UConn: March To Madness Episode 1

Geno Auriemma and the UConn women’s basketball team is the subject of a 6 episode, weekly HBO special following their 2016-2017 season.  I have just watched the first episode, and it gave good insight into the mindset of the most successful coach in women’s college basketball history and what it takes to be a part of the game’s greatest program. 

It had interviews from girls who helped build the program and from girls currently in the program.  Every girl that spoke, from legend Rebecca Lobo to freshman Crystal Dangerfield, mentioned how mentally tough that you have to be to play for Coach Auriemma.  They mention that his number one goal seems to be to get them to reach their full potential in the 4 years that he is with them.  

Below I have some of the more memorable quotes from that first episode.

The coolest thing about this is how all of the players seem so happy to be a part of the whole ‘UConn’ thing.  They all seem genuinely happy to be a small part of the bigger picture.  Of course, the faces that are always shown so happy are Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and now Breanna Stewart, and there are obvious reasons for their happiness, a main one being the level of success that they were all able to reach.  And, I am sure that there are the disgruntled, unhappy players as well that we just don’t see and hear about.  But, the fact that some of the best basketball players of all time are more than happy to be known for being a part of something more so than being known for their individual success tells me a lot about the program.