 catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns. His 14.5 yard per catch average was second on the 5-5 Severna Park team among players with at least 10 receptions. He also averaged 8.8 points per game for the basketball team.

DAVIS, JONES HEADING TO AAC MEDIA DAY
The American Athletic Conference recently released the list of players expected to take part in next week's AAC media day and receiver Geremy Davis and cornerback Byron Jones were the UConn players on the list. Media day is set for July 29 and will be held in Newport, R.I.

BROWN, PHILLIPS ON BC ROSTER
Boston College posted its 2014 roster and as expected some familiar names are on the list as former UConn safety Ty-Meer Brown and receiver Shakim Phillips will play for the Eagles. Brown will wear No. 5 and Phillips No. 11. Former Norwich Free Academy star Marcus Outlow, a freshman running back, was given No. 7.

DELAHUNT CONTINUES TO DELIVER; MILESTONE FOR TAYLOR
Former UConn tight end John Delahunt had a 23-yard catch leading to a field goal as the expansion Ottawa Redblacks won their first Canadian Football League game on Friday.

Ottawa, playing its first home game in franchise history, defeated Toronto 18-17 on Friday. Delahunt, who plays fullback, has four catches for 55 yards in three games this season.

Larry Taylor's 145 kickoff return yards was one of the few bright spots in Montreal's 41-5 loss to the BC Lions on Saturday. Taylor went over the 5,000 yard mark in career kickoff returns. He is fourth on the CFL career list with 236 career kickoff returns and needs 283 yards to move into the No.. 5 spot in career kickoff return yards.

UConn sophomore quarterback Casey Cochran is a candidate for the Allstate Good Works team.

Cochran, who quarterbacked UConn to a three-game winning streak to end the 2013 season, is recognized for representing the football team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, volunteering as a coach in the Monroe Lions Youth Football program and regularly visiting local elementary schools as part of the Goal Line Project. Cochran has also been recognized for his work in the classroom.

The former Masuk High star also worked as a counselor at the camp during the 19th annual Manning Passing Academy run by the family of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning.

UConn senior receiver Geremy Davis was named to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award which is presented annually to the nation's top receiver.

As a junior Davis had a team-leading 71 catches including a program single-game record 15 in the regular-season finale against Memphis. He had four 100-yard games and finished with 1,085 receiving yards during the 2013 season which is the sixth highest total in UConn history and most since the Huskies began playing at the FBS level in 2002.

Davis has led UConn in receptions in each of the last two seasons and if he accomplishes the feat again as a senior, he will join Mark Didio as the only Huskies to lead UConn in catches for three seasons in a row. His 1,771 career receiving yards is the most at UConn during the FBS era and ranks ninth all time.

Davis was also named to the College Football Performance Awards WR watch list.

When Lyle McCombs, the fourth all-time leading rusher in UConn history, was dismissed from the program one of the options suggested for McCombs was having him enter the NFL Supplemental Draft.

Well, that draft will be held later today and McCombs is not one of the four available players.

McCombs would have been a long shot to be taken even if he had entered his name in the NFL Supplemental Draft. Perhaps had receiver Shakim Phillips opted to go down that road rather than playing his final season at Boston College, he would be been a more likely option to be taken in the NFL Supplemental Draft.

None of the six available players were taken in last year's draft.

ANOTHER MEET AND GREET WITH DIACO
UConn announced that football coach Bon Diaco will take part in an event at Rentschler Field on July 29 titled “An Evening With Head Football Coach Bob Diaco.” The event is being run by the Greater Hartford Chapter of the UConn Alumni Association.

The 12th annual event begins at 4:45 p.m. when fans can take to the playing field and have a football toss and get their pictures taken. A buffet dinner will then be served in the Club Level at Rentschler Field with a cash bar and silent auction. Diaco will then address the group, including a question and answer period.Tickets are priced at $45 for dues paying members of the UConn Alumni Association and $55 for the non-dues paying attendees.For additional information or to register, visit www.uconnalumni.com or contact the UConn Alumni Association toll-free at 888-822-5861.

MATAKEVICH ON NAGURSKI AWARD WATCH LIST
Temple rising junior linebacker Tyler Matakevich from Stratford is one of four American Athletic Conference players named to the Bronko Nagurski Award watch list.

Other AAC players named to the list for the award, presented annually to the nation's best defensive player, were Tulane defensive back Lorenzo Doss, Memphis defensive end Martin Ifedi and Houston linebacker Derrick Mathews.

UConn senior center Alex Mateas, who along with Geremy Davis is the only returning offensive player to start all 12 games during the 2013 season, was one of 66 centers named to the watch list for the Rimington Trophy.

Mateas had played in 20 games at UConn over the last two seasons after transferring from Penn State, starting 17 times and he is one of the few experienced players on an offensive line which lost four starters to graduation.

He has drawn praise from new UConn coach Bob Diaco for being one of the best leaders among the returning Huskies and it would be a surprise to nobody if he were to be named as one of UConn's team captains.

The list of candidates looks very much like the one put out a few months ago as the committee went from having 64 candidates on the spring watch list to 66 on the most current roll call.

