NEW YORK — The story was compelling when it was first broken several weeks ago by the New York Daily News — a 13-year-old Black whiz-kid named Autum Ashante accepted to the University of Connecticut, only to have that acceptance rescinded, and her fraught father calling for justice.

But the story might be a work of fiction.

Original New York Daily News Story on Autum Ashante’s acceptance

The University of Connecticut spokesman cited by the Daily News as having confirmed Autum’s acceptance, Richard Veilleux, tells NewsOne that he never told the paper’s reporter any such thing.

Tanyanika Samuels reported in the Daily News that Autum — described as a home-schooled genius — had been admitted to UConn and would be enrolling in the fall. Samuels later published a follow up story reporting that UConn had rescinded Autum’s acceptance. In the article, Autum’s father, Batin Ashante, said the university told him that she was not “academically ready.”

Veilleux and Michael Kirk from UConn’s communications office tell a different story.

“She applied, and her application was denied. It was not accepted. Nothing was ‘rescinded,’” Kirk wrote in an email to NewsOne.

Veilleux gave credence to Kirk’s statement, telling NewsOne: “When the Daily News called me, I spoke to Lee Melvin, our vice president for enrollment management, and he told me that Autum had not enrolled at the university. I passed that information to the Daily News.”

That information was never mentioned in any Daily News story.

In the Daily News‘ original news break of Autum’s acceptance, Samuels never quoted any UConn official to confirm Ashante’s story. The story only cited Autum and her father.

In the Daily News’ subsequent story reporting UConn’s alleged reversal, Samuels wrote: “UConn Spokesman Richard Veilleux confirmed Autum had been accepted to the school but said university officials were still waiting for the family to formally enroll.”

Though Veilleux is cited, he and Kirk categorically deny that Veilleux ever said that.

New York Daily News’ director of communications, Jennifer Mauer, told NewsOne that the Daily News “stands by the original story,” and that Veilleux did indeed confirm Autum’s acceptance to Samuels. When Samuels was questioned by phone on the matter, she referred all inquiries to Mauer.

When asked if he could produce a document to prove Autum was accepted to the university, Batin Ashante didn’t answer. Instead, he maintained that UConn is “closing ranks” because of the potential success of a petition, started by UConn alumna Josephine Minnow, to sway the university’s alleged decision to rescind Autum’s acceptance.

“I’m done with you and all media,” Ashante told NewsOne. “I’m saying [expletive] UConn right now.”

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Last week, NewsOne reported that Josephine Minnow, a UConn alumna started a petition to get Autum reinstated at the institution, which is now signed by nearly 500 people.

However, UConn’s Communications Officer Michael Kirk told NewsOne Tuesday, that Autum was never accepted.

“The story that she was offered admission and then had it rescinded is not true,” Kirk said in an email.

Contrastingly, Autum’s father Batin Ashante told NewsOne that his daughter was indeed accepted, and that UConn’s spokesman Richard Veilleaux confirmed it to a reporter at the NY Daily News.

See Story In NY Daily News

Kirk denies Veilleaux said such a thing. According to him, the spokesman told the journalist that the institution doesn’t generally say if someone is accepted or not, but that “no one by that name is enrolled at UConn.” According to Kirk, not releasing such information to press is against the university’s courtesy policy. Nonetheless, he adamantly made it clear that no one by the name of Autum Ashante is enrolled, and has never been enrolled at the institution.

Somewhere there was an obvious miscommunication, as the report from the NY Daily News said otherwise.

Mr. Ashante told NewsOne that the institution has caused his family a lot of grief for “going back on their word,” and as a result have been dragged through the media. He said that he was told that he and his daughter needed to formally enroll, but upon doing so, the admission’s office told him that Autum was not “academically” ready. Autum is reported to have an IQ of 149.

Ashante condemned the institution and accused them of “covering their a—”

Meanwhile, the Ashante’s had to halt initial plans to relocate to Connecticut, as they originally were under the impression that Autum would begin classes at UConn this fall.

Instead, Mr. Ashante is looking into enrolling Autum at other institutions such as Hampton University, a historically black college in Virginia, and the University of Bridgeport.

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Maya Moore, the 6″0 star from UConn and the number one overall draft pick in the WNBA, became the first female athlete to sign with the Jordan Brand.

Clutch Magazine reports:

In a press release from the company announcing the deal, Nike and the Jordan family expressed their excitement naming Moore as their newest brand ambassador. Michael Jordan, the brands namesake said:

I am thrilled to welcome Maya Moore into the Jordan Brand. Not only has Maya proven to be a prolific winner on the court, but her hunger and determination to make an impact off the court makes her a valuable addition to the Jordan family. We look forward to working with Maya as she carries her success to the next level.

Not only is the two-time National Player of the Year, considered one of the top players in women’s basketball, her name is discussed among the greatest college basketball players of all time.

