Long time, first time. I have been following women’s basketball closely since 1994 when I was working temporarily at UConn and was told by a student worker during the fall that the team was going to be real good that season. I attended the first UConn-Tennessee game in January 1995 at Gampel and the last Big East title game in 2013 when the Huskies were beaten by a last second Sklyar Diggins layup.
Now that the AAC tournament is over, it is a good time for reflection. I was cautiously optimistic about this season, although never believing that Evina Westbrook was going to be granted a waiver, hoping that if several ifs about player performance were achieved, a Final Four was not totally out of the question.
In mid-February, however, after a number of mediocre performances against ordinary teams and having been crushed by Baylor, Oregon, and South Carolina, all by double digits and two at home, my view was that this was at best a mid-two seed and that there was no certainty of winning the round of sixteen game. The team has improved since that time and perhaps both Walker and Williams will have good games against quality opponents at the same time, as in the AAC final against Cincinnati. Perhaps Dangerfield will continue to play at an elevated level and perhaps the other three critical cogs on the team will continue to progress. But, as others have noted previously, UConn is currently reaping the whirlwind of subpar recruiting classes for three of the last four seasons. If the team defeats a 3 seed in the sweet sixteen and can come within 5-8 points of, say, Oregon in the regional finals, I will consider 2019-20 to be a good season.
This is likely, therefore, to be a down season by UConn standards, but the sky has not fallen as has happened to Notre Dame. Moreover, lest one forget, for three straight seasons in the late 90s (1996-97 - 1998-99) UConn did not make the Final Four and the same was true for the middle years of last decade (2004-05 - 2006-07). If I had to compare this team to any in the past, I would pick 2004-05, the year after the graduation of Diana Taurasi and Maria Conlon. The team returned three starters (Jessica Moore, Ann Strother, and Barbara Turner), had some freshman talent, but finished 25-8 and lost in the round of sixteen.
It should be noted that the bar for a return to traditional greatness is higher than in earlier times. During previous droughts, there was Tennessee and occasionally someone else (Purdue, Notre Dame, etc.). Now the basketball landscape features a much higher number of quality teams. Baylor, Louisville, Oregon, Stanford, and South Carolina lead the way followed by Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Oregon State, and UCLA.
With the potential of a super class coming to campus this coming summer, the future looks extremely bright. We can hope for a duplication of what the classes of 2002 (Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asja Jones, Tamika Williams, and injured Keirsten Walters) and 2016 (Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck, Moriah Jefferson) accomplished. If I was going to predict now, however, I see the 2020-21 team as being of regional final quality with the distinct possibility of getting to the final four. Yet, there are two caveats - injuries and possible transfers of players who do not get the hoped for playing time. Re injuries, remember the previously undefeated 1996-97 team whose hopes for a championship were dashed by the injury to Shea Ralph in the NCAA tournament and for 1998 were destroyed by the injury to Nykesha Sales. Nevertheless, next season may be special if Paige Bueckers proves to be as good as everyone thinks and Mir McLean and Aaliyah Edwards can provide some inside muscle.
Now that the AAC tournament is over, it is a good time for reflection. I was cautiously optimistic about this season, although never believing that Evina Westbrook was going to be granted a waiver, hoping that if several ifs about player performance were achieved, a Final Four was not totally out of the question.
In mid-February, however, after a number of mediocre performances against ordinary teams and having been crushed by Baylor, Oregon, and South Carolina, all by double digits and two at home, my view was that this was at best a mid-two seed and that there was no certainty of winning the round of sixteen game. The team has improved since that time and perhaps both Walker and Williams will have good games against quality opponents at the same time, as in the AAC final against Cincinnati. Perhaps Dangerfield will continue to play at an elevated level and perhaps the other three critical cogs on the team will continue to progress. But, as others have noted previously, UConn is currently reaping the whirlwind of subpar recruiting classes for three of the last four seasons. If the team defeats a 3 seed in the sweet sixteen and can come within 5-8 points of, say, Oregon in the regional finals, I will consider 2019-20 to be a good season.
This is likely, therefore, to be a down season by UConn standards, but the sky has not fallen as has happened to Notre Dame. Moreover, lest one forget, for three straight seasons in the late 90s (1996-97 - 1998-99) UConn did not make the Final Four and the same was true for the middle years of last decade (2004-05 - 2006-07). If I had to compare this team to any in the past, I would pick 2004-05, the year after the graduation of Diana Taurasi and Maria Conlon. The team returned three starters (Jessica Moore, Ann Strother, and Barbara Turner), had some freshman talent, but finished 25-8 and lost in the round of sixteen.
It should be noted that the bar for a return to traditional greatness is higher than in earlier times. During previous droughts, there was Tennessee and occasionally someone else (Purdue, Notre Dame, etc.). Now the basketball landscape features a much higher number of quality teams. Baylor, Louisville, Oregon, Stanford, and South Carolina lead the way followed by Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Oregon State, and UCLA.
With the potential of a super class coming to campus this coming summer, the future looks extremely bright. We can hope for a duplication of what the classes of 2002 (Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asja Jones, Tamika Williams, and injured Keirsten Walters) and 2016 (Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck, Moriah Jefferson) accomplished. If I was going to predict now, however, I see the 2020-21 team as being of regional final quality with the distinct possibility of getting to the final four. Yet, there are two caveats - injuries and possible transfers of players who do not get the hoped for playing time. Re injuries, remember the previously undefeated 1996-97 team whose hopes for a championship were dashed by the injury to Shea Ralph in the NCAA tournament and for 1998 were destroyed by the injury to Nykesha Sales. Nevertheless, next season may be special if Paige Bueckers proves to be as good as everyone thinks and Mir McLean and Aaliyah Edwards can provide some inside muscle.
