Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: UConn’s Jim Penders still chasing ultimate Father’s Day gift and more

STORRS — The UConn baseball season ended with a long, tenacious at-bat from Paul Tammaro, and as he grounded out to finish the epic 12-inning loss to Florida State on June 8, there was no tomorrow for the Huskies, or at least no trip to Omaha.That’s the trip Penders hopes to one day present as a Father’s Day gift.“It’s very raw, the worst day of the year when you have to say goodbye to your team,” coach Jim Penders said, after team arrived back on campus. “You smile through your tears, make sure everybody knows how you feel about ’em. We’ve had several more talented teams than this one, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a team that fought harder, or better, or with more class than this team did.”Reaching the NCAA Tournament has become a baseline achievement for Penders’ Huskies; they’ve been there 10 times since 2010. After reaching the Super Regional two out of three years, that is becoming a standard. The program still reaches for the chance to host a regional as a top 16 seed, and ultimately a trip to the College World Series.“We should feel good that we were one of the last 16 teams playing,” Penders said. “But it makes me even hungrier to get there for (former players).”Dom Amore: For UConn women, the mystery of Jana El Alfy is soon to be revealedPenders’ father, Jim, 82, the long-time coach at East Catholic, and his uncle, Tom, the college basketball Hall of Fame coach, were on UConn’s 1965 CWS team, a time when the field was smaller and a team from the Northeast had to win a tournament of teams from its own backyard. The younger Penders, who has seen reel-to-reel highlights of that team, would like to have his own Omaha adventure to bring to the next holiday gathering.“I do feel a hunger to get my father and my uncle back there,” Penders said. “I saw on TV when LSU coach Paul Mainieri had his father with him, and I said, ‘I gotta have that.’”He has hit upon a way to do it. UConn, which dug out of a 9-15 hole to start this past season, had nine transfers from Division III schools and, some in the game are beginning to theorize, this is the way of the future. High school players looking to play D-I might start out at a lower level.“I looked at Florida State’s roster and they had a ton of sophomores and freshmen,” Penders said. “They’re doing it the traditional way because they can. What we have to do, we’re going to have fewer and fewer high school kids we’re going to be interested in. I don’t want to recruit anybody I’ll have to cut. It’ll be a lot safer bet if those high school kids go to Division III, Division II or mid-level Division I and then figure out they want to get to the national level of Division I, where we hope to remain.”Of course, more NIL money wouldn’t hurt.Having seen UConn knock on the door to Omaha so many times, it’s clear what is needed to reach the next level. Isn’t it always? Pitching. The double-elimination regional takes depth of good pitching, one or two first-round caliber aces are needed to win the three-game Super Regional. The Road to Omaha is hard, it’s supposed to be hard. To channel A League of Their Own’s Jimmy Dugan, “it’s the hard that makes it great.”More for an abbreviated Sunday Read:
Cheshire’s Julia Paek was the SCC Girls Golf Championship Medalist. Julia shot a 73 (1-under) as the Rams shared the league crown. #ctgolf #SCC30 @CHSRamPride pic.twitter.com/e5g8sPXUoj
— Al Carbone, SCC Commissioner (@SCCcommissioner) May 30, 2024Cheshire’s Paek PerformanceSophomore Juyeon (Julia) Paek of Cheshire High had a remarkable season in girls golf. One week in May, she shot a round of 31 at Southington CC and 32 at Madison CC in regular-season wins. She took the CIAC Division I title with a 6-under 18-hole round of 66 at Tashua Knolls in Trumbull, and the State Open with a 71 at Mohegan Sun in Baltic.Peter Casolino / Special to the CourantRodney Purvis joined the Stars of Storrs UConn alumni team on Friday.Sunday short takes*Hurricane season officially began June 1. Can college conference upheaval season be far behind?*If Aaron Rodgers’ absence this week was an excused absence, then it’s on Jets management. Just bad optics all around.*If USA Basketball’s traditional M.O. is to take the 12 best WNBA players for the Olympics factoring in experience, then so be it, as long as they’re consistent.*The way Marc D’Amelio is working at putting together Stars of Storrs, the UConn alumni team playing in The Basketball Tournament in July, he could be an NBA GM. Rodney Purvis committed Friday.*On June 19, 1924, or 100 years ago this week, Lou Gehrig celebrated his 21st birthday in Hartford with a double, triple and home run in the Senators’ 9-8 Eastern League victory over Worcester.
“Building a program in college is a lot different than building a program in the NBA”@TheFrankIsola breaks down why he wasn’t shocked to hear Dan Hurley is staying in college #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/42Vd34BLVi
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 11, 2024Last wordAppearing as a guest with Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on Sirius XM’s NBA Radio this week, I was asked if college players should be covered differently in the NIL era, a question I’ve thought much about. My long-winded answer in a nutshell here: Generally, college athlete’s don’t face the scrutiny or harsh criticism reserved for highly paid pros. But with six- and seven-figure deals being doled out, and more to come via revenue sharing, college athletes will have to evolve with those changes.

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