Behind UConn’s NCAA-record Sweet 16 streak under Geno Auriemma: ‘It’s just amazing’ 30 for 30
STORRS — There was a time when Geno Auriemma thought his UConn women’s basketball team would never make it to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Huskies lost their first NCAA game to La Salle in 1989 at the Storrs Field House. A year later, they got a bye with the 48-team field but Kerry Bascom’s 3-point shot at the buzzer to send them to the Sweet 16 hit the rim and bounced out in a second-round loss to Clemson at Gampel Pavilion.
Then in 1991 in the second round with UConn holding a 1-point lead, Toledo missed two potential gamewinning shots before the Huskies’ Wendy Davis was called for a foul by referee Simmie Lavender as the buzzer sounded that would have given the Rockets a one-and-one to advance. However, after a 10-minute meeting between Lavender, fellow referee Dee Kantner, and the timekeeper at the scorer’s table, Kantner ruled the clock had expired and UConn went to its first Sweet 16 and eventually to the Final Four.
So Auriemma is the one who knows how hard it is to do what the Huskies have made look so easy for three decades. UConn advanced to its NCAA-record 30th consecutive Sweet 16 Monday with a 72-64 Portland 3 Regional second-round win over Syracuse.
The third-seeded Huskies (31-5) will take on No. 7 Duke at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.
“There is a lot of history here where it’s not easy to win two games,” Auriemma said. “We talked to the team today about how there are a lot more upsets for the home team. That almost never used to happen in women’s basketball. Now it is happening almost on a regular basis.
From page B1
green room at Barclays Center on June 26, waiting for their names to be called as lottery picks. Two more could hear their names the following day, as the draft gets split into two nights this year.
Yet another could be straddling between the two rounds, potentially a firstround pick, possibly second-round ... possibly neither.
One thing is for sure: the Huskies’ minds aren’t on the NBA Draft right now. They are fully focused on San Diego State on Thursday (7:39 p.m., TBS) at TD Garden and, ultimately, becoming the first team in 17 years to repeat as national champions.
“Me and Coach haven’t talked about that at all,” freshman Stephon Castle said. “We’ve just been really focused on winning games. Our season’s been going great that way. Really just trying to play the best that I can while I’m here, and hopefully everything works out. Coach has been a great mentor for me leading up to this point. But, we’ve been all super lockedin to the games coming up.”
“I don’t care about that at all,” Alex Karaban added. “I care more about UConn right now, what I can do with this program. Hopefully, the legacy is winning two national championships. I think that’s something that (would) stick with me forever, more than anything else in the future.”
Now, mock drafts should be taken with several grains of salt. Hurley regularly “mocks” them by pointing out that the sites are often manipulated by agents trying to make their prospective clients look better.
Indeed, the mocks are all over the place when it comes to UConn players. NBADraftRoom has Castle going No. 5 overall. NBADraft.net sees him going No. 9, USA Today No. 10. But then, ESPN.com doesn’t see the 6-foot-6 freshman guard going among the top 15 lottery picks.
One Eastern Conference scout is enamored by Castle, seeing vast improvement since he first saw him at Damian Lillard’s camp last summer.
“I love Castle,” the scout said. “How many freshmen in the country compete and defend like he does? Not many.”
The scout noted that, while Castle’s jump shot is “suspect” (27.9 percent from 3), he sees the capacity of it improving. In fact, he already has.
“I saw him three times this year, spaced out, and each time he’s better,” he added. “I’ll tell you what, the way he competes defensively, for a freshman, that really elevated him with me. He’s going to be able to guard people early, which over the course of the first couple of years in the NBA will give him a way to get into his games until his offense comes around.”
“How good does the jump shot become?,” the scout continued. “Players in the NBA who were marginal shooters often become good shooters because they have good instruction and … they don’t have to go to class. Will he let someone tweak his shot a little bit?”
Clingan fielded questions from the media on Wednesday in a hallway outside the Huskies’ locker room at TD Garden. Somewhere down the hall was the locker room of the Celtics, Clingan’s favorite team. Jayson Tatum is his favorite player. He believes the Celts will win it all this season, probably beating Denver in the finals.
