Maybe there were a few raised eyebrows when Moriah Jefferson, who grew up only about 20 miles outside of Dallas, opted to make history by becoming the first Texas native signed by UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

Jefferson, rated as the top guard nationally in her class, could have gone to Texas A&M, Baylor or even Texas and prospered. However, as Jefferson prepares to play a game in her home state for the final team as a Husky, she has no regrets.

"I had a pretty good relationship with Texas A&M and Baylor, they were in my top three and those were two schools that I was around from about eighth grade because they were so close. It was tough to make a decision to come this far instead of staying home but it was one that me and my family decided was the best and I was happy with the decision that I made."

With Southern Methodist and Houston being conference mates as well as having non-conference road games against Texas A&M and Baylor during her time at UConn, Jefferson has been able to play more games in Texas than if she had arrived a decade earlier.

"It is exciting," Jefferson said. "This is the last time that I will be able to do that, go back to Dallas in a UConn jersey so it will be exciting to go out and play in front of my family and friends."

Jefferson was hoping to have enough time to head back to her Glenn Heights neighborhood to see friends and family members but also check in on people who were impacted by recent storms that destroyed some homes and severely damaged so many others.

"It is right around the corner from my house so if I get a chance to go home I will get a chance to go see some of those guys to see some of the damage and how they fixed it, they are doing a nice job of rebuilding the area so far so it will be nice to get back thee and see that," Jefferson said.

Jefferson is beginning her final semester of college and much of her academic duties will center around a thesis on the positive impact of sports on youngsters as part of her individualized major.

"Where I am from, the kids are playing sports and they are in a structured setting and they can keep out of trouble," Jefferson said. "When they aren't playing sports, I hear a lot of my friends get in trouble and some have been killed. I really wanted to go in and really take a look at backgrounds of what happens when you are in a sports setting."