Update from Geno on Incoming Freshmen, Team USA, etc.

[UConnCat]

Jim Fuller had a chance to interview Geno at the NY Athletic Club today. Some items of interest:

• Chris Dailey will assist Team USA with scouting at the World Championships while Shea and Marisa will handle day-to-day stuff with the team
• Kia Nurse will spend only a couple of days on campus this summer because of her commitments with Team Canada
  
• Team USA may be playing an exhibition game against Team Canada in September, though date and site have not been announced.
  
• A couple of the freshmen will be on campus for the short summer session beginning in May (Ekmark is one, I think), and then all but Nurse will be in Storrs for the summer session in June/July.

Geno on Kia Nurse:

"Kia is only going to come up for a couple of days to get some paperwork done because she is going to spend the whole summer with the Canadian national team and I think we are scrimmaging them somewhere," Auriemma said. "I think we have a scrimmage lined up between their national team and our national team at some point in September, I am not sure exactly when an then I will get to see her in Istanbul the whole time we are there so I am excited for it and I know she is excited. I know it is a hell of a thing for a 17 year old to be on her national team, it doesn't happen very often.

 

[MilfordHusky]

It is a hell of a thing for a 17-year-old, but Kia is not your typical 17-year-old.

Bound for greatness!

 

[sarals24]

If Stewie somehow makes the World Championship team, UConn would have two CURRENT national team players on its roster. Wow.

 

[ndmb]

• 
  [ ]Team USA may be playing an exhibition game against Team Canada in September, though date and site have not been announced.

Kia will be playing for us, I hope.

 

[MilfordHusky]

If Stewie somehow makes the World Championship team, UConn would have two CURRENT national team players on its roster. Wow.

And the rest of WCBB would have ... ZERO.

 

[UConnCat]

I'm hoping the US v Canada game is on US soil. . . and preferably on the east coast. Team USA will be training in Annapolis September 7-10, so a game shortly thereafter and in a nearby arena would be perfect.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm hoping the US v Canada game is on US soil. . . and preferably on the east coast. Team USA will be training in Annapolis September 7-10, so a game shortly thereafter and in a nearby arena would be perfect.

Absolutely. I hope to be there.

 

[msf22b]

According to Team Canada, she's leading the team:

Kia Nurse
Kia Nurse has been the offensive leader for the Canadian Cadette Women’s National Team. So far in the seven games in the tournament she has average a team-high 13.6 points per game while chipping in with 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

The Hamilton, ON native started the tournament strong with a 20 point effort in Canada’s opening game against Italy. So far in the tournament, Nurse has scored in the double digits five of the seven games Canada has played.

In order for Canada to win the bronze medal, they will need Kia to keep playing at the level she is playing

 

[MilfordHusky]

Kia is playing against people twice her age.

 

[winlots]

Absolutely. I hope to be there.

MIL: I've been known to grovel. Since Annapolis (Navy) is my favorite college, I'll bring the wine? The steak? The girls?

 

[UcMiami]

According to Team Canada, she's leading the team:

Kia Nurse
Kia Nurse has been the offensive leader for the Canadian Cadette Women’s National Team. So far in the seven games in the tournament she has average a team-high 13.6 points per game while chipping in with 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

The Hamilton, ON native started the tournament strong with a 20 point effort in Canada’s opening game against Italy. So far in the tournament, Nurse has scored in the double digits five of the seven games Canada has played.

In order for Canada to win the bronze medal, they will need Kia to keep playing at the level she is playing

'Cadette' is the term the Canadians use for the lower age group teams and not for the National team - so not sure where that quote comes from but it is from one of the under XX teams and not the team that will be playing in the WC

 

[sawxfan23]

According to Team Canada, she's leading the team:

Kia Nurse
Kia Nurse has been the offensive leader for the Canadian Cadette Women’s National Team. So far in the seven games in the tournament she has average a team-high 13.6 points per game while chipping in with 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

The Hamilton, ON native started the tournament strong with a 20 point effort in Canada’s opening game against Italy. So far in the tournament, Nurse has scored in the double digits five of the seven games Canada has played.

In order for Canada to win the bronze medal, they will need Kia to keep playing at the level she is playing

Kia Nurse played on the Cadette team in 2012. The Cadette team is not the Women's National Team it is similar to USA u17. The tournament you are referring to occured in August of 2012.

 

[MilfordHusky]

MIL: I've been known to grovel. Since Annapolis (Navy) is my favorite college, I'll bring the wine? The steak? The girls?

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

[Blakeon18]

I vote for that exhibition game to be played at one of the sites in Ct.

 

[easttexastrash]

I would love to see her play. Are any of these games being streamed?

 

[ThisJustIn]

I feel a road trip in my not too distant future....

 

[Sonny44]

Kia is playing against people twice her age.

That's an advantage Milford. If she played against me she'd be benched for scoring only 13 ppg.

