While the arrival of Becky Hammon to help Russia in its attempt to defend its Eurobasket title drew the most headlines, it was the efforts of another WNBA player which proved to be the difference.

Sandrine Gruda, expected to join the Connecticut Sun in time for the July 2 game at Indiana, had 12 points (on 5 of 7 shooting), seven rebounds, one assist and two steals as France defeated Russia 57-53 to win the title. Gruda scored in double figures in all nine games in the tournament and finished fifth in scoring with an average of 15.4 points per game, fourth in rebounding (7.7 per game) and ranked in the top 10 in 13 individual categories. She led the tournament with the most 2-point field goal attempted and converted. Still waiting for the game report to be put up on the FIBA Europe tournament site but here is video of an interview with Gruda following the semifinals.

The aforementioned Hammon missed all eight of her 3-point attempts and had nine points for Russia. Former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova was just 2 of 11 from the field. She finished with four points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three turnovers.

One interesting fact about the tournament is that - according to my count - 33 players on the 16 teams played collegiate basketball in the U.S. including Abrosimova of course. Led by former George Washington star Anna Montañana of Spain (who was the tournament's No. 3 scorer) six of the tournament's top 19 scorers played stateside. Here's the list
3. Anna Montañana (Spain) 16.2 George Washington 2001-05
11. Kristin Newlin (Turkey) 12.7 Stanford 2003-07
13. Gunta Basko (Latvia) 12.4 Siena 1999-2003
16. Svet Abrosimova (Russia) 11.2 UConn 1997-2001
17. Zane Tamane (Latvia) 11.0 Western Illinois (2003-06)
19. Yelena Leuchanka (Belarus) West Virginia (2003-06)

That doesn't include former WNBA players like Evanthia Maltsi, Zuzana Zirkova, Maria Stepanova and Raffaella Masciadri, who all finished among the top 10 scorers so there although it was an event featuring the best and brightest stars in Europe, there were many familiar names. Maltsi, who played in 26 games for the Sun in 2007, was named the tournament's MVP
Word has it that UConn coach Geno Auriemma spent his share of time in Latvia scouting the tournament since he will be devising game plans to slow down many of these star players as the U.S. coach in the 2012 Olympics. While it is currently a "quiet period" until July 5 meaning Auriemma or any college coach for that matter is prohibiting from contacting recruits, that doesn't mean that one of the talented youngsters in the event COUGH Latvia's Sabine Niedola COUGH COUGH might not have caught his eye. The 18-year-old forward only played in five of Latvia's first eight games and managed 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. In Saturday's seventh-place game the 6-foot forward had 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and one steal in 24 minutes. A quick look at the rosters shows that she was one of five players born in the 1990s. Will Auriemma look overseas in his recruiting efforts, I never got the sense that it was a priority of his but he certainly knows talent when he sees it so if somebody catches his eye, rest assured he will remember their names and pursue them if it is in the best interest of his program to do so. It should be noted that five players on Latvia's roster for the European championships (Basko, Liene Jansone, Dita Krumberga, Aija Putnina and Tamane) played collegiately in the U.S. That doesn't include former Virginia Tech star Ieva Kublina who was injured and not on the Latvian roster. The one thing to keep in mind is that if a European player is good enough to play for a school like UConn, they are also good enough to earn lots of money playing professionally in Europe. Gruda is a perfect example of that, she would have been a sensational collegiate player but something tells me she is fine with how things have turned out for her.

