Jackson State has faced plenty tough foes
STORRS — Teams from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have won only 10 NCAA Tournament games, with Vivian Stringer’s Cheyney State teams winning eight of those. Jackson State, Uconn’s first-round opponent Saturday, has not won an NCAA Tournament game in six appearances, with its last coming in 2022.
The Tigers have also been matched up against some tough opponents. In 2021, they had to face Baylor in the first round and lost 101-52. In 2022, they had to face Kim Mulkey again, now coaching at LSU, and almost pulled off the firstround upset, but lost 83-77.
“Playing Kim Mulkey again at LSU, we went into that game with a lot of confidence,” Jackson State coach Tomekia Reed said. “All year I told my team after losing to Baylor by 50, we will be back in the NCAA Tournament, and we will not be blown out like that again. When you win your conference and you come into this tournament and get blown out, it’s like, that’s not how we identify. That’s not who we are.
“We were able to build on that going into the LSU game. We came into that game with a lot of confidence, with a lot of composure. We learned overall as a group.”
Last year, Jackson State lost in the SWAC Tournament semifinals on a last-second shot to Southern, 65-64 and did not make it to the NCAA Tournament. Reed said she talked about that loss non-stop.
Geno Auriemma sounds off on NIL, transfer portal window: Uconn coach Geno Auriemma has been a vocal critic of the modern era of college sports, and most of the 39-year veteran’s concerns stem from the transfer portal. The window to enter opened March 18, the day after Selection Sunday, and more than 500 women’s basketball players are already in the portal.
Auriemma worries that the trend is making smaller programs obsolete by allowing Power 5 teams to poach any talent they find.
“It’s killed every mid-major in America who have now become junior colleges so to speak, because as soon as they develop a good player, that player is leaving,” he said. “Then at the high majors, it’s costing you money to get the kid there and it’s costing you money to keep the kid there, and it’s costing you more money to make sure they don’t leave. No one is skating through this scenario going, ‘Yeah, I’ve got this figured out.’ Nobody.”
Auriemma also believes the current state of the sport will eventually lead to a steep decline of interest in coaching.