alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 10,096
- Reaction Score
- 7,844
I can feel the season coming on. I can feel a rush of excitement. Will the two-time defending champions accomplish a three-peat? Will they extend the winning streak such that it's still active and within close range of 91 in a row by the time all is said and done? That's a lot to look forward to.
I'll tell you what I'm not looking forward to: saying farewell to Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.
The recruitment of KML was kind of a non-event. It didn't take much time for her to be completely bought into the value of playing for UConn and to commit accordingly. Parenthetically, Courtney Eckmark has been the same way, and you should be excited about her upcoming four years as well. But Kaleena? Well, the girl from sunny SoCal would eventually see her three fellow national top 30 Mater Dei teammates (Alexyz Vaioletama, Karina Alofiatuli, Jordan Adams) stay in sunny SoCal for college. Kaleena went to snowy Storrs, Connecticut to be great and win championships.
There was no mystery that KML would be a great player; after all, he was the #1-ranked high school prospect in the country in 2011. Rather, the questions were "how great and how soon?'. On November 21, 2011, we learned by halftime in a game against Stanford that the answers were "Really freaking great, right freaking now."
I'll never forget that game. I'd splurged for front-row seats via StubHub. I saw how nervous KML looked when she came out to the court of the big XL Center for her first big game. Caroline Doty whispered something to make KML laugh just a little. But she started out the game on the bench, and early on, things didn't look too hot for UConn.
When she got off the bench, she had 25 points and eight boards. Maya Moore, who'd just graduated, was in the stands, but there was a new #23 in town. This was the Bria Hartley moment (against Baylor a year prior) on steroids.
KML would go on to hit the freshman wall for parts of 2011-12, but she bounced back by the season's conclusion. She dropped 19 points on Notre Dame in the BET championship game. In her first NCAA tournament, she averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds en route to the national semifinals. She'd finish the leading scorer for her team for the season.
Oh yeah- and then she won two national championships.
Kaleena was great in those two national championship runs. As a sophomore, she earned WBCA AA honors, thereby ensuring herself a spot on the Huskies of Honor wall. She averaged 19 points and 3.5 rebounds in the 2013 NCAA tournament, showing her trademark swagger against Notre Dame along the way by throwing her arms up in the air after a long three-point bomb. She wanted to be great and to be a champion. Only halfway through her career, she was.
Injuries and illness set her back somewhat as a junior. However, she did have some great games during the regular season. After one such game, Geno, when asked what she'd needed to do to get back to performances like that, concluded his response with, "I"m not worried about K." Nor should he have been; despite a bout of mononucleosis, she averaged 17 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists throughout the 2014 NCAA tournament. Her warrior's performance against BYU in the regional semis was unforgettable. She didn't get repeat WBCA AA honors, but if she's back to 100% this upcoming season (as she looks to be), she will be thusly honored again.
She's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. She's the truth. She's a great player and a champion. She's only going to add to her already-considerable legacy by the conclusion of the 2014-15 season.
Yep- quite a lot to look forward to after all.
I'll tell you what I'm not looking forward to: saying farewell to Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.
The recruitment of KML was kind of a non-event. It didn't take much time for her to be completely bought into the value of playing for UConn and to commit accordingly. Parenthetically, Courtney Eckmark has been the same way, and you should be excited about her upcoming four years as well. But Kaleena? Well, the girl from sunny SoCal would eventually see her three fellow national top 30 Mater Dei teammates (Alexyz Vaioletama, Karina Alofiatuli, Jordan Adams) stay in sunny SoCal for college. Kaleena went to snowy Storrs, Connecticut to be great and win championships.
There was no mystery that KML would be a great player; after all, he was the #1-ranked high school prospect in the country in 2011. Rather, the questions were "how great and how soon?'. On November 21, 2011, we learned by halftime in a game against Stanford that the answers were "Really freaking great, right freaking now."
I'll never forget that game. I'd splurged for front-row seats via StubHub. I saw how nervous KML looked when she came out to the court of the big XL Center for her first big game. Caroline Doty whispered something to make KML laugh just a little. But she started out the game on the bench, and early on, things didn't look too hot for UConn.
When she got off the bench, she had 25 points and eight boards. Maya Moore, who'd just graduated, was in the stands, but there was a new #23 in town. This was the Bria Hartley moment (against Baylor a year prior) on steroids.
KML would go on to hit the freshman wall for parts of 2011-12, but she bounced back by the season's conclusion. She dropped 19 points on Notre Dame in the BET championship game. In her first NCAA tournament, she averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds en route to the national semifinals. She'd finish the leading scorer for her team for the season.
Oh yeah- and then she won two national championships.
Kaleena was great in those two national championship runs. As a sophomore, she earned WBCA AA honors, thereby ensuring herself a spot on the Huskies of Honor wall. She averaged 19 points and 3.5 rebounds in the 2013 NCAA tournament, showing her trademark swagger against Notre Dame along the way by throwing her arms up in the air after a long three-point bomb. She wanted to be great and to be a champion. Only halfway through her career, she was.
Injuries and illness set her back somewhat as a junior. However, she did have some great games during the regular season. After one such game, Geno, when asked what she'd needed to do to get back to performances like that, concluded his response with, "I"m not worried about K." Nor should he have been; despite a bout of mononucleosis, she averaged 17 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists throughout the 2014 NCAA tournament. Her warrior's performance against BYU in the regional semis was unforgettable. She didn't get repeat WBCA AA honors, but if she's back to 100% this upcoming season (as she looks to be), she will be thusly honored again.
She's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. She's the truth. She's a great player and a champion. She's only going to add to her already-considerable legacy by the conclusion of the 2014-15 season.
Yep- quite a lot to look forward to after all.
