Georgetown coach John Thompson III poked his head up from a crowd Wednesday and asked, "Is Kemba here today?"
Kemba Walker, UConn's freshman point guard, was not at Big East media day, but there were two coaches saying all sorts of nice things about him.
Said Jim Calhoun: "He's the real deal. He really gives us speed. It's great to have a kid that really, really can push the basketball."
Said Thompson, who coached Walker as an assistant with the national team at the FIBA Americas U-18 championship in Argentina: "He's good. He's got a great temperament, a great feel for the game. He has the aptitude [to make an immediate impact], yes, and hopefully he doesn't [smiling]. He's a terrific player and a good person, too."
There are concerns about the other UConn guards. A.J. Price still isn't himself. His repaired left knee is structurally sound but his mind is on the torn ACL he tore in March, so he's tentative and sore from landing on his other foot. Meanwhile, Calhoun said Jerome Dyson and Craig Austrie are not off to great starts in practice.
But he keeps praising Walker, who played at Rice High in New York.
"I'm not committed to anything,"
Calhoun said when asked about starters. "They've got to commit to themselves. Right now, the best point guard is Kemba. So if we opened up today, I'd probably start Kemba. If you're good, I'm going to play you."
Walker (6 feet 1, 172 pounds) led the U.S. to a silver medal in Argentina and was the tournament's MVP.
Harangody Honored
Notre Dame junior forward Luke Harangody is the Big East's preseason player of the year. He was last season's conference player of the year, averaging 23.3 points and 11.3 rebounds.
"It's an honor,"
Harangody said, "but I haven't done anything this year yet."
... UConn senior forward Jeff Adrien was named honorable mention, missing a spot on the 11-member preseason all-conference team. As a junior, Adrien was on the preseason team and was first-team Big East, averaging 14.8 and 9.2 rebounds. "That preseason stuff, it makes a player nervous, really,"
Adrien said. "I like to be under the radar because that's how I came up in the past. I'm just thankful for being in this conference and the accolades I've been gotten in the past. I'm worried about the end of the year and you best believe I'm going to get back to the top."
... Freshmen forwards Samardo Samuels (Louisville) and Greg Monroe (Georgetown) were named co-rookies of the year ... Villanova coach Jay Wright on the difficulty of predicting how teams will finish: "You feel bad putting some teams six or seven,"
he said. "You say, 'They don't deserve this, but teams ahead of them don't deserve [to be lower], either.'"
... In March, all 16 Big East teams will play in the conference tournament for the first time. Said Wright: "Somebody is going to knock somebody off and everyone is going to complain,"
he said. "But c'mon, that's what we all play for."
... Pitt coach Jamie Dixon with another take on the voting: "I would venture to say that coaches don't put as much time or energy into it as we seem to be today."
