Swin Cash ’02 (CLAS), the former Husky star and current VP of Basketball Operations and Team Development for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last fall. We caught up with her in November at Gampel Pavilion, where she became just the third UConn basketball student-athlete to have their number retired. Cash’s 32 now hangs in the Gampel rafters alongside Rebecca Lobo’s 50 and Ray Allen’s 34.
Cash’s on-court accolades are legendary — on her way to two NCAA championships and three WNBA championships, she was named a first team All-American, an NCAA tournament most outstanding player, a four-time WNBA All-Star, and a member of the WNBA’s 2021 25th Anniversary Team. But Cash was quick to tell us that she hopes to be remembered more for her contributions to the lives of others.
“That to me is more important than the baskets I have scored and championships I have won. Helping the people that are coming behind you is what really matters.”
Cash is proud of “She’s Got Time,” a podcast and social media presence she started to help women navigate a career in the business end of sports. “I really wanted to create an intergenerational type of connectivity and community for women who want to be in sports.”
In her NBA front office job, Cash’s responsibilities run the court. “I oversee everything that touches our players, whether it is marketing, branding, or social responsibility, and I am also involved in our scouting, draft, free agency, and trade deadline processes,” she says. “It’s a multitude of things that is a lot of fun and has also sharpened my skill set. My day-to-day interactions and interfacing with the business side of the team is constantly growing my understanding of that side of basketball.”
She translates that for the next generation.
