Biggest winner (player) in uconn basketball history? (Men or women)

[superjohn]

Love Stewie but I’m with @Waquoit . She and Diana were different generations, with different teams, and responsibilities. Dee has 3 NCAA championships and would have 4 but in her freshman year the team lost Svet Abrosimova mid-year to injury then Shea Ralph in the Elite 8. In her last 2 seasons she carried the team while Stewie played with a bunch of future WNBA stars. Stewie didn’t have to go through any Pat Summitt teams, either. To me, Dee is the best UConn player.

For the men, gotta go with Ray Allen

View attachment 114449

Sarah Strong is better than both of them.

 

[OceanDoggie]

Because the discussion was about the entire career. Taurasi won two NCAA titles practically by herself, the remaining being part of the best team of all-time. Stewie had great teammates. I think Taurasi is the only Husky of Honor on those last two winning teams. DT does get gigged slightly, her play in the semis of her freshman year probably cost the team the title that year. Stewart may be Top 10, Taurasi's the GOAT.

Listen, I agree with @HuskyNan on the Svetlana and Ralph injuries, mostly Svetlana as I think she's probably most underrated player in UCONN WNB history. That said, Taurasi still had Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones on the team. She was hardly by herself. These are all All-American players.

Stewart was the most dominant and important player on all 4 of her Championship teams, as is seen by her 4 FF Most Outstanding Player awards.

 

[ec33]

Surprised Kemba isn't getting more discussion here. He single-handedly led the team to a title.

And DT on the women's side, she was money with the game on the line.

No one I would rather have their hands on the ball in a last second situation than those two.

 

[thekollieman]

Sarah Strong is better than both of them.

Of course this remains to be seen, but is possible. Especially when you factor in, as others have pointed out, the more recent the more competitive the field as a pretty strong rule in WBB.

 

[Deepster]

Okay. If we want to keep this on here and actually debate it.....

There's no question that 1 men's title equals 3, maybe 4 women's titles. Are we really debating whether someone like Breanna Stewart is a bigger winner than Donovan Clingan? Or Paige Bueckers over Shabazz or Kemba? Let's be serious here. It's not even close.

 

[RuffRuff]

Sarah Strong is better than both of them.

Blasphemous

 

[OceanDoggie]

Okay. If we want to keep this on here and actually debate it.....

There's no question that 1 men's title equals 3, maybe 4 women's titles. Are we really debating whether someone like Breanna Stewart is a bigger winner than Donovan Clingan? Or Paige Bueckers over Shabazz or Kemba? Let's be serious here. It's not even close.

...but then how do you explain the success of DT, BS and Sue Bird in the WNBA and around the world? I'm curious on what your response will be. Do you hold individual success and achievement at the same 3/1 or 4/1 ratio?

 

[Jaydumo20]

Sarah Strong is better than both of them.

Strong is the best player I've ever seen with my own two eyes. All with what seems to be minimal effort. It's like that.
There hasn't been a player on the men's side with that skill set. Do we have someone who comes close?


Jokic has eligibility

 

[superjohn]

Strong is the best player I've ever seen with my own two eyes. All with what seems to be minimal effort. It's like that.
There hasn't been a player on the men's side with that skill set. Do we have someone who comes close?


Jokic has eligibility

Same. After watching her a few times as a freshmen I determined if she stays healthy she'll be the best UConn women's basketball player ever and the best women's basketball player ever.

I always considered Taurasi the best women's player ever and that seems to have always been the consensus but A'ja Wilson has surpassed her.

Jokic would be the comparison for Strong but he's way more skilled and it's unfair to men and women to ever compare them in sports. My buddy who played D3 basketball at Conn College played against Taurasi and when I asked him if he thinks he could beat her he shot me a look. There's high school boys teams all over the place who would destroy the UConn women.

 

[Gurleyman]

Listen, I agree with @HuskyNan on the Svetlana and Ralph injuries, mostly Svetlana as I think she's probably most underrated player in UCONN WNB history. That said, Taurasi still had Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones on the team. She was hardly by herself. These are all All-American players.

