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Message: [QUOTE="Dillon77, post: 4312095, member: 6620"] This is an interesting thread to follow because it addresses a subject -- success -- that has a pretty wide range of interpretation and also involves the website's home team, which can be risky. But it does get me thinking because there's a lot of talk and evidence that UConn produces a lot of WNBA players. If my memory serves correctly, 17 Huskies were on opening day rosters. I noted in a post that Notre Dame, which is doing pretty darn well, too, has nine, which is just above half of what UConn holds. Then, there's the definition of success. - Everyone acknowledges how tough it is to get onto a WNBA roster. So is that the floor or mid-range point of post-grad success? For instance, some players play professionally -- such as Kat Westbeld, starter on ND's 2018 NC team -- but not in the WNBA. How does that stand? - Or, since many of these players were All-American or All-Conference, do/should we -- in turn -- hold them to a higher level of excellence? Perhaps that's what PV Doggy was referring to? Should we be talking about players who make All-Star teams, get extended by their WNBA teams, make international teams? - And, how long should we given them? I read a quote somewhere that some coaches expect WNBA players to blossom between years 3 and 5. That's when it kicks in, if not earlier. - To take a little bit of the edge off this, I could look at Notre Dame as a non-Husky example for players that have left ND from 2015 onwards. That excludes Skylar Diggins-Smith and Kayla McBride, both of whom would qualify as successful pro's in my opinion. -- There's Jewell Loyd, Lindsay Allen (not this year, but all others) and the entire starting five from the 2018-19 team: Arike Ogunbowale, Bri Turner, Marina Mabrey, Jackie Young and Jess Shepard. That group has done pretty darn well so far in so far as staying in the league.But what about the next steps once they're there? Loyd is a perennial all-star and won an Olympic and World Cup gold medal. Ogunbowale, love her or hate her, is an all-star who was signed to a long-term extension by the Dallas Wings and Bri Turner is an all-WNBA defensive stalwart for Phoenix. Mabrey, whom many didn't think would ever make any pro roster, whipped herself into shape physically is a proven scorer and sixth person. - We know UConn has set the standard for decades. It would be interesting to apply the same look from 2015 on to UConn, South Carolina, Louisville, Stanford, Maryland and other programs. [/QUOTE]

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