CBC article: a celebration of Kia Nurse's college career

[Plebe]

This article was in Nan's "UConn in the News" roundup, but I thought it deserved its own thread. (I didn't see it posted in any other thread, but my apologies if I missed it.)

Kia Nurse's 'homecoming' game in Toronto a celebration of stellar collegiate career | CBC Sports

I really enjoyed the account of how Kia became a starter early in her freshman year:

Nurse's start as a Huskie was far from a fairy tale.

Just two games into her freshman year, Nurse fouled out in just 20 minutes played as UConn's 47-game win streak was snapped in an overtime loss against the Stanford Cardinals.

It was an early season wake-up call and Auriemma knew at that moment that he had to do something, so he inserted Nurse into the starting lineup for the next game.

"You could see right then and there, that was the change we were going to make. She was the spark that we were missing," Auriemma says.

Nurse knows it wasn't one of her finer moments, but it laid the foundation for her collegiate and international career.

"It was heartbreaking for me because I felt like I didn't do anything to help contribute to that game in the ways that I probably could. After that, coach called me into his office and was like, 'I'm going to start you to play defence.' It was an eye-opener of what are you really good at and [a lesson to] do that every single day," Nurse says.​

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Now that you bring it up, the Kia who started her freshman year and the Kia of today are very different. It is a hallmark of the UConn program of course; you are always challenged to move forward and improve your skill set and basketball acumen. This morning YouTube suggested this video for me and I pass it on. Snippets of it have been used before, but this is the first I have seen the whole 3+ minutes of Kia in anticipation of the Toronto game last week. Fairly early on she remarks how her Team Canada coaches every summer express their surprise in the changes in her game. It is a testament to the high standards and hard work demanded at UConn; thankfully most kids recruited into the program have that internal fire going in.

 

[bags27]

"You could see right then and there, that was the change we were going to make. She was the spark that we were missing," Auriemma says.
Nice of Geno to say to protect all concerned parties. What it really was, is that Geno didn't trust Saniya's defense. He didn't need any offense from Kia at that point, he needed a reliable 2 guard who could defend the other team's shooting guard, and didn't feel Saniya was up to it.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There are a couple of versions of this fateful moment in Geno's office after the Stanford loss, but from the Kia's mouth it is "I'm going to start you until you prove me otherwise...."



She still hasn't.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

And here is a photo montage of Kia in Highschool.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Fairly early on she remarks how her Team Canada coaches every summer express their surprise in the changes in her game.

Wonder if they've noticed that she can now shoot an American layup.