RockyMTblue2
Don't Look Up!
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- Aug 26, 2011
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"But having their daughter play in their home gym is more than Matt and Therese could have imagined."
“But to have it at Lawlor? It’s exciting, it’s fun for the community,” Matt Williams said. “They get to see basketball at a different level. And us as family members, how much more excited could you be? UConn, in our backyard. It’s just exciting to see the community because they’ve been so behind Gabby, to exactly embrace it.”
For Gabby a somewhat different emotion: “It’s definitely going to feel surreal,” Gabby Williams said. “Every time I go home, I go to that gym. I have friends on the other team who I played AAU with and in high school, that are on the Nevada team. It’s just going to be really weird.”
"Matt, who describes himself as a West Coast guy, favored Stanford because of its location.
“But when Geno [Auriemma] called, it was a no-brainer for her,” Matt said. “Now, it’s home. She’s not going to get this experience and be part of something like this anywhere else. It’s bigger than the individual and that’s what you want to be part of it. She’s part of something that will be there forever.”
Said Therese: “The program is like no other. It’s been an amazing experience for her.”
Quite the recruiting piece as it turns out: “He’s changed my life,” Matt said. “Everything you think about UConn? It is true. The professionalism, from the way they go out and salute the flag, to warmups, to the game. Everything they do is top-notch, including raising my daughter. Which they’ve done.”
********
“Coach cares about his players,” she said. “If you could say one thing about him it’s that he genuinely cares for his players more than just on the basketball court. … This is really special.”
"And her father, the coach, understands the sacrifice.
“This is taxing on the team,” Matt said. “They’re about winning a national championship, not making sure parents are happy. He didn’t have to do this.”
“But to have it at Lawlor? It’s exciting, it’s fun for the community,” Matt Williams said. “They get to see basketball at a different level. And us as family members, how much more excited could you be? UConn, in our backyard. It’s just exciting to see the community because they’ve been so behind Gabby, to exactly embrace it.”
For Gabby a somewhat different emotion: “It’s definitely going to feel surreal,” Gabby Williams said. “Every time I go home, I go to that gym. I have friends on the other team who I played AAU with and in high school, that are on the Nevada team. It’s just going to be really weird.”
"Matt, who describes himself as a West Coast guy, favored Stanford because of its location.
“But when Geno [Auriemma] called, it was a no-brainer for her,” Matt said. “Now, it’s home. She’s not going to get this experience and be part of something like this anywhere else. It’s bigger than the individual and that’s what you want to be part of it. She’s part of something that will be there forever.”
Said Therese: “The program is like no other. It’s been an amazing experience for her.”
Quite the recruiting piece as it turns out: “He’s changed my life,” Matt said. “Everything you think about UConn? It is true. The professionalism, from the way they go out and salute the flag, to warmups, to the game. Everything they do is top-notch, including raising my daughter. Which they’ve done.”
********
“Coach cares about his players,” she said. “If you could say one thing about him it’s that he genuinely cares for his players more than just on the basketball court. … This is really special.”
"And her father, the coach, understands the sacrifice.
“This is taxing on the team,” Matt said. “They’re about winning a national championship, not making sure parents are happy. He didn’t have to do this.”
