Remembering the 2008-09 UConn Huskies

The 2008-09 UConn Huskies team will go down as a team that was loaded with talent and drive to succeed, but in the end came up short. This team persevered time and time again. Through thick and thin, this Huskies team season ended with a tough loss to Michigan State in the national semi-finals. It makes you wonder, when will this team be back playing for a national title?

The Huskies made it known early on in the season that anything short of a final four appearance would be a disappointment. Jeff Adrien made that clear and he is applauded on the hard work and dedication he gave to the University of Connecticut over the last four years. He will be one of the toughest players to replace. How many players go out there every night and give it their all for an entire 40 minutes? Nobody has done it like Jeff Adrien went out and did it for the Huskies.

The senior leadership of AJ Price and Craig Austrie is what drove this team to success. Austrie played tough defense and could knock down the three when needed. He came up big with a 17 point performance in the Sweet Sixteen vs. Purdue.

AJ Price had one heck of a career at UConn. After nearly losing his life, and getting involved with stealing laptops, he was headed down a dangerous path. Looking back on it, he certainly made a huge turnaround. After tearing his ACL in the NCAA tournament last year he came back and was the leader of this team in so many ways.

Price elevated his game to another level and down the key stretch of the season picked up the production when Jerome Dyson went down. He was a consistent three point threat and could take it to the hoop off the dribble. Time and time again Price hit big shots for the Huskies.

It's too bad his career as a Huskie is over. It's obvious the way he played his senior season there will be many NBA teams looking for his services come next year. He will be another addition to the UConn greats that Coach Calhoun has delivered to the NBA.

Who can forget about Hasheem Thabeet. The man in the middle was the biggest game changer in all of college basketball. He controlled the paint unlike any big man has in recent years. He was one of the nations leading shot blockers and was a major factor in why the Huskies led the Big East in scoring defense.

Thabeet is only a junior, but in the minds of most college basketball fans is headed to the NBA. He's a projected top five pick, and although I'm sure he wants to try and deliver a national championship toStorrs, he's from Tanzania and economically,his family needs help.

When Jerome Dyson went down in mid-February at home against Syracuse this team realized it needed to come together. Dyson was playing his best basketball of the season. Who knows what might have happened if he didn't get injured, but that's beside the point. The 2008-09 Huskies got through this injury as a team and finished a lot stronger then anyone imagined. Dyson will be back next year, so look out.

The emergence of freshman guard Kemba Walker was a main reason why the Huskies were able to advance deep into the NCAA tournament. His performance against Missouri in the elite eight was far superior then the normal freshman. He's the only freshman to have at least 20 points 5 assists and 5 rebounds in a regional final. With that being said, he will be a floor general come 2010.

The Huskies will have big man Gavin Edwards back and he will need to pick up his production if Thabeet jumps to the NBA like most expect. Edwards has the strength and size to dominate the game. He will be looked upon to do that after showing glimpses of his enormous potential during this past season.

Then there is junior Stanley Robinson, also known as "sticks." Robinson played like the the five star recruit he was coming out of high school during the ladder part of the season. The athleticism and strength Robinson played with during the last eight weeks of the season is how the Huskies made up for the loss of Jerome Dyson.

Robinson who was ineligible during the fall semester got a job working in a metal factory making $17 an hour. He needed to do this because of the poor decisions he made over his first two years at UConn. He certainly made up for the missed time. After struggling early on in January and February he emerged into a focal point of this team on offense and defense.

He came a long way from an early season game at Louisville. Robinson played the first three minutes of the game and looked terrible. Those were the only minutes he played in that game. He went from playing that bad, to probably playing all but three minutes in almost every game, no player turned around their game like Robinson did for the Huskies.

Now there is all sorts of NCAA recruiting violations swirling around the Huskies program. They are reportedly facing sanctions by the NCAA committee for excessive phone calls and text messages with former recruit Nate Miles.

Jim Calhoun didn't let this story effect his teams play. They still went out and advanced to the Final Four out of the West region. Most analysts didn't believe the Huskies deserved a No.1 seed. Many people were picking Memphis to advance to the Final Four or beyond. That didn't happen, and now their coach is at Kentucky.

As far as coaching changes go, it's possible we have seen the last of Jim Calhoun. He will be 67 in May, the same age Dean Smith retired at. With all of the news and attention focused on the Connecticut basketball program, I wouldn't be surprised if Calhoun is ready to step down.

The 2008-2009 Huskies did what not many people thought they would do in advancing to the Final Four. There were already being written off after a six-overtime thriller at Madison Square Garden vs. Syracuse. Although they didn't win that game, I believe that showed their mental and physical toughness.

UConn has a strong recruiting class coming in, led by McDonald All-American Alex Oriaki. Forward Atar Majok will be eligible to play after the fall semester, and he has been compared to star forward Rudy Gay. There's still a lot of light and promise for this program depending upon the outcome of the NCAA investigation.

No matter what happens from here on out, nothing can take away what this year's UConn team has accomplished. There's a possibility of a new coach at UConn next year, but that will never change what Jim Calhoun did in turning this program into what it is today.