Does Breanna Stewart make the Mt. Rushmore of UConn WCBB?

[Tenspro2002]

It depends on the next two years. If she wins another championship and ties Diana with 3, while in the process establishing herself as the team leader, she's there.

If she fails to win another championship -- regardless of individual accolades -- it's up for debate. I think it's still likely she gets on Mount Rushmore, but would be no better than #3, behind Diana (#1a) and Maya (#1b).

My rationale is the following:

Diana won 3 championships, including the last 2 basically by the force of her own will. She was also a significant contributor to the first one.

Maya won 2 championships and, though she couldn't carry the 2011 team by herself, was the best player on a team that won 90 games in a row (including those 2 championships).

Stewie, so far, has won 2 championships and was the best player during those championship runs, though had a mediocre regular season her first year. She also had a fair amount of help in winning those 2 and certainly wasn't the leader of those teams (though you wouldn't expect so for an underclassman).

In short, I need to see what Stewie does when she's unequivocally expected to lead the team.

 

[bballnut90]

If she wins 4 titles then I think she's a lock for top 3 with DT/Maya. I personally think Maya is hands down the most talented collegiate player to ever put on a Huskie uniform, but people would be quick to point out she 'only' won 2 titles at UCONN where Taurasi won 3 and Stewart probably wins 4.

Stewart has a very unique skill set and has all the tools to be one of the best ever at UCONN. I think if she can truly lead a team (ala Taurasi/Moore) and win a title, then she'll earn the distinction of being a top 3 UCONN player in my book. Her first season was a let down up until the NCAAs where she got hot, and her sophomore season she was probably the best player in the country but was never UCONN's leader nor had to take over a game or make big plays down the stretch (although this might be unfair considering UCONN didn't have many tough situations this year..)

So in summary, I'd say definitely on pace if her career continues on its projected manner.

 

[sparky]

Stewie will be there. Right now she's only a silhouette.

 

[Biff]

If she wins 4 titles then I think she's a lock for top 3 with DT/Maya. I personally think Maya is hands down the most talented collegiate player to ever put on a Huskie uniform, but people would be quick to point out she 'only' won 2 titles at UCONN where Taurasi won 3 and Stewart probably wins 4.

Stewart has a very unique skill set and has all the tools to be one of the best ever at UCONN. I think if she can truly lead a team (ala Taurasi/Moore) and win a title, then she'll earn the distinction of being a top 3 UCONN player in my book. Her first season was a let down up until the NCAAs where she got hot, and her sophomore season she was probably the best player in the country but was never UCONN's leader nor had to take over a game or make big plays down the stretch (although this might be unfair considering UCONN didn't have many tough situations this year..)

So in summary, I'd say definitely on pace if her career continues on its projected manner.

Eh. It's clear enough that they've already started working on it so it will be done by her graduation....

 

[huskyblooz]

who's the ugly chick on the right?

 

[TroyHouse66]

who's the ugly chick on the right?

I don't know, but isn't her hair WONDERFUL!?!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Has any other Husky ever won NCs AND been named Most Outstanding Player in both her freshman and sophomore years? (Rhetorical question.)

Z, my friend, you note that it is rhetorical, but no one from any school has accomplished that. If she makes it a 4-peat, she truly stands alone. She will pass Moore, Taurasi, Parker, Holdsclaw, Miller, Walton, Alcindor, everyone.

 

[xHunt3r]

To soon for all time discussions in my opinions, but the two numbers i'm tracking for Stewart are 3 (Diana) and 90 (Maya). Understandable they are team accomplishments, but they are the ones I'm watching. Lets see where she stand at the end of the year...

 

[Bayareahusky]

I have a secondary question.... what happens if Stewie wins her 4 championships.... and so does MoJeff...... will MoJeff get any of the credit vis a vis this thread topic... or will all the glory go to Breanna

 

[easttexastrash]

Stewart is the the "Face" of WCBB and Mt. Rushmore.

 

[easttexastrash]

I have a secondary question.... what happens if Stewie wins her 4 championships.... and so does MoJeff. will MoJeff get any of the credit vis a vis this thread topic... or will all the glory go to Breanna

There are many other PGs that could win a championship with Breanna. Breanna is the one that gets the glory.

 

[yanks61]

Eh. It's clear enough that they've already started working on it so it will be done by her graduation....

That's really funny!

 

[mauconnfan]

No brainer………Taurasi, Stewart, Moore and Bird

 

[MilfordHusky]

I have a secondary question.... what happens if Stewie wins her 4 championships.... and so does MoJeff. will MoJeff get any of the credit vis a vis this thread topic... or will all the glory go to Breanna

Stewie gets more credit for the first one. Moriah was a key player last year. Give her a lot of credit. Can Morgan get to 5??

 

[NEforceUConn]

2 down 2 to go.

May have to name it Mt Stewie

 

[easttexastrash]

No brainer………Taurasi, Stewart, Moore and Bird

No Chaeles?

 

[j66kicker]

No brainer………Taurasi, Stewart, Moore and Bird

Agree - if there can only be 4, that's them.

 

[Tonyc]

Y'know, maybe. Diana couldn't do what Stewie did as freshman.

Dianas role was different as a freshman. She had Sue Tamika, Swin ,Aja . If Stewart were on that team her role might have been the same but we will never know. Diana made that team better, evidenced by Dianas graduation and the following years team. Breanna imo is an all time great already and so is Diana. Both play different positions so its hard to compare them. You can only make similarities based on the teams they played on and the eras they played in.

 

[TBIF54]

Z, my friend, you note that it is rhetorical, but no one from any school has accomplished that. If she makes it a 4-peat, she truly stands alone. She will pass Moore, Taurasi, Parker, Holdsclaw, Miller, Walton, Alcindor, everyone.

