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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Maybe UConn should play BC
We were having trouble getting Holy Cross' schedule for the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, so I called Ralph Willard Friday to see if one posted on the CrossSports message board was accurate.

For the most part it was, Ralph told me, but there was still one problem to be ironed out. Because of some sensitivities involved, he asked me to hold off on posting anything about the problem. Yesterday he went public about it.

In a nutshell, UConn was afraid to play the Crusaders in the Coaches Vs. Cancer tournament. The two were set to meet -- assuming both won first round games -- in a second round matchup in Storrs.

The short version is this: UConn asked HC be sent to a different region. Ralph said no, since it falls in the middle of midterms for Holy Cross. He was not keen on playing anywhere then, but nearby Storrs was one thing, shuffling off to Oklahoma, which would have added a couple days travel to the itinerary, was another.

Willard, himself a cancer survivor, agreed to the tournament because HC forward Andrew Keister, himself a survivor of childhood cancer, and Keister's father had contacted the promoters about getting HC an invite. Despite the inconvenient timing, Ralph thought Andrew Keister playing in the tournament would be inspirational to kids with the disease.

Apparently UConn relented this week, but not until after Willard had committed to a game at San Francisco. The Crusaders are still looking for one other game. For more on the story, see Jen Toland's article in this morning's Telegram and Gazette

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Published at 5:58 AM by Hoop Time.
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