Four former UConn stars including three members of the undefeated 2002 national championship team were named to the list of the top 20 players since the inception of the WNBA.
The WNBA 20@20, which was voted on by a 15-member panel WNBA coaches and administrators as well as national media members, was unveiled on ESPN's 10 a.m. edition of SportsCenter.

Sue Bird and Swin Cash, the top two picks in the 2002 WNBA Draft, and 2004 No. 1 overall pick Diana Taurasi were selected along with 2011 No. 1 overall pick Maya Moore, the leading scorer in UConn history.

“To be included among the top 20 players in this league's history is a huge honor," said Bird in a statement. "Watching the level of competition rise over the years has been incredible and I am excited to see where the league goes in the next 20."
Tina Charles, the 2012 WNBA MVP, and Nykesha Sales were also nominated giving UConn six of the 60 nominees.

Lindsay Whalen is the only representative of the Connecticut Sun to be named to the list of top 20 players as she was the Sun's first-round pick in 2004.

The list is highlighted by the trio of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson who teamed up to lead the Houston Comets to the first four WNBA championships. Former MVP Lisa Leslie as well as Teresa Weatherspoon are the other original WNBA players honored by the league while Yolanda Griffith, Becky Hammon, Lauren Jackson, Deanna Nolan, career assists leader Ticha Penicheiro and Katie Smith are other former WNBA stars to make the cut.

Seimone Augustus, Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter join Bird, Cash, Moore, Taurasi and Whalen are active WNBA players named to the top 20.
"I grew up watching the WNBA, and to be in a class of athletes of the caliber that this league has produced over the past 20 years is a huge honor,” Moore said. “It’s definitely a dream come true. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to compete at the highest levels and develop my talent to the point that I was even in consideration for this honor.”
UConn leads the way for four players honored, Southern California (Cooper, Leslie and Thompson) and Tennessee (Catchings and Parker) are the only other programs with more than one honoree.

The calls would come on a pretty much yearly basis.

The organizers of the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame would reach out to former UConn star Nykesha Sales and said they've love for her to be a part of a late April Hall of Fame induction class. Unfortunately, Sales would always have the same answer as her playing responsibilities overseas kept her from being around for the ceremony.

Now that she is retired, it is time for her to be part of the Hall of Fame class.

Sales will be part of the seven-member Class of 2014 as Hartford athletic director Pat Meiser, referee Fran Vandermeer, New Fairfield coach Joe Russo (who coached Rizzotti in high school), former Southern Connecticut State star Kate Lynch, former Southington High great Jen Gombotz and ex Bristol Eastern standout Chryssandra Watts will be inducted in an Apr. 23 ceremony at Cascade in Hamden.

“This year now that I officially retired last year, I am able to come to the ceremony, accept it and celebrate,” Sales said. “When they told me I was of course extremely excited and proud. I know there have been some great people who have been inducted in the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame so I am just honored to be a part and finally be able to make the ceremony.

“It always means a lot to an athlete who tries to achieve and succeed at the highest level and was able to get it done. A lot of times it is not just the player, it has to do with your surroundings, your coaches, your other teammates and AAU was a big part of that. It feels good that after it was all said and done be rewarded. Not a lot of players get rewarded when you are finished, a lot of them always get rewarded while you are playing or after you accomplish something but this is one of those retired awards where you can still be proud of what you have done especially for the state of Connecticut in being able to accept an award.”

Sales is one of the rare athletes who was able to blaze trails at the high school, college and professional levels in the same state.

Sales was named the national high school player of the year by USA Today after capping a brilliant career at Bloomfield High School. She helped UConn win its first national title in 1995 when she was a freshman and still holds UConn’s record for career steals. She is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun franchise and now serves as a community liaison for the team.

“I think I am really proud of Nykesha,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. First she did a tremendous amount for high school basketball in this area to be the national player of the year, I think she brought an awful lot of attention to Connecticut basketball, the state of Connecticut high school and obviously her freshman year she was instrumental in us winning a national championship and it carried over to what she did to the Connecticut Sun to get their franchise off and running. There have been a lot of people who have contributed a lot to the sport in the state of Connecticut but I don't know anybody who has contributed any more than Nykesha has.

“She has grown up. She has grown up, she has become a spokesperson for the game which is ironic because when she was here she used to give a little fist pump when the media didn't want to talk to her. That is part of growing up and part of understanding your role in the game. I don't know if there is a nicer person in the entire world. I don't know if there is anybody that has fewer enemies, if she has one, than Nykesha.”

Sales said she revels in her role working with the community and it is a sign of her maturity as a person.

“I have turned into a people person,” Sales said. “When I was in college I was pretty shy and laid back but through the years that is one of the major things I have gotten out of basketball was to learn how to be in the community and be around people. For me that is an easy next step, I go out and speak about my experiences and help people understand about our program and try to get them involved in coming to games. Not a lot of cities have the opportunity to have WNBA teams and it is exciting to have professional teams in a state when women's basketball is so big. I am glad to be back and be a part of it. I am from Connecticut. I get to be home for half of the year and I think the welcome has been awesome and the fans still have a lot of respect for me and this game.”

