Top 25 in UCONN History

[hoophuskee]

I didn't see games before 1995.

1-5 DT, Maya, Bird, Charles, Sales
Taking DT over Maya for what DT did in 02-03 and 03-04. Sales at 5? That's my personal preference. A dominant scorer that can do everything.

6-10 Lobo, Bascom, Sveta, Wolters, Monty
Never saw Bascom play. So I'm guessing here. Sorry KB. Have Lobo ahead of her- she put UConn in stratosphere.
Monty over Rizzotti is all about personal preference. I prefer pg's that can score and pass. How did we lose as many games as we did in 96 with a lineup of Jen, Sales, Wolters and Elliott?

11-15 Rizzotti, Ralph, Swin, Jones, KML
KML will keep rising. If she could ever develop her ability to use the dribble in face-up situations, watch-out!

16-20 Strother, Dolson, Tamika, Turner, Elliott
Strother very good player. SD to pass her for her sr year - possibly now SD is better. I'll give AS benefit of the doubt. Let's see one more year of SD then maybe she can break into the 7-13 range.

BT showed up big why we won titles and why in her sr season we went to E8 and almost beat Duke. Very underrated player.

21-25 Hayes, Faris, Hartley, Rita Williams, KG
Keeping KG at 25 ahead of players like Charde (Charde in jr season terrific but soph not good.) Kelly S had that 10 block game (10 block not 9!) but was a piece more than a weapon. Berube? Stewie - tempted to put her on. But if she does nothing next 3 years, it would classify her as way too up and down. Let's give her time. Could win up being top 5 from this point forward.

 

[alexrgct]

Good topic and an ambitious one. As with your list, my list would give short shrift to some of the old school players. I didn't get to see them play, and they didn't get an opportunity to perform on the grand stages. It's quite likely that there are 25 players who have played for UConn who are better than Maria Conlon, for instance. But dammit, when you are the starting PG on two championship teams and have exactly one TO over the course of two championship games, you're on the list. Period.

My list:

25. Maria Conlon
24. Tiffany Hayes
23. Barbara Turner
22. Breanna Stewart
21. Ann Srother
20. Jamelle Elliott
19. Bria Hartley
18. Tamika Williams
17. Stefanie Dolson
16. Kelly Faris
15. Asjha Jones
14. Swin Cash
13. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
12. Renee Montgomery
11. Jennifer Rizzotti
10. Kara Wolters
9. Shea Ralph
8. Nykesha Sales
7. Svetlana Abrosimova
6. Kerry Bascom
5. Rebecca Lobo
4. Tina Charles
3. Sue Bird
2. Diana Taurasi
1. Maya Moore

Lots to disagree with. Some of my rationales:

-Maya and D could go either way. D's arguments are that 3>2, and not only that, but two of her three were without a super strong supporting cast. Maya's arguments are that she was a consensus national top five player for four years, the clear best player in WCBB for two, tied with Tina essentially for one, the centerpiece of a 90-game winning streak, and, but for a stroke of bad luck in terms of opponent in the 2011 national semis, probably takes a team with a six-woman rotation that included two freshmen, a sophomore, and an undersized backup PG to a national championship. If I have to pick one kid to win a game for me, it's D. If I have to pick the more impressive body of work as a collegiate player, it's Maya.

-It's too bad that Bascom didn't get to play with more elite teammates, but I can't place her lower than 6th out of respect to what she did to elevate the program to a level where it could recruit kids who could get to a championship level.

- Numbers 7-12 were really difficult. Tough to leave a NPOY winner at #10, but Kara didn't perform at her best in the biggest games, IMO. I rated Svet the highest because there were points where she seemed like she was from another planet. Her style of play in conjunction with her height would be ahead of its time if she was coming through the program today.

-Arguments could made to move Jen higher, as well as Renee. I gave Jen the nod over Renee because a) she was a NPOY, and b) her blowby around Michelle Marciniak in the 1995 NC game is one of the iconic, enduring images of the program.

-Kaleena was the best player over the balance of a season for a team that won a national championship. It's obvious she's going to be first team AP AA her final two seasons as long as she's healthy. I think she'll be top 10, possibly top 5, when all is said and done.

-Stef and Bria also have an opportunity to move up big-time depending on what their respective roles end up being this upcoming season and if this team wins a NC as anticipated.

-I have to put Breanna somewhere on the list. She was MOP of a regional and a final four, during which UConn took apart four very good teams en route to the NC. And we know she's only going to get better.

-Annie, Turner, and Conlon are hard to rank because they were critical pieces of two teams that won NCs, but they absolutely were role-players on those teams. Those were so clearly D's teams that it's tough to know how to rate her teammates' contributions. But bottom line, sometimes a big part of greatness is opportunity. Unfair, but anything else is pure speculation.

 

[hoophuskee]

Thanks Alex. All these are so subjective. Tough to come up with and to some extent are what we value. No right or wrong. I value DT's body of work more than Mayas. I thought DT was among top 5 players in america once Sveta got hurt and she got minutes-- which was why she was all-region in NCAA's.

