Xavier defensive end Sean Marinan, Jr. confirmed Friday that he’s been accepted at UConn and will join the football team as a preferred walk-on.

Sean Marinan, Sr., the Falcons’ head coach and Sean’s father, said Huskies coach Paul Pasqualoni contacted the family on National Signing Day (Feb. 1) and extended the offer to Marinan, Jr.

“My son wanted to speak to him directly,” Marinan, Sr. said. “That night they were able to talk and my son gave him the answer a couple of days after that.”

Under preferred walk-on status, a player is promised a roster spot and reports with the scholarship players for fall camp a few weeks before classes start. If money becomes available, then a scholarship could be awarded to that player.

This past fall, Marinan, Jr. (6-foot, 250 pounds) made 64 tackles and three sacks and led Xavier in quarterback knockdowns while leading the Falcons to their second straight Class LL state title.

Marinan, Jr. was considering attending Yale before former coach Tom Williams resigned in December. Since, Marinan, Jr. said the Bulldogs appeared to have lost interest in him. Marinan, Jr. then contemplated attending Wesleyan, until UConn offered.

“I was going to commit to Wesleyan, but I couldn’t pass up the offer (from UConn),” Marinan, Jr. said. “Everyone says I’m too short (to play Division I football), but now I have this shot to try to prove everyone wrong.”

Via press release:

The CIAC and PlayOn! Sports (PlayOn) jointly announce the launch of the CIAC Network, a partnership providing multi-platform distribution of Connecticut high school sports content. Unprecedented postseason coverage of all Connecticut high school sports, beginning in spring 2012, will be made available to fans in a variety of live and on-demand formats across television, web and mobile devices.

"CAS-CIAC is excited to have a partner like PlayOn! Sports to enhance coverage of high school sports and athletes in Connecticut," said CAS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff, Ed.D. "Connecticut boasts an exciting high school sports environment that will now be available to viewers across the state, fans across the country and alumni around the world, all while providing our student athletes and their families unique access to their outstanding achievements."

The new Internet video portal for the CIAC Network, www.CIAC.tv, will host all events produced through the partnership. Many events will be streamed live and all events will be archived and made available on demand. There will be no charge for fans to view content.

Visit http://www.casciac.org/scripts/shownews.cgi?story=1211 for more info.

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ICE HOCKEY PRE-SALE TICKETS
Advance sale tickets for next week's ice hockey semifinals and finals are available online via http://ciacsports.ticketleap.com/. Tickets for the games at Ingalls Rink are always popular, so the advance purchase option is recommended.


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PRESS CONFERENCES
The Girls Basketball Luncheon/Press Conference is being held next Wednesday, 3/14 in the Cabaret Theatre at the Mohegan Sun. The teams will start arriving at approximately 11 am and the luncheon will start at 11:30. John Holt is the mc.

We're combining the Boys Basketball & Ice Hockey Luncheon/Press Conference again. It is being held next Thursday, 3/15 at the Aqua Turf in Kay's Pier South. Teams will start arriving at approximately 10:30am and the event will start at 11. John Holt and George DeMaio are the mc's.

Media who wish to attend either press conference should RSVP to Stephanie Ford at sford@casciac.org.