While Sales is not sure what the next stage of her work as a community liaison is going to be, she knows her playing days are behind her.

“Sometimes I do help out a little bit and jump into practice with the girls or I just play around with them and challenge them on certain things but trust me I have no desire to lace up and play,” Sales said. “When I am retired, I am retired. It is good to think back and kind of dig up some old memories of playing but I have no desires to lace up.”

When the UConn football program made a coaching change and replaced Paul Pasqualoni with interim head coach T.J. Weist, the phrase "All In" became the team's catch phrase.

Wherever you looked inside the Burton Family Football Complex, there were "All In" signs pretty much everywhere. Geno Auriemma isn't a fan of catch phrases and never has been but if he were, maybe those "All In" signs could be put to good use.

A quick look back through the archives and I was unable to find a team of Auriemma's where every scholarship player had at least one double-digit scoring game - until now. Each of the nine players under scholarship have posted at least three games with at least 10 points. Not surprisingly Breanna Stewart leads the way with 17 double-digit scoring games.

In my opinion, that is what sets this team apart. The star players simply don't seem to care who gets the shots as long as they go in. Not only have six different Huskies led the team in scoring, but even more impressively six of them have been the leader in assists.

"It is really helpful. I think the fact that we are looking to pass or looking to set up a teammate kind of hurts us sometimes but we are always confident in everybody being able to knock down shots, that comes from repetition in practice," Stewart said.

Auriemma has had unselfish teams throughout his tenure. He admits that passing ability and the willingness to share the ball rank high on the list of attributes he looks for when he hits the recruiting trail.

"I think you have to be like that when you have five players on a floor, they are all pretty good players and they are all pretty good offensive players," Auriemma said. "We try to recruit kids who are good passers.

"It takes a while for everybody to get their footing and get a feel for what is going on and this group is no different. Stefanie (Dolson) is certainly a big help, K (Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis) has become one of our best passers. You always think of your guards as your best passers but we have K, Stewie and Stefanie as three of our better passers."

That passing ability was on display last season when the 798 assists marked the second best total in UConn history trailing only the 846 registered by the 2001-02 team. If this year's team keeps up its current pace, the Huskies would hand out a record 851 assists.

LOFTY EXPECTATIONS FOR STEWART
I finally got around to asking Stewart for her reaction to being the youngest player named to the U.S. senior national team player pool after the Rutgers game and her response gives you an idea of just how competitive she is.

"To be named to the pool it is great it shows that good things have happened but at the same time I have to keep working hard because that is not my goal just to be in the pool, I have bigger goals than that," Stewart said.

So when was the first time the dream of playing in the Olympics popped into Stewart's mind?

"I think it was once I started playing USA Basketball," Stewart said. "Before that I didn't really know about that, I knew about the Olympics but I didn't know about the younger levels but once I started to play USA Basketball I said this is cool and I would love to play at the highest level."

HIGH PRAISE FOR UCONN SIGNEE
When I was up at Blake Arena to see UConn recruiting target Katie Lou Samuelson play in the HoopHall Classic last week, I was able to get a few minutes to chat with Auriemma before I left so he could do what he came to Springfield for - to see Samuelson play. One of the main topics of conversation was his recent trip to see UConn signee Gabby Williams play. I don't always pester Auriemma every time he sees a recruit play but considering that Williams had 35 points as part of a triple-double, I was curious what he had to say.

Perhaps the most intriguing comment he made was how Williams' body type reminds him of Nykesha Sales when Sales was a high school kid. There are few players Auriemma has coached who he holds in higher regard than Sales so it was quite the statement. He talked about seeing Williams play again after the Rutgers game.

"She was really thin and like a little kid when I first saw her a couple years ago and you look at her now and she looks like a college player," Auriemma said. "She is not 100 percent of where she is going to be. When you miss a whole year (with a knee injury) it is going to take a while but I thought she looked great, I am really happy for her. She is really excited about her team this year and I was really impressed with her, I really was."

It hasn't always been easy for the latest prodigy to deliver on the biggest stage.

In Nykesha Sales' first Final Four game she only had five points on 1 of 2 shooting in 1995. Six years later Diana Taurasi was 1 of 15. Seven years later Maya Moore's freshman season ended with her missing 13 of her 19 shots against Stanford.

Now it is time for Breanna Stewart to try to put forth another impactful NCAA tournament appearance.

She certainly sounds like she is ready to roll.


"I am anxious but at the same time it is something I am really looking forward to," Stewart said, "It is the Final Four and I think it is going to be really exciting. New Orleans has been great so far and I am looking forward to playing tomorrow.

"Just to get  to where we are right now makes it good. Obviously there is more that we want to do for this season and hopefully with a win tomorrow we will continue our season and go for a national championship (on Tuesday)."

Former Connecticut Sun and UConn star Nykesha Sales is returning to the state to be an assistant to the new coaching staff and community liaison during the 2013 season.

Sales scored a team record 3,955 points in 278 games with the franchise, beginning her career when the franchise played in Orlando. She played in a team-record 248 consecutive games from June 10, 1999-July 6, 2006, and still holds the all-time Connecticut marks for points, games, minutes (8,762), made field goals (1,481), field goal attempts (3,539), made three-pointers (352), three-point attempts (990) and steals (490).

