Calhoun Ride will feature skin cancer screenings

To help fight skin cancer, dermatologists from the UConn Health Center will be offering free skin cancer screenings during and after the Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride and Walk. Coach Calhoun himself has had multiple bouts with skin cancer and is encouraging everyone to get checked.

The annual ride/walk is June 9 in Simsbury at the Performing Arts Center near the center of town.

The proceeds from the ride benefit the UConn Health Center’s Cancer Center as well as Coaches vs. Cancer.

There is a 5K walk as well as 10-, 25-, 50- and 75-mile rides.

To find out more or to register, visit: www.calhounridewalk.com or call 860-674-1500. Advanced registration is suggested for the ride and walk, though walk-ups are welcome.

- Neill

UConn not part of Big East-SEC Challenge

ESPN announced the 12 matchups that will be part of the Second Annual SEC/Big East Challenge Friday, and UConn is not in the mix.

The Huskies 2012-13 postseason ban has likely made them a less attractive TV draw.

The games in the challenge will be Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the participating schools.

The Big East contingent in the Challenge will include Cincinnati, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, USF, Syracuse and Villanova.

The 2012 SEC/Big East Challenge includes the following matchups:

Thursday, November 29
Kentucky at Notre Dame
Marquette at Florida
South Carolina at St. John’s
Seton Hall at LSU

Friday, November 30
Syracuse at Arkansas
Tennessee at Georgetown
DePaul at Auburn
Georgia at USF

Saturday, December 1
Alabama at Cincinnati
Villanova at Vanderbilt
Mississippi State at Providence
Rutgers at Mississippi

- Neill

UConn-Wake in paradise

The UConn basketball team will open play in the 2012 Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands against Wake Forest.

UConn, the event’s No. 2 seed, will face 7th-seeded Wake on Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Quinnipiac and Iona will meet on the other half of the bracket with the winners facing off two days later (the losers play the following day).

The Huskies and Demon Deacons have met twice before with each winning on their home court. (Wake in 1969, UConn in 1993).

UConn won the 2008 Paradise Jam.

- Neill

German invasion continues

The UConn men’s basketball team, it seems, has built quite a pipeline to Germany for basketball talent.

With Niels Giffey and Enosch Wolf already in house, the Huskies have added a third German to the roster.

The Huskies received a verbal commitment from 6-foot-7 forward Leon Tolksdorf of Berlin on Wednesday according to The Recruit Scoop.

Tolksdorf averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds for ALBA Berlin in limited minutes last season. He’s considered a combo forward with decent shooting range.

He joins guard Omar Calhoun, big man Phil Nolan and super-senior Holy Cross transfer R.J. Evans in UConn’s incoming class.

The Huskies are probably done recruiting for the Class of 2012 and will likely save their open scholarships to use next season when the talent pool is deeper and their ability to draw from it has improved (postseason ban).

- Neill

Huskies to face N.C. State at MSG

The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team will face North Carolina State Dec. 4 as part of the Jimmy V Basketball Classic, the school announced Wednesday.

UConn’s game against the Wolfpack will be the second half of a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden that will begin at 7 p.m. with a game featuring Georgetown and Texas. Both games will be aired on ESPN.

A portion of the proceeds from the games will benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research, a group founded by the late Jim Valvano. Valvano coached N.C. State before later working as an analyst at ESPN.

Both the Huskies and Wolfpack are coming off seasons in which they played in the NCAA Tournament, though UConn will be ineligible to compete in the 2013 postseason.

UConn and N.C. State have played four times previously, with each side winning twice. Their last meeting was a 2005 NCAA Tournament game in Worcester, Mass., that N.C. State won 65-62.

The UConn women’s basketball team will be appearing in the 2012 Jimmy V Women’s Classic. It will take on Maryland on Dec. 3 at either Gampel Pavilion in Storrs or the XL Center in Hartford.

- Neill

Calhoun Ride to benefit RuthAnn Lobo

UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s annual Cancer Challenge Ride will be dedicated to RuthAnn Lobo, the late mother of former UConn women’s basketball star Rebecca Lobo.

RuthAnn Lobo died of cancer in July 2011 at the age of 67.

“RuthAnn Lobo set an example that is an inspiration to so many fighting the scourge of cancer. It is my hope that everyone walking or riding on June 9th will carry her fighting spirit forward so that we may defeat cancer once and for all,” Calhoun said in a statement.

The annual event will be held June 9 in Simsbury at the Performing Arts Center. There will be bike rides of 10, 25, 50 and 75 miles, as well as a 5K walk.

The ride, now in its sixth year, will benefit the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center, as well as Coaches vs. Cancer.
To learn more or to register, please visit www.calhounride.com or call 860-674-1500.

- Neill

UConn-Washington series set

UConn announced Wednesday that it has finalized a home-and-home series with Washington that will begin next season.

UConn will host Washington on Dec. 29 in either Hartford or Storrs.

The Huskies (the ones from UConn) will then travel to Seattle for a game in the 2013-14 season.

No TV coverage has been announced yet.

UConn has won each of the team’s three previous meetings, two of which came in the NCAA Tournament. Richard Hamilton beat Washington at the buzzer in the 1998 Sweet 16 and Rashad Anderson pretty much did the same _ hitting a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to play in regulation _ as UConn beat Washington in the Sweet 16 again in 2006.

UConn also beat Washington in the 1998 Great Eight event in Chicago.

- Neill