Coach’s kids keep it all in the family

As the son of the NCAA’s winningest basketball coach, Tyler Summitt grew up making trips to the Final Four with his mom, Pat Summitt, and doing homework with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers.

Now a 19-year-old freshman, he is getting the coaching lesson of a lifetime. He works as a male practice player with the Lady Vols, hoping to walk on with the Tennessee men’s team next season. Tyler’s ultimate goal is to become a college coach.

Not surprisingly, Tyler was a part of Tennessee basketball even before he was born. Pat Summitt was recruiting a point guard when she went into labor with Tyler. She caught a quick flight to Knoxville to ensure her son would be born in Tennessee and Tyler has been a fixture around the Tennessee program ever since: sitting on the bench during practice, traveling to away games and tournaments and volunteering during his mom’s summer basketball camps.

With his sights set on coaching, Tyler keeps a notebook full of practice drills and plays that he’s learned from various coaches. He picks the brains of the opposing coaches when traveling with the team. He hopes to earn a graduate assistant position with North Carolina coach Roy Williams and possibly do an internship with an NBA or WNBA franchise.

Tyler’s not the only one keeping the sport in the family. Stanford’s Joslyn Tinkle also has close family ties with a parent who coaches college hoops. Tinkle, whose team earned a number one seed in the women’s bracket, is going to be a fan for a night as she cheers for her Dad’s team in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament. She’s  rescheduled her final exam Thursday in order to be in the stands  at HP Pavilion in San Jose to watch Montana play in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Wayne Tinkle is in his fourth season as Montana’s men’s basketball head coach and will be making his first appearance in the NCAA tournament with the Grizzlies.

Nice to see these kids keep things all in the family.

President Obama fills out women’s brackets for ESPN

We all know President Barack Obama is a huge hoops fans. In fact after last year’s NCAA title, Obama invited the UConn women’s team to a championship ceremony at the White House and even ended up shooting baskets with the players.  At the time, he said that as the father of two young daughters, he especially appreciated the success of female athletes like the Connecticut team.

This week Obama picked UConn to win another national championship.  In an ESPN exclusive,  Obama filled out his bracket predictions for both the 2010 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments with ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz and ESPN basketball analyst Doris Burke. This is the first time President Obama has publicly provided his bracket for the women’s tournament.

Obama’s brackets will be posted on ESPN.com shortly after SportsCenter airs his interview on Wednesday, March 17th with Katz and will appear alongside fans expected to play in ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge presented by Capital One.

The President is predicting a Women’s Final Four of Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford and Tennessee to meet April 4-6 in San Antonio.

Referring to the interview, Burke said, “In just the short time I spent with President Obama, it was obvious how much of a basketball fan he is. While he has joined the rest of the nation in following the storyline of the Connecticut Huskies and their current historic win streak, I was impressed with his overall knowledge and passion for all of basketball. He is also intrigued with the potential matchup of the titans of women’s basketball in Tennessee and Connecticut.”

Don’t let the Prez be the only one having fun during March Madness. If you want to play along,  join the WomenTalkSports group for the Bracket Challenge! Here’s how:

1. Check out NCAA Games and create a user account. (name, password)
2. Click here to head to the Women’s Basketball Bracket page. (or go to D-1 Women’s basketball-picks)
3. Navigate to “Join a Group”- Join the WomenTalkSports group by entering:

group name: WomenTalkSports

password: womentalksports

It’s as simple as that, but will be loads of fun as WTS will be giving away random prizes throughout the tournament and a grand prize for the winner of our bracket challenge!

College basketball brackets revealed

The NCAA men’s basketball championship brackets were revealed on Sunday afternoon and that means the beginning of  March Madness. Millions of people in the US will now start to take part in bracket pools in the hopes of proving they have top knowledge of the sport.

