Freshman Ater Majok is excited about making his UConn basketball debut Sunday against Central Florida at the XL Center in Hartford.

Majok spoke to the media following Friday afternoon's practice at Gampel Pavilion.

"It's been a long week," Majok said. "The closer I get (to Sunday), the longer it gets. I can't wait."

There's no doubt that Majok, a 6-foot-11 forward, will help the Huskies. Just don't expect too much from him right off. He's talented but a bit on the raw side. He lacks game experience. He'll need time to adjust.

Coach Jim Calhoun says he's still thinking about whether to start Majok in place of junior Charles Okwandu or use him as a reserve to bolster a weak bench. Either way, Majok will get his share of playing time.

Majok spent time scrimmaging with the first team Friday.

When asked about Majok, players and members of the coaching staff all raved about how hard the freshman works.

Freshman center Alex Oriakhi is especially happy to have Majok as a frontcourt partner.

"He's the only one who throws it to me in the post," Oriakhi said.

Majok said: "Alex is like my little brother. I always look for him."

More on Majok's debut in The Day Saturday.

In other news:

-- Exams ended Thursday for the Huskies.

"We're waiting for grades today," Calhoun said. "Some of them, I guess, are nervous. ... I am. We've got half of our grades in and hopefully we'll get them all completed by today."

-- UConn suffered from a post-exam hangover in practice today.

"We had kind of a semi-sloppy practice," Calhoun said.

-- Freshmen Jamaal Trice, Darius Smith and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel all have played well in recent workouts, according to Calhoun.

-- Calhoun continues to be concerned about his team's lack of bench production.  

-- Senior Gavin Edwards' role will remain the same. After starting the first three games, he's come off the bench in the last five. As a reserve, he's averaging 13.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks.

"We're going to keep Gavin where he is because he's performing exceptionally well at that position and gives us a really good spark off the bench," Calhoun said.

-- Senior reserve Jonathan Mandeldove remains academically ineligible. He has yet to play this season.