Famed coaches steal spotlight

All four have national titles

nashville, tenn. » Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer, Muffet McGraw and Brenda Frese have allwon national championships, each using their own style to get the most out of their teams.

Now, they all hope they can coax twomore victories out of their squads to win another title.

“These four are the gold standard for coaches,” Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said.

Both Auriemma and VanDerveer are enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. This year’s Final Four marks one of the rare times that all four coaches have won national championships.

Auriemma leads the way with eight titles and can break a tie with Pat Summitt for most all time if the Huskies repeat as champions. Despite winning 44 straight games by astronomical margins, Auriemma never lets his Huskies get too full of themselves.

“It’s hard for us to get cocky when you have a coach like him who kind of lets you know your weaknesses and makes sure you work on them all the time,” UConn senior guard Bria Hartley said. “He makes sure you really stay kind of hungry and wanting to get better rather than getting complacent.”

VanDerveer of Stanford takes a more cerebral approach. She’s won two national championships and has been to the Final Four in six of the past seven seasons.

“Tara teaches you how to watch film, to make sure you pay attention to details,” SouthCarolina coach Dawn Staley said.

McGraw, who won a national title in 2001, has guided Notre Dame to four straight Final Fours.

“She’s so intense and on us,” Irish senior Kayla McBride said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing; shewants us to do the same thing against every single team.”

Maryland’s Frese tends to be a player’s coach. She played a practical joke on star Alyssa Thomas before telling her that they were going to put her number in the arena’s rafters. Thomas got her back by filling Frese’s office with balloons.

Honor roll.

UConn’s Breanna Stewart was named The Associated Press player of the year, while McGraw was selected coach of the year for the second straight season.