5 questions facing UConn
What to look for as Huskies begin practicing for strange season
The wait is over.
The UConn women’s basketball team can begin official practice for the 2020-21 season on Wednesday, per NCAA rules.
Here are five questions to watch as the Huskies hit the court.
HOW ARE THE FRESHMEN ACCLIMATING?
The Huskies will have no choice but to rely heavily on freshmen. They have six of them, including three who were ranked among the top 100 of their class by ESPN — No. 1 Paige Bueckers, No. 23 Aaliyah Edwards, No. 25 Mir McLean.
So far, their college experience has been far from typical. From the moment they arrived on campus in late July they’ve been under strict COVID-19 protocols, including daily screenings — medical questionnaires and temperature checks — upon entering school facilities.
Yet, despite the unusual circumstances, they’ve impressed the coaching staff and their teammates with their approach both on and off the court.
“Our incoming players are extremely competitive, extremely competitive,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “That, in of itself, is going to add a lot to this team. They don’t back down to anybody, our freshmen.”
HOW READY IS WESTBROOK?
Evina Westbrook isn’t a newcomer in the traditional sense. Though she joined the team last season, the former Tennessee standout sat out to fulfill NCAA transfer requirements.
Still, when assessing his roster,
Auriemma has lumped Westbrook with the Huskies’ freshman class.
Westbrook, 22, has played 64 games as a collegian, more than any player on the roster, including fellow juniors Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (59). She’s a candidate for big minutes in the Huskies’ backcourt because her experience is unmatched. She’s quite talented, too, but is still rounding into form physically after recovering from left knee surgery in December, her second procedure in a sixth-month span.
CAN WILLIAMS TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
No player may be more important to the Huskies than Williams. She should be the team’s top scorer and playmaker, in addition to a veteran leader. She has the talent and the charisma. She knows it, too.
Williams is notoriously hard on herself. The junior shooting guard offered a blunt assessment of her sophomore season earlier this month, calling it the worst of her career.
Sure it was harsh. But the former No. 1 overall recruit has reached a stage in her career where she can no longer fall into old habits, such as letting one poor game carry into the next. She’s priding herself on being more assertive and fighting through the “ups and downs” that stalled her progress last year.
WHAT’S ON THE TO-DO LIST?
Auriemma said the Huskies are further behind from where they would be in a normal offseason. But, relatively speaking, so is everyone else.
To this point, they’ve concentrated mainly on
basic elementary drills for short periods of time. But workouts will ramp up in intensity over the coming days, which should give Auriemma a better feel for what he can expect of his young team.
“We’re trying to get them comfortable, which is what we would do with any team that we have,” he said. “Maybe if we had seven returning players and four new players, we would be more advanced right now, but we’re not because we can’t be. We can’t outrun where we are. This is where we are. We have to slow down, and I’m OK with that.”
WHEN WILL THE GAMES BEGIN?
Technically, on Nov. 25. But at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Huskies tip off their season three days later against Quinnipiac in the Hall of Fame Challenge at Mohegan Sun.
Scheduling remains a mess. Monday’s announcement that UConn and Notre Dame have postponed their series to 2021-22 is a reminder that nothing is set in stone.