When I first got word that Prairie View A&M would be UConn's first-round opponent in the NCAA tournament, I immediately checked out the Prairie View website to see if there were any obvious connections to the Huskies.

Actually there was one - sort of - in the form of assistant coach Rob Amboree. That's the same Rob Amboree who coached the Stanford sister duo of Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike as well as Tennessee junior Taber Spani when he was the coach of the Cy Fair Shock. Rob was extremely helpful when UConn was recruiting Chiney Ogwumike and very well connected in Texas girls' basketball circles so among the topics I brought up with him was Moriah Jefferson, the first Texas native to commit to play at UConn.

"Great, phenomenal player," Amboree said. "A kid who you can tell she really loves to play the game. She plays 100 percent all out every second she is on the floor and I think she is going to be a great asset to UConn. I know Coach Auriemma, he just expects so much out of his kids. I think she is going to fit perfect with their style of play and their system.

"A lot of kids don't want to leave Texas too much. It is just a great state and they stay as close to Texas as they can. Nneka and Chiney went way out to the West Coast and Moriah is going away to the East Coast. Those types of kids aren't afraid to leave home, they want the best challenge they can get and I think that is why Moriah ended up going to UConn."