| UConn Men's Basketball
Strong alumni, student, and fan support for UConn's men's basketball teams helped the Huskies' women's basketball program attract Geno Auriemma as head coach. Under the tutelage of Auriemma, UConn has become one of the few schools that consistently competes for the national title in women's basketball. The Huskies are also part of one of the fiercest rivalries in all of women's college sports. In the rivalry between UConn and the University of Tennessee, there is no love lost between Auriemma and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. The two schools have faced each other seven times in the NCAA Tournament, and five times in the NCAA Championship Game. UConn leads 5-2 in those games including a 4-0 record in the finals. UConn leads the all-time series 13-8. Summitt ended the regular season series in the summer of 2007. It is unknown why the series was ended, but media outlets reported that Tennessee reported to the NCAA that UConn committed minor recruiting infractions with the recruitment of Maya Moore which included a tour of ESPN while Moore was a junior in high school. Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Carla Berube, Svetlana Abrosimova, Shea Ralph, Nykesha Sales, Kelly Schumacher, Swin Cash, Kara Wolters, Tamika Williams Raymond, Diana Taurasi, Asjha Jones, Sue Bird, Ann Strother, Barbara Turner, Paige Sauer, Rita Williams, Jessica Moore, Ashley Battle, Barbara Turner, Willnet Crockett, Ketia Swanier and Charde Houston are among the women's professional basketball players or WNBA draftees that attended UConn.
In 2002, UConn became the only school ever to have 4 women drafted among the top 10 of the first round of the 2002 WNBA draft, with National Player of the Year Sue Bird drafted 1st, Swin Cash drafted 2nd, Asjha Jones drafted 4th, and Tamika Williams Raymond drafted 6th. The 5th starter on the UConn 2001–2002 NCAA championship team was future No. 1 WNBA draft choice and future 2-time National Player of the Year Diana Taurasi. A total of 14 UConn alumnae played in the WNBA in the 2008 season, and another was on leave due to injury.
In 2004, UConn became the second school ever, and the first in Division I, to win the men's NCAA National Championship and the women's basketball title in the same season. It was also the first school to ever have both teams ranked number 1 in the nation at the same time (1994), and has also spent the most weeks by far with both teams holding the number one spot, with Duke University being the only other team ever to achieve the feat, for a short period during the 2003–2004 season.
In 2006, UConn became the third school ever to have 4 players drafted in Round 1 of the NBA Draft, and the first school ever to have 5 players selected in the two-round draft. In the first round, Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams and Josh Boone were selected. In the second round, Denham Brown was selected. It should also be noted that Rashad Anderson also entered the NBA draft and will play for a leading European professional team in the 2006–2007 season.
In 2008, freshman Maya Moore made history by being named Big East Player of the Year, the 1st time a freshman was so honored in either men's or women's basketball.
UConn women entered the 2008-2009 season ranked #1 in all national polls.
UConn is not only a pipeline to both the NBA and the WNBA, but to coaching ranks ranks throughout the sport of basketball. UConn alumnae in the coaching ranks include Jennifer Rizzotti at Hartford, Carla Berube at Tufts, Jamelle Elliott and Shea Ralph at UConn, Tamika Williams Raymond at Kansas, Ann Strother at Colorado, Paige Sauer at Northern Colorado, Stacy Hansmeyer at Oklahoma, Britanny Hunter at Temple, Kris Lamb Caruso at Longwood University, Wendy Davis at Western New England, and Morgan Valley at Towson. Maria Conlon was an assistant coach at NCAA Div II Champion Southern Connecticut State Univ and Debbie Baer Fiske is Associate Athletic Director at St Joseph's College. Former UConn assistant coach Tonya Cardoza is the head coach at Temple. And, former UConn assistant coach Charlene Curtis was the head coach at Wake Forest.
Only six women in the history of women's basketball in America have obtained the Triple Crown (an NCAA national championship, an WNBA Championship & an Olympic Gold Medal). Four of these women are UConn alumnae: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Kara Wolters & Diana Taurasi. The other two are Sheryl Swoopes of Texas Tech University and Ruth Riley of the University of Notre Dame. |
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