UConn's Wednesday Capped By Butler's Slam Dunk

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Dec. 26, 2007) - The University of Connecticut football team had another practice on Wednesday at Charlotte Latin School in preparation for their Meineke Car Care Bowl game on Saturday against Wake Forest.

Put me in coach...Calhoun. Darius Butler's windmill jam punctuated the UConn team's relay win over Wake Forest at the Charlotte Bobcats game.

The day started with some of the players and head coach Randy Edsall joining some of their counterparts from Wake Forest in visiting the Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte to visit with the patients there. The team practiced for two hours this afternoon at Charlotte Latin. In the evening, the team took in the Charlotte Bobcats game against the Washington Wizards. Cody Brown, D.J. Hernandez and Darius Butler defeated a team of three Wake Forest players in a relay race with a slam dunk by Butler capping UConn's victory. Butler is not related to Caron Butler, the former UConn star who played in the game tonight for the Wizards although he did show some serious ups on his dunk.

On Thursday the team will practice bright and early in the morning before making its way to Lowe's Motor Speedway for a highly-anticipated day of fun which includes laps of the track from the Richard Petty Driving Experience and a tire-changing contest between Edsall and Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe. The team will be mostly on its own Thursday evening.

Left: Randy Edsall and Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe chat as the teams arrive at the hospital...Right: The Huskies gather with a patient.

Left: The Huskies present a signed football to another patient...Right: Tyler Lorenzen shakes his hand.

Left: UConn AD Jeff Hathaway catches up with Emeka Okafor before the game...Right: Two of UConn's all-time greats, Caron Butler and Emeka Okafor, greet each other before the opening tip. Butler would go on to score 25 points to help his Wizards to a 108-104 win.

Left: Cody Brown, D.J. Hernandez and Darius Butler get ready for their relay contest against Wake Forest...Right: Hernandez and Butler acknowledge their teammates up in section 227 along with Rufus The Bobcat.

Left: Cody Brown salutes his teammates in the stands after UConn's win. Brown contributed a thundering two-handed jam...Right: Darius Butler approaches the basket for his slam dunk.