Kentan Facey tackles new challenge

STORRS, Conn. – When UConn freshman Kentan Facey found out last week that the NCAA had ruled him eligible for this season and given him four seasons to play, there was quite the celebration after he informed his teammates.

“Everybody was happy,” junior forward DeAndre Daniels said Tuesday at Gampel Pavilion. “He walked in the locker room very happy, jumping around and everybody was like, ‘What’s up with you?’ He told everybody and everybody jumped on him and tackled him. Everybody was excited for him.”

Facey is a 6-9 forward who could develop into a key player for the Huskies as coach Kevin Ollie puts together the pieces of team that is a preseason Top 25 pick by most publications and appears headed back to the NCAA Tournament after being banned from the 2013 postseason. Ollie begins the process of finding a playing rotation Wednesday night when UConn tips off the preseason schedule with a 7 p.m. game at Gampel against Division II Southern Connecticut State.

Look for Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright, Omar Calhoun and Daniels to start in their usual roles. Ollie said he favors a veteran group at the start of the game, so look for Tyler Olander or Niels Giffey to get the other nod. Then Ollie will start taking a look at newcomers Facey, Terrence Samuel, Lasan Kromah and Amida Brimah under the bright lights and with a crowd in the stands.

Ollie was just as excited as the Huskies when Facey got his good news after about a three-month wait. But he didn’t really care for the first reaction he saw from Facey.

“He kicked a chair, he took it out on a chair,” Ollie said. “So if you call that excitement, I guess so. I just told him, ‘The chair didn’t do anything to you. Take it out on an opponent Wednesday night.’ He was excited when I told him the news. Compliance did a great job . . . everybody upstairs did a wonderful job.”

Said Facey: “I didn’t really kick the chair. I swung my foot and the chair was in the way. But it’s definitely good to be back and to know I can help my team.”

Facey said his teammates were very supportive through the NCAA clearinghouse review, which was complicated because he is from Jamaica originally. Boatright, who went through two eligibility reviews as a freshman two seasons ago, offered as much advice as he could.

“I just told him to keep his head and stay positive,” Boatright said. “The NCAA can prolong whatever they’re doing for as long as they want to. I told him to stay encouraged. You never know what can happen. That’s what he did. He worked hard every day, he paid attention to the plays and he got cleared. Now he’s ready.”

Boatright said he could relate to Facey’s predicament.

“I felt like it was me walking in all over again,” Boatright said. “I used to see him on the sideline, depressed sometimes. I was there. I know everything he was going through, so I definitely helped him through that.”

The game against Southern can be seen as a live stream on www.uconnhuskies.com, and will be broadcast on WTIC-FM 96.5 (WTIC AM will carry World Series Game 6 as the Red Sox try to wrap up a championship against the St. Louis Cardinals.)