 

[magic]

I hate to ask what might be considered a less than intelligent question, but doesn't she have to attend school this fall to be eligible to play ? Sounds like she has a lot on her plate .

 

[sarals24]

I'm assuming they will work with her on her classes. Maya played in the World Championships when she was a senior in college, so I'm sure she can turn in work online, etc.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno says she'll miss most of the summer. Sure, she'll miss SOME of the fall, but the situation is the same as Maya's was 4 years ago--as noted.

 

[UcMiami]

Geno says she'll miss most of the summer. Sure, she'll miss SOME of the fall, but the situation is the same as Maya's was 4 years ago--as noted.

Not quite the same as Maya was already enrolled and well into her major with probably a fairly light load of classes for her senior year, and playing for a team (USA) that only got about 10 days of practice prior to the WC.
Nurse is going to be a freshman, so she doesn't already have a relationship with her professors and the whole college thing will be new to her. And the Canadian team is going to be practicing all summer. We have no idea what the late August/early September schedule is for that team, but it could be much more disruptive. Maya had a month of classes with no interruption, was gone for 3 weeks and then came back to finish her semester. And I believe the USA team provided her with academic support - no idea if Canada will be so accommodating.
I do think it could be really tough for Kia.

 

[UConnCat]

Not quite the same as Maya was already enrolled and well into her major with probably a fairly light load of classes for her senior year, and playing for a team (USA) that only got about 10 days of practice prior to the WC.
Nurse is going to be a freshman, so she doesn't already have a relationship with her professors and the whole college thing will be new to her. And the Canadian team is going to be practicing all summer. We have no idea what the late August/early September schedule is for that team, but it could be much more disruptive. Maya had a month of classes with no interruption, was gone for 3 weeks and then came back to finish her semester. And I believe the USA team provided her with academic support - no idea if Canada will be so accommodating.
I do think it could be really tough for Kia.

Geno, the academic staff at UConn and Kia have known the schedule a long time. It was discussed during recruiting and undoubtedly has been discussed and addressed since. I wouldn't be surprised if Kia took advantage of UConn's e-Campus (online courses) this summer to get an introduction to college courses and add a few credits to the column.

I expect Nurse will start the fall semester at UConn and then meet up with the team. That's exactly what Natalie Achonwa did in 2010. Achonwa was named to Team Canada in 2010 and traveled to the Czech Republic for the World Championships (9/23-10/3). Team Canada allowed her to join the national team in Europe a few days late in order to give her more time at school and reportedly was very accommodating. Achonwa already had a year of college under her belt, but I see no reason why the situation with Nurse isn't manageable. It requires a mature kid and it sounds like she's all that.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Geno, the academic staff at UConn and Kia have known the schedule a long time. It was discussed during recruiting and undoubtedly has been discussed and addressed since. I wouldn't be surprised if Kia took advantage of UConn's e-Campus (online courses) this summer to get an introduction to college courses and add a few credits to the column.

I expect Nurse will start the fall semester at UConn and then meet up with the team. That's exactly what Natalie Achonwa did in 2010. Achonwa was named to Team Canada in 2010 and traveled to the Czech Republic for the World Championships (9/23-10/3). Team Canada allowed her to join the national team in Europe a few days late in order to give her more time at school and reportedly was very accommodating. Achonwa already had a year of college under her belt, but I see no reason why the situation with Nurse isn't manageable. It requires a mature kid and it sounds like she's all that.

I'm surprised the NCAA or even UConn allows it. From the NCAA perspective it becomes a slippery slope as to how much class a student-athlete needs to attend to be considered a student-athlete, and then it becomes subjective as to when to grant exceptions for missed time. A regular student that misses too much class usually is forced to drop classes or take a withdrawal.

 

[UConnCat]

I'm surprised the NCAA or even UConn allows it. From the NCAA perspective it becomes a slippery slope as to how much class a student-athlete needs to attend to be considered a student-athlete, and then it becomes subjective as to when to grant exceptions for missed time. A regular student that misses too much class usually is forced to drop classes or take a withdrawal.

The NCAA only requires Nurse be registered for a minimum of 12 hours. If the NCAA ever reaches the point of monitoring class attendance -- a road it can't go down for basketball teams that do miss classes -- then god help us. That's school policy, and mostly individual professor policy. Plus, who's to say Nurse's absence will be considered missed classes? There could be arrangements for the lectures to be recorded. Nurse and UConn won't be breaking new ground here.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm surprised the NCAA or even UConn allows it. From the NCAA perspective it becomes a slippery slope as to how much class a student-athlete needs to attend to be considered a student-athlete, and then it becomes subjective as to when to grant exceptions for missed time. A regular student that misses too much class usually is forced to drop classes or take a withdrawal.

When my son and I went through the campus tour and information session at Stanford, they proudly pointed out how many students they had who were currently or had been Olympians. I'm sure there are well-recognized ways to manage this. It's a feather in the university's cap to have kids who are world-class at some activity.