Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb, right, drives to the basket while guarded by Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates Jan. 18 in Storrs, Conn.Seated in the visitors’ interview room inside Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena this past Saturday evening, Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun was asked why his team didn’t press more on defense during its 60-57 loss to the unranked Volunteers.
“If we’d had one more player we would have,” the boss of the defending national champs said after the fourth loss in their last six games. “But he’s not here.”
“He” is freshman guard Ryan Boatright, who was supposed to help the Huskies somewhat overcome the 23.5 points per game that NCAA Final Four MVP Kemba Walker averaged before taking his magical game to the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.
And when Boatright has played this season, he’s been pretty good, averaging 10.2 points and 3.5 assists a game. But the Aurora, Ill., native has been on the floor for only 10 of UConn’s 19 games while the NCAA investigates whether he received improper benefits beyond the airline ticket he received from former AAU coach Reggie Rose.
That ticket cost the 6-foot, 160-pound Boatright the first six games of the season. When the NCAA decided on Jan. 13 that it might have further issues, UConn decided to sit him until all questions were answered.