Samuelson is Connecticut’s irreplaceable star
Two-time All-american healthy after back injury
No sense dealing in contingencies if they aren’t necessary.
Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma was asked the other day what he would have done if his star player, Katie Lou Samuelson, had not been able to return to the court after a back injury.
“If we didn’t have her,” Auriemma said, “there really wasn’t a Plan B. Lou’s going to play. That’s all there is to it.”
There is no understating Samuelson’s
value to Uconn, which will play in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal Friday night against UCLA at Times Union Center (7 p.m., ESPN).
The Huskies’ second-tallest player at 6-foot 3, Samuelson is
listed as a guard. She pretty much can play any position.
Samuelson is second on the team in scoring (18.5), 3-point percentage (.373), rebounds (6.7) and assists (3.9)
When she went down March 2, colliding with Houston’s Julia Blackshellfair as both were going for a loose ball, Connecticut’s NCA A road looked a lot bumpier.
“If for some reason she wasn’t going to play,” Auriemma said reluctantly, “it’s two freshmen in the lineup, you keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.”
Uconn (33-2) does not have a deep team to begin with. Only 10 players are on the roster, and just six played Sunday night in the Huskies’ second-round victory.
After missing four games, including the entire American Athletic Conference Tournament, Samuelson returned Friday and played 22 minutes of a first-round game against Towson. Two nights later she played all 40 minutes as Uconn struggled to get past Buffalo.
“I feel good,” Samuelson said. “It was good for me to play a game like that. It will be good going forward.”
There isn’t much time left. Samuelson, who had offseason surgery on an ankle that slowed her much of last season, is a senior, so Uconn’s next loss will become her last game.
“It could always be worse,” she said. “For me, being able to play, I’m happy I get another chance.
“It’s to the point where it’s mind over matter. I feel like I’ve been in enough situations, I’ve played through enough things, where if I’m mentally in the right spot, I can be 100 percent without actually being 100 percent.”
A two-time All-american likely to make it three, Samuelson, a native of Huntington Beach, Calif., decided to follow a different college path than her older sisters, Bonnie and Karlie, both of whom went to Stanford.
With 2,277 career points and an NCAA championship already realized at Connecticut, she said she made the right choice.
“The way our coaches develop our players into all-around players and people that are ready for the pros is better than anywhere else,” said Samuelson, a likely high WNBA draft choice. “You can see that in the way the Olympic teams, the WNBA teams, almost every top player is from Uconn. You know you want to play after, and I thought they would prepare me the best for it.”
Connecticut, an 11-time NCAA champion that will be seeking its 20th Final Four appearance, rarely rebuilds, but it would be hard to imagine where the Huskies would be without Samuelson and fellow senior Napheesa Collier. They have a combined 4,602 points, the most for any set of Uconn classmates.
“When Pheesa and Lou walk off the court for the very last time,” Auriemma said, “whether there’s confetti falling on them or not, I’m going to feel like I’ve been fortunate enough to coach two of the best players ever to play at Connecticut.”
Uconn would like to be under the confetti when it drifts down April 7 in Tampa, Fla. It will take two victories in Albany and two more in Tampa to give Samuelson her first NCA A title since her freshman season.
That’s why she will do whatever is necessary to play.
“I’ve gotten the most out of being here, and I’ve had a lot of fun along the way,” Samuelson said. “Coming here was the best decision I ever made.”