UConn's Mt. Rushmore and Megan Walker

[RegisteredUconn]

Let me be very specific: I'm not advancing a case that Megan is some sort of shoo-in for some mythical granite enshrinement. We're a long, long way from that. When all is said and done, it will likely not happen for a variety of reasons. The most daunting being that she's a little late in her career to amass the body of work that Taurasi, Moore, and Stewart accomplished.

What I am curious about is just where Walker's current level of play compares to other Husky greats. Watching Megan's start to the season, I'd be hard pressed to name another player, EVER, that's had a comparable stretch play better than the one Megan (and me, and I suspect many others) is enjoying. Where, exactly, does her play at the moment, put her?

No pressure or anything, though, Megan.

 

[victor64]

I don't think you have to look very far. Napheesa Collier last year.

 

[Jim Facey]

All american level for sure, which puts her in a league with over a dozen non-point guard AA players who would not make a Mt. Rushmore. N Sales, Sveta, Shea, Katie Lou, Napheesa & KLM all come to mind. She's currently scoring more than a lot of those players, if she keeps that up, who knows, the sky is the limit for her.

 

[ABCDFE]

I think it will be tough to make mt. Rushmore, but if she can help bring a one championship and have two AA years she will go down as a husky great.

 

[CL82]

I think it will be tough to make mt. Rushmore, but if she can help bring a one championship and have two AA years she will go down as a husky great.

Ahem... two championships.

(still doomed.)

 

[Jajhines23]

Ahem... two championships.

(still doomed.)

If and that is a BIG if Megan leads this groups of huskies to a national championship.. for me that would put her up there with when DT lead us to championship in 2003 and 2004.

Next year, it would be a huge disappointment if we don’t win, but if she gets national player of year honors: she would be in line with Naphessa.

With a championship next year and national player of year honors: I think Tina Charles level legacy

 

[Jingo]

Let me be very specific: I'm not advancing a case that Megan is some sort of shoo-in for some mythical granite enshrinement. We're a long, long way from that. When all is said and done, it will likely not happen for a variety of reasons. The most daunting being that she's a little late in her career to amass the body of work that Taurasi, Moore, and Stewart accomplished.

What I am curious about is just where Walker's current level of play compares to other Husky greats. Watching Megan's start to the season, I'd be hard pressed to name another player, EVER, that's had a comparable stretch play better than the one Megan (and me, and I suspect many others) is enjoying. Where, exactly, does her play at the moment, put her?

No pressure or anything, though, Megan.

After Megan's gr8 start, she'll likely get double-teamed .. she'll have to pass out of trouble .. let's see where that goes ... it shouldn't affect her rebounding which has been awesome!

 

[meyers7]

Yea, not gonna be Mt Rushmore. To get there you basically have to be "the man" for at least 3 seasons if not 4. She'll probably end up either 1st or 2nd Tier - assuming it goes Mt Rushmore/1st Tier/2nd Tier etc. (if she brings home at least 1 NC and a couple AA's - but that is still to be seen.)

Have to remember how much talent UCONN has had. I mean your 2nd Tier (3rd level) is filled with Rizzotti, Wolters, Sales, Cash, Ralph, KLS, KLM.

 

[DefenseBB]

Poor Sue Bird or even Rebecca Lobo as two players who are or will be in the Naismith Hall of Fame getting NO mention on this?..
For shame all you Husky fans FOR SHAME!

 

[j66kicker]

Poor Sue Bird or even Rebecca Lobo as two players who are or will be in the Naismith Hall of Fame getting NO mention on this?..
For shame all you Husky fans FOR SHAME!

IMO if it all ended today then one of those two would join DT, Maya and Stewie on the ‘final’ UConn Mt. Rushmore (coin toss on which). Also, just IMO, Megan has a ways to go, including at least one NC, before she even gets a sniff at replacing one of them.

 

[huskyd]

To the best of my recollection, no player is REMOVED from the Wall of Honor because a "better" player comes along. If Meg is an AA this year, which I believe she will be, she'll get her name on the wall. It's really risky to compare players across generations. I think if we take pleasure in the outstanding athletes we've had over the years, that should suffice. Doesn't matter if Stewie or Di was the GOAT. I loved watching them both.

 

[Biff]

To the best of my recollection, no player is REMOVED from the Wall of Honor because a "better" player comes along. If Meg is an AA this year, which I believe she will be, she'll get her name on the wall. It's really risky to compare players across generations. I think if we take pleasure in the outstanding athletes we've had over the years, that should suffice. Doesn't matter if Stewie or Di was the GOAT. I loved watching them both.

You may be conflating The Wall of Honor (a real thing) with the Op's concept, a mythical Husky Mt. Rushmore. The Mt. Rushmore thing has been a contentious discussion for many years. Can you really pick only 4 players to be on it? What are the criteria? There has not been and is not now a consensus on the Husky Mt. Rushmore and likely never will be. But, it has nothing to do with the Wall of Honor.

For example, here's one of many versions from 2014 (you can see the workers are just cutting Stewie into the rock)

 

[bluedevil]

We need a bigger mountain..

 

[VAMike23]

We need a bigger mountain..

Facts !!

 

[RegisteredUconn]

You may be conflating The Wall of Honor (a real thing) with the Op's concept, a mythical Husky Mt. Rushmore. The Mt. Rushmore thing has been a contentious discussion for many years. Can you really pick only 4 players to be on it? What are the criteria? There has not been and is not now a consensus on the Husky Mt. Rushmore and likely never will be. But, it has nothing to do with the Wall of Honor.

