NEW BRITAIN — Despite losing the top six players from last year’s team that won the Northeast Conference men’s basketball regular season championship for the second time in a row, Central Connecticut coach Patrick Sellers is confident the Blue Devils can be even better.
Connecticut
‘We were champions’: How Patrick Sellers has rebuilt Central Connecticut State men’s basketball
Head coach Patrick Sellers of the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils looks on during a college basketball game against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils at Amica Mutual Pavilion on November 4, 2024 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
After his last two teams became the first in program history to win 20 games or more in back-to-back seasons, Sellers believes this year’s team can extend the streak to three and do something the last two didn’t: win the conference tournament to advance to the NCCA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
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That would be quite a feat considering that the six guys who averaged the most minutes last season and were among the team’s top seven scorers, all either graduated or cashed in on their success by using the transfer portal to sign lucrative NIL deals elsewhere.
It took Sellers and his coaching staff until the third week of the summer session to find enough guys to finalize this season’s roster, and they did so with 10 new players.
“Once we got the roster together, we told them we won 20 games, we were champions and this is the way we view ourselves now. That is our standard,” Sellers said. “You have to hold yourselves accountable as a player-coached team. You have to follow your veterans.
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“The goal is to get 20, win the conference championship and win the conference tournament which we haven’t done yet. Can this team do it? I think we have a good chance if we defend and rebound. The jury is still out on that.”
There is plenty of uncertainty surrounding this team, but Sellers likes the Blue Devils’ makeup because of the solid foundation provided by talented returning players 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Darin Smith Jr., 6-9 junior forward Max Frazier and 6-3 senior guard Jay Rodgers.
They’re trying to fill the void left by the graduation of last year’s leading scorer and NEC Conference Player of the Year Jordan Jones and other losses.
Second-leading scorer and rebounder, Devin Haid, who led the team in steals was lured away to South Florida by a $250,000 NIL payday. And Abdul Momoh, who led the team in rebounding and field goal percentage, earned himself $150,000 by going to Illinois-Chicago through the transfer portal.
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Those players left the team not only with Sellers’ blessing, but with his help. Part of his recruiting pitch to players is that if they play great for the Blue Devils for two years with a chance to win a championship, they will have an opportunity to get signed out of the portal by higher-level teams and likely make big money. Central doesn’t have NIL to give players.
“Our guy Darin Smith is probably looking at $500,000-plus next year if he does what I think he can this year,” Sellers said. “We are going to help him find the right spot to go next year.
“When guys put their name in the portal, a lot of coaches tell them to pack their stuff and don’t come around. I am the total opposite. I want everybody to keep working out with us. You helped us win a championship. It is going to help our postseason workouts having you be with us, and then you go to your new school and get paid. It is a win-win for everybody.”
Smith redshirted his freshman year behind three very talented players and then showed real promise last year averaging 6.8 points and shooting 51.7% from the field, including 46.3% from 3-point range.
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“He is a versatile player with a hunger to score and the ability to put the ball in the hoop,” Sellers said. “He has a really soft touch around the rim so the ball seems to trickle in for him all the time. He is also a much-improved defender.”
Sellers said that Frazier was one of the more talented guys on last year’s team. Despite being in his third year of basketball this year, he’s still one of the youngest guys on the team and is ready to blossom.
“He is a super talented guy, and this is going to be the first time he is going to be counted on every day to bring it and show leadership,” Sellers said. “We believe he is prepared for it. He is an athletic pogo stick and rebounder. I think he is ready to explode onto the scene, and people are going to be like, ‘Who is this kid?’”
He also believes Rodgers is going to going to really surprise people. He played only nine games last season due to injury but averaged 9.1 points the year before.
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“He was also a 2-to-1 assist/turnover guy and has a really high I.Q.,” Sellers said. “He is not the athlete that Jordan Jones was for us, but he is a really good, read-and-react guy. He will be one of our captains and leaders.”
One of the bright young stars the Blue Devils brought in is freshman Elijah Parker from Holy Cross-Waterbury. Sellers thought he might be a tremendous redshirt candidate, a guy like Smith who would learn for a year and then have a breakout season and become a star.
Parker has played so well since he arrived on campus, however, that he has played himself into the rotation for this season.
“He can really score, but what I really like about him is that he is such an elite decision-maker, playmaker and basketball I.Q. guy,” Sellers said. “He is becoming a better shooter. Not only does he definitely have a chance to be the rotation, but he might start.”
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With a great core, the fate of the Blue Devils, who were 25-7 last year and 20-11 the year before, may rest on the development of transfers they brought in or redshirt players ready to emerge.