It’s been a busy day in women’s college basketball as well as conferences finished up post season tournaments and more teams learned that their season is not over. Here’s a list of who earned automatic bids to the to the 2010 NCAA women’s college basketball tournament:

TEAM -CONFERENCE -DATE -LAST BID
—- ———- —- ——–
East Tennessee State (23-8) Atlantic Sun 3/6 2009
Austin Peay (15-17) Ohio Valley 3/6 2009
Princeton (26-2) Ivy League 3/6 none
Marist (26-7) Metro Atlantic Athletic 3/7 2009
Duke (27-5) Atlantic Coast 3/7 2009
Ohio State (30-4) Big Ten 3/7 2009
Tennessee (30-2) Southeastern 3/7 2009
Gonzaga (27-4) West Coast 3/8 2009
Chattanooga (24-8) Southern 3/8 2008
Xavier (27-3) Atlantic 10 3/8 2009
Middle Tennessee (25-5) Sun Belt 3/9 2009
South Dakota State (22-10) Summit League 3/9 2009
Connecticut (33-0) Big East 3/9 2009
Tulane (26-6) Conference USA 3/12 2002
Lamar (26-7) Southland 3/12 1991
Bowling Green (27-6) Mid-American 3/13 2007
UC Riverside (17-15) Big West 3/13 2007
Louisiana Tech (23-8) Western Athletic 3/13 2006
San Diego State (21-10) Mountain West 3/13 2009
Hampton (20-11) Mid-Eastern Athletic 3/13 2004
Portland State (18-14) Big Sky 3/13 none
Lehigh (29-3) Patriot League 3/13 2009
Southern (23-8) Southwestern Athletic 3/13 2006
Vermont (26-6) America East 3/13 2009
James Madison (26-6) Colonial Athletic 3/14 2007
Cleveland State (19-13) Horizon League 3/14 2008
Texas A&M (25-7) Big 12 3/14 2009
Liberty (27-5) Big South 3/14 2009
St. Francis, Pa. (17-14) Northeast 3/14 2005
Northern Iowa (17-15) Missouri Valley 3/14 none
Stanford (31-1) Pacific-10 3/14 2009

Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award names 2009-10 basketball candidates

Every year around this time, honors and accolades are handed out for an assortment of achievments. Of all the cool awards out there for collegiate-athletes one of the most prestigious is the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

Yesterday, 30 NCAA women’s basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were tabbed as candidates today for the 2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

Individuals qualified based on their dedication and achievement in four areas:  Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition.  The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award is distinctive from many other honors in that on-the-field performance is only one factor in determining candidacy – a major emphasis is placed on off-the-field commitments and personal character.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the CLASS award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college seniors who fulfill their entire athletic eligibility (meaning they don’t abandon school for pro careers).

This year’s candidate class includes 25 players on the preseason watch lists for the men’s and women’s John R. Wooden Award and 11 women’s players who are preseason favorites for the State Farm Wade Trophy. Eleven women represent teams ranked in the top 25 women’s preseason poll.

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award™ winner for men’s basketball at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four® in Indianapolis in April and for women’s basketball at the 2010 NCAA Women’s Final Four® in San Antonio in April.

Women’s Basketball 2009-10 Candidates

Name	Position	School
Jayne Appel	Center	Stanford University
Miranda Ayim	Forward/Center	Pepperdine University
Amy Beggin	Guard	University of New Mexico
Joy Cheek	Forward/Guard	Duke University
Alysha Clark	Forward	Middle Tennessee State University
Allyssa DeHaan	Center	Michigan State University
Claire Faucher	Guard	Portland State University
Kristen Feemster	Forward	Western Carolina University
Jordan Franey	Guard/Forward	University of California, Santa Barbara
Tyra Grant	Guard	Pennsylvania State University
Alexis Gray-Lawson	Guard	University of California
Kelsey Griffin	Forward	University of Nebraska
Lisa Helmers	Guard	Loyola Marymount University
Allison Hightower	Guard	Louisiana State University
Ashley Houts	Guard	University of Georgia
May Kotsopoulos	Guard	University of Vermont
Maggie Krick	Guard	Illinois State University
Kelsey Luna	Guard	Indiana State University
Joy McCorvey	Forward	St. John’s University
Danielle McCray	Guard/Forward	University of Kansas
Jessica Mooney	Guard	Vanderbilt University
Jené Morris	Guard	San Diego State University
Deirdre Naughton	Guard	DePaul University
Lauren Sims	Guard	Long Beach State University
Jenna Smith	Center	University of Illinois
Ashley Sweat	Forward	Kansas State University
Bianca Thomas	Guard	University of Mississippi
Amanda Thompson	Forward	University of Oklahoma
Jenny Van Kirk	Forward	Bradley University
Monica Wright	Guard	University of Virginia

UPDATE: Hartford paper rethinks publishing Auriemma’s daughter

I grew up in Connecticut where women’s basketball rules.