For example, here's one of many versions from 2014 (you can see the workers are just cutting Stewie into the rock)
View attachment 49042

Thanks for helping me clarify. My point was never to argue who should or shouldn't be on the mountain (other than DT, MM, and BS) let alone that Megan should. As I noted, or attempted to anyway, career long, superlative performance is required. It's like being in a group of valedictorians and someone comes along and you find out they've been valedictorian for four straight years. All are extraordinarily special but one is beyond even extraordinarily special. (And yes, I realize the analogy is imperfect; only seniors can be valedictorian).

My point was that what Megan has done to start off this year is special even among the pantheon of very special players that have come through Storrs. Or maybe it isn't, hence the discussion. Maybe someone will convince me that what she's done is nothing more than just another day at UConn.

It's entirely possible that Megan can't maintain her torrid start. As Jingo noted, what's going to happen once opponents start double teaming her. How will she respond to drawing the other team's top defender every game or suffering the incessant hip checks and scrum play?

Or is victor64 right? Need I look no further back than Napheesa Collier. Heaven knows Pheesa was one of my favorite players from the first time I saw her step on the court as a freshman (even more that Samuelson). So smoooooth. Reminded me of a hardcourt version of Joe DiMaggio. Seemed to do the near impossible while exerting little effort. It was like she was just gliding, like she was playing on ice skates.

But no, even as much as I like Collier, even as much as I admire her play, Walker seems to be playing a rung above that for the first quarter of the regular season. It's her play over a mere 8 games that reminds me of three that nobody ever argues about when speaking of Mt. Rushmore.

My point was to throw 8 game worth of mega praise Megan Walker's way.

 

[Crossover]

Thanks for helping me clarify. My point was never to argue who should or shouldn't be on the mountain (other than DT, MM, and BS) let alone that Megan should. As I noted, or attempted to anyway, career long, superlative performance is required. It's like being in a group of valedictorians and someone comes along and you find out they've been valedictorian for four straight years. All are extraordinarily special but one is beyond even extraordinarily special. (And yes, I realize the analogy is imperfect; only seniors can be valedictorian).

My point was that what Megan has done to start off this year is special even among the pantheon of very special players that have come through Storrs. Or maybe it isn't, hence the discussion. Maybe someone will convince me that what she's done is nothing more than just another day at UConn.

It's entirely possible that Megan can't maintain her torrid start. As Jingo noted, what's going to happen once opponents start double teaming her. How will she respond to drawing the other team's top defender every game or suffering the incessant hip checks and scrum play?

Or is victor64 right? Need I look no further back than Napheesa Collier. Heaven knows Pheesa was one of my favorite players from the first time I saw her step on the court as a freshman (even more that Samuelson). So smoooooth. Reminded me of a hardcourt version of Joe DiMaggio. Seemed to do the near impossible while exerting little effort. It was like she was just gliding, like she was playing on ice skates.

But no, even as much as I like Collier, even as much as I admire her play, Walker seems to be playing a rung above that for the first quarter of the regular season. It's her play over a mere 8 games that reminds me of three that nobody ever argues about when speaking of Mt. Rushmore.

My point was to throw 8 game worth of mega praise Megan Walker's way.

I love the comparison of Phees to Joe DiMaggio. (But maybe I'm just showing my age).

 

[BostonBay]

Right now, its easy. Geno, DT, Stewie, and Maya are the Top 4 in UConn WCBB. I think upcoming players can overtake Maya. Gonna be hard to top the first 3 though.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Right now, its easy. Geno, DT, Stewie, and Maya are the Top 4 in UConn WCBB. I think upcoming players can overtake Maya. Gonna be hard to top the first 3 though.

Overtake Maya? Let's not forget how brilliant she was for UConn. From the moment she put her jersey on.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think this is a very serious case of recency bias.

Best 8 game stretch by any player ever? Very, very doubtful.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I don't want to be a downer, but I think we may be ahead of ourselves. Clearly, she can be a stellar 2 year AA, but talking Rushmore is too much at this point.

 

[ABCDFE]

It will be hard for anyone to surpass Maya. She was great from day 1. The only knock on her (if any) was that the National Championships favor DT and BS. I think if Geno was to rate his players, my suspicion would be 1) DT 2) Stewie 3) Maya. After that there's a strong discussion of several players to make the 4th spot. My take is it would probably be Sue Bird.

 

[JonathanXIV]

It will be hard for anyone to surpass Maya. She was great from day 1. The only knock on her (if any) was that the National Championships favor DT and BS. I think if Geno was to rate his players, my suspicion would be 1) DT 2) Stewie 3) Maya. After that there's a strong discussion of several players to make the 4th spot. My take is it would probably be Sue Bird.

For performance as a Husky (discounting WNBA and Olympics), I would put Tina as the 4th (although you can persuade me that it should be Rebecca).

 

[Glenn]

Megan´s stats are not quite as good as Napheesa's last year.
Phees: 21 ppg, 62% shooting, 11 rebounds
Meg; 22 ppg, 49%, 9 rebounds

 

[Cuango]

If and that is a BIG if Megan leads this groups of huskies to a national championship.. for me that would put her up there with when DT lead us to championship in 2003 and 2004.

Next year, it would be a huge disappointment if we don’t win, but if she gets national player of year honors: she would be in line with Naphessa.

With a championship next year and national player of year honors: I think Tina Charles level legacy

While I am very much in agreement that Megan is doing great things, and may deserve lots of honors, I would point out that this team is exponentially more talented than the teams that DT led in 2003-2004.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Meg's numbers so far this year compare those of Phee and Maya in their senior seasons. Let's see where Meg is in March. I hope the numbers are as stellar.