William Richardson, a defensive end out of Ballou High in Washington, D.C., announced on his Twitter account last night that he has committed to UConn.

William Richardson @Will_GoGetIt
I am Commited to The University of Connecticut  #GoHukies #GameChangers #BBB  

Richardson was a starter at tight end and linebacker during the 2013 season at Ballou. Richardson becomes the 12th player to commit to UConn.

Considering that UConn received its first four commitments when I took my first week of vacation and I am currently off this week as well, I can only surmise that many more commitments will be coming UConn's way this week.

Former UConn tight end John Delahunt had a pair of catches and a special-teams tackle but it wasn't enough to enable the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks to win its first Canadian Football League game.

Delahunt had a 15-yard reception on Ottawa's third scoring drive of the first quarter and added an 11-yard catch on the opening possession of the fourth quarter. That drive ended with a field goal to put the RedBlacks up 28-20 but Winnipeg scored the game's final 16 points to came away with the 36-28 victory.

The other two former UConn products in the CFL will be in action today when Montreal faces the BC Lions. In Montreal's season-opening 29-8 loss to Calgary Larry Taylor returned two kickoffs for 25 yards and added 15 yards on three punt returns while Martin Bedard saw action as a long snapper in the game.

TV TIME FOR FORMER HUSKIES

For anybody who wants to see some UConn products in action, Monday's 8 p.m. Arena Football League game between Philadelphia and Orlando will air live on ESPN2.

Philadelphia's defense features three former UConn players led by rookie sensation Teddy Jennings, a defensive end who leads the Soul with eight quarterback sacks despite missing three of the team's 15 games. Jerome Williams has played in six games and had 12 tackles as well as 1/2 of a sack. Recent acquisition Julius Williams is also a member of the squad. Jennings wears No. 98, Jerome Williams is No. 90 and Julius Williams No. 97.

FORMER NOTRE DAME SIGNEE SYKES HEADED TO INDIANA
When I was reported that Nile Sykes, a linebacker out of Montini Catholic in Lombard, Ill., was planning to leave Notre Dame it definitely caught my eye since he was recruited to Notre Dame by current UConn coach Bob Diaco.

However, it looks like Sykes was focused on heading to Indiana after spending just a couple of weeks on the Notre Dame campus. Indiana officially announced that Sykes was heading there and would be eligible to play immediately.

OK everybody take a deep breath. I know I am going into my third season of covering UConn so I may not have the same historical perspective as others but I can't imagine there was ever a month of June with more activity in program history than the one that just came to an end.

The dismissal of Lyle McCombs, the fourth all-time leading rusher in program history, would have to be the top headline move of the month. Promising redshirt freshman quarterback Kivon Taylor is also gone.

Then there are the additions as UConn as the Huskies received 11 commitments from rising high school seniors in a 20 span. Kevin Murphy, a defensive lineman from West Chester, Pennsylvania got it going on June 9 with John Robinson, a defensive back from Englewood, New Jersey capping the flood of pledges to UConn. Finally came the news yesterday that former North Carolina State quarterback Bryant Shirreffs is transferring to UConn.

In an attempt to try to put all of this into perspective, I went through the rivals.com recruiting database to see the last time UConn had this many commitments heading into the month of June. I was only able to go back to 2004 and it is not only the highest total but no other year was even that close. Back in 2012 there were seven commitments by the end of June and in 2009 there were six. It should be noted that these numbers could be off a little bit as players who committed to UConn early and signed with other teams would not show up in the database (that was the case in the Class of 2014 as Logan Marchi and Justin Noye are not listed but both were committed before July 1). 

What's interesting about the 2009 and 2012 classes is how much different it turned out as Tyler Bullock was the only pre-July commitment to have a significant role on UConn last season although Mike Osiecki likely would have been on the field had his career not been cut short due to concussions. The other early commitments were Marcus Aiken, Malik Generett, Leon Kinnard and Chris Lopes. The news is more promising in the high school Class of 2012 as early commits Obi Melifonwu, Tyler Samra, Jon Hicks, Ellis Marder and Mikal Myers all figure into the plans for the upcoming season.

Just for the sake of satisfying my own curiosity I wanted to see when UConn's current NFL contingent committed to play for the Huskies. I included Teddy Jennings and Julius Williams, both currently with the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul as well as current Canadian Football Leaguers John Delahunt, Larry Taylor and Martin Bedard in this research.

Now take this numbers with a grain of salt since the recruiting timeline under Bob Diaco is much different than it was under either Randy Edsall or Paul Pasqualoni but here are the results.

Eight December commits got to taste life as a pro player. July is next with five players while four January and February commits made it to the next level.

Some of the prominent professional players from each month are:

July: Dwayne Gratz, Sio Moore, Yawin Smallwood, Shamar Stephen

October: Tyvon Branch

November; Kendall Reyes

December: Donald Brown, Ryan Griffin, Scott Lutrus, Jordan Todman, Blidi Wreh-Wilson

January: Robert McClain, Nick Williams

February: Darius Butler, Greg Lloyd, Trevardo Williams (his initial commitment out of high school)