Dom Amore

A record-setting kicker from Hall High School in West Hartford gets his shot with the UConn football team. ... A look at the UConn men's basketball nonconference schedule. ... Former East Catholic pitcher Frank Mozzicato gets his first pro win. Here is your Sunday Read:

As the Brittney Griner saga unfolds in Russia all basketball fans can do is wait and hope for her safe return.

The news that Paige Bueckers tore her ACL in a pick-up game and will miss he entire UConn women's basketball season came as a gut-punch. The thought of a year without watching her do the things she can do, in the way only she can do them, leaves an ache and an emptiness.

Alyssa Thomas is doing a little of everything for the Connecticut Sun right now. Versatility, intensity and unselfishness come naturally to the 6-foot-2 "point forward."

Bill Russell, a champion of basketball, Civil Rights and for righting wrongs wherever he saw them, was remembered by Jim Calhoun as a "magic figure," by Swin Cash as a "larger-than-life" personality, by Jim Mora as an "amazing mentor, a caring and generous man." Russell died Sunday at 88.

Jim Mora, returning to coaching after four years on the outside, couldn't have been happier to be back in the game at UConn, where the task will be daunting. ... In case you're not on Twitter, Rodney Purvis has been airing his thoughts about some difficult years with UConn men's basketball. ... Another former UHart baseball player is on his way up in the pros. Here is your Sunday Read:

Sue Bird went out in style in her last WNBA game in Connecticut, feeling plenty of love and admiration from thousands of UConn fans in attendance.

Former UConn slugger and pitcher Reggie Crawford signed with the Giants, who drafted him late in the first round, for $2.3 million.

Dan Hurley took his UConn men's basketball team to a Yard Goats game Wednesday night, a team-building exercise as he builds chemistry with seven newcomers. He sees the 2022-23 Huskies will be the deepest team he has had at UConn.

Michael Toglia, since a visit from Rockies legend Todd Helton in May, has been on a power surge for the Yard Goats. He has 19 homers, three away from the franchise record,

Former UConn closer P.J. Poulin is on his way up from Double A Hartford to Triple A Albuquerque in the Rockies organization. Veteran Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes is in Hartford on a rehab assignment this week.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has joined a bipartisan group of Judiciary Committee members to ask Major League Baseball for more information regarding pay for minor league players. He says the antitrust exemption baseball has had since 1922 gives it unfair monopoly power.

The Hartford Yard Goats take on the Portland Sea Dogs this week in a battle of Eastern League contenders.

This week's Sunday Read: Johnny Egan left an enduring legacy for those who saw him, played with him and wrote about his basketball artistry. Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, among others, remember the Hartford basketball legend. ... UConn catcher Matt Donlan will get his chance for a pro baseball career with his favorite team, the Red Sox. ... How did you like hearing players talk from the mound during the All-Star Game? ... Did you like "Bull Durham"? You might like the new book on how it was made.

After USC and UCLA's move to the Big Ten, will the changing conference realignment landscape force UConn to make a decision on staying in the Big East?