Shea is among my top fav players ever. But her knee injuries limited her which is why I didn't put her top 10 but at 12. As for KML - I'm taking 4 years of Swin and Jones over her. Next year she should surpass them. I agree about KML's future. Until she does play her jr year an perform (which I expect she will) I can't bump her higher.

I kept Jen behind Renee because I put Renee's sr season just as good as Jen's NPOY. It's just that we lost quite a few games in 1996 and the NPOY and leader of team - I just wonder why we lost that much.

I disagree with putting Hartley so high and Strother and Turner so low and having Faris so high. I love Kelly but what Geno said for a longtime was offensively teams didn't have to guard her until this year. IMO she should have been drafted higher because her sr year she got a shot but the other 3 years . . . IMO She couldn't do what Strother did until her sr year. And BT and Strother got to E8 their sr year.

For Stewie I mouthed off pre-season how great she was going to be among my friends. She was disappointing until that amazing, incredible run. SD was playing great, as was KML as was Faris and we still lost quite a few games by UCONN standards. We weren't getting what we needed from Stewie or Hartley at that time for the whole season. Which is why I had one beyond 20 and the other outside the top 25. Now I can't wait for this upcoming year.

I love Maria but I can't put her at 25. Just as Larry Bird was considered a point-forward - DT imo was the pg and sg. She led team in assists those 2 years.

 

[Wally East]

I kept Jen behind Renee because I put Renee's sr season just as good as Jen's NPOY. It's just that we lost quite a few games in 1996 and the NPOY and leader of team - I just wonder why we lost that much.

Just as a reminder, "that much" is four (four losses, four losses, why does that sound familiar ): the season-opener against La Tech in Knoxville, on the road against Syracuse which is a total mystery, at home again Georgia when Saudia Roundtree was ON FIRE, and against Tennessee in OT. A two-point game, a three-point game, and a five-point game in OT along with the ten-point loss to Georgia.

Just as Larry Bird was considered a point-forward - DT imo was the pg and sg. She led team in assists those 2 years.

I've always though Michael Jordan was a better comparison. Score first but also ran the offense from the shooting guard spot and piled up assists (I always forget that DT is the UConn career leader in total assists).

 

[hoophuskee]

Wally East I still don't understand with a NPOY with a lineup like that in which they won the year before can lose to 4 different teams.

 

[Wally East]

Wally East I still don't understand with a NPOY with a lineup like that in which they won the year before can lose to 4 different teams.

Yes, it was a very good team, that's why they made it to the Final Four. But, other teams were good, too. (How did this past season's team lose four games? How did the 2000-2001 team lose at all?)

Georgia's Roundtree won the Naismith POY award. Georgia won the SEC regular season title that year.

Tennessee had a great team that year. Holdsclaw was a freshman and Marciniak was a senior.

La Tech had two All-Americans -- Vickie Johnson and Debra Williams.

I remember hearing rumors about the reason behind the loss to Syracuse and it not having anything to do with Syracuse but rather with literal team chemistry.

ETA: Thinking about this makes me think that there's been dilution of team quality at the very top and increased parity at the next level down.

My 25 (I excluded anyone who will be on next year's team):

Maya, DT, Sue, Charles, Lobo
Nykesha, Shea, Sveta, Bascom, Renee
Kara, Jen, Swin, Ashja, Tamika
Jamelle, KG, BT, Kelly, Ann
Charde, Laura Lishness, Carla Berube, Tiffany, and Wendy Davis

 

[Waquoit]

I think if Stewart doesn't play another game she makes the Top 5. She just won the NC and was the best player in the tournament. She was incredible.

 

[chrissaran]

How many of UConn's best players won a championship as a freshman? Not D, Maya, Sue, Tina, Rebecca, Jen, Renee, Shea, Kara, Swin, Tameka, Ashja, Nykesha, Jamelle. Any that I missed? Kelly did, and though she was a crucial piece of the team, in the end she will not be considered one of UConn's all-time greatest players. You can agree or disagree with that statement. Breanna not only won as a freshman, she was the MOP. If she wins just one more championship, she'll wind up in the top five. Two more will mean Breanna and D alone at the top. Yes, I know there are other UConn players with 3, but not all-time greats.

 

[alexrgct]

Nykesha won a title as a freshman.

 

[MilfordHusky]

How many UConn frosh were Final Four MOPs? I believe Stewie is alone in that category.

I agree that Kaleena will finish between about 3 and 8. Then Stewie might knock her down a peg.

 

[alexrgct]

Kaleena has a solid chance to finish a two-time AP first team AA, three-time WBCA AA, three-time national champion, perhaps with a NPOY award to boot. If she does that, I think she has to drop Lobo and possibly Tina and Sue. Her first two seasons are tracking nicely with D's (inconsistent but memorable freshman campaign, NC and WBCA nod as as sophomore), but she'd have to be spectacular to match D's final two seasons.

 

[Vowelguy]

Dang I was getting ready to start a similar thread!

