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Message: [QUOTE="Fairfield Fan, post: 4287077, member: 6911"] Have to say that South Carolina will be the massive favorite to repeat next year. As Charlie Creme put it (I know, not exactly a reliable opinion), even if South Carolina had only Boston returning, they would be a top rated team. But they have virtually all of the national championship team returning. So everyone will be chasing them. By contrast, Connecticut loses three key players, and adds just two freshmen. And there is the lingering question of injuries: will Paige truly recover her pre-injury form? Will Descharmes be completely over her "head injury" by this fall? Will Dorka recover from her serious wrist injury to get back into shape for the season? And then there are the front court questions: Is DeBerry really a player who can become effective, after being surprisingly ineffective her freshman year? How good and reliable will Ice and Ayanna be in their first season? The big positive for Connecticut is that it brings back the National Coach of the Year, Geno Auriemma. I know he wasn't officially chosen, but his coaching was nothing short of masterful, indeed, perhaps the best of his entire career. With his front court, he had no business knocking off NC State and Stanford. But he did. And he had his team within six points of South Carolina in the fourth quarter, when the talent comparison, plus injuries and illnesses should have meant a blowout. His achievement of not only getting his sick, injured, and short-handed team to the Big East Championship, then through to the national championship game dwarfed the achievements of every other top coach in the nation. Next year, we have Coach Geno, and no one else does. That's the most important roster position of all. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach