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Message: [QUOTE="divots, post: 4521775, member: 5883"] I became a fan of women’s basketball back in the 70’s when coaching a high school boys basketball team. We never had to share our gym until Title IX finally caught up to the school district and a girls team was founded. One of their first coaches was none other than Tara VanDerveer whose parents were school administrators and her younger sister played on the team. One of my students and the sister of one of my players was also on the team and I would occasionally watch Tara desperately try to instill a sense of passion and discipline into her players which was beyond an arduous task for most of the girls. This said, Tara opened my eyes to a number of details from teaching basic skills to a sound pedagogy for implementing offenses and defenses. Sadly, Tara’s time with us was short. I did, however, learn that going to Nike Clinics featuring legendary coaches such as Rollie Massamino and Joe B. Hall weren’t going to help me become a better high school boys coach and that I should check out the clinics being presented by the small handful of women’s coaches as our respective player heights and skills were far more comparable. I left high school basketball after 16 seasons; the last 6 of which were in Connecticut and eventually found myself coaching high school track and field where developmental meets were held at UCONN which gave me opportunities to watch practices and even parts of some game at the old Greer Fieldhouse. I liked what I saw and followed the women as they moved into Gampel. Both the Women’s and Men’s teams were on an upward trajectory with coaches who shared the same passion and discipline that I saw in Tara but, this time, with players who bought into what their coaches were selling. The synergy was electric and contagious and I was sold. I will admit that although I cheer hard for both teams, I much prefer watching the women as I can appreciate real plays that are run below the rim and require the execution by all team members rather than a one-on-one game too often found in the men’s game. I apologize for my novella but my appreciation of the women’s game and my love of UCONN basketball had its roots planted outside of Connecticut and spans decades…Go Huskies! [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach