The Presidents that are engraved on Mount Rushmore to me may not be the greatest, but they had the greatest impact on this nation. As for sports, we always want to know who the greatest is. We are constantly ranking teams or players or eras. Nothing is truer than the comparison between Kevin Durant and Lebron James. Or does Derek Jeter belong on the Yankee's Mount Rushmore. But that is a topic for another time...
Yesterday we focused on the UConn men's basketball team and their impact players. We took a look at their impact players. Yes, a lot of great names were left off. Picking the top three is very challenging - because Jim Calhoun had the greatest impact on UConn basketball. Today, we look at the women's basketball team - that can even be more challenging, but maybe not.
NCAA
Let's start off with Geno Auriemma. The head coach took Connecticut basketball from absolutely nothing and made it into an eight-time national champion. It is simply the best program in all of college sports. Auriemma is a Hall of Famer and his name will be mentioned in the same breathe as Wooden. Auriemma has a chance to to win as many championships as John Wooden.
AP
Just like Ray Allen, Rebecca Lobo made people in Connecticut care about college basketball in the 1990s. She went to four NCAA Tournaments, two Elite Eights and won the 1995 National Championship. Lobo was the consensus national player of the year in 1995. She led her team to a perfect 35-0 season. She continues to do a lot for UConn as she is the face of women's basketball for ESPN.
AP
Diana Taurasi - the Southern California girl - led UConn to three National Championships. Probably the greatest player to ever play the game. She went to four Final Fours, won four Big East Regular Season titles and two Big East Tournament Championships. She was apart of 70-game winning streak. Played on the greatest team to every play the game which was a perfect 39-0 and was named the Final Four MVP two years in a row.
AP
Maya Moore was a winner. She went to four Final Fours, won two National Championships, and was a series of teams that won 90-games in a row. Moore was the National Player of the Year three times. Moore has the scoring record at UConn. She had one of the most successful college careers in the history of women's basketball. She continues to rewrite the history books at the pro level.
With all this talk about the Mount Rushmore of certain teams, I will going to tell you my own personal Mount Rushmore for both UConn basketball teams. Today we will start with the men's basketball team.
NCAA
The first person is Jim Calhoun. The former head coach led Connecticut from the basement of the Big East to a three-time NCAA National Champion. He was the architect. Calhoun believed it was doable and it was done. He created the Beast of the East and helped make Storrs, Conn. the capital of College Basketball.
The Daily Hand Off
The person who helped put Connecticut Basketball on the map is Walter Ray Allen. Before becoming the NBA career leader in third point makes and winner of two NBA titles, Allen was a dominate force for the Huskies in the mid-1990s. His teams won three Big East Regular Season Titles and made three Sweet 16s. He helped lead UConn to their first No. 1 ranking in 1995. He helped lead the state of Connecticut into Huskymania. Allen is a future Hall of Famer.
Hartford Courant
Emeka Okafor was the man in the early 2000s. His low post presence on defense made offenses wary of his shot block ability. Okafor's teams went to three Big East Championship games, winning two of them. They advanced to the Sweet 16 three times, the Elite Eight twice and won the 2004 National Championship. Perhaps the smartest UConn basketball, Okafor was also the highest draft pick that came out of Connecticut.
AP
The fourth person is a real toss up. There are three guys that can be placed here. I honestly think it is a toss-up between Richard Hamilton, Kemba Walker, and Khalid El-Amin. All three played key roles in privotal moments for UConn basketball. Hamilton and El-Amin starred in the UConn backcourt for the 1999 National Title. However, it was Walker who carried his team on his back for the most improbable national championship in 2011. I am leaning towards Walker only because he played in two Final Fours and helped guide his team to 11 straight wins in the postseason.
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Speaking of President's Day - here is a throwback - Allen vs Allen - UConn vs. Georgetown 1996. The Hoyas dominated the Huskies during that game with their full court pressure defense. But it made the Big East final a few weeks later even more special with the Ray Allen off-balance game winner.
SBNation.com
In the above picture, it was freshmen vs freshmen - Iverson vs. Ricky Moore. Iverson said the only person to every shut him down in college was Moore.
It has been a pretty big week for the University of Connecticut.
Connecticut forward Niels Giffey, left, comes down with a rebound against Cincinnati guard JaQuon Parker, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl)
The week started with the men's basketball team ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since late December.
The men's basketball team had a huge opportunity on Thursday night at AAC leader Cincinnati. They had a 10 point lead late in the first half, but saw it evaporate late in the second half. The Bearcats out willed and out toughed UConn late in the game. The Huskies made plenty of poor decisions and it cost them the game.
Kevin Ollie's crew needs to refocus. They need to get DeAndre Daniels healthy. Daniels was out of Thursday's game with back spasms. They have games at Central Florida on Sunday night and a home game with South Florida. They need to win those game as well as rematches with Temple and Rutgers and try to defend their own home court in games with Memphis, SMU and Cincinnati later in the season. They have nine games left and need to start making up ground in order to avoid the 4/5 AAC Tournament quarterfinal game.
Bob Diaco, former Notre Dame defensive coordinator, speaks as Connecticut's new head football coach during an introductory news conference on campus in Storrs, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
The football team got 14 new players committed to playing for UConn this coming year. However, the national ranking services gave Bob Diaco a pretty poor grade. These rankings are dumb and flawed. They rank young kids until their senior year of high school. I do not believe that they take team fit into consideration. I wonder what their rankings are on these athletes while in college and in the NFL?
On Thursday, the University of Tennessee suspended the upcoming football series with UConn. Tennessee is opting to play two neutral site games in Tennessee in 2015 and 2016. The two universities agreed to find a new date by 2015.
Connecticut's Bria Hartley (14) drives past SMU's Gabrielle Wilkins (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. Hartley scored a game-high 21 points in her team's 102-41 victory. (AP Photo/ Fred Beckham)
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/04/3245299/uconn-women-win-30th-straight.html#storylink=cpy
The top-ranked UConn women had their largest conference win this year defeating SMU by 61 points. Five UConn players scored in double figures. On Sunday, they will take on No. 4 Louisville for first place in the American Athletic Conference. The game preview will be posted on The UConn Blog sometime on Saturday.
