Geno’s Coaching Chops Will Be Tested
The Story: Geno Auriemma doesn’t have the best team, doesn’t have the most talent and doesn’t have an All-American on the roster.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies lost Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier and are going to rely on — for the first time in a decade — players in unproven roles. We don’t know what to expect from many of the players, and while we know they are going to be good, we don’t know who’s the go-to player. Geno admitted on Tuesday he has had to do more coaching in the preseason than he has in at least six years.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Don’t worry. The Huskies are still a top-10 team and have a big stable of talent. There just isn’t an heir apparent to be the national player of the year. UConn has three starters returning in Megan Walker, Crystal Dangerfield and Christyn Williams. Williams showed promise as a freshman and appears to be the go-to scorer. Dangerfield is one of the top point guards in the country while Walker is solid. For UConn to get to where Geno wants, however, they’re going to need a big leap forward from Olivia Nelson-Ododa and potentially help from Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook, who is recovering from a knee injury and is not yet eligible.
WHAT’S UP WITH WESTBROOK? Her case is with the NCAA. Why wouldn’t she be eligible? We don’t know, considering it seems every player gets cleared to play these days. If her appeal is denied, she will have two years of eligibility remaining starting next year.
BOTTOM LINE: Geno is a great coach with over 1,000 wins and 11 national titles under his belt and is up for the challenge. We firmly believe that while the women’s basketball fan base suffers massive anxiety in close games, Geno relishes it. Coaches like to coach, and how often in the last 20 years has Geno had to really make adjustments and devise a strategy against his opponents? Geno’s jobs with those great teams were keeping them grounded, humble and hungry. Now? He’s going to have to pull the Xs and Os out of his bag of tricks this year. And you know what? He’s going to love doing it. He gets to coach basketball this year.
Bouknight Had Odor of Alcohol at Crash
The Story: Freshman guard James Bouknight is headed to court next week to answer for his charges relating to evading responsibility and driving without a license, and a full police report alleged an “odor of alcohol emitting from Bouknight” before he ran from the cops.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The arrest warrant is out and here’s the skinny: When cops stopped Bouknight and asked for his ID, the police said he smelled of alcohol. Bouknight ran away and showed up nearly a week later with an attorney at the police department. The car’s owner was a female friend of Bouknight, and after initially reporting she wanted the driver arrested for theft, she admitted she was intoxicated at that time and didn’t want to press charges. Bouknight isn’t being charged with DUI, car theft or anything else.
BOTTOM LINE: Crazy things happen at 1:30 a.m. on college campuses. He appears to have squashed any potential DUI charge, which is perfectly within his rights since we don’t know if he was actually intoxicated. How moralistic do we want to get? College kids drink alcohol; so do many adults. Running from the cops can’t be something the school endorses but nothing serious really happened. He has admitted to certain offenses and will be punished accordingly. He should count himself fortunate that something worse didn’t happen.
Morning Reads
FIVE HUSKIES IN NBA: There are five ex-UConn players in the NBA, including our favorite, Kemba Walker, in Boston. (The UConn Blog)
ANALYZING THE BIG EAST: The Big East has all 10 of its teams in KenPom’s top-100 rankings. The AAC has ECU and Tulane, which are ranked in the 250-300 range. That’s the difference in the leagues. (Big East Coast Bias)
UMASS BENEFITS FROM UCONN INDEPENDENCE: UConn is going independent next year and that should help all independent teams such as UMass. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