Could he be suting up for the Green next season? Doubtful, considering he’s a likely lottery pick. ESPN.com and Bleacher Report both have Clingan going No. 5 overall. USA Today has the 7-foot-2 center going No. 14; NBADraftRoom has him at No. 16.
Oddly, NBADraft.net has Clingan going No. 42 overall ... to the Celtics. The scout, who spoke anonymously, admitted some concern over Clingan’s lower leg injuries this season. But though the big man has only attempted six 3-pointers this season, he hits them regularly, with good form, in pregame and practice.
“His stroke isn’t broken,” the scout noted. “I remember in warm-ups at the Garden, he knocked down a couple of 3’s.”
Perhaps no player can improve his stock more over the next couple of weeks than Karaban. NBADraft.net has him going early in the second round (ahead of Clingan!) at No. 38. NBADraftRoom doesn’t see him being drafted at all.
“I would venture to guess, when you talk to people who do what I do, that he’s going to be all over the board,” the scout said. “I think he’s very interesting. He was the best player (at one) game I was at. He can go inside, but he can stretch the floor with the 3.”
“I didn’t go into this year liking him,” he added. “When I saw him a year ago I thought, ‘He’s alright.’
But, I think he’s really interesting, because of his versatility and his ability to shoot the ball. He gets it off quickly.”
If the 6-8 sophomore lights it up over the next four games, he could play himself into late-first round position. Not that he’s worried about that.
“During the season, Coach never talks about stock, he never talks about NBA,” Karaban said. “He wants to focus on everything in the moment. He thinks those are distractions. We’ll see what happens.”
“He should test the waters, see what they think,” the scout said. “He’s a thirdyear guy, he red-shirted one year, so he’s a little bit older, and that gets held against him. I would say, and I have said with people above me, if he enters, we should bring him in to work him out.”
Cam Spencer (”he’s got to shoot his way through the G-League to get to The League,” per the scout) and Tristen Newton have also generated some buzz, though most likely as, at best, late second-round picks.
“We do have several players on this team that are going to play in the NBA, are going to be drafted in the NBA, are going to be drafted in the lottery,” Dan Hurley noted.
And who knows? Maybe Karaban decides to return for another year. Maybe he gets Clingan, even Castle to join him and, if the Huskies win No. 2 this season, go for the first three-peat since John Wooden’s UCLA teams from 1971-1973.
But neither Hurley nor his players are thinking about any of that right now. After all, nobody wants another George Mason.
When: 7:39 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Records: San Diego State 26-10, UConn 34-3
TV: TBS
Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICH-Norwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), Fox Sports 97.9 FM Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973
KEEP AN EYE ON
Remember Jaedon LeDee from last year’s national championship game? You can be forgiven if you didn’t.
LeDee, a junior at the time, scored just seven harmless points in 18 minutes off the bench in San Diego State’s 76-59 loss to the UConn men’s basketball team. He’s grown a bit as a player since then.
LeDee, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward, was far and away the Aztecs’ leading scorer this season at 21.5 points per game. In fact, he was the No. 10 scorer in the nation ... and the only San Diego State player to average in double figures.
He is a tough, strong player who can step out and hit the 15-footer, despite a somewhat awkward looking shot. In his last 12 games, he’s averaged 24.5 points and shot 63.6 percent from 3.
Of course, while LeDee’s role has changed drastically from a year ago, several UConn players are in much bigger roles heading into Thursday night’s Sweet 16 battle with the Aztecs. Donovan Clingan is now a dominating starter, not Adama Sanogo’s 13-minute-per-game backup. Cam Spencer, the Huskies’ second-leading scorer, was home not even watching the tournament, after his Rutgers team was left out.
And UConn’s own top scorer, Tristen Newton, was a lot further down the scouting chart last year, certainly behind Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Player
SAN DIEGO STATE
Micah Parrish Jay Pal Lamont Butler Darrion Trammel Jaedon LeDee
Player
Tristen Newton Stephon Castle Alex Karaban Cam Spencer Donovan Clingan
Pos.
PPG