The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Auriemma named AP Coach of Year again
DALLAS » When Geno Auriemma gathered the 2016-17 UConn women’s basketball team around him for the first official practice in October, the last thing he was thinking about was receiving the Associated Press Coach of the Year in Dallas five and a half months later.
Yet, there he was late on Thursday afternoon sharing the stage with AP Player of the Year Kelsey Plum after earning the honor for an unprecedented ninth time.
“What is different is that since October to now, they have become something different,” Auriemma said. “They have changed individually, as a team they are not anywhere near the team that they were in October or November for that matter. That has been really
rewarding. Some teams are already amazing October 15, (like) last year’s team and this team has changed incredibly and that is probably the thing that makes us feel the best about it.”
After graduating AllAmericans Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, the Huskies weren’t even the No. 1 team in the Associated Press’ preseason poll. Yet, here they are at 36-0 and two wins away from a fifth consecutive national title.
“The reality of the situation is we probably didn’t do anything different this year,” Auriemma said. “We didn’t work any harder, we didn’t put in more hours, we didn’t watch more film or come up with new drills. It really is about putting the players in a tough spot and letting them do the rest, they did and that is why we are here.”
Rebecca Lobo, the national player of year on Auriemma’s first national championship, said earlier on Thursday that this is probably the best coaching job of Auriemma’s career. Auriemma wasn’t ready to second that notion.
Plum received 30 of the 33 votes to earn AP Player of the Year. UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams as well as South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson earned the other votes.
Plum broke the NCAA Division I women’s basketball single-season and career scoring records as a senior at Washington.
“I worked to try to be more efficient,” Plum said. “I tried to go for the 5040-90 role (shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the foul line) and tried to make sure I was the best teammate possible and have the best attitude and I was going to be in the best shape.
“I got the best shot every night, different defenses, I think I got the kitchen sink thrown at me with box and 1s, triangle and 2s, switching, hedging and all that stuff so it was great as a player you get to challenge yourself within the game, when things are going on, you have to figure out how to adjust but that is really cool because a lot of people don’t get that opportunity.”
If Plum has a regret it is that after leading the Huskies to the Final Four as a junior, Washington’s season ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Mississippi State. Plum would have liked to have had at least one game against UConn and the hype would have been off the charts had Washington and not Mississippi State advanced to meet UConn in Friday’s national semifinal.