When Barbara Nelson heard the news that four players who were either on the U.S. Under-16 or Under-17 teams she coached the last two summer were headed to UConn the first word that came to mind was "wow."

Nelson, the head coach at Division II Wingate (N.C.) University, had significantly more to say about Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kiah Stokes, Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart, who have all committed to play for the seven-time national champion Huskies.

"I think it is scary," Nelson said. "When I found out there were all going there, I was like 'wow.' I think their expectations on themselves and the expectations for the program is already high and I think it will be even higher when you have that many kids who have won state championships like they have done, have been the players they have been and then represented the United States in the U-16, U-17 and Youth Olympic Games. I can't imagine how good they will be."

Mosqueda-Lewis and Stewart were members of both the U-16 and U-17 teams, Stokes was on the U-16 squad while Tuck made both the U-16 and U-17 teams but a knee injury prevented her from playing for the Under-16 team.

Here is what Nelson had to say about the quartet of future Huskies.


KALEENA MOSQUEDA-LEWIS, 6-0 SR. MATER DEI HS (Averaged a team-leading 14 points per game for U-16 team in 2009, averaged 11.6 points for U-17 squad)

"Kaleena is an unbelievable competitor. She can't stand to lose. She doesn't want to lose running to get in line somewhere. That is something you can't teach. That is something that is inside of a kid and I know that is really a factor for recruiting for Geno is finding kids who are winners, want to compete, understand that life is a challenge and basketball is a challenge. For her, that was something that really stuck out for me from the very beginning. obviously she is a skilled basketball player and she can really shoot it but she has other parts to her game that people may or may not recognize simply because she is known so much for her shooting. She can pass, she can defend when she wants to. She has a pretty complete game. She is going to need to work on her strength and conditioning as far as playing at the collegiate level but she is a good basketball player."

BREANNA STEWART, 6-3 JR. CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE HS (Aveeraged 9.6 points and had team-high seven blocks for U-16 squad, averaged 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds for U-17s and led team with 12 steals and 18 blocks).

"Breanna Stewart, the first time I saw her, she just looked like an international player. Just by the look of her, all three of the coaches said right away 'that kid has a chance to be an Olympian, look at her body.' The Olympic lane being so wide, all of their players play face up and she can defend face up, she not only has post moves but she can play facing the basket. She really resembles an international player along with the fact that she has like a 6-11 reach and you think you are open and she comes out of nowhere with her Inspector Gadget arms. She blocks a shot or steals the ball or whatever. She is a kid who for her size how coordinated and far along that she is. She is just going to continue to get better. That is a kid who I don't think is close to how good she is going to be. She wants to be good and she is very, very coachable. She is a sponge, she works hard, she is a competitor and I think that kid is barely at the tip of her iceberg as far as how good she is going to be."

MORGAN TUCK, 6-2 JR. BOLINGBROOK (ILL.) HS (Averaged 7.4 points and 5 rebounds for U-17 squad):

"I think actually the (knee) injury in the long run, nobody wants to go through an injury, I think Morgan valued coming back off the injury. When you lose something that means a lot to you, when you lose the ability to play and you have to sit and watch others play, I think that made Morgan value her time in the gym even more because she was a kid who was really a post player with some guard skills. I think during that time that she was out with the knee injury, it gave her a chance to work on her shot, it gave her a chance to work on her guard skills. The first year we were probably going to be playing her at the 4 (power forward). When she came back, I moved her to the 3 (small forward) which I think is more her natural position for college. She did not have the skill to play that the year before but had worked on her guard skills and her outside shooting and her ability to defend on the perimeter. She had transformed herself into having those guard skills. For her, the injury gave her a chance to work on the parts of her game that she might not have taken the time to work on had she been able to play all summer and played the games she would have been in."

KIAH STOKES, 6-3 SR. LINN-MAR (IOWA) HS Averaged 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds for U-16 team)

"I think Kiah will be a very good addition. She is a very good shooting post player. She has very good timing on her shot-blocking, she is going to have to become a little more physical (to adapt) to the physical style of play the Big East has. I think that will be the area she grows. I think she plays a little less physical than say a Tina Charles has played or some of those other kids who have kind of been a low-post player for Coach. They will have (Stefanie) Dolson who is sort of a big, physical player in the low post so maybe she is going to be more of a face-up post. I don't really know how he plans to use her."

I also asked Nelson about the versatility that players like Stewart, Tuck and Mosqueda-Lewis will bring to the Huskies.

"I don't think Kaleena is as versatile as the other two. I think she is a very good basketball player but I think she is a shooting guard. I don't know that she handles it and passes it well enough to be a point guard but she shoots it well enough and she has decent size that if she had to slide over and defend a 3, she'd be a little short for that but with her physicality I think she could possibly do that. I just think she is a true 2 (shooting guard). Morgan and Breanna give you a little more flexibility. Morgan having played some post, Geno may run some things that allow a 3 player to come to the post. If she had to defend somebody who runs to the post, she will have that versatility. The same with Breanna, she might be seen as a 4 (power forward) player or a post but will have the versatility to guard on the perimeter, pop out and be able to score on the perimter and put the ball on the floor. I think those two give Coach Auriemma some tremendous versatility in what he can do. I know he likes that in players so I think those two fit his direction. I think Kaleena's competitiveness really ratchets up what Geno does (with her)."

I also got her thoughts on UConn recruiting target Jewell Loyd, a guard from Niles West in Skokie, Ill.

"She reminds me of Vinnie Johnson, who played for the Detroit Pistons. They used to call him 'The Microwave.' She is instant offense. We would bring her off the bench and she would find a way to score. She can score behind the arc, she can put it on the floor, she can rebound. She is instant offense and when she decides to play defense, she is pretty good defensively. Her competitive level is very high, kind of like Kaleena's. She is very competitive, she was a late joiner on the USA team this year. I mailed her the playbook right before she can in for training camp in D.C. She missed our first few games in training camp when we scrimmaged the U-18 team and she worked really hard to study that playbook and know what to do. She had good questions so her basketball IQ is very good. Within two or three practices she was pretty much caught up with where everybody was. She is a kid who is willing to do the work and put in what she needs to put in, watching film, studying her playbook and doing the work in the gym she needs to do. I am extremely sure wherever she goes, they are going to get a special player."

With the recent transfer of Samarie Walker to Kentucky, I wanted to get Nelson's thoughts on whether the future Huskies have the mindset to handle the pressure that comes with playing at UConn.

"They were constantly being pushed in practice. I do hope that snippet of work they had this summer and the summer before will prepare them a little bit for what they are getting ready to get into. How much that can prepare them for playing for Coach Auriemma, I can't answer that. I haven't played for him, I haven't been to a practice but I know it is intense. I know he expects the kids to give their best. I think those kids wouldn't have chosen to go there if they didn't want to give their best. I think those kids are choosing to go there because they want to see themselves stretched to the max."