Sobbing ...
UConn seniors Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards shared an emotional WNBA Draft night with teammates and coaches that both describe as family.
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“I was so positively overwhelmed, and just having all of them around me — all my people in the stands, at the table, knowing that my family, my friends from back home are watching — it’s surreal,” Muhl said. “I’m just so grateful to be able to call them my sisters and my family and have such great support even though I’m not home. This is my home away from home. They are my home away from home.”
Auriemma and Muhl have a profound connection, bonded by the gratitude and motivation from what the UConn coach calls a “coming-to-America” mentality. Auriemma’s family immigrated to the United States from Montella, Italy when he was 7 years old, where he grew up without running water or electricity.
“Every single thing in the culture that he built in that program aligns with me and who I am as a person and who I strive to be,” Muhl said. “He’s not just my coach, he’s my best friend. He’s been there from the start. When I failed, through the worst things, through the best things, he always stuck by my side and never left. I’ll cherish that bond and that relationship that I have with him forever.”