UConn guards Jerome Dyson and Donnell Beverly were cleared to play. 

The school released a statement that Dyson, expected to start for the Huskies, and Beverly - a reserve guard - have been cleared to play immediately. 

The duo sat out the exhibition game earlier in the week against American International College. 

ARMY LOOKING FOR SATURDAY SCRIMMAGE OPPONENT

A source told FOXSports.com that the scrimmage between Army and Marist has been canceled due to health concerns with Marist. 

The same source said that Army first-year head coach Zach Spiker and his staff are scrambling to find an opponent to play on Saturday. 

Just hours after being cleared by the NCAA, Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson played in his first exhibition game.

The 6-foot-5 scoring wing went for just 9 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

Stephenson entered the game 3:27 into the game and scored within 10 seconds.

There’s no doubt Stephenson can put up numbers. The question is whether he can be a quality teammate and become an efficient player instead of a volume shooter.

EARLY RISERS

When Monmouth coach Dave Calloway has his players convene at 3 a.m. on Tues., Nov. 17, it won’t be a punishment.

The Hawks will get on the bus and take the hour or so trip to St. Peter’s for a 6 a.m. game on ESPN.

``It’s our chance to be on national TV,” Calloway said. ``It’s something unique for us.”

Calloway said he’ll instruct his players, who will sleep in their own beds instead of a hotel, to get to bed on the earlier end before waking up and meeting at 3 a.m.

There will obviously be no pre-game meal four hours prior to tip-off – as is customary for Monmouth and many programs throughout the country.

``We’d have to get up at 2 in the morning,” Calloway said. ``That would be stupid.”

Some coaches have questioned both Calloway and St. Peter’s coach John Dunne for the decision to play the game at such as crazy time, but Calloway said that it’s an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.

``They aren’t putting us on TV at 7 p.m. and we know that,” he said.

Calloway said he’s already received calls from numerous alums that work in New York City who will take in the game prior to going into work.

The Hawks finished with just eight wins a year ago, but the coach expects a significant jump this season with the return of senior guard Whitney Coleman – who suffered a season-ending knee injury a year ago in the opener.

Calloway is also raving about the progress of 6-foot-8 sophomore big man Travis Taylor, who averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in just his third year of organized basketball.

``He’s our best player,” Calloway said. ``He didn’t play his first two years in high school, but his learning curve is through the roof. He’s like a sponge; he absorbs everything.”

Calloway said the Hawks will have far more depth this season. He’ll have Rutgers transfer Justin Sofman eligible and added a pair of impact freshmen in Ed Waite and Marcus Ware.

``This will be my deepest team since the 2004 team,” he said.

That team won 21 games and went to the NCAA tournament.

RANDOM NOTES: College of Charleston junior big man Jeremy Simmons has been suspended for violating team rules. He will miss the team’s final exhibition game and the season-opener against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 13. … According to several published reports, St. Anthony’s forward Devon Collier committed to Oregon State. He was also considering Providence, St. John’s and Seton Hall.  … I forgot to mention that Syracuse landed St. Andrew’s (R.I.) junior guard Michael Carter-Williams. … Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) guard Mustafa Jones committed to Hartford, according to assistant John Mosco. … BC transfer Shamari Spears led Charlotte with 26 points in an exhibition win. … Jody Demling, who does a phenomenal job with his blog in the Louisville Courier-Journal, reported that one-time Kentucky commit (thanks, Billy Clyde) is headed to Akron. … Indiana freshman big man Bawa Muniru was cleared by the NCAA. … Central Connecticut has lost its top player, Ken Horton, for the season due to a hip injury. 

Cincinnati's highly touted freshman Lance Stephenson has been cleared by the NCAA and is now eligible to play immediately, Bearcats coach Mick Cronin told FOXSports.com.

The NCAA had been investigating Stephenson's amateur status but did not find any reason to rule him ineligible.

He should be in uniform for Cincinnati's Nov. 16 opener against Prairie View A&M.

The only question now is how long it’ll take for the marriage between Nike and Central Florida to consummate.

Central Florida’s freshman guard Marcus Jordan, the son of the man who made the Swoosh, Michael Jordan, refused to wear adidas. As a result, the company severed its contract with the school.

Central Florida and adidas were in the final year of a five-year deal in which coaches and athletes were required to wear the company’s apparel.

The younger Jordan wore a pair of white Air Jordan’s on Wednesday night when he scored a whopping one point in an exhibition game.

UCONN SHORTHANDED IN EXHITIBION ROUT

Jerome Dyson and Donnell Beverly were on the bench, freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was in the stands and Ater Majok wasn’t eligible in UConn’s exhibition game against American International College last night.

Coombs-McDaniel, who bounced around to a few high schools, still hasn’t been cleared by the NCAA.