My last thought as I leave European basketball in my rear-view mirror, when I spoke to Carol Callan, who overseas the women's progams for USA Basketball, she said there was no hurry to name Auriemma's Senior National team staff since court coaches can be used when they hold a training camp next year but I'll offer my opinion of who would make the ideal staff bearing in mind that two WNBA coaches and one college coach are expected to comprise the staff with at least one minority on staff. So here are my picks:

Marianne Stanley: I don't know if she will be promoted to head coach when Michael Cooper leaves the Los Angeles Sparks to take over the Southern California program. Frankly I don't care. When it comes to credentials, she has them all whether she is a head coach or assistant coach in the WNBA. I believe at least some attention must be paid to previous service to USA Basketball and Stanley was the head coach of the 1986 of the gold medal winning U.S. World Championship team and she was actively involved in coaching various U.S. teams from 1983-96. She also coached UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia over the winter, experience that allowed her and coach some of the best players in the world. She won more than 400 games in 21 years as a head coach and reached three Final Fours as a head coach. I don't think it is a coincidence that some of Rutgers' best seasons came when Stanley was on the staff of Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer. Stanley is also a former WNBA coach of the year when she was with the Washington Mystics.
Mike Thibault: Just look at his roster, a starting guard from Australia, a former forward from Russia and now a forward/center from Russia and guard from Latvia ready to join the squad. He scouts Europe better than anybody else in the WNBA and was an assistant on the 2008 Olympic team. He would fit well on Auriemma's staff.
Carol Owens: As I said, one coach will be a minority and this was an easy choice. She was named USA Basketball's 2008 Developmental Coach of the Year after guiding the Under-18 team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. She will coach the U-19 team this summer and is a respected, popular figure in USA Basketball circles. Other than Owens, the other pick in my eyes could be Penn State coach Coquese Washington.

Bear in mind, I have no say in the process and this is merely my opinion and should not be in any way viewed as anything but idle chatter.

Using this week as some much-needed R&R, it is time to start catching up.

So let's see what I missed in the world of women's basketball.

Bill Laimbeer quits after leading Detroit Shock to three WNBA titles and Hartford native Rick Mahorn takes over as head coach with assistant coach Cheryl Reeve becoming the new general manager. Detroit promptly loses its first game under the new regime to Indiana to fall into a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with New York. It would be pretty hard to top that in terms of news value, wouldn't you say?

OK, maybe not. Word that Rutgers Epiphanny Prince, the top returning scorer in the Big East, is bypassing her senior season to get a jump start on her pro career, now that is a stunner and even beats out Trader Bill in the "shock" value scale. It's not the first time a player has left school early in pursuit of making some big bucks in pro ball but it is very rare in women's basketball. It leaves Rutgers returning a young but relatively untested nucleus. The Scarlet Knights never seemed to hit their stride without Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon in the lineup and now they have to place not only Prince but Kia Vaughn. With Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer's system usually baffling incoming freshmen, the three players remaining from last year's highly-touted recruiting class (April Sykes, Nikki Speed and Chelsey Lee) better be a heck of a lot more effective as sophomores than they were as freshman or Rutgers could in a world of hurt.

Jayne Appel of Stanford had knee surgery and pulled her name out of contention for one of the 12 spots on the U.S. World University Games squad. So what exactly is in the water in Palo Alto, California? Reports also have Stanford rising sophomore Sarah Boothe pulling out of the U-19 trials meaning that 13 players will head to Colorado Springs next month fighting for the 12 spots unless a player or two is added to the list of candidates invited back.

Seimone Augustus of the Minnesota Lynx, expected to be in contention for MVP honors, tore the ACL in her left knee in a loss to Phoenix and will miss the rest of the season. Now former UConn standout Charde Houston is Minnesota's top scorer averaging 17.8 poinrs per game. With Houston, Nicky Anosike and Candice Wiggins, Minnesota has a pretty solid nucleus of offensive players to build around. I found it interesting that Roneeka Hodges has given the start in place of Augustus in Friday's loss to Phoenix. Hodges was also the player who saw the biggest jump in playing time. She averaged 8.4 minutes in the first five games but played 22 against the Mercury. Anosike, Houston, Wiggins and former UConn star Renee Montgomery also saw an additional 2-3 minutes each. It was just one game and it is hard to read too much into the substitution patterns of a game the Lynx lost by 24 but it bears watching.

