00 Jersey Number ??

[DobbsRover2]

I believe years later when asked why she wore #3, DT just answered, "Coach told me to."

Memories can vary as the stories get retold by Geno and DT, but in later years he has said that he invoked the Babe with selling her on the #3. Whether true of not, that's the reason he gave for telling her so.

 

[CONNU]

Kiara Perry, the SMU 5' 10" guard who had the enviable task of guarding Stewie wears the jersey # 00. I cannot remember any hot basketball player wearing the 00. Not in the NBA, ABA or WNBA. It seems like a brash target number. Anybody know of any lore behind the OO jersey in basketball?

PS. Don't quit your day job. This is what you're reduced to when you walk away from the work-a-day world.

Although this is no ta basketball related answer, the first player in sports that I can remember wearing OO was Jim Otto from the old AFL. It made sense for him given his name.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I remember the DT #3 story slightly differently with coach Auriemma discussing it either on one of his shows or on one of the DVDs. Ms Taurasi asked for #1, rejected; 0, rejected with Coach Auriemma replying, " So, now you want to be a nothing."; Ms Taurasi then requested 00, with Coach Auriemma replying, "So now you want to be two times nothing." After which Coach Auriemma suggested #3 adding that she could go on to be the Babe Ruth of Women's basketball. Caron Butler wore #3 at the exact same time for UConn on the men's side.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Okay, as from Geno's In Pursuit of Perfection and grabbed from John A's post about the 10 most memorable Geno quotes:

9. From Geno's book "In Pursuit of Perfection"

When freshman Diana Taurasi asked him if she could wear No. 00 at UConn: "I ask Diana what number she wants to wear and she says 00. I tell her, you want to wear 00? Then you're an idiot. Nobody wears 00 in college. That's just a way of drawing attention to yourself. Pick a real number. "Then she thinks about it and says, 'I'll wear No. 1.' Now I'm getting upset. Nobody is wearing No. 1 here. You haven't done enough to earn the right to wear No. 1. Now she's ticked off. She's giving me some song and dance about why she's good enough for it and I'm not budging. "I tell her, 'Look at No. 3.' She asks why and I say because if you do this right, if you do what I tell you to do, then you are going to be the Babe Ruth of women's basketball."