The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Geno experienced with recruits from famous families
STORRS — Geno Auriemma hadn’t seen the video yet.
He hadn’t seen Kobe Bryant and Reggie Miller chatting about Bryant’s 12-year-old daughter Gianna after the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory Thursday night at Staples Center. Auriemma hadn’t heard Reggie say to Kobe, “I heard she can ball, man.” Hadn’t seen Miller grab Bryant by the arms and yell “UCLA!”
“She is hellbent on UConn, really,” Kobe answered.
“Come on, you don’t want her to go that far,” Miller said.
“Her momma don’t want her to go that far,” Bryant said.
No, Auriemma hadn’t seen the video that went viral Friday. Neither had Katie Lou Samuelson, who spent time this summer breaking down the women’s Final Four film with Bryant. None of this stopped the Hall of Fame coach from going THAT far, going coastto-coast with a rapscallion’s tongue.
“Yeah, we’ve had some illegal contact with (Gianna),” Auriemma said. “She was in the locker room a couple of times with us. Ten-12 years from now, we’ll see how that holds up.”
Leave it to Geno to torment the NCAA. Yes, Gianna visited the Huskies’ locker room and took some photos last season when they played at UCLA. Yes, Auriemma has become good friends with Bryant. Yes, Kobe plans to go to a game at Gampel Pavilion.
No, we don’t know how good Gianna will be at 17.
What we do know is she would not be the first child of excellent athletes to play for Auriemma.
Kiah Stokes’ dad, Greg, was a star at Iowa and played a couple of
seasons in the NBA. Gabby Williams’ father, Matt, played at Nevada. Kara Wolters’ dad, Willie, played at Boston College and had a cup of coffee with the Seattle SuperSonics. Kia Nurse’s dad, Richard, played in the Canadian Football League and her mom, Cathy, played basketball at McMaster University. Maya Moore’s father, Mike Dabney, played on the 1976 Final Four Rutgers team. Shea Ralph’s mom, Marsha, was a terrific player at North Carolina.
Adrian Griffin had a nine-year NBA career. His daughter Aubrey is a 2019 commit to UConn. None are as high-profile as Kobe, of course, but Auriemma has had decades of experience in this area. Some of these former athletes’ daughters played for him. Some did not.
“I think if it’s handled the right way, yes, I do think there’s a positive difference,” Auriemma said. “There also are a lot of parents that put a lot of unnecessary expectations on their kids. ‘Hey, I accomplished this. That’s what I want you to accomplish.’ The kids sometimes are like, ‘Maybe I don’t have that.’ One thing is recognizing whatever talent your kid has that may not be in the sport you play, or in any sport.
“If it’s handled the right way there is this feeling, ‘I’m used to success. I know what success looks like. I know how much work it takes to be successful.’ I’ve seen it work exceptionally well. I’ve also seen kids really struggle with trying to live up to their parents’ expectations. But generally speaking it’s a good thing.”
Kobe may be the one of the top 10 basketball players of all time, but he is not immune from Auriemma’s needle.
“I’m sure he’s probably one of those overbearing dads who coaches her team,” Auriemma said. “He has already talked to me about how he has two kids. One has a laid-back mentality and the other is ‘Baby Mamba.’ He wants his kids to have that Mamba mentality.
“But it’s really interesting. Whenever he’s around us, our team and coaching staff, he’s unbelievable as a dad. He stays out of it completely. He puts them at the forefront. He isn’t one of those guys that’s, ‘You should see my daughter. She’s unbelievable. How come you didn’t offer her a scholarship yet?’ You get a lot of it.” Really?
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I saw a boy, 10-11, with a couple of coaches. I go, ‘Your team any good?’ He goes ‘We’re No. 1 in the country.’ I almost had a heart attack. I go, ‘You’re what?’ How does a 10-yearold know you’re No. 1 in the country? He says they travel to all these tournaments and they’re rated No. 1. You’ve got to be kidding.
“I went from the equivalent of Manchester to Glastonbury when I was 11 to play a game and I thought I was never coming home. And they’re getting on a plane and flying? It’s a different world. These kids grow up way too fast. In that respect, I think Kobe is doing a really good job.”
Remember Mo’ne Davis, who became a national sensation in 2014 when she pitched in the Little League World Series? How she said her dream was to play basketball at UConn? How Auriemma gave her a congratulatory call? And the NCAA, in its wisdom, hit UConn with a secondary recruiting violation? Her Little League story remans an inspiring one, but four years later, at 17 and a 2019 recruit, she isn’t a high enough caliber guard for UConn.
She is a reminder of how the UConn women can take on almost mythic proportions. They’re like the Yankees. Of course a 12-year-old girl dreams of playing at UConn.
“I was just talking to the players about that today before practice,” Auriemma said. “We’re kind of numb and immune to everything that’s around us here. But anytime we go someplace, anytime we’re in public and around other people, they have this perception that’s almost mythical.
“I don’t know if players can actually live up to that perception. It’s part of their life wherever they go. The expectation is you must be the best basketball player in the country. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. But I do think the kids who walk in here thinking, ‘I’m the best player in the country’ and buy into that are in for a rude awakening.”
In case any of them forgot, Auriemma took them to the U.S. Military Academy on Thursday. West Point made an indelible point.
“So much is expected of you every minute of every day,” Auriemma said. “They came away from there going, ‘I can’t believe how it must be for these guys my age.’ Out of high school, right away in that environment. They were taken aback by the classwork, the daily demands, the rigors, the discipline.”
Fly in a plane. Play a game. Fly back home. Tough schedule.
“My day is brutal,” Auriemma said. “Well, you just saw what a brutal day is. They got a healthy respect for their peers. Whatever your definition of winning is, that was the defining theme of yesterday. You can’t just show up. You’ve got to show up to win. Like General (Martin) Dempsey always says, ‘They’re undefeated. And they never play home games.’ We hope they never do.”
Now back to Kobe and Reggie. How great would it be if Spike Lee edited Ray Allen, aka Jesus Shuttlesworth, into the video and had him yelling at Reggie, “One: I broke your 3-point record. And two: UConn! UConn! UConn!”
Just a thought.