Bill Laimbeer:
There’s a difference between coaching someone who’s coming straight out of the University of Connecticut versus most other schools. UConn players are the best in the country. They come out of high school already built to dominate — they’re real basketball players. And when they get to UConn, they are surrounded by other dominant players. In most college programs, you have one elite player on a team and some support around them. At UConn, everybody’s elite. When a UConn player gets to the professional level — a place where there are only great players — they already have a leg up. It’s hard to teach someone how to play alongside greatness. UConn players? That’s all they know.
And Tanisha Wright and Tamika Catchings also weigh in.