Sellers said they have remained near the top of the conference because of their ability to find talented Division II transfers, community college players or Division I guys who haven’t found their niche yet.
He believes shooters like Roddy Jones, who redshirted last season, and Melo Sanchez, who transferred from Arkansas could make the Blue Devils better offensively than their last two teams were.
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“This team has a different personality from the last two, and we won’t know how good we are until we start playing,” Sellers said. “But I think this team has much more basketball I.Q. so when we play against a good defensive team and things break down, we have guys who can play and figure it out.
“We will shoot the ball better from the perimeter and have the potential to be a better offensive team, but whether we win the league again is a matter of whether or not we finish up on the defensive end.”
Connecticut
A Character-Rich Family Home in Connecticut That Bridges Past and Present
When a house has been loved for generations, its walls tend to hold stories. In the case of one family residence in Darien, Connecticut, that sentiment was taken quite literally. On the casement between the living room and kitchen are ticks that denote decades of growth, a quiet record of childhoods unfolding in real time. Several of those measurements belong to the home’s newest steward—the original owners’ daughter—who was ready to put her own mark on the property.
Eager to see what she could make of the 1930s structure, she and her husband tapped British-born designer Becca Casey of Connecticut-based Becca Interiors to breathe new life—and old soul—into the interior. For Casey, being entrusted with that kind of emotional patina was a privilege she didn’t take lightly. “The greatest challenge was ensuring that the new extension had synergy with the original house while bringing together the couple’s different tastes and honoring the home’s history,” Casey says of the 2,400-square-foot space.
That delicate balance shows up everywhere, from tailored silhouettes and clean lines for him to pattern and color for her. Nowhere is that nuance more evident than in the property’s oldest room, a long, beam-lined living space that once sat largely unused. Casey swathed it in an atmospheric mural, transforming it into a multi-zone haven centered on the fireplace, with moments of repose throughout where the family can gather to play a game or enjoy a book.
Around the home, Casey’s eye for nuance is unmistakable. She wields color, pattern, and shape with equal aplomb, expertly marrying form with function in a way that’s both timeless and fresh. A hidden television disappears behind drapery-lined cabinetry, the inner skeleton of an armchair is displayed like a work of art, a vintage dining table reveals a plaque from the husband’s hometown (a serendipitous discovery that made the piece instantly meaningful). In the end, reviving the dwelling wasn’t about reinvention for Casey—it was about the possibility that a new chapter can bring. The result is a space that, according to Casey, feels “quietly refined and effortlessly lived-in”—an elegant meeting point between memory and modern family life.
FAST FACTS:
Designer: Becca Casey, Becca Interiors
Location: Darien, Connecticut
The Space: A 1930s colonial with six bedrooms, across 2,400 square feet.
LIVING ROOM
Bare windows and a transportive wallpaper nod to the pastoral landscape.
The living room is the oldest space in the house, so Casey wanted to honor its bones while streamlining the layout for modern functionality. Custom Dmitriy & Co. sofas—linen on the top, patterned French mattress tufting at the base—typify the union between “his” and “her” tastes.
A traditional English roll armchair was tucked into a corner at the request of the husband, whose wish list included a spot to read. Aiming for a “layered floor plan,” with distinct areas for the family’s many needs, Casey added a game table as a visual anchor with a direct sight line to the main entryway of the home.
DEN
An original stone fireplace anchors the family-ready space.
Drenched in French Gray paint by Farrow & Ball and grounded by the original stone fireplace, the den is carefully choreographed to support togetherness, with a custom sectional and hidden TV.
DINING ROOM
The sun-drenched space looks out to the backyard pond.
Part of the new addition, the serene dining room is flooded with light, thanks to expansive floor to (almost) ceiling windows. Layered textiles keep the antique table—a happy find, originally made in the husband’s hometown—geared toward casual meals.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Salvaged beams mimic the look of the originals in the living room.
Inspired by Belgian interiors, the elevated placement of the fireplace isn’t just a design flex—it’s an experiential choice that puts the flames right at eye level when lounging in bed. Beside it, two vintage English armchairs stun with their exposed interior, a Becca Interiors signature touch.
PRIMARY BATH
Natural materials were chosen for their ability to patina over time.
In the primary bathroom, wellness comes through atmosphere rather than gadgets. A Drummonds soaking tub is positioned for prime pond views, with a gray-green base (Drop Cloth, Farrow & Ball) that reinforces the room’s soothing palette.
WORKSTATION
Smart features make family management a cinch.
To make the most of a hall nook, Casey crafted a compact desk where the wife, a teacher, can grade papers. Labeled drawers store art supplies, while a floor-to-ceiling cabinet (at side) acts as a hub for deliveries.
About the Designer
Becca Casey is the Principal Director and founder of Becca Interiors. Raised in the countryside of Southwest England, her earliest influences were rooted in history, nature, and the quiet beauty of rural life. These foundations continue to shape her design philosophy today, one that blends heritage with modern sensibility while honoring craftsmanship and the beauty of daily life at home.
Connecticut
Hartford community grieves men killed in police shootings
The Hartford community is grappling with two police shootings that happened within eight days of each other. Both started off as mental health calls about someone in distress.
People came together to remember one of the men killed at a vigil on Wednesday evening.
With hands joined, a prayer for peace and comfort was spoken for the family of Everard Walker. He was having a mental health crisis when a family member called 211 on Feb.19.
Two mental health professionals from the state-operated Capitol Regional Mental Health Center requested Hartford police come with them to Walker’s apartment on Capitol Avenue.
A scuffle ensued, and police said it looked like Walker was going to stab an officer. The brief fight ended with an officer shooting and killing Walker.
The family is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
“All I will have now is a tombstone and the voicemails he left on my phone that I listen over and over again at night just so I can fall asleep,” Menan Walker, one of Walker’s daughters, said.
City councilman Josh Michtom (WF) is asking whether police could have acted differently.
“To me, the really concerning thing is why the police were there at all, why they went into that apartment in the way that they did, in the numbers that they did,” he said.
The president of Hartford’s police union, James Rutkauski, asked the community to hold their judgment and wait for a full investigation by the Inspector General’s office to be completed.
A different tone was taken in a statement released about another police shooting on Blue Hills Avenue on Feb. 27.
Rutkauski said the union fully supports the officer who fired at 55-year-old Steven Jones, who was holding a knife during a mental health crisis.
In part, the union’s statement says that Jones “deliberately advanced on the officer in a manner that created an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury. This was a 100% justified use of deadly force.”
The Inspector General’s office will determine if the officer was justified following an investigation.
The officer who shot Jones was the fourth to arrive on the scene. Three others tried to get him to drop the knife, even using a taser, before the shooting.
“It just feels like beyond the conduct of any one officer, we have this problem, which is that we send cops for every problem,” Michtom said. “I don’t know how you can de-escalate at the point of a gun.”
Jones died from his injuries on Tuesday.
The union’s statement went on to say that officers should not be society’s default for mental health professionals. The statement said in part, “We ask for renewed commitment from our legislators to remove police from being the vanguard of what should be a mental health professional response.”
The officers involved in both shootings are on administrative leave.
Connecticut
Connecticut Launches New Era for Community Hospital Care – UConn Today
Marked by a ceremonial ribbon cutting and attended by Governor Ned Lamont, state legislators, Waterbury officials, and community leaders, UConn Health celebrated the acquisition of Waterbury Hospital which as of today is now the UConn Health Waterbury Hospital.
“This is a defining moment for healthcare in Connecticut,” said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, CEO of UConn Health Community Network. “We now have the opportunity to take the award -winning academic quality and service of UConn Health and share it with the wonderful employees, doctors and community of Waterbury.”
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont described the initiative as a forward-looking investment in the future of healthcare access across Connecticut.
“Connecticut is leading with innovation,” said Connecticut Governor Lamont. “The UConn Health Community Network reflects a proactive approach to strengthening community-based care by connecting it directly to the capabilities of our state’s public academic medical center. What begins in Waterbury today, represents a new model designed to expand opportunity, access, and excellence for communities statewide.”
In addition to UConn Health Waterbury Hospital, the Network includes UConn Health Community Network Medical Group and UConn Health Waterbury Health at Home. The model preserves each member’s local identity and will grow thoughtfully over time to improve quality, expand access, and reduce the total cost of care.
“This reflects a bold step forward in how we think about healthcare in Connecticut,” said John Driscoll, Chair of the UConn Health Board of Directors. “Today we celebrate the beginning of a new approach to community-based care. We move forward with clarity of purpose and shared commitment to serve our communities better together.”
Comptroller Sean Scanlon highlighted the significance of the model for the long-term evolution of healthcare delivery in Connecticut.
“This partnership represents thoughtful leadership at a pivotal time for healthcare,” said Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon. “By aligning community hospitals with academic medicine, Connecticut is building a modern framework that positions our healthcare system to meet the needs of patients today and into the future.”
“Hosting this celebration on our campus is deeply meaningful for our staff, physicians and the families we serve,” said Deborah Weymouth, President of UConn Health Waterbury Hospital. “Waterbury’s legacy of care continues, and we are tremendously proud to have a strong partner who is deeply committed to our community and help lead this next chapter for healthcare.”
Welcome UConn Health Waterbury Hospital!
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