Before the game the Connecticut Sun held a moment of silence in honor of John Wooden, the former UCLA men's basketball coach who died on Friday at the age of 99.

Following Connecticut's 81-68 win over San Antonio on Sunday, Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault and veteran forward DeMya Walker reflected on Wooden's passing.

"I went and worked his camp every summer for four or five years," Thibault said. "I worked for six or eight weeks of his camp, I had a chance to sit down and talk to him frequently about the game and about his life. He didn't like to drive back and forth to camp so he'd have the young counselors and college kids pick him up. Every once in a while I would just ride in with whoever the fellow was who was driving that day so I could sit in the car and talk with him for a half hour or so. A lot of the stuff we still do footwork wise, balance wise on the court are still stuff he did every day in his kid's camp. One of the things I kind of learned from him is that most of your work as a coach has to be done on the practice court. In a game you have to make adjustments by subbing and help your team with timeouts but the actual on-court stuff."

Thibault can still remember his emotions the first time he was able to ride in a car and talk basketball with Wooden.

"I was kind of in awe. I was a young coach and it was Coach Wooden. He was getting near the end of his career. He was probably coaching, two years or so before his last
championship. Most of the time it was when he was retired and he wasn't bogged down by the day by day coaching and recruiting. We just talked the game. If you grew up
on the West Coast, I know the people on the East Coast it is a little different, it is probably for some people on the East Coast it was Dean Smith from North Carolina. when you are on the West Coast, Coach Wooden was the game."

Walker didn't have the close relationship with Wooden, who led UCLA to 10 national titles including seven in a row, but having played the last seven seasons in California with the Sacramento Monarchs gave Walker an appreciation for the essence of Wooden.


"He is one of the main reasons why we all can play this game and why we love it so much," Walker said. "He has inspired the people who have taught the game and it is sad that he passed but I appreciate everything he did for this game. He inspired it to be what it is, he inspired winning, he inspired getting after it and going for it. There are never too many championships, never too much of anything. He also inspired character. Everybody loves John Wooden, who doesn't. It is sad that he passed but you have to say your moment of silence, say a prayer because somewhere in the cosmos he knows that you appreciate everything that he did for the game.

"He was fundamental and our game was fundamental, he appreciated that. when you have somebody who is so well respected saying 'I like the women's game, I like the way
they play. It inspires other people to support and go with it and get us some more fans."