UConn’s Samuelson is AAC Player of the Year
Junior’s a repeat winner after sharing honors with teammate Collier in 2017
Mohegan — It was a few minutes after 9 on Saturday morning. Katie Lou Samuelson had just been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season. And still no Katie Lou jokes from UConn coach Geno Auriemma. Too early? “There's not much that you can (joke about). I mean there is, don't get me wrong,” Auriemma said.
Following the announcement at the Cabaret Theatre at Mohegan Sun, the affable Samuelson thanked her teammates, saying, “This is an award for all of us.”
The presentation of the league's major honors kicked off the AAC tournament being held this weekend for the fifth straight season at Mohegan Sun Arena. Top-seeded UConn (29-0) will meet either No. 8 Memphis or No. 9 Tulane in the quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPNU).
Samuelson, the Co-Player of the Year last season along with teammate Napheesa Collier, scored 40 points in last year's AAC championship victory over South Florida on 10-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. She was later named a first team All-American.
UConn has not lost a regular-season game since the arrival of Samuelson, a junior.
She joins UConn greats Kerry Bascom (1989-91), Rebecca Lobo (199495), Diana Taurasi (2003-04) and Maya Moore (2008-09, 2011), all Big East award winners, and former teammate Breanna Stewart (2014-16) in being named league player of the year on multiple occasions.
Samuelson led UConn in averaging 18.3 points per game this season and is first in the nation shooting 49.0 percent from 3-point range.
“It's really humbling,” Samuelson said. “Look at the players who won before. I'm really grateful for this opportunity. I think even on our team we have a lot of deserving players, this year, specifically.
“… I think I've done a lot to kind of change what I do. I contributed in a bunch of different ways than I did last year. In the game, whenever the ball's in my hand, I try to do something good for the team. I don't want to be a liability.”
Samuelson, a 6-foot-3 native of Huntington Beach, Calif., was a unanimous selection on the All-AAC first team for the second straight year and is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy, the Wade Trophy and Wooden Award as national player of the year and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the top shooting guard in Division I.
Auriemma made a pitch for Samuelson as national player of the year, in fact, not that long ago.
“I don't know that anybody's had a better year than Lou and does more for their team,” Auriemma told the media following the Huskies' win over Tulane on Feb. 21. “Name me a player in America today that's as good a shooter as Lou, as good a passer as Lou, as good a ball-handler as Lou, as smart as Lou. I don't know one that has all those things and makes her teammates better.”
Auriemma's comments Saturday morning were tinged with sincerity, as well … until he was asked why he hadn't yet made a wisecrack. Even then he turned it complimentary.
“I've never seen a kid from California her freshman year ever get within 15 feet of the people she's guarding,” Auriemma said. “(Now), she's one of the drivers to what we need to do. That's all you want.
“… You learn that when you're in a team sport, you always accomplish things as a team. Anything that happens in a team sport is a direct reflection of your teammates,” Auriemma said, addressing Samuelson's graciousness toward her teammates while on the awards podium. “(Samuelson) is a great teammate.”
Also Saturday, Jose Fernandez of South Florida, in his 17th season, was named AAC Coach of the Year after leading the Bulls to their sixth straight 20-win season.
Cincinnati's IImar'I Thomas was named Freshman of the Year and South Florida's Kitija Laksa the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. v.fulkerson@theday.com