UConn OL Haynes named a preseason first team All-American

— UConn's Christian Haynes, a senior offensive guard, has been named to the 2023 Sporting News Preseason All-American first team.

The 6-foot-2, 313-pound redshirt senior from Bowie, Maryland, becomes just the third UConn player during the FBS era to earn All-American status, He was also named to the Sporting News All-American team at the end of the 2022 season.

Haynes also earned preseason honors on the Athlon Sports All-Amerca team (second team), the Walter Camp FBS All-America team (second team) and the Phil Steele All-America team (third team).

In addition, Haynes was named to watch lists for the Outland Trophy given to the nation's best interior lineman and the Wuerffel Trophy presented annualy to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.

UConn opens its 2023 at home on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. against North Carolina State at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Women’s basketball

• UConn will face host Texas in the 2023 Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic on Sunday, Dec. 3, in Auston. The game will air live on ABC (Ch. 8 locally) at 3 p.m.

It will be the Huskies' 14th appearance in the game. The annual game annually raises money and awareness for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

In other scheduling news, UConn announced it will play UCLA and Kansas in the inaugural Cayman Islands Classic at the John Gray Gymnasium in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. The Huskies will face UCLA on Nov. 24 and Kansas the following day. Both games will start at 7:30 p.m.

The tournament also includes LSU, Virginia Tech, Niagara, Tulane and Virginia.