‘We’re here for business’
UConn settles into Bahamas resort with focus on hoops
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — With palm trees nearby and waves crashing into white sand beaches in the distance, Geno Auriemma spent part of Thursday night relaxing with a cigar on his hotel room patio, puffing smoke into the humid Caribbean air.
That scene — complete peace 1,200 miles from campus — probably does little to stoke the fire of a fan’s excitement for high-level basketball, which is certainly the primary reason for this trip. It does, however, represent the ways in which the world has gained some momentum after coming to a screeching halt about 20 months ago. And that’s worth appreciating.
“We’re in the Bahamas,” Paige Bueckers said Friday during a news conference just outside Imperial Arena, the transformed convention center at the heart of the Atlantis Paradise Island resort, where on Saturday, UConn faces Minnesota to open the Battle 4 Atlantis. “I mean, last year we were in Storrs, Connecticut, the whole year, so …”
Hold on. Moments earlier, Bueckers, who had more college options over a longer period of time than any high school player in America, had mentioned that she always wanted to attend
UConn.
Auriemma couldn’t let it go. He interjected.
“I thought that was your dream, to go there,” he said. “Now you’re (piling) on Storrs?”
“No,” Bueckers said. “I’m saying it’s nice to get out and explore once in a while. Mask, no mask … it’s just a different environment, important for us and to be here and play the game we love. That’s very important as well.”
It was all smiles on arrival, some jokes, optimism — freedom, really, no matter how many tests had to be passed and protocols adhered to just so the team’s $100,000 charter flight could gain clearance for touchdown at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau.
Last year at this time, coaches and players were still tip-toeing through complications of an unsettled college sports scene in a pandemic that is ongoing but certainly more manageable. They were living a constricted lifestyle of distancing and isolation and, as it turned out, waiting for the cancellation of three games that pushed the season opener to midDecember.
Now, with a home victory over Arkansas already under their belt, the No. 2 Huskies will have played four games and come and gone
from the Bahamas before Thanksgiving. They’ll play South Florida or Syracuse in the second round Sunday, looking to reach Monday’s championship game for a potential matchup with top-ranked South Carolina or No. 9 Oregon. The team will enjoy Tuesday on the island, with a dolphin excursion planned, and return to Connecticut on Wednesday.
“I would say it’s different in many ways, but you have to come into it with the same mindset,” senior guard Evina Westbrook said. “Obviously we’re in Atlantis and they’re known for just relaxing and enjoying yourself, spending time with family, doing all that kind of good stuff. But the biggest part is we’re here for business. And we’ve made that emphasis in practice, in pregame talks. Just knowing that we came here for, the biggest reason was to play. Pleasure and having fun, you know, a little bit on the side.”
The Huskies did travel last year, mostly to empty gyms. But nothing felt normal because nothing was normal. The NCAA Tournament and another run to the Final Four was quite an experience — fans were even allowed to attend games — but the pre-vaccination season of 2020-21 was mostly spent trying to outrun a virus and get in and out of the next empty arena.
San Antonio, site of the Final Four, is a great American city.
Cactuses are cool. So is the River Walk.
But palm trees? The beautiful blue where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean?
The Huskies are playing elite competition in paradise this week.
After practice and various team responsibilities Friday, players were free to explore the resort and they did so in groups, spotted here and there around Atlantis. Sophomore Aaliyah Edwards seemed to show particular interest in one option — swimming with sharks — but quickly moved on. That costs $150.
Auriemma has a cheaper alternative.
“You know if we win, you know you can go out and have a great time and celebrate,” he said. “If we lose, just go out and walk in the ocean and keep walking and don’t come back, you know? So there’s a lot of ways that to you can take advantage of what’s here. I asked a guy this morning, ‘How far is the ocean from here?’ He said five minutes. I said ‘Good, I’ll have to keep that in mind.’ ”
There’s so much basketball value to this trip. It’s too early for a team to find out exactly what type of March/ April potential it has, but it’s an immediate identifier of strides that need to be made in the coming months.
“It’s kind of like a basketball tradition where around the Thanksgiving holidays, you’ve got to be playing in some tournament somewhere,” Auriemma said. “And you hope, obviously, you’re going to a great place and it’s where they understand hospitality and certainly that’s the case here. And then you hope you have great competition, which obviously is one of the main reasons why you do these things, and you hope that it’s well-organized and well-run. … So for a young team, this is a great way to kind of get the season off and running.
“You had forgotten what it’s like to travel. And certainly, travel is way different now than it was pre-2020. And managing the travel may be as challenging as the teams you’re going to play. So we made it here. So step one is taken care of. Now we’re going to manage the rest.”
The resort was a place of great energy over the afternoon hours Friday, with guests wearing team gear and lining up to check in. Players came and went from lobbies and recreation areas. The sound of sneakers squeaking could be heard from behind the black curtain of closed practices in the arena. Credentialing areas were being set up. The final portion of the tournament’s heavy lifting was taking place.
UConn had a meeting and team dinner scheduled for Friday evening, followed by a tournament welcome reception for all eight teams.
Saturday morning will be all basketball business, with the joyous nature of their surroundings temporarily irrelevant.
“I think it’s going to be a great test for us, for sure,” Westbrook said. “You know, traveling in itself is tiring. But there’s eight teams here going through the same thing. So just kind of making sure that we know why we’re here and what we need to get done.”