Dyson and Beverly were sitting out “pending evaluation of recently submitted paperwork pertaining to their annual eligibility certification”, according to the school.

Majok, who is expected to start at power forward, won’t be eligible until the end of the first semester.

UConn was led by Kemba Walker (28 points), Stanley Robinson (25 points) and freshman big man Alex Oriakhi (16 points, 16 rebounds).

Oriakhi’s competition for the starting spot in the middle, Charles Okwandu, finished with two points and one rebound in 18 minutes.

RANDOM NOTES:

Oregon transfer Drew Viney, who sat out last season, led Loyola Marymount with 18 points and 12 rebounds in an exhibition victory over Hope International. … Alabama was led by JaMychal Green’s 18 points and 11 boards in a rout over Montevallo. … Ohio State’s Evan Turner, who was moved to the point guard spot in the offseason, had 15 points, 14 boards, 6 assists and 1 turnover in a rout over Walsh College. 

Ever wonder what former USC coach Tim Floyd is doing these days?

Floyd looks as if he's auditioning for a role to be one of those bodyguards on the "Jerry Springer Show" as he breaks up a potential catfight in a Las Vegas casino.

Take a look here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4dHFuN6Wto

Unreal.

DIXON NOT WORRIED ABOUT PANTHERS

I was expecting something different, maybe a coach who displayed a nervous tick or a guy with sweat pouring down his forehead after watching four starters depart and the other one endure a pair of offseason medical procedures to the same foot.

But the unflappable Pittsburgh coach, Jamie Dixon, legitimately doesn't seem worried.

"We've had to replace three starters every year," Dixon said. "We've had this before."

But this year is different.

The Panthers lost three big-time college players in Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and Levance Fields. Three guys who finally got the Panthers over the mighty Sweet 16 hump and took Pittsburgh one step away - actually, one Scottie Reynolds basket - from the Final Four.

Tyrell Biggs, who started all 36 games up front alongside Blair, is also gone.

That leaves Jermaine Dixon as the team's leading returning scorer at 10.1 points per game, but the versatile guard had a rough offseason – one that saw him have two surgeries on his broken foot.

Even the team's sixth man, Gilbert Brown, won't be on the court for the first semester after he was deemed ineligible due to academics.

That means the Panthers, tabbed ninth in the league's preseason poll, could begin the season as the most inexperienced team in the Big East.

"We have a history of finishing higher than we've been picked," Dixon said recently. "It's something guys take pride in."

It's difficult to question Dixon's résumé since he took the reigns from Ben Howland in 2003. He's taken Pittsburgh to six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and has a ridiculous 163-45 record, which set an all-time Division I record for most victories after six years as a head coach.

But if Dixon can extend the string to seven appearances in the Big Dance, it'll be his most impressive coaching job to date.

The Panthers will have to become a big-time defensive team because they don't have the offensive firepower they had with Young, Blair and Fields running the show.

That's not to say there's not talent running up and down the court at the Peterson Events Center.

Now it'll be up to young guards like Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wannamaker and Travon Woodall to make sure there's no drop-off. Talented freshman big man Dante Taylor will have to mature quickly, and Jermaine Dixon will have to come back healthy.

"We have some depth," Jamie Dixon said. "I think we're going to play more guys."

"I'd be more concerned if these guys had played behind bad players," he added.

Taylor is truly the lone household name of the four freshmen – a group that also includes forwards J.J. Richardson, Talib Zanna and wing Lamar Patterson. There's even some thought that Centenary transfer Chase Adams, who received a waiver and is allowed to play this season, could make his way into the rotation.

"Everyone can't be picked high," Jermaine Dixon said. "When you lose four starters and 60 percent of your points, they are going to pick us low.

"But Pittsburgh has always been the underdog."

And over the past eight years, only Kansas and Duke won more games.

RANDOM NOTES: Montana State has suspended guard Larry Swann, who redshirted last season, has been suspended indefinitely due to a violation of the code of conduct policy. ... Elijah Millsap, who sat out last season after transferring from Louisiana Lafayette, scored 25 in UAB's exhibition opener against Miles College. ... Willie Warren, a FOXSports.com Preseason First Team All-American, led Oklahoma with 23 points in an exhibition rout. Freshman big man Tiny Gallon had 10 points and nine boards. ... New Orleans guard Billy Humphrey, who transferred from Georgia and sat out last season, will miss 2-4 weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery. ... Harvard pulled in two commitments: Northfield Mount Hermon wing Laurent Rivard and 7-footer Ugo Okam out of Montverde Academy (Fla.). ... Neumann Goretti (Pa.) point guard Tyreek Duren chose La Salle over UMass and Temple, according to assistant John Mosco.

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