{"id":21016,"date":"2010-09-13T15:57:12","date_gmt":"2010-09-13T19:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=21016"},"modified":"2011-05-31T11:41:34","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T15:41:34","slug":"auriemma-and-former-huskies-lead-usa-women%e2%80%99s-basketball-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/09\/auriemma-and-former-huskies-lead-usa-women%e2%80%99s-basketball-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Auriemma, Former Huskies Lead USA Women\u2019s Basketball Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>USA<\/a>
Coached by Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma, five of the UConn women's basketball players, past and present, played on the USA Women's Basketball team against Australia and Spain last weekend at the XL Center in Hartford. From left, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Geno Auriemma, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery, and Diana Taurasi. Photo by Steven Slade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is not unusual for past and present members of the women\u2019s basketball team to gather at the XL Center in Hartford. Former Husky student-athletes are often there to watch their successors play under the watchful eye of Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma.<\/p>\n

Last weekend\u2019s meeting of UConn past and present was different, however. The 2010 NCAA champions sat in the stands on Friday night watching as their teammate Maya Moore joined a group of former Husky stars help the USA Women\u2019s Basketball Team win the first of two exhibition games against two of the world\u2019s best teams.<\/p>\n

Moore played in two games alongside former Huskies Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles, Diana Taurasi, and Asjha Jones, while hearing a familiar voice from the sidelines \u2013 USA head coach Auriemma.<\/p>\n

In playing exhibitions against the national teams from Australia and Spain, USA Basketball took the first steps toward selecting the 12 players who will make up the American squad that will compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. Of the 18 players currently in the U.S. pool who are competing to make the final team roster, seven are from UConn, including two former Huskies who won\u2019t join the team until after the WNBA finals \u2013 Sue Bird and Swin Cash of the Seattle Storm. The USA Basketball Selection Committee invites players to try out for the team and makes the final selection of the roster.<\/p>\n

\"<p>USA<\/a>
Renee Montgomery gets past a player on the Australian team. Photo by Steven Slade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOne of the things we explained to the players today is that this is a three-year program,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cThere are players in the locker room today that weren\u2019t on the Olympic team last time. There will probably be players in a couple of years trying to make the Olympic team that aren\u2019t in the locker room today. It\u2019s a program and you have to navigate that program. So if you make the team this year or not, you\u2019re part of the deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s your job to make [the team].\u201d<\/p>\n

Three players from UConn combined to score 67 points during the two exhibition games this past weekend, with Moore leading the team with 16 points in the 89-56 win against Australia on Friday and Charles leading the team with 17 points in the 85-69 victory over Spain on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Moore, the only current student-athlete on the USA squad, has quickly made an impression on the international basketball community.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a new age Tamika Catchings,\u201d said Carrie Graf, coach of the Australian team, in a reference to the 2000 National Player of the Year from Tennessee and 2008 Olympian who is also on the current USA Team. \u201cShe plays with great persistence. She\u2019s just a flat-out talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taurasi saw limited action after arriving in Hartford an hour before Friday\u2019s game following the conclusion of her WNBA schedule, but her presence drew loud fan reaction and raised the level of the American squad, according to Auriemma.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain level of confidence when she\u2019s on the floor or when she\u2019s on the bench,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<p>USA<\/a>
Diana Taurasi takes a shot. Photo by Steven Slade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The four-time WNBA All-Star and Olympian also is watching the progress of Moore, the USA Team\u2019s youngest member.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe shows flashes of how good she\u2019s going to be,\u201d said Taurasi, who has been called the world\u2019s best basketball player for her All-Star performances both in the WNBA and European League. \u201cShe\u2019s already at the point where she\u2019s better than 99 percent of the players in the world \u2013 and I\u2019ve seen everyone. She can be the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Huskies now reunited with Auriemma said they appreciate the opportunity to be coached again by their former mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I graduated, I thought that was it,\u201d said Jones, a 2002 graduate who plays for the WNBA\u2019s Connecticut Sun. \u201cIt\u2019s great being around him again. I think I\u2019m a lot more at ease [with him now]. He\u2019s kind of relaxed a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her Sun teammate, Montgomery, said she is also enjoying the chance to play for Auriemma and with other former Huskies, against whom she plays in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I left college, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever get the opportunity to play for him again. It\u2019s just a great feeling,\u201d said the second-year WNBA player. \u201cYou play against [the other former Husky players in the WNBA] night in and night out. It\u2019s nice when they\u2019re suited up and we have the same uniform on.\u201d<\/p>\n

National teams must qualify for the Olympics by winning in the FIBA World Championships or during Olympic Qualifying Tournaments over the next two years, beginning with this month\u2019s 2010 FIBA World Championships in the Czech Republic from Sept. 23-Oct. 2. The 2010 gold medal winner will automatically qualify for the Olympics. There are two other opportunities to qualify, first in the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament and then in 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Sites and dates for those tournaments are yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

The USA Team left Monday morning for Europe, where they will continue to train and play two more exhibition games against international teams, all while awaiting the arrival of Bird, Cash, and Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream after the WNBA championships.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Auriemma said he was satisfied the USA Team is making good progress as a unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe object of these two games\u00a0 [in Hartford] was for us to get a feel for our team, put ourselves in a competitive situation against two of the world\u2019s best teams, and try to work on some things at the same time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave us a little bit clearer picture of some of the decisions the committee will have to make. Everything we wanted to accomplish, we got accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group has a pretty good sense of who they are and they\u2019re willing to do whatever I ask them to do,\u201d he added. \u201cI could put any starting lineup out there. They\u2019re going to do what they\u2019re asked to do. They\u2019re smart. They just blend easily because they like each other.<\/p>\n

The former Huskies are among the most accomplished basketball players in the world. Bird is among just four American women to have won an NCAA championship, a WNBA title, and an Olympic and World Championship gold medal. Former Husky Kara Wolters, now a radio analyst for UConn games, was the first UConn player to reach that level.<\/p>\n

Cash and Taurasi are among three players (Ruth Riley is the third) to have each won an NCAA, WNBA, and Olympic gold medal. Jones helped the Huskies win two NCAA championships and is a two-time WNBA All-Star.<\/p>\n

Teammates Charles and Montgomery won the 2009 NCAA championship that sent the Huskies on the way to consecutive unbeaten seasons while playing with Moore.\u00a0 Montgomery was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Rookie Team as a member of the Connecticut Sun, where she was joined in 2010 by Charles, who was named the 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five past and present Huskies helped beat two of the world’s best women’s teams last weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-21016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 08:47:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21016"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35992,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016\/revisions\/35992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21016"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=21016"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}