UConn is in Columbia, South Carolina this weekend for one reason and one reason only - as a 40-minute Hallmark moment for Kalana Greene.

As the story I wrote in advancing the game focuses on, giving his players who come to Connecticut from outside the Northeast a homecoming game is very high up on the priority list of UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

That was proved back on New Year's Eve 2001 when UConn played at Wright State in a return home game for Tamika Williams. Wright State stepped in when Xavier, Ohio State and others passes. I still remember the quote of then-Ohio State coach Beth Burns when asked about playing UConn so Tamika Williams could play in front of friends and family. It went something like "if Tamika wanted to play at Ohio State she should have come to Ohio State." It was ironic that Burns is now the coach at San Diego State who had no issues letting the Aztecs host UConn last December so Charde Houston could return home.

Auriemma's efforts haven't always been successful. There was enough backlash from UConn reaching into the heart of SEC country to secure a commitment from the mercurial Maya Moore that there were no takers when the UConn coach tried to get a game either in Georgia or Alabama so Ketia Swanier could play a game near her hometown of Columbus, Ga. Georgia and Auburn (who are coached by 2000 U.S. Olympic coach Nell Fortner who had Auriemma on the staff which led the U.S. to the gold medal) had no interest in playing the Huskies. Fortunately, Georgia Tech agreed to sign on for a home-and-home game with UConn so Maya Moore can play a game in the state of Georgia when she is a senior.

Just out of curiosity, I looked to see how other UConn players have fared in their homecoming games. First, a couple of disclaimers. I am not including Big East games in this chart so don't ask why Mel Thomas' trip to Cincinnati when she was a junior or the returns of Swin Cash and Ashley Battle are included. I also only include the California games for Taurasi when she was a senior since they were set up specifically so she could play at home and not the Pepperdine game in 2000 which was just the second game of Taurasi's brilliant collegiate career.

12-31-02 Tamika Williams at Wright State: 20 points, 8 rebounds in 97-39 win
12-5-03 Diana Taurasi at Pepperdine: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists in 84-53 win
12-7-03 Diana Taurasi at USC: 26 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists in 72-69 win
12-23-04 Ann Strother at Colorado State: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists in 63-44 win
11-27-05 Barbara Turner at Cleveland State: 8 points, 4 assists in 85-51 win
12-21-07 Charde Houston at San Diego State: 6 points, 5 rebounds in 85-53 win

Greene is not making too much out of this game. Hey, when you suffer a knee injury like she did which could have been of the career-ending variety, it's a little easier to put things into perspective.

"It's just another game," Greene said. "A lot of other schools don't have a lot of their games on TV so people see me play all the time. It is no pressure, I think it is just a special experience while I am there to see my family. I haven't been home in a long time and not for the long period of time I am going to be there. It is an opportunity for me to see my friends and family, them to come out, hang out and spend time with me but it is no pressure. It is just another game on the schedule.

"I am not taking any one game any less serious or more serious on our schedule. I not even asking my teammates for tickets because I heard that the tickets are only 5 bucks so if they want tickets, they can go and buy their own tickets. I am going to help out where I can but my friends, they can come to the Coliseum and get the $5 tickets."

Sorry to say that I overslept (OK, I'm not really sorry to catch a little extra sleep) and missed ESPN's Outside the Lines special on Elena Delle Donne, who if things were different would be a freshman for the top-ranked Huskies right now instead of having recently completed her freshman season with the University of Delaware volleyball team. As for being apologetic, I am truly sorry if I provided the wrong info. According to my TV grid, the program will be shown on ESPNews at noon and not on ESPN Classic so tune in if you wish.

As for the status of Charde Houston's knee injury, the fact that she played 21 minutes in the semifinals of the Israeli Cup AFTER she was diagnosed with a torn meniscus should give everybody a pretty good indication of her status.

Last, if anybody is interested in the answer to the trivia question I posed (although judging by the reaction, apparently you are not) Kathy Ferrier was the third-leading scorer on the 1992-93 UConn team behind Rebecca Lobo and Jennifer Rizzotti. Ferrier averaged 10.4 points in her senior season, just ahead of current assistant coach Jamelle Elliott's 10.1 average. That 1992-93 team is the last UConn squad to fail to win at least 20 games and the last group of Huskies which failed to win either the Big East regular season or tournament title.