Even among elite, UConn excellence sets the bar high
Even among the elite in women’s college basketball, UConn stands out.
The Huskies are back in the Final Four for an 11th straight season, breaking a tie with John Wooden and the UCLA men’s program for the Division I record. UConn beat defending national champion South Carolina 94-65 on Monday night to earn the trip to Columbus, Ohio.
Notre Dame, Louisville, Mississippi State — all outstanding programs — will try to block UConn’s path to a fifth national title in six seasons.
“I think the field is maybe the strongest I’ve seen in a long, long time, maybe ever,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said on Tuesday. “And the fans are in for a treat. I don’t know if the coaches are, but certainly the fans are in for a treat.”
All three of the other teams may be capable of knocking off the Huskies, but there’s no doubt Auriemma’s group is a huge favorite. UConn has won 147 of its past 148 games going back nearly four full seasons.
The only loss during that span was against Mississippi State in overtime during the national semifinals last season. Morgan William hit a jumper at the buzzer in overtime that ended UConn’s 111game winning streak.
But even the Bulldogs can appreciate how special UConn’s run of 11 straight Final Fours has been.
“It’s a level of excellence never before seen in the game of basketball, not just women,” Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said.
UConn (36-0) will face Notre Dame (33-3) in one national semifinal while Mississippi State (36-1) plays Louisville (36-2) in the other game on Friday. All of the four teams are No. 1 seeds, which is just the fourth time in tournament history that’s happened.
UConn has dominated the women’s game so thoroughly the past several seasons that some have questioned if it’s bad for the sport. Louisville coach Jeff Walz dismissed that line of thinking.
“No, it’s not bad for the game,” Walz said. “Nobody was saying when John Wooden was winning 10 in a row and all that stuff that UCLA was bad for the men’s game. It’s really just a shame that people can’t enjoy and appreciate how good they are. I mean, it’s pretty darn impressive.
UConn recruiting: When reflecting on UConn’s 11 straight Final Fours, Auriemma said one of the hardest parts of maintaining success is recruiting the right players who can handle the expectations: “You come to Connecticut, and you look up on those walls when you come to our practice facility, and you look around and you go, all right, well, I’m going to be here four years. Well, what in God’s name can I accomplish that hasn’t already been done? If you’re in awe by that, or you’re intimidated by that, then you’re not going to be successful here and we’re not going to be successful.”
Facing McCowan: Mississippi State’s 6-foot-7 Teaira McCowan — who was a third team AP All-American — has been outstanding for the Bulldogs during the NCAA Tournament.
She had 23 points and 21 rebounds against UCLA in their Elite Eight win. Walz said facing McCowan on Friday will be a huge challenge: “I’m hoping (Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer) decides to drive the bus and makes a wrong turn somewhere. So if we can have that happen, I’ll feel much better.”
The good and the bad: Mississippi State is often remembered for its upset win over UConn in the Final Four last season. What is less remembered is that in 2016, the Bulldogs had a terrible experience against the Huskies, losing 98-38 in the Sweet 16. Schaefer ruefully recalled that day when discussing UConn’s excellence: “You know, they talk about their offense and how good it is, but let me tell you, they are really good defensively. Trust me. I got held to 38 one time.”
Notre Dame’s unlikely run: Notre Dame might be the most unlikely Final Four participant of this year’s quartet. The Irish were a No. 1 seed despite losing four players over the season to knee injuries. Said coach Muffet McGraw: “We keep shaking our heads. I think I’m kind of torn between crying and laughing. It means so much. ” of sorts. Especially in Saturday night’s first semifinal, when the captivating underdogs from Loyola-Chicago take on Michigan and Beilein, a man so respected by his fellow coaches he topped a preseason poll on the topic of following the rules.
That vote — conducted by CBS Sports — gave Beilein some good publicity before the season. CBS asked over 100 coaches which high-major coach they believed “does everything by the book and operates completely within the NCAA’s rulebook.” Beilein finished first in the poll, and when asked in early October about being such a clean coach, he joked he does it by showering regularly.
On Monday, after leading Michigan to its second Final Four in six seasons, he remained humble about his good-guy reputation.
“I think I represent hundreds of Division I coaches that are doing things the right way,” the 65-year-old Beilein said. “That was not an exact poll, that was a very random poll, but we do do everything we can to make sure we follow the very spirit — not just the NCAA rules, the spirit of the rules of the NCAA.”
Beilein coached at Canisius and Richmond before reaching the big time with West Virginia and Michigan. His gradual rise stands out in a sport where quick climbs — and quick falls — are fairly common.
He’s also been a head coach his whole career, meaning his teams reflect directly on him.
“When someone is a head coach you kind of know who they are and you watch what they do,” said Wright, who recalls when he was an assistant at Rochester and Beilein was the coach at Le Moyne.
“You watch them at Le Moyne, Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia, Michigan — I hope I didn’t forget one of them,” added Wright, whose Villanova team faces Kansas in Saturday’s other semifinal. “But that’s where I started watching him, and you saw the same consistency, quality of character, quality of players he recruits, class of his team on the court, off the court.”
Beilein is an intense coach with an eye for detail. His teams play disciplined, unselfish basketball, and he’ll pull players early at the slightest sign of foul trouble. But sideline histrionics are a rarity for him, and his modesty is on constant display.
“Actually it never has been the goal to be in the Final Four,” he said Monday. “If the goal was to do your best every day and try to mentor and teach every kid and it led to the Final Four, that’s great. But it’s never been the goal.”
The closest Beilein has come to any real controversy at Michigan involved transfer restrictions on outgoing players, and even then, the school eventually relented. Guard Spike Albrecht was able to go play for conference rival Purdue.
(About a month ago, Albrecht contributed a funny story on Twitter about what a stickler Beilein is for rules: “Coach Beilein wouldn’t let me order Tiramisu for dessert on my official visit because it was beer battered and I was only 19.”)
The last time Beilein took Michigan to the Final Four, the Wolverines lost in the title game to Louisville. The NCAA has since ordered Louisville to vacate that 2013 championship in the wake of a sex scandal.
The teams at this year’s Final Four will try to avoid that kind of messy legacy, starting with Loyola and Michigan on Saturday.
“Coach Beilein, I’ve gotten to know him over the years on the road,” Loyola coach Porter Moser said. “I remember visiting with him at the Final Four and on the road, and just what a highclass guy in terms of what he does with his program, how he runs his program. Just got a ton of respect for him.”