Not only did Becky Hammon have to miss the San Antonio Silver Stars East Coast swing because she was playing for Russian in the Eurobasket Championships in Latvia, but a death in Vicky Johnson's family forced her to leave the team as well. Not surprisingly, the reigning Western Conference champions got blown out by New York Friday night. They play in Connecticut tomorrow.

Just so you think I am only focusing on the bad news to hit the women's basketball world, I urge you to read on.

UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris averaged 10.5 points, 8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks per game as the Indiana squad swept a two-game series from Kentucky's top seniors in the annual North/South Classic.

Her future teammates Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes headed back to Colorado Springs for the World University Games training camp.

The Connecticut Sun, looking for anybody who can hit a 3-pointer until Anete Jekabsone-Zogota arrives in the next week or two, may have found a keeper in Tan White. The former first-round pick of the Indiana Fever was one of the surprise cuts in the preseason. Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault was hoping his top perimeter shooters would find the range but when that didn't happen, he reluctantly cut rookie point guard Kristi Cirone and picked up White. Proved to be a good move as White hit four 3-pointers as the Sun snapped a two-game losing streak by beating Chicago on Friday.

Speaking of the WNBA Friday night action, all 10 UConn players currently in the league were in action. Here's the breakdown
Asjha Jones Connecticut vs. Chicago 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Diana Taurasi Phoenix vs. Los Angeles 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Charde Houston Minnesota vs. Seattle 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Swin Cash Seattle vs. Minnesota 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Barbara Turner Connecticut vs. Chicago 7 points, 2 steals
Sue Bird Seattle vs. Minnesota 4 points, 10 assists
Renee Montgomery Minnesota vs. Seattle 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Ashley Battle New York vs. San Antonio 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Jessica Moore Indiana vs. Detroit 0 points, 1 assist
Ketia Swanier Phoenix vs. Los Angeles 0 points, 1 rebound

Perhaps the most remarkable part of how the UConn products fared is that with the exception of the Seattle/Minnesota game which had a pair of ex-Huskies on each team, every team with a UConn player in action won last night.

The last item (I promise) is the play of former and future members of the Connecticut Sun at the Eurobasket Championships.

Heading into the championship game between France and Russia, the top scorer is ex-Sun guard Evanthia Maltsi (22.6 points per game). Jekabsone-Zogota, who is expected to make her debut with Connecticut early next month is second at 20.3 points a game. Sandrine Gruda, also planning the join the Sun after taking some time to relax after playing a heck of a lot of basketball in Europe in the last several months, is fifth but would finish third if she scored at least 20 points against Russia. Jekabsone-Zogota is also fourth in assists and 3-pointers made while Gruda ranks fourth in rebounding.

The Russia/France game is set to tip in about a half hour for those interested in such things.

Other than that, it was kind of a slow news week.

Former UConn guard Renee Montgomery was named one of five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup.

Montgomery was one of the 12 candidates before the list was cut down to the final five for the premier female collegiate student-athlete. Lisa Fernandez, a former pitcher/third baseman for the Stratford-based Brakettes softball program will present the award to the winner at a luncheon on June 22 in New York.

Here is the release

FIVE FINALISTS NAMED FOR 2009 HONDA-BRODERICK CUP

-- Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year to be Announced on June 22nd --

New York, NY, June 15, 2009 —
The Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards today announced the five finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup, its annual top honor designating the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. This year’s finalists are, in alphabetical order: Jennifer Barringer, University of Colorado (track and field); Nicole Fawcett, Penn State University (volleyball); Courtney Kupets, University of Georgia (gymnastics); Danielle Lawrie, University of Washington (softball); and Renee Montgomery, University of Connecticut (basketball).

The finalists were chosen from previously announced Honda Sports Award winners in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports, by a vote from among more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions. The winner will be named at a special press conference on June 22nd at Columbia University in New York, where she will be presented with her award by softball legend Lisa Fernandez, winner of the Honda-Broderick Cup in 1993.