Stewart was the most dominant and important player on all 4 of her Championship teams, as is seen by her 4 FF Most Outstanding Player awards.

That was her team her sophomore season. Her junior year and senior year she won with Maria Conlon, Morgan Valley, Jessica Moore, Barbara Turner and Ann Strother.

They were all good supporting players and champions. Some had a cup of coffee in the wnba. She couldn’t have won without them. But the next year those same players went 21-8 and got blown out in the Sweet 16 by Stanford.

 

[John]

Same. After watching her a few times as a freshmen I determined if she stays healthy she'll be the best UConn women's basketball player ever and the best women's basketball player ever.

I always considered Taurasi the best women's player ever and that seems to have always been the consensus but A'ja Wilson has surpassed her.

Jokic would be the comparison for Strong but he's way more skilled and it's unfair to men and women to ever compare them in sports. My buddy who played D3 basketball at Conn College played against Taurasi and when I asked him if he thinks he could beat her he shot me a look. There's high school boys teams all over the place who would destroy the UConn women.

This look shot to you means your D3 playing friend thinks he's better than Taurasi?

 

[OceanDoggie]

That was her team her sophomore season. Her junior year and senior year she won with Maria Conlon, Morgan Valley, Jessica Moore, Barbara Turner and Ann Strother.

They were all good supporting players and champions. Some had a cup of coffee in the wnba. She couldn’t have won without them. But the next year those same players went 21-8 and got blown out in the Sweet 16 by Stanford.

I'm talking about her freshman year, when they lost in a domineering fashion to Notre Dame in the Championship game. Those were her teammates and those were the injuries that team suffered. In Stewies freshman year she was the best player on the court, in an evolving sport that was more crowded with talent. She also won every possible award she was eligible to win.

 

[superjohn]

This look shot to you means your D3 playing friend thinks he's better than Taurasi?

Yes

 

[Horsebrnhil]

Is it me, or has everyone forgotten DT?
Stewie is a star in the pantheon of UC women's players, but DT is my pick. Forget about her professional career, her 4 years at Storrs showed she was the best. Forget her performance in semifinals as a freshman, without her, would have they even had made it that far? Nope ,DT is my pick for women's. As for the men.....Okafor, Kling Kong, Alex, Baz, Kemba.

 

[Gurleyman]

Yes

Head to head I’m sure he is. Taurasi would have been a slow, unathletic small guard if she tried to play DIII men’s hoops - an adequate spot up shooter (and passer in open space) at best, but she couldn’t have guarded anyone consistently.

Always found these arguments a little silly. You can look at track and field records - or your own eyes - and see that men are bigger, stronger, faster. Along the same lines, UConn would have gotten their butts kicked if they played the Celtics or Nuggets after winning their titles - but it doesn’t matter. UConn dominated its level of competition

 

[HuskyNan]

That said, Taurasi still had Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones on the team. She was hardly by herself. These are all All-American players.

For two years, yes. In 2000-01, Dee’s freshman year, was the injury year. The 2001-02 team rolled over everyone then Bird,Cash, Williams, and Jones graduated. There were no WNBA players on the roster the next two championship years.

 

[Mr. French]

This look shot to you means your D3 playing friend thinks he's better than Taurasi?

Of course he does. No college player wants to admit that they can’t take a female 1 on 1.

I told my college coach during DT’s run that they’d smoke our team and he got REAL annoyed.

 

[OceanDoggie]

Formatting

 

[gtcam]

Strong is the best player I've ever seen with my own two eyes. All with what seems to be minimal effort. It's like that.
There hasn't been a player on the men's side with that skill set. Do we have someone who comes close?


Jokic has eligibility

The topic is biggest winner - not best player - thats what I am looking at.
Stewart on the womens side is not even close - 4 FF MVPs with 4 rings and dominating everyone in those four seasons.
Are you old enough to have watched her play at UConn? Not being a snark, just wondering

As far as the men - AK may be the player who had played in most winning games in a UConn mens uniform, if that is the criteria

 

[OceanDoggie]

For two years, yes. In 2000-01, Dee’s freshman year, was the injury year. The 2001-02 team rolled over everyone then Bird,Cash, Williams, and Jones graduated. There were no WNBA players on the roster the next two championship years.

