Inside Slant
The college careers of Jerome Dyson, Gavin Edwards, and Stanley Robinson began when they failed to get to the postseason as freshmen. Though the next two years were better, including a Final Four trip in 2008-09, they ended their careers in only a slightly better place, fading into the NIT and losing a second-round game against Virginia Tech.
It was a disappointment for a squad that was ranked 12th in one preseason poll and surged as high as 10th prior to Big East play. But it was hard to argue that it deserved anything better.
This was a team that was expected to reload following the losses of Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet and Craig Austrie not rebuild. The seniors looked like a solid core, Kemba Walker was coming off an outstanding freshman season, and the much-heralded Ater Majok was finally eligible for game action. Perhaps the early laurels were premature, but not many Huskies fans thought in late December that it would be in the position of being grateful to host a first-round NIT game in March.
When the 2009-10 Huskies were good, they were really good. They beat a Texas team ranked No. 1 at the time, won at Villanova, and knocked off West Virginia at home. But UConn was never consistent enough to sustain momentum.
That led to a disjointed campaign. UConn lost five games in a six-game stretch spanning January and February, and appeared to fall out of the NCAA Tournament picture, then beat the Wildcats and Mountaineers as part of a three-game winning streak that got them right back into most projected fields. But a three-game losing streak to end the regular season, followed by a disinterested effort in a 73-51 opening-round blowout by St. John's in the Big East tournament, made those dreams fade quickly.
Coach Jim Calhoun placed much of the blame on his starters, threatening to bench them all for the Big East tournament. He ultimately relented, but was rewarded only with the lackadaisical effort against the Red Storm. It was that kind of year for Calhoun, who missed a month while on medical leave and had to be wondering why he had bothered to return by the time March ended.
