Nelson is prepared to sign a two-year free agent contract with the St. Louis Rams. Brockington and Williams have a try-out arrangement in place with the Redskins while Hargrave will be reunited with former UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky (2001-04) during an upcoming try-out with the Detroit Lions. The deals will become official as the former Huskies report to their respective teams’ rookie mini camps.

Brockington, an early entrant into the league, ranks fifth in school history with 2,198 career rushing yards on 454 carries, the sixth most in UConn lore. Brockington is tied for fourth on the Husky career chart with his 25 rushing touchdowns. His best season was in 2004 when Brockington by far led the BIG EAST with 1,218 rushing yards to help power the Huskies to a win in their first ever bowl appearance, downing Toledo, 39-10, in the Motor City Bowl. He was named first-team All-BIG EAST after averaging 156.0 all-purpose yards in conference play. The NFL is in Brockington’s blood as his cousin, John, played in the league for seven years during the 1970s, mostly with the Green Bay Packers, after an All-American collegiate career at Ohio State.

A team captain this past fall, Hargrave finished his Husky career with 270 tackles, including 43 for loss, 15 of which were sacks. The 43 TFLs are the third highest in school history while the 15 sacks tie for eighth best. Hargrave missed only one career game, playing in 46 with 36 starts. Hargrave was named first-team All-BIG EAST in 2005 after leading UConn with both 13.5 TFLs and five sacks, making a total of 62 tackles in all for the season. Hargrave also intercepted a pass, broke up three more, forced two fumbles and recovered another en route to earning UConn’s Defensive MVP award.

Nelson played in 60 games with two starts in two years at UConn after transferring from Georgia Tech. A physical role player off of head coach Jim Calhoun’s bench, Nelson averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in Storrs as he helped the Huskies capture the 2005 and 2006 BIG EAST regular season titles and earn a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. Nelson was the 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year after starting 28 games for the Yellow Jackets and averaging 8.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Should he make the Rams’ active roster, the 6-8, 260-pound forward would be the second Husky ever to do so without playing football for UConn. Booth Lusteg, a former UConn baseball player, went on to an AFL/NFL career as a kicker with Buffalo (1966), Miami (1967), Pittsburgh (1968) and Green Bay (1969).

Williams did not miss a game in his UConn career, playing in all 47 with 22 starts. He caught 118 passes to rank eighth in school history while his 1,469 career receiving yards are 13th best in Husky history. He also caught 12 career touchdowns. Williams led UConn in 2005 with 32 receptions for 315 yards while scoring five times. He had career highs in 2004 with his 44 catches and 661 receiving yards with four scores. Williams also saw action for the Huskies over the years as a kick returner.

UConn defensive end Shawn Mayne will not sign with an NFL team and, after graduating on Sunday, will return to his native Canada to play for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Hamilton selected Mayne with the first pick of the third round (18th overall) of the league’s draft on April 20. Hamilton opens its 2006 season on June 17 at Toronto.