1st team: Bird, Taurasi, Maya, Lobo, Charles
2nd: Rizz, Sales, Svet, Bascom, Wolters
3rd: Renee, Shea, Swin, Ashja, TamikaW
4th: Hartley, Strother, Greene, Faris, Dolson
5th: Conlon, Hayes, BTurner, Berube, Jamelle
6th: RitaW, MelT, Battle, Charde, JMoore

(I don't include players before their senior yr.)

 

[Buzzyboy]

Good topic and an ambitious one. As with your list, my list would give short shrift to some of the old school players. I didn't get to see them play, and they didn't get an opportunity to perform on the grand stages. It's quite likely that there are 25 players who have played for UConn who are better than Maria Conlon, for instance. But dammit, when you are the starting PG on two championship teams and have exactly one TO over the course of two championship games, you're on the list. Period.

My list:

25. Maria Conlon
24. Tiffany Hayes
23. Barbara Turner
22. Breanna Stewart
21. Ann Srother
20. Jamelle Elliott
19. Bria Hartley
18. Tamika Williams
17. Stefanie Dolson
16. Kelly Faris
15. Asjha Jones
14. Swin Cash
13. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
12. Renee Montgomery
11. Jennifer Rizzotti
10. Kara Wolters
9. Shea Ralph
8. Nykesha Sales
7. Svetlana Abrosimova
6. Kerry Bascom
5. Rebecca Lobo
4. Tina Charles
3. Sue Bird
2. Diana Taurasi
1. Maya Moore

Lots to disagree with. Some of my rationales:

-Maya and D could go either way. D's arguments are that 3>2, and not only that, but two of her three were without a super strong supporting cast. Maya's arguments are that she was a consensus national top five player for four years, the clear best player in WCBB for two, tied with Tina essentially for one, the centerpiece of a 90-game winning streak, and, but for a stroke of bad luck in terms of opponent in the 2011 national semis, probably takes a team with a six-woman rotation that included two freshmen, a sophomore, and an undersized backup PG to a national championship. If I have to pick one kid to win a game for me, it's D. If I have to pick the more impressive body of work as a collegiate player, it's Maya.

-It's too bad that Bascom didn't get to play with more elite teammates, but I can't place her lower than 6th out of respect to what she did to elevate the program to a level where it could recruit kids who could get to a championship level.

- Numbers 7-12 were really difficult. Tough to leave a NPOY winner at #10, but Kara didn't perform at her best in the biggest games, IMO. I rated Svet the highest because there were points where she seemed like she was from another planet. Her style of play in conjunction with her height would be ahead of its time if she was coming through the program today.

-Arguments could made to move Jen higher, as well as Renee. I gave Jen the nod over Renee because a) she was a NPOY, and b) her blowby around Michelle Marciniak in the 1995 NC game is one of the iconic, enduring images of the program.

-Kaleena was the best player over the balance of a season for a team that won a national championship. It's obvious she's going to be first team AP AA her final two seasons as long as she's healthy. I think she'll be top 10, possibly top 5, when all is said and done.

-Stef and Bria also have an opportunity to move up big-time depending on what their respective roles end up being this upcoming season and if this team wins a NC as anticipated.

-I have to put Breanna somewhere on the list. She was MOP of a regional and a final four, during which UConn took apart four very good teams en route to the NC. And we know she's only going to get better.

-Annie, Turner, and Conlon are hard to rank because they were critical pieces of two teams that won NCs, but they absolutely were role-players on those teams. Those were so clearly D's teams that it's tough to know how to rate her teammates' contributions. But bottom line, sometimes a big part of greatness is opportunity. Unfair, but anything else is pure speculation.

I would definitely have Swin Cash, Asija Jones and KML higher rated than Renee Montgomery. I think Renee brought high energy but she monopolized the ball at times she shouldn't have. I realize she was the point guard but she needed to do a better job distributing and less time forcing shots. She was often not the best option to shoot but that didn't stop her and there is no way that KML isn't head and shoulders above her. Meanwhile Cash and Jones have had such great success at every level and continue to be stars in the WNBA despite some substantive injuries slowing them up a great deal. Just my input though I really feel that your list is an outstanding one, otherwise!

 

[Vowelguy]

Dang I was getting ready to start a similar thread!

1st team: Bird, Taurasi, Maya, Lobo, Charles
2nd: Rizz, Sales, Svet, Bascom, Wolters
3rd: Renee, Shea, Swin, Ashja, TamikaW
4th: Hartley, Strother, Greene, Faris, Dolson
5th: Conlon, Hayes, BTurner, Berube, Jamelle
6th: RitaW, MelT, Battle, Charde, JMoore

(I don't include players before their senior yr.)

Just 1 of my top 25 did not win a NC! 3 players on the 6th team, but they will likely get pushed off by KML et al.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Just another reminder of how loaded that 2001 team was. 7 out of top 18 for both OP and Alex, including 2 of top 5. Dee was a Freshman but the rest were Srs and Jrs.