U.S. women’s Olympic basketball coach faces tough choices
In most instances, Geno Auriemma is in an enviable position.
His teams at Connecticut have set the standard in women’s college basketball. The Huskies have won seven national championships in his tenure, six in the last 12 years. And they’re always ranked among the top teams.
There are more than a few coaches who would love to spend some time walking in Auriemma’s shoes. The exception, of course, might be for a few weeks this spring, when Auriemma will find himself in a spot that isn’t so enviable.
As head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team, Auriemma will have significant input on the 12 players who make the final cut. On Monday, USA Basketball announced the pool of 21 players that Auriemma, his staff and an advisory committee will use to complete the roster. Already, Auriemma is dreading the process.
“Getting down to 12 is going to be an arduous task, to say the least, and I’m not looking forward to being in that room when that decision is made, because it’s going to be very, very difficult,” Auriemma said via teleconference Monday. “Some people are going to be left out that’s going to break your heart.”
Two Chicago Sky players, Sylvia Fowles and Swin Cash, made the pool of 21. The others include: former Stevenson star Tamika Catchings, former Naperville Central star Candace Parker, Chicago native Cappie Pondexter, former Sky star Candice Dupree, as well as Jayne Appel, Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Rebekkah Brunson, Tina Charles, Lindsey Harding, Asjha Jones, Kara Lawson, Angel McCoughtry, Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen and Sophia Young. Baylor’s 6-foot-8 star center Brittney Griner, the only player currently in college, is also in the mix.
Two of the tougher calls may involve players with Chicago ties: Catchings and Cash.
They are the oldest players in the pool. Both will turn 33 this summer, Catchings in July and Cash in September. The average age of the rest is 27.
Also, Catchings had a major injury that spoiled her playoff run with Indiana last summer. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Catchings severed the plantar fascia in her right foot. She has spent most of the off-season rehabbing.
“Tamika is in that category of people who have won gold medals, won World Championships, won NCAA championships. She wins, she knows how to win,” Auriemma said of the two-time Olympic gold medalist. “She’s a great competitor. I probably love her as a competitor more than any kid I’ve ever coached against.
“I don’t know (at this time) what the status of her injury or rehab is. I hope it doesn’t come down to a decision where we are guessing. I hope we know for sure that Tamika is healthy and ready to play.”
Cash, who played for Auriemma in college, is more than ready to suit up for her former coach. But at her age, she’s hoping she hasn’t missed her window. She was one of the final cuts the last time around, missing the 2008 Olympics in China. The decision was painful considering she had made the 2004 Olympic team that won gold in Athens.
“It wasn’t easy not making the 2008 team, but I took it to heart and went back to work,” said Cash, who was acquired by the Sky in a trade with Seattle for the Sky’s No. 2 pick in April’s draft. “First thing I did was get healthy. After playing through injury for three years, I finally had back surgery to repair a disc in 2009. Then I trained with my strength and conditioning coach and put a game plan together with my eye on the 2012 Games.”
Cash has postponed pursuing an off-season television career so she could prepare for the Olympic tryouts.
“I’ve made sacrifices with everything else in my life to focus on playing more in the off-season,” Cash said. “The last few years, I’ve just tried to put myself in the best situation for 2012. I feel like I’ve made progress and I’m moving in the right direction toward my ultimate goal of competing in the Olympics again.
“It’s the biggest stage in the world, and the responsibility to represent your country comes with being on that stage. It is the ultimate honor.”
Tune in:One of the most successful teams in the Chicago area over the last decade has been the Northwestern women#146;s lacrosse team, which has won six of the last seven NCAA national titles.Find out what makes the program tick as coach Kelly Amonte Hiller is profiled tonight in a new episode of #147;Big Ten Icons,#148; hosted by Keith Jackson on the Big Ten Network.The show, which will include interviews with Amonte Hiller, NU athletic director Jim Phillips and inaugural varsity team member Ashley Gersuk, will air about 8:30 p.m., following the Northwestern-Minnesota men#146;s basketball game.Amonte Hiller, who is in her 11th season at Northwestern, boasts a 162-10 record since 2004. That includes a 29-2 mark in NCAA play.#147;She really is the face of Northwestern athletics in a lot of ways and the barometer so many coaches in our department and within our conference look to when they look at ultimate success,#148; Phillips said.Known for her innovative coaching techniques and recruiting, Amonte Hiller#146;s impact has been instrumental in helping an East Coast sport spread across the country. #147;If you look around now you#146;ve got kids from this area going on to play Division I lacrosse, and the natural progression of the game is really heading west and south,#148; Gersuk said. #147;Kelly#146;s been absolutely at the forefront of that transition and progression.#148;pbabcock@dailyherald.comŸPatricia Babcock McGraw, who covers the WNBA for the Daily Herald, provides color commentary for Chicago Sky broadcasts. She also is a color analyst for the Big Ten Network, the IHSA Television Network and DePaul women#146;s basketball broadcasts.ADV38892593Associated Press/2009 fileNorthwestern's women lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, center, will be featured on Saturday night's Big Ten Icons series on the Big Ten Network. ADVBKL20752786Tamika Catchings, left, of the Indiana Fever and Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky are among 21 players vying for the dozen spots on the Olympic team. Associated PressBKL