Surrounded by throngs of their adoring public, the entire 2008-09 UConn women's basketball team - players, coaches, trainers, support staff included - showed up at the Aqua Turf in Southington to reflect on the Huskies' sixth national championship.

Renee Montgomery, who recently completed her rookie season with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, and former assistant coach Jamelle Elliott, now the head coach at Cincinnati, flew in to take part in the festivities. The cheerleading squad, which is being replaced in favor of a spirit squad, was there as were many members of the UConn band.

For UConn coach Geno Auriemma, it was the perfect way to wrap up the glorious 2008-09 season before turning the focus on the upcoming season.

"I think it works both ways," Auriemma said. "It is a chance for them (UConn fans, some of whom paid $150 for a private meet and greet with the team) to show how much they appreciate what we do, it is a night of reflection. Some times we are going so
fast that we don't stop to think about what we just did to enjoy it and appreciate it. A night like (Tuesday) is a night to bring it all back and at the same time, put it away and say 'Ok, that was last year and now we are moving onto this year.'"

A week from tonight, UConn stars Maya Moore and Tina Charles will be in Washington, D.C. for team meetings before taking part in the first U.S. Senior National Team training camp of the current four-year Olympic cycle. But the focus on Tuesday was about remembering the journey towards a 39-0 season when the Huskies became the first Division I team to win every game by at least 10 points.

"It's great, we don't always get a chance to interact when they are at the games so it is nice to have that contact, see their appreciation and celebrate and get a chance, be together and just celebrate," Moore said.

Now for some news - Moore said her knee feels fine and she has been practicing without restriction for the last couple of weeks. She will be going full speed at the trials before taking a week off from basketball before UConn starts its official practice on Oct. 17.

Montgomery will leave in a couple of weeks for Europe to join her new team TEO Vilnius of Lithuania. Her Minnesota Lynx teammate and fellow 2009 first-round pick Quanitra Hollingsworth will be joining her on that squad.

Auriemma said he hasn't heard about the availability of former UConn star Asjha Jones for the national team camp. Jones was sidelined with a strained Achilles tendon, forcing her to miss the last 11 games of the season with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun. There are four players among the 22 confirmed invitees not expected to play because of injury (Seimone Augustus, Kara Lawson, Jayne Appel and Lindsay Whalen). That doesn't factor in those who will have conflicts because they are playing in the WNBA finals. Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter of Phoenix, Candace Parker of Los Angeles and Tamika Catchings of Indiana have their teams in the conference finals so anywhere from 1-3 of those players will miss training camp because it runs at the same time as the WNBA finals.