UConn teammates Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Tiffany Hayes were among the 14 players named finalists for the U.S. team which will compete in the World University Games. Two players will have to be cut before the team leaves on June 25 for Belgrade, Serbia.

Just my opinion, but at least one of the cuts figures to be a post player since Charles, Stanford's Jayne Appel, Ohio State's Jantel Lavender, Jacinta Monroe of Florida State and Xavier's Ta'Shia Phillips all made the list of 14. Also making it were Stanford's Kayla Pedersen, Georgia's Ashley Houts, Alexis Gray-Lawson of California, Oklahoma's Whitney Hand and Danielle Robinson and Danielle McCray of Kansas.

The biggest omission to me was Dawn Evans of James Madison. I was extremely impressed by her play but seems to me like the committee did a heck of a job with the selections based on what I saw in the two days I was at the trials. I would imagine picking among the point guards must have been pretty difficult because they all seemed pretty comparable to me.

UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris was among the 14 finalists for the Under-19 national team but neither her future UConn teammate Samarie Walker nor former Trinity Catholic star Da'Shena Stevens made the cut.

This is the second year in a row I thought Tierra Ruffin-Pratt should have made the cut and pretty stunned that Nebraska incoming freshman Lindsey Moore and DePaul's rising sophomore Keisha Hampton did not make the list of 14.

Of the 24 players I said I would have named to the teams, 15 of them made the cut.

As for the UConn contingent here is my take on why they got the nod.

Maya Moore: Not the hardest choice. Reminds me of the scene in Brian's Song when they are making cuts in the Chicago Bears training camp. They go down the list of rookies and either say yes for "let's keep them" or no for "thanks for stopping by." When they say the name Gale Sayers, the George Halas character scoffs and says "are you kidding me?" I'm sure it took less than a second for them to make that decision.
Tina Charles: In a camp full of gifted post players, Charles was a standout. She was utilized more in the high post than she is at UConn but still seemed at ease.
Tiffany Hayes: Wasn't overly impressive in the three sessions I saw but she brings so many intangibles to a team. She can shoot from the perimeter, is a standout defender, can drive to the basket (and was attempting to do so as much as possible), rebound, run an offense so it isn't a shock she made the squad.
Kelly Faris: Pretty much the same deal as Hayes, more than anything else she does on the court, she is a great teammate and makes any team she is on better.

The only member of the 2008 U-18 team in camp who didn't make the list was Rutgers rising sophomore Nikki Speed.