Career Highlights of the Final Five

Jennifer Barringer (senior, track and field) – Barringer capped off a historic college career on the track as she became the first Buffalo to win three NCAA titles in the same event over the course of four years. The Oviedo, FL native captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase crown at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship last week at the University of Arkansas in an NCAA and meet record 9:25.54 – the fastest time recorded in the world this season. She won her first NCAA title in the event as a freshman in 2006 in a then-school record time of 9:53.04 and her second in 2008, when she defeated the entire field by 25 seconds. She holds a total of 6 NCAA records (indoor mile, 3k, 5k; outdoor 1500, steeplechase, 5k). She competed for the U.S. Olympic team at the 2008 Games and finished ninth in the 3,000m steeplechase, setting an American record of 9 minutes, 22.26 seconds. She is a four-time All-American USTFCCCA and Big 12 Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. The eight-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s honor roll carries a 3.564 GPA. She has been a member of the Dean’s List four times and is a three-time member of the Big 12 All-Academic First team.

Nicole Fawcett (senior, volleyball) – A 6’ 4” left-side hitter, Fawcett is a native of Zanesfield, Ohio. She led the Lions to their second consecutive NCAA title, serving the championship point, and helped her team become the first-ever with a no-loss regular season record (96-0). She also helped her team to the national title in 2007. The AVCA National Player of the Year, Fawcett was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and is a three-time AVCA First Team All-America selection. She averaged 3.78 kills per game (the second best on her team), and her .358 hitting average for the season (as an outside hitter) ranked 32nd in the nation. She was tops on her team for 40 service aces and added 210 total blocks for the year. Her mother played volleyball at Wright State University and her maternal grandfather was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles in 1945. She is a Human Development and Family Studies major. She is currently playing professionally for Gigantes de Carolina (The Carolina Giants) in Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenio, Puerto Rico’s professional league.

Courtney Kupets (senior, gymnastics) – A native of Athens, GA, Kupets led her team to its fifth straight NCAA Championship title, winning the all-around, bars, beam and floor competitions and becoming the first gymnast ever to win a national title in each event. She finished the season ranked #1 in all-around, bars and beam, and second on floor and vault. She received five First-Team All-America honors, making a total of 15 for her career (the maximum for only competing three years). She is the all-time NCAA leader with nine individual championships and was named SEC, AAI National Senior and NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Kupets won a Silver Medal with her fellow U.S. team members in the team all-around competition, as well as an individual Bronze Medal in the uneven bar competition . She is a National Honor Society member and was c hosen as ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American in both 2009 and 2007 and is a recipient of NCAA and SEC postgraduate scholarships .

Danielle Lawrie (junior, softball) – A
native of Langley, British Columbia, Lawrie struck out 12 batters and hit two home runs in this year’s deciding Super Regional win over Georgia Tech and hit a Grand Slam in the semifinal of the Women’s College World Series to send her Huskies to the Championship Series, where she led the team to its first-ever softball championship title. The 5’ 7” right-hander led the nation this year in strikeouts (521) and wins (42), was third in shutouts (21) and sixth in ERA (0.97). She was named 2009 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year, and with her 42-8 record the 2009 season has been her best ever. She set UW single-season school records in six categories this year: wins (42), strikeouts (521), innings pitched (352.2), shutouts (21), starts (50) and complete games (46) and broke career records for strikeouts (1,365), shutouts (41) and complete games (108). She also set season school records in strikeouts in each of her prior two seasons at UW: 387 as a freshman in 2006 and 457 in 2007. She competed for the Canadian National Team at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where they came in fourth. She is as an Education and Communications major.