Barbara Turner was drafted 11th overall by the Seatle Storm.
Ann Strother drafted as the 1st pick in the 2nd round (15th overall)
Ashley Moore was drafted, as was Ashley Battle. I'm sure there were more.
Good teams she played on, and was the obvious engine in the train.

 

[Gurleyman]

The topic is biggest winner - not best player - thats what I am looking at.
Stewart on the womens side is not even close - 4 FF MVPs with 4 rings and dominating everyone in those four seasons.
Are you old enough to have watched her play at UConn? Not being a snark, just wondering

As far as the men - AK may be the player who had played in most winning games in a UConn mens uniform, if that is the criteria

AK’s story isn’t done. We have to see how this March/April goes. How far do we go and how much does he impact those games will be the final chapter into how we contextualize his career.

Bazz was a role player as a freshman, led an underachieving team as a sophomore, kept the program afloat as a junior, and then cemented his legacy as a senior with an unlikely tournament run - but that run almost didn’t happen. We were in danger against St. Joes and then in danger again against Nova down 20-10 when Bazz sat with two fouls.

 

[Inyatkin]

Bazz was a role player as a freshman, led an underachieving team as a sophomore, kept the program afloat as a junior, and then cemented his legacy as a senior with an unlikely tournament run - but that run almost didn’t happen. We were in danger against St. Joes and then in danger again against Nova down 20-10 when Bazz sat with two fouls.

That's one way to phrase it. You could also say he hit two free throws as a freshman that basically won us a title, and had one of the best two-year runs we've ever seen his last two years. Recent UConn history aside, a championship team facing a near-miss is more the rule than the exception.

 

[superjohn]

That's one way to phrase it. You could also say he hit two free throws as a freshman that basically won us a title, and had one of the best two-year runs we've ever seen his last two years. Recent UConn history aside, a championship team facing a near-miss is more the rule than the exception.

Yeah, that's a weird way he framed Bazz's career. I would frame it as he was our invaluable 6th man as a freshman making clutch plays helping us win a title. He stayed with the program through one of our darkest periods with Calhoun retiring and the team being banned from the tournament over a retroactive nonsensical punishment and then he was a first team all-American his senior season leading us to a national championship where he was hands down the best player in the tournament.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Surprised Kemba isn't getting more discussion here. He single-handedly led the team to a title.

And DT on the women's side, she was money with the game on the line.

No one I would rather have their hands on the ball in a last second situation than those two.

I'm with you on Kemba, needing to get consideration.

I'm also a bit surprised no one has even offered Maya Moore. I don't think she beats Stewie or Dee, but she's pretty darn close.

 

[OceanDoggie]

I'm with you on Kemba, needing to get consideration.

I'm also a bit surprised no one has even offered Maya Moore. I don't think she beats Stewie or Dee, but she's pretty darn close.

1st world problems this Program has! 😄

 

[Jaydumo20]

The topic is biggest winner - not best player - thats what I am looking at.
Stewart on the womens side is not even close - 4 FF MVPs with 4 rings and dominating everyone in those four seasons.
Are you old enough to have watched her play at UConn? Not being a snark, just wondering

As far as the men - AK may be the player who had played in most winning games in a UConn mens uniform, if that is the criteria

Yeah. I'm 46. In my initial post I said Stewie as well. She is the biggest winner. I was agreeing with @superjohn that I have never seen a talent like Strong.

 

[Jimdish255]

Samson Johnson won two NCAA Men's Basketball National Championships with the UConn Huskies in 2023 and 2024, playing a key role as a big man off the bench and later as a starter for the dominant team. He is also UConn's all-time winningest player and holds the program's field goal percentage record, solidifying his legacy with consecutive national titles before turning pro in 2025.

Show the "Iron Man" some Luv!

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Excluding coaches, the player who went 4 for 4 on Titles is the only answer.