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HOUSTON — When it’s win or go home, nobody’s better than Kemba and the kids.

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Kemba Walker scored 18 points Saturday night to lift Connecticut to its 10th straight victory since finishing off a .500 Big East regular season, a 56-55 win over cold-shooting Kentucky that moved the Huskies a victory away from their third, and most improbable, NCAA title.

Walker, a quick-handed junior from the Bronx, added seven assists and six rebounds to help the young UConn team (31-9) extend a winning streak that started with a five-wins-in-five-nights leg-drainer at the conference tournament and now includes five more at the tournament that really counts.

The third-seeded Huskies – lowest seed left in a tournament that has been as unpredictable as any in history – will face No. 8 Butler, a 70-62 winner over 11th-seeded VCU in the first semifinal, on Monday.

“We’ve got a heck of a challenge on Monday night, but the fact that we’re playing Monday night, that’s beautiful,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said.

This one was not pretty on either end.

Fourth-seeded Kentucky (29-9) shot 33.9 percent for the game and went 5:39 without a point late in the second half. UConn wasn’t much better, but Walker, Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier all made baskets to turn a 48-48 tie into a 54-48 lead with 2:29 left.

DeAndre Liggins made a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to cut the deficit to three, and Kentucky had its chances. But Brandon Knight, one of John Calipari’s three sensational freshmen, barely drew iron on a 3-pointer. After Kentucky got the rebound, Liggins drew a foul but only hit one of two free throws.

Kentucky forced one more turnover and went for the win, but this time, it was Liggins whose 3-pointer was short. Napier made two free throws to make it 56-52, then Knight ended the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer – a meaningless make and a cruel close to what has otherwise been a remarkable season for Calipari and Co. – Kentucky’s first trip to the Final Four since winning it all in 1998.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Walker said. “It’s a little surreal right now, but hopefully we can bring it back to Storrs.”

Speaking of amazing, UConn is peaking at the right time. The Huskies, a freshman-filled team that lived down to expectations by going 9-9 in their conference, haven’t lost since they fell to Notre Dame to close the regular season on Feb. 5.

UConn wasn’t nearly as dominating here in Houston as in its 84-67 victory over Kentucky in November at the Maui Invitational. But a win’s a win, and nobody does it better than UConn when it’s all-or-nothing. Counting that relatively low-key get-together on the island, the Huskies are 13-0 in tournament games this season.

Little was expected from Calhoun’s team this year, in part because it is filled with underclassmen, including starters Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith, Tyler Orlander and Jeremy Lamb.

Walker, a junior, is the sparkplug, though. Kentucky did a decent job containing him with its zone, which forced the Huskies to be more patient and look for second options. Lamb was the most obvious one. The freshman, whose father Ronaldo made a game-winning shot to knock Calhoun out of the tournament when he was coaching at Northeastern in 1984, had 12 points, including a fancy scooping layup with 2:29 left to put the Huskies ahead by six.

From there, it was a hectic, hard-fought finish that included few baskets and even fewer breaks. The teams played nearly five straight minutes without a whistle, and the 4-minute media timeout didn’t come until there were about 90 seconds left. The quick pace might have had something to do with Kentucky coming up short on some of those key shots late. There wasn’t much of an explanation, though, for the 9-for-32 shooting in the first half. The Wildcats trailed 31-21 at the break, their lowest first-half output of the season.

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Knight finished 6 for 23 with 17 points, Lamb had 13 on 5-for-10 shooting. But the Wildcats made only 21 field goals, only nine from 3-point range and shot 4 for 12 from the free-throw line.

“I just think we missed a bunch of open shots,” Kentucky senior Josh Harrellson said. “We had good looks, and we just weren’t knocking anything down. … We just couldn’t make anything.”

Calipari barely lost a coaching matchup against Calhoun – a showdown between a couple of coaches who haven’t hid their dislike for each other, dating to the day when Calipari was at UMass and moving in on Calhoun’s turf.

“We had our chance to win the game, and as a coach, that’s all you can ask of these young people,” Calipari said. “Give us a chance, and we had an opportunity.”

While Calhoun has become a fixture at UConn – in his fourth Final Four – Calipari has moved around. This year, he joined Rick Pitino as only the second coach to take three different programs to the sport’s biggest stage.

He said he’d prefer talent over experience any day. His ability to bring this group of freshmen this far was remarkable, given that this was considered something of a rebuilding year for the Wildcats, who lost John Wall and four others to the NBA draft after last season.

Calhoun could tell the same story. He wasn’t expected to do much this year, and was depending mainly on his star, Walker, to shoulder the load. It worked early in the season, but teams figured out how to contain him in the Big East – as grueling a conference as there is.

Walker has been electric in leading the Huskies this far in the tournament, though, averaging 26 points a game on the road to the Final Four.

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