LaChina asks DT3: Who is the most underrated Husky of all time

[bschwartz]

If I am posting this, you can guess her answer.

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How would you answer the question?

 

[UConn79]

Kiah Stokes is a great choice and great place to set the bar. What an amazing game changing asset to have coming off the bench. She probably would have started for any other program in the country and received serious All America consideration. Very tough when you have 3 AA's ahead of you at UConn.

 

[HoopsFan21]

So who did she pick?

 

[Sonny44]

Kiah Stokes is a great choice and great place to set the bar. What an amazing game changing asset to have coming off the bench. She probably would have started for any other program in the country and received serious All America consideration. Very tough when you have 3 AA's ahead of you at UConn.

It's difficult to argue against Kiah, except for those really in the know [like us BY'ers] she was fully appreciated, at least in her last two years. She really brought laughs to the game with some of her blocks. So many times an opponent would be driving to the basket and you could plainly see what was about to happen. And so many weren't even blocks; they were take aways. Oh, a basketball?, I'll take that, thanks. I often literally broke out laughing.

 

[bschwartz]

So who did she pick?

Pls. Note my photo icon to the left.,

 

[Blakeon18]

Jamelle Elliot should be in the discussion....as should her teammate Carla Berube.

 

[VAMike23]

It's difficult to argue against Kiah, except for those really in the know [like us BY'ers] she was fully appreciated, at least in her last two years. She really brought laughs to the game with some of her blocks. So many times an opponent would be driving to the basket and you could plainly see what was about to happen. And so many weren't even blocks; they were take aways. Oh, a basketball?, I'll take that, thanks. I often literally broke out laughing.

So, so true!

 

[johnnyc]

Kiah Stokes is a good pick. Geno (and the staff) coached her well and utilized her strengths without trying to force her to be something she wasn't ready to be.

I'm not a WNBA fan.....just keep track every once in a while of the UConn players but I would tune in to watch the Liberty to just watch Stokes on defense. Her footwork on defense is like a boxer. I think my favorite Kiah moment was when she had a couple of 'angry' blocks against Green Bay after Stewart was knocked into the scorer's table.

 

[EricLA]

Jamelle Elliot should be in the discussion....as should her teammate Carla Berube.

I think one might have to define "underrated" for the purposes of choosing. Generally it means underestimating. But just because Kiah wasn't a starter doesn't mean all UCONN fans didn't realize she was a game changer when she got in and a defensive force.

Weren't Jamelle and Carla starters? Not that being a starter is necessarily a strike against you. I think maybe Maria Conlon should be in the discussion too as well as Ashley Battle. Everyone talks about Dee leading her team to 3 consecutive NC's, but Maria was the starting PG for most of those 3 years. "Too heavy, too slow, can't create her own shot, not a good enough ball handler"... IIRC her assit/TO ratio was really good. Not flashy by ANY stretch of the imagination but boy did she get it done...

 

[Uconnsdabest]

Ann Strother would be on my list as well. Never got credit for her contributions. She had expectations for #1 player out of high school, but she performed admirably well as a huskie.

 

[JoePgh]

It is a very good question whether Kiah would have been what she is today if she had gone somewhere other than UConn. I have my doubts -- as a freshman she was not inclined to practice at the tempo that the coaches and her teammates expected. I wonder if another coaching staff or a less competitive set of teammates would ever have stoked (sorry) her fire enough to get her to where she now is.

 

[Kibitzer]

There was another KS: Kelly Schumaker.

 

[pinotbear]

So who did she pick?

Her exact quote, I think, was "I'm gonna go Kiah Stokes: the girl's a beast!"

 

[HoopsFan21]

What about Faris?

 

[wire chief]

It is a very good question whether Kiah would have been what she is today if she had gone somewhere other than UConn. I have my doubts -- as a freshman she was not inclined to practice at the tempo that the coaches and her teammates expected. I wonder if another coaching staff or a less competitive set of teammates would ever have stoked (sorry) her fire enough to get her to where she now is.

While not underrated, you could also point to Tina as one who needed Geno's persistence to make her what she is today.

 

[CocoHusky]

I would vote for Kerry Bascom. She was a victim of tw0 things 1) Playing in an era before UCONN got "championship" good. 2 )Before the WNBA. Her numbers, like averaging 20+ PPG for 3 straight years indicate she was the truth! All these discussions about the UCONN "Mount Rushmore" of players talk of DT, Maya, Stewie and Kerry hardly ever gets mentioned.

 

[meyers7]

I think maybe Maria Conlon should be in the discussion too as well as Ashley Battle. Everyone talks about Dee leading her team to 3 consecutive NC's, but Maria was the starting PG for most of those 3 years. "Too heavy, too slow, can't create her own shot, not a good enough ball handler"... IIRC her assit/TO ratio was really good. Not flashy by ANY stretch of the imagination but boy did she get it done...

That was the first name that jumped to my mind.

 

[Kaizen]

Renee Montgomery

 

[Wbbfan1]

Not sure I would have agreed with Kiah. I think underrated should be a player who maximized their talents but due to the roster never received the credit they should have. Kiah has so much natural talent and IMHO didn't utilize it to her full potential. If she had, who knows she may have started over Stef Dolson who worked hard to develop her talents. Kiah played great defense when she wanted to and never developed her offensive skills. She should have been a double/double player in her Senior Year.

 

[Mdoggie]

I agree with Stokes, but you know what the say about opinions. " opinions are like opinions, that my opinion"

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I would vote for Kerry Bascom. She was a victim of tw0 things 1) Playing in an era before UCONN got "championship" good. 2 )Before the WNBA. Her numbers, like averaging 20+ PPG for 3 straight years indicate she was the truth! All these discussions about the UCONN "Mount Rushmore" of players talk of DT, Maya, Stewie and Kerry hardly ever gets mentioned.

You know who does mention Bascam??? Doris Burke!

 

[SWHuskyFan]

If we're looking at their contributions for a whole Husky career I'd be hard pressed to say Kiah just because her playing time was so limited. I might go with Tiffany Hayes as someone who had a great Husky career but isn't often thought of as being a Husky great. I also would think of Maria Conlon.

 

[Waquoit]

There was another KS: Kelly Schumaker.

I agree. At the time I was just imagining PHS thinking to herself, "I'm getting my ass kicked by Kelly Schumaker!" If Schuie somehow ended up at UT, she never would have sniffed the court.

 

[johnnyc]

I think my favorite Kiah moment was when she had a couple of 'angry' blocks against Green Bay after Stewart was knocked into the scorer's table.

 

[01Neaggrad02]