Long before other women’s college teams got exposure and respect, the public TV station broadcast the UConn games. In fact, CPTV began its coverage of the university women during  the 1993-94 season and has covered the team ever since.

Given the intense interest in all things related to UConn’s women’s basketball team, including long-time coach Geno Auriemma, it’s not a huge surprise that the state’s largest daily newspaper, the Hartford Courant, hired Auriemma’s daughter, Ally, to write a blog about the six-time national championship team team.

The 23-year-old, who graduated from UConn with a degree in dramatic arts, said she’ll take readers behind the scenes, but will not write anything controversial about her father’s team.

She said she’ll also counter what she called “false press” about her father, a Hall of Famer who will coach the women’s basketball team in the 2012 Olympics. In her personal blog, Live Beyond the Postseason, she writes about her Dad and life in general.

Now, according to ESPN, the Courant is re-evaluating its plan.

The newspaper’s sports editor, Jeff Otterbein, says he hired Alysa Auriemma to give an insider’s viewpoint about her father and the team on monthly blog postings during the upcoming basketball season. Otterbein said Alysa Auriemma would be paid $125 per article.

The arrangement has been criticized by a media ethics expert and journalists, who call Alysa Auriemma’s role a conflict of interest.

Otterbein says he at first considered the blog “a slice of something they could not get elsewhere.”

He said the newspaper is now reconsidering the relationship and is asking readers for their opinions.

Would love to hear any thoughts on the subject. Is this a blog you’d be interested in reading?

UPDATE 9/19/09:

Hartford Courant sports editor Jeff Otterbein said that Alysa Auriemma was paid for posts in July and August, but will not be paid for future posts to “avoid any appearance of impropriety.”

On her personal blog, the 23-year-old UConn grad says she’s pleased with the outcome.

Pomp and Circumstance: Athletes Graduate

It’s that time of year. All across the country,  graduations are taking place.  But when they play “Pomp and Circumstance” and call the roll, there will be a number of no-shows at many of these graduation ceremonies.

Why miss graduation? Well, for student-athletes it can be a busy time of year. Some are participating in post-season play and others are transitioning into their professional careers.

Former Oklahoma women’s basketball stars Courtney and Ashley Paris are two who will not be donning a cap and gown this year. OU’s ceremony is Saturday and the sisters are due to start WNBA training camps on Sunday.

With the camps on the West Coast the two don’t want to travel so soon before practice starts. Courtney was a first-round draft pick of the Sacramento Monarchs and Ashley was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks.

Courtney says she’s not happy about missing the graduation ceremony but the decision is best because of the short amount of time involved.

Other student-athletes are faced with similar dilemmas. Four University of Houston-Victoria softball players are choosing their jerseys over a cap and gown.

Sam Campagna, Lauren Garza, Lindsey Ferguson and Kristen Lindley will graduate on Saturday, but instead of attending their graduation, they’ll be playing in the NAIA National Softball Tournament in Decatur, Ala.

Similarly, there will be four no-shows at Mesa State College’s graduation. Seniors Meagan Hennessy, Jamie Prather, Kristen Silva and Jessica Rayman will be celebrating graduation on the diamond, preparing to play the second game of the NCAA Division II Super Regional 3 tournament, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Duke University’s official graduation ceremony was held last Sunday inside Wallace Wade Stadium, but seniors on the women’s lacrosse team were hosting the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (defeating Virginia 15-13 in overtime).  Luckily, Duke holds a special graduation ceremony for student athletes unable to attend the main graduation.

Former LSU women’s basketball standout Sylvia Fowles will return to campus to graduate this week, according to the Athletics Department. The former Olympic gold medalist, All-American, NCAA Defensive Player of the Year, Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, WNBA first-round draft pick and All-Rookie Team member, EuroLeague Center of the Year, who was two credits shy of graduation when she left school,  said the degree will be a crowning achievement on an already illustrious career.

So which schools do the best job of graduating female athletes? In general, female athletes graduate at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.

With this summer’s graduations of two former basketball players, Georgia coach Andy Landers’ 30-year streak is intact. Fifty-three of his 54 four-year letter winners will have graduated by August; the 54th will wrap up after a one-year internship ends in May 2010.

Lady Hardmon Grooms,  who played at Georgia from 1988-1992, wasn’t exactly on the college graduation fast track. But in August, after this summer’s internship, the former UGA basketball player will finish her long pursuit.

And 12 years after shedding her UGA uniform for those of professional teams around the world, Kedra Holland-Corn will finally get to wear her cap and gown.

Slow and steady, fast and furious, it doesn’t matter. UGA women are unbeaten in their graduation record.

The UConn Husky women’s basketball team also has a pretty good record. Just last month, the National Champions were recognized by the NCAA for top academic performance as a team.  And over the course of 24 seasons, Coach Geno Auriemma’s players have had a 100-percent graduation rate. Renee Montgomery, recently drafted by the Minnesota Lynx,  is among this year’s graduating seniors.  She became the first Husky to have her jersey retired before graduation.

Earlier this month the NCAA released its annual grades known as ”Academic Progress Rates,” a rolling four year measure of Division I athletes’ basic progress toward graduation.

APR scores are calculated by a point system that measures each athlete’s eligibility, retention and graduation in school. For falling below the 925 standard, programs can suffer immediate penalties ranging from loss of scholarships and practice time to a ban on postseason play.

Among the squads with a perfect APR score were Penn State’s women’s field hockey lacrosse, and tennis  teams. Only 7.2 percent of the nation’s 6,323 teams in the survey earned a four-year APR score of 1,000.

Congratulations to the Penn State women’s teams and good luck to all the graduates, even if you go pro in something other than sports!

UConn women’s basketball champions visit White House

The benefits of being the best. Win a national championship and you, too, could go to the White House.

A championship ceremony at the White House is standard for many national sports teams. But shooting hoops with the president, now that’s something else entirely.

Moments after today’s event in front of the White House’s South Portico, President Barack Obama hustled the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team over to the outdoor half-court.

The president, a former high school player and avid fan who still plays pickup games, prevailed in a brief, impromptu game of P-I-G with a few of the players.

“He was pretty good from 17 feet,” said coach Geno Auriemma. “His shot’s a little unorthodox, but it goes in … He’s got a little bit of that swagger.”

Renee Montgomery, a senior guard, said Obama only missed one shot and that he sank a final fade-away shot from off the court.

After about 10 minutes, Obama walked back to the White House with his sleeves rolled up and his suit jacket slung over his shoulder.

Connecticut dominated women’s college basketball this season, going 39-0 and beating opponents by an average of better than 30 points. They capped the season earlier this month in St. Louis with a 76-54 victory over Louisville. It was Connecticut’s sixth national college championship and third perfect season.

The team gave Obama a basketball signed by the players and a Connecticut jersey emblazoned with “1″ and his name on the back.

“Number One — that’s what I’m talking about,” Obama joked. “I will wear it when I’m playing.”

The Commander in Chief also commended the young women for their off court excellence as well.  Maya Moore was chosen an academic All-American — an outgrowth of perhaps the program’s most impressive statistic, the NCAA recognized the top academic performance of the team which has enjoyed a 100% graduation rate in Auriemma’s 24 seasons.

Obama said that as the father of two young daughters, he especially appreciates the success of female athletes like the Connecticut team.

“My girls look at the TV when I’m watching ‘SportsCenter’ and they see women staring back,” Obama said of the ESPN program, a personal favorite. “That shows them that they can be champions, too.”

Gobama!

Coach Auriemma has a good chance of returning to the White House, along with some of the players from his teams. He has been named coach of Team USA and will be coaching the U.S. team in the 2012 Olympics.

So what about UConn?  Will the women’s team be back in Washington next year? Well, there’s a very good chance. The team lost just one key player, Renee Montgomery, and they have a top recruit coming in so beating them next year will be pretty tough!

Auriemma to be named U.S. Women’s Basketball Coach

The NCAA championships are over, the WNBA Draft is done and just when you thought there might be a lull in women’s basketball comes major breaking news.

UConn’s Geno Auriemma, 55, will be named coach of the U.S women’s basketball team through the 2012 Olympics. The university has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday in Storrs.