Just to be clear, Lew Alcindor only won three NCAA championships and was the Final Four Most Outstanding Player only three times because freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball. I'm sure Stewie will finish with four championships but only three Final Four MOP awards. KML will be the MOP this year.

 

[Buzzyboy]

OK, let's spend a little more time projecting the career trajectory of Breanna Stewart as a college player.

So, we've talked about the all-time starting five for UConn being Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Rebecca Lobo, and Tina Charles. I believe the consensus is that Stewie will make it onto the starting five when all is said and done with her college career.

Given that, let's talk about something equally frivolous, nonetheless fun: the so-called Mount Rushmore of UConn WCBB. Whose four faces should appear in stone on the side of a mountain as THE greatest influences of the program? And will Stewie merit one of those places when she graduates?

Firstly, we could discuss who belongs on Mt. Rushmore now. I considered starting a separate thread on that very topic, but there was no good way to create an adequate poll with only seven choices, even with the option of allowing a selection of multiple responses. I simply would be insulting someone who at least deserves to be on the poll but I omitted.

If I had to vote for four players, it would go to Diana, Maya, Rebecca, and Kerry Bascom. I think if you evaluate what they've accomplished and whether UConn as a program was at that level of accomplishment already, you have to hand it to these four. UConn had never been to a Final four before Kerry, had never won a national championship before Rebecca, had never three-peated before Diana, and had never won 71 games in a row, much less 90, before Maya. All of those milestones were monumental in and of themselves, so those four players arguably deserve to be on the monument.

You could, of course, make a case for Sue Bird (who really moved UConn WCBB forward in a big way), Jenn Rizzotti (who some might argue was as important to UConn as Rebecca was), Tina Charles (the complement of the pair of aces who won 78 of those 90 games in a row), or maybe someone else whose name adorns the Huskies of Honor wall.

You could also make the case for a young woman who's been the Final Four MOP twice en route to winning two more national championships for UConn. I refer, of course, to Breanna Stewart. The point is that you could say that not only WILL Stewie end up on Mount Rushmore, but she's already done it.

Some of you, possibly the majority of you, may argue that Stewie will add to her accomplishments by the time she's finished her college career, and once she does, she will absolutely belong on Mt. Rushmore...but she still has to play out those two years.

Yet another argument you could make is that you worry about how much is at stake over the next two WCBB seasons, and you think Stewie might fall short of expectations. If that happens, that would keep her out of South Dakota.

Finally, some of you might say it's wonderful what she has accomplished, and possibly will accomplish, but bottom line, she doesn't even commit to UConn to begin with if it weren't for the contributions of the four women I asserted belong on Mt. Rushmore today.

Well, I think I've summarized the points that could be made about both sets of issues. Who "belongs" on the UConn WCBB Mt. Rushmore today? And does Stewie make it by April 2016, if indeed she shouldn't be there already?

I think you're going to have to have a bigger mountain to make room for more than four. I really like the idea of having Sue on it, for one. Speaking of Ms. Lobo, I think that Rebecca got a ton (or perhaps two tons) of media attention but her role was just an extension of Kerry Bascom. Another New England girl who picked up the baton that Kerry had carried so well and got it across the finish line. Kerry had run the first three legs of the national title race and needed Lobo to carry it across the line to the first championship. As a result, I'm taking Lobo off my version of Rushmore though admittedly she's been a great spokesperson for UConn. Most UConn fans know little or nothing about Kerry's teammates on her 1991 final four team while most would surely know all the key members of that 1995 team Lobo was on because they were quite talented. Rebecca had a much better supporting cast that enabled those Huskies to defeat Tennessee and finish 35-0. If their roles were reversed and Kerry was zapped onto that 1995 team, they quite probably would have finished perfectly while I don't think Rebecca on that 1991 team would have been able to finish off with a title. JMHO!

 

[Sonny44]

I think you're going to have to have a bigger mountain to make room for more than four. I really like the idea of having Sue on it, for one. Speaking of Ms. Lobo, I think that Rebecca got a ton (or perhaps two tons) of media attention but her role was just an extension of Kerry Bascom. Another New England girl who picked up the baton that Kerry had carried so well and got it across the finish line. Kerry had run the first three legs of the national title race and needed Lobo to carry it across the line to the first championship. As a result, I'm taking Lobo off my version of Rushmore though admittedly she's been a great spokesperson for UConn. Most UConn fans know little or nothing about Kerry's teammates on her 1991 final four team while most would surely know all the key members of that 1995 team Lobo was on because they were quite talented. Rebecca had a much better supporting cast that enabled those Huskies to defeat Tennessee and finish 35-0. If their roles were reversed and Kerry was zapped onto that 1995 team, they quite probably would have finished perfectly while I don't think Rebecca on that 1991 team would have been able to finish off with a title. JMHO!

Are there any videos of Kerry around? I would love to see them.

 

[Waquoit]

. Speaking of Ms. Lobo, I think that Rebecca got a ton (or perhaps two tons) of media attention but her role was just an extension of Kerry Bascom. Another New England girl who picked up the baton that Kerry had carried so well and got it across the finish line. Kerry had run the first three legs of the national title race and needed Lobo to carry it across the line to the first championship...If their roles were reversed and Kerry was zapped onto that 1995 team, they quite probably would have finished perfectly

I think you are giving Lobo the short shrift here. To take a program that had one dark horse Final Four to an undefeated national championship season while dethroning the perennial power is a helluva lot more than just the final leg of a race. It's more like final three legs. She made UConn a national name as well as a national power. She was an absolute rock in that final game. No way in the world the 95 team wins it all with Bascom instead of Lobo. The Mt. Rushmore starts with Lobo.