UConn’s Dailey, Edsall welcome a day on the golf course

CROMWELL — Both Chris Dailey and Randy Edsall are believers in crossing all the T’s and dotting all the I’s in their successful coaching careers, but on Wednesday they allowed themselves a midweek diversion from their normal summer schedule.

Dailey’s day started early at the Travelers Championship as she took part in the celebrity mini-golf event in which she’s been a regular participant. Edsall — who was part of UConn’s winning squad in the 2017 mini-golf event, along with Dailey and men’s hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh — had to pass his mini-golf duties to Bob Joyce, the radio voice of the UConn women’s basketball program.

“I had some things that I had to get done so I couldn’t make it for the mini-golf this year. Obviously I made a difference because they didn’t win,” Edsall said with a laugh.

Dailey, Cavanaugh and Edsall took part in the pro-am portion of the day, working their way through 18 holes at TPC River Highlands along with former UConn greats Ray Allen, Dan Orlovsky, field hockey coach Nancy Stevens and former UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

Dailey’s round was a little different because she is often paired with at least one male celebrity, but on this day she shared the course with Stevens and Norah O’Donnell, co-host of “CBS This Morning.”

Dailey admits that she isn’t one who spends much time on the course.

“I played Monday and (Wednesday) and that might be about it,” Dailey said.

She has been a little on the busy side, especially with her induction June 9 into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It was just an amazing weekend with friends,” Dailey said. “There are so many people who have helped me get there and it’s hard to be able to mention all of them because you only had 10 minutes. Hopefully everybody who’s at UConn, they understand how much they mean to me and how they helped me get to the Hall of Fame.”

When Dailey was in Knoxville, Tenn., for the festivities, she stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as former Connecticut Sun coach Anne Donovan — who only a few days later, on June 13, died of heart failure. The two New Jersey natives had a few opportunities to catch up.

“When she was at Connecticut, we went to the same place to get our hair done,” Dailey said. “We talked about that, talked about how one of our high school friends was there. There were all sorts of connections. I was just shocked that she passed away, one of the nicest people in the game of women’s basketball.

“When she was growing up, there was nobody like her. She was a true pioneer in terms of what she did for the game.”

When Dailey returned to campus, freshmen Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams were there taking part in UConn’s offseason conditioning program and playing in pickup games.

“They’re freshmen but they’re not backing down, they’re fighting through being tired and what we’re asking them to do and I think that says a lot about them,” Dailey said.

“They’re two tough kids and are going to be thrown into the fire pretty early so this is a good test for them.”

Dailey said All-American Katie Lou Samuelson continues to work her way back after undergoing ankle surgery in April.

“Her range of motion is improving, she’s working really hard in the weight room,” Dailey said. “She’s doing a great job keeping everybody (in line), she’s really taking on the leadership role and doing a tremendous job. We’re looking forward to having her back on the court.”

Sophomore guard Mikayla Coombs has not been cleared to do full-contact drills because of the medicine she’s taking to get her issue with blood clots under control.

It just so happened that UConn announced its nonconference women’s basketball schedule Wednesday.

The regular season begins Nov. 11 at home against Ohio State. A quirk in this year’s schedule is that the Huskies will meet Southern Connecticut State in their second and final preseason game, but it will take place following the first regularseason game.

UConn will play at reigning national champion Notre Dame on Dec. 2, followed two days later by All-American Napheesa Collier’s homecoming game at Saint Louis.

UConn will play Vanderbilt at Mohegan Sun Arena on Nov. 17 before meeting Ole Miss, St. John’s and Purdue from Nov. 22-24 at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. UConn will play host to DePaul on Nov. 28, Seton Hall on Dec. 8 and South Carolina on Feb. 11. The challenging road schedule also features games at Oklahoma (Dec. 19), California (Dec. 22), Baylor (Jan. 3) and Louisville (Jan. 31).

Dailey isn’t the only UConn coach getting a look at the freshmen.

The majority of the freshmen on the football team are on campus and every player expected to be there has arrived.

“I think they’ve all found out that it’s a little bit different than they anticipated, the intensity with which you have to work, but as I told them, it’s a process you have to go through,” Edsall said. “It’s not something that happens overnight but if they listen, ask questions and work as hard as they can every day that process will be a little bit quicker for the ones who do that.

“We really don’t get a chance to meet with them, we get to observe and watch them in workouts, but it seems like the guys who are multi-sport guys are in better shape than the guys who just do football all year round. You can see the competitiveness, how hard they work through the workouts and push themselves. That’s what you’re trying to see because now with the new rules, you can play them up to four games and not lose their eligibility (which) I think is huge, so I think that’s something that’s beneficial.”

AIR TIME FOR ORLOVSKY

Since retiring from the NFL, Orlovsky has been being noticed for his insightful breakdowns of game tape posted on social media. Obviously the right people are impressed because Orlovsky said he is focused on transitioning to a career as a television analyst.

“It’s a blast,” said Orlovsky, who has done several segments for NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” show. “I’ve always had thoughts of it, but I never really put a ton into it because I was playing. Now that I’m done, it’s incredible. It’s funny how my role as a pro has prepared me for this capacity just because I see things differently and I think being the backup for such a long time is custom made and molded me to more transition with an excited viewpoint into it.”

Orlovsky hopes to have news on a job lined up in the near future.

“I’m working through that, fortunate and honored to have some opportunities with some different places, hopefully have it shored up pretty quickly,” Orlovsky said.

“Football is one of the most important things ever to me, without football I have (no) capacity to comprehend who I would be or what I’d be doing. It’s important for me to stay close to it and in ways give back so it’s very much at the core of who I am.”

LOCAL FLAVOR

Dylan Azzopardi, 12, of New Canaan and Bethany Fell, 17, of Fairfield are among 40 golfers participating in the Eversource PGA Tour Player Experience for Junior Golfers this week at TPC River Highlands. Azzopardi, who will be be a seventh-grader at Saxe Middle School in the fall, and Fell, a Warde High junior, were selected based on personal essays focused on their golf experience.