Auriemma just won his sixth national title at UConn as the Huskies finished off an unbeaten season (39-0) by defeating Louisville in the NCAA women’s final last week. He will serve as head coach through the Summer Games in London.

According to the Hartford Courant:

Auriemma is the first active college coach to head an Olympic team since Tara VanDerveer in 1996. Auriemma became eligible to coach the Olympic team after the USA Basketball executive committee approved a rule change last month. In the past, the Olympic head coaches were required to have WNBA coaching experience. Now the coach must only have five years experience as either an assistant or head coach at any level at the time of the selection.

The U.S., which has won four straight Olympic gold medals, will first have a chance to qualify for the London games at the FIBA World Championships in 2010 in the Czech Republic. The winner of that tournament will receive an automatic berth to the 2012 Games

Olympians Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, former UConn players who also won national titles playing for Auriemma, are likely to be on the U.S. roster.

Being a big UConn fan, this news is huge. There’s no doubt Auriemma is an amazing coach and will serve the U.S. team well.

Surely pundits will have a lot to say about the news in the coming days and months so we’ll keep you posted.

Huskies Maya Moore 2009 Wooden Award winner

A final exclamation point was added to Maya Moore’s season of accomplishment Friday, when the University of Connecticut sophomore was named winner of the John R. Wooden Award as the top player in women’s college basketball. Moore was presented with the unique Wooden Award trophy that represents the legendary coach’s ideal basketball player at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

A finalist and Wooden All American a year ago as a freshman, Moore led Connecticut to a dream undefeated season in 2009, capped off by a win over Louisville in the NCAA title game on Tuesday. The 6-0 forward was the Big East Player of the Year in averaging 21.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.3 blocks. Moore recorded 20-plus points 15 times and registered 16 double-doubles this season.

In a storied program, Moore became the fastest player in Husky history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Among her accolades this season were being named to the All-Tournament team at the Final Four, being chosen Most Outstanding Player of the Trenton Regional and being selected an Academic All-American by ESPN.

In the Wooden Award voting, Moore finished with 176 points to beat out Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (133 points), Angel McCoughtry of Louisville (101), Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery (97) and Maryland’s Kristi Toliver (68). Moore and Paris, a four-time Wooden All American, attended the announcement, as did Moore’s head coach, Geno Auriemma.

Balloting by more than 300 members of the media and college basketball experts was conducted through the games of the Sweet 16. Voters selected 5 players for the Wooden All-America team from the 19 student-athletes listed on the ballot, and ranked them from 1 to 10. Voters were asked to take into account performance during the regular season and postseason, as well as a player’s character and academic performance.

Moore joins a distinguished group of Wooden Award winners, including Michael Jordan (North Carolina), Larry Bird (Indiana State), Candace Parker (Tennessee), Seimone Augustus (LSU). She is the first sophomore to win the Award and the first Connecticut player to be honored.

The men’s honors went to Okahoma’s Blake Griffin. Like Moore, Griffin basically swept this season’s individual honors, winning The Associated Press player of the year earlier this month as well as the Naismith. He also captured the Robertson Trophy as the top player in college basketball and announced earlier this week he’s going to turn pro.

About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

Women’s Wooden Award All-Time Winners

Year	Player	School
2009	Maya Moore	University of Connecticut
2008	Candace Parker	University of Tennessee
2007	Candace Parker	University of Tennessee
2006	Seimone Augustus	Louisiana State University
2005	Seimone Augustus	Louisiana State University
2004	Alana Beard	Duke University

A Husky Parade! UCONN Women’s Parade Plans Set

According to media reports, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell says a date has been set for a parade to honor the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team for winning the NCAA national championship.

The parade will be held next Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. in Hartford.

As a Connecticut native, I’m sad to be living 3,000 miles away and miss the chance to honor these amazing, awesome, astonishing women.

Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of the capital city to celebrate past championships won by the UConn women’s and men’s teams.

UConn beat Big East rival Louisville last week to claim its sixth national championship, and its first since 2004. The Huskies finished the season at a perfect 39-0.

The parade will begin and end at the state Capitol, and run near Bushnell Park, Main Street and Capitol Avenue. A rally will be held after the parade on the north steps of the Capitol.

To all my friends in Connecticut – be sure to get out next weekend to honor a great team and almost-graduate Renee Montgomery!

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