Renne Montgomery (senior, basketball) – Montgomery, a native of St. Albans, WV and a four-year starter as point guard for the Huskies, captained her team to an undefeated season this year, culminating with the NCAA championship in which she scored 18 points in the final game. She received both the Big East Sportsmanship Award and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award and was a WBCA, USBWA, and AP First Team All-American. Montgomery is one of only three players ever at UConn to boast 1500 career points and 500 assists, and she is the only player in school history to rank in the top-10 in points, assists, steals and 3-pointers. She started 139 consecutive games in her college career – the longest streak in the nation – and also played in 150 games, a program best. Montgomery was the #4 pick in the WNBA draft this year, chosen by the Minnesota Lynx. A communications major with a 3.1 GPA, she is also the first-ever active player inducted into the University of Connecticut’s Huskies of Honor.

Other Honors to Be Presented on June 22nd

In addition to the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards Program also presents its annual “ Honda Inspiration Award” to a deserving collegiate female athlete.
This year’s recipient is Nicole Hester, a star basketball player at Drexel University who was forced to withdraw from classes and miss an entire basketball season due to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma but courageously came back and this year led her team to a school-record 24 wins, including a 16-2 record in conference play and their first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The program also honors “Athletes of the Year” from both NCAA Division II and Division III colleges.
Lock Haven University softball pitcher Kristin Erb won the Division II award for the second time, having received it as a freshman in 2006. She capped her college pitching career by leading the Lady Eagles to their second National Championship in four years, pitching a 50-5 season with a 0.47 ERA and finishing with a 168-18 record, the most victories for a Division II pitcher. She will play professionally for the Philadelphia Force.

The Division III Athlete of the Year Award goes to Hardin-Simmons University track and field standout Ashley Huston. In her senior year at Hardin-Simmons, Huston won both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon NCAA Championship titles as well as the NCAA outdoor long jump title. She set a new meet record at the outdoor championship of 5,244 points by winning the heptathlon and also won the long jump.

Last year’s Honda-Broderick Cup winner was basketball superstar and previous two-time Honda Sports Award winner (2007, 2008) Candace Parker of the University of Tennessee. Other past winners of the Honda-Broderick Cup include some of the most talented and accomplished collegiate athletes in recent history: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (track & field, 1984); Mia Hamm (soccer, 1994), Cheryl Miller (basketball, 1983), Ann Meyers (1978, basketball), Tracy Caulkins (1982, 1984, swimming & diving), Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball, 1998) and Lisa Fernandez (softball, 1993). In 2001, Joyner-Kersee was honored as the “Top Collegiate Woman Athlete for the Past 25 Years.”

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.

The WNBA finally put out a statement on the fact that San Antonio Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon will miss the games against New York and Connecticut on June 19 and 21 because of her Russian national team obligations at the Eurobasket championships.

Hammon played for San Antonio last night and helped the Silver Stars beat her old team, the New York Liberty. As we speak, she is en route to Latvia to join up with the Russian squad which improved to 5-0 with a 67-59 win over Italy on Sunday (former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova had a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Russia).

My question is why has this been kept so quiet? Something tells me that if Connecticut Sun stars Asjha Jones or Lindsay Whalen were in a similar predicament, there would have been multiple reports, columns, so on and so forth. Yet, a quick scan of the coverage in the San Antonio paper this morning does not include one comment from Hammon on the issue. The only story on the issue does not include a quote from Hammon which is certainly hard to believe. I am sure there are people who bought tickets to either the game in New York or the one in Connecticut to see Hammon. There figure to be some rather upset ticket holders, especially in New York since Hammon was one of the most popular players in the history of the New York Liberty franchise. The silence surrounding this story is not only deafening, it is inexcusable.

Going back to the Eurobasket event, Latvia and France have secure berths in the quarterfinals meaning that Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda, the leading scorers for the Latvian and French teams, will not get an early start on their trip to the U.S. to join the Connecticut Sun. Since the event is being held in Latvia, Jekabsone-Zogota will flying straight to the U.S. and should join the Sun later this month. Gruda has been given permission to go home to France for a few days before heading to the U.S.