“I am extremely excited about being a part of the Sun again this summer,” Sales said in a statement. “It has always been a great organization, and I have a lot of amazing memories from my time there as a player. Although I’m returning with a whole new role and responsibilities I’m really looking forward to helping Anne and her staff as they try to bring a championship to the best fans in the WNBA. And getting out into the community as a representative of the team is going to be so much fun.”

Updating my entry from yesterday regarding the game times on UConn schedule, UConn has posted all of its start times. The only changes/additions are that the Jan. 9 Georgetown game will start at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 26 game at Cincinnati starts at 8 p.m. and not 7 p.m. Look for SNY to announce the games it will be televising soon.

Here is a link to the schedule


Also, last night the Connecticut Sun announced its all-time team as part of the celebration of the 10th season of the franchise being in Connecticut.

Four former UConn players (Tina Charles, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery and Nykesha Sales) made the list along with the late Margo Dydek, current WNBA stars on other teams (Katie Douglas, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen) as well as current Sun players Kara Lawson and Tan White.

It's hard to argue with the selections although if I were voting I would have given serious consideration to putting Sandrine Gruda on the team.

The lovewomensbasketball.com website is reporting that former UConn stars Nykesha Sales and Charde Houston have been signed by SK Cesis in Latvia and Maccabi Ramat Hen in Israel respectively.

Staying on the subject of former Huskies playing overseas, if Asjha Jones can lead her Rivas Ecopolis to a victory on Thursday that would mean that half of the EuroLeague quarterfinalists will feature former UConn stars.

Jones averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as Rivas Ecopolis split the first two games with Bourges Basket to set up a decisive third game on Wednesday. It's just one of the two first-round series needing a third game to decide things.

Maya Moore averaged 18.5 points per game as Ros Casares swept CCC Polkovice while Sue Bird averaged 19.5 points as UMMC Ekaterinburg topped Good Angels Kosice in two games. Svetlana Abrosimova is also a member of Ekaterinburg while Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles are members of a star-studded Galatasaray squad.

Former UConn stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were voted as two of the 15 players in the history of the WNBA.

The Top 15 were announced at halftime of Saturday's WNBA All-Star game. Joining Bird and Taurasi were Cynthia Cooper, Tina Thompson, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Teresa Weatherspoon, Dawn Staley, Katie Smith, Ticha Penicheiro, Cappie Pondexter, Becky Hammon, Lauren Jackson, Yolanda Griffith and Tamika Catchings.

Taurasi's 20.6 career scoring average is second only to Cooper's 21 points per game avergae in WNBA history. Taurasi is also fifth on the WNBA's all-time scoring charts with 5,025 points and her 614 3-pointers is fourth in WNBA history.

Bird trails only Penicheiro on the WNBA's career assists list with 1,693 in 305 games
Bird ranks sixth all-time with 507 3-pointers and among players who have attempted at least 500 free throws, she is third on the career charts with 87.0 free-throw percentage.

Former Huskies Swin Cash and Nykesha Sales were on the initial ballot of 30 candidates.

Sales, who last played in the WNBA in 2008, still ranks 11th with an average of 1.76 steals per game and her total of 490 steals is also 11th in WNBA history. Sales' 3,955 points is the 17th most in WNBA history while Cash is 20th on the career charts with 3,818 points.

Not only will UConn set a record by having six of its former players taking part in Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game but former Huskies Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Nykesha Sales and Diana Taurasi are among 30 candidates to be named among the top 15 players in the history of the WNBA. Not only will the top 15 players be recognized at halftime but the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will also be announced at that time.

As for the game, which will be played on Saturday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, former Huskies Bird, Cash, Taurasi and Maya Moore will start for the Western Conference squad while Tina Charles will start for the East. Charles' current Connecticut Sun and former UConn teammate Renee Montgomery will also play for the Eastern Conference team.

The final All-Star spot will be announced today. Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks was voted to start for the West but is injured so WNBA President Laurel Richie will pick her replacement. That player will be announced later today. Western Conference coach Brian Agler will get to select Parker's replacement in the starting lineup.

Former UConn stars Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Nykesha Sales and Diana Taurasi are among 30 players on the ballot as the WNBA celebrates its 15th season by recognizing the 15 best players in league history.

The ballot featuring the 30 candidates is currently available at www.wnba.com/top15players with fans being allowed to vote beginning Thursday at noon. Voting runs through July 14.

Taurasi's 20.7 career scoring average trails only former Houston star Cynthia Cooper's mark of 21.0 in WNBA history. Taurasi, a four-time WNBA scoring champion, is also sixth on the WNBA career scoring list, Sales is 17th while Bird and Cash rank 20th and 21st heading into Tuesday's action.

Taurasi and Bird also rank fourth and sixth on the WNBA career charts with 593 and 483 3-pointers while Bird is second on the WNBA career list with 1,635 assists.
Sales, a member of UConn's first national championship team, was the first of four former Huskies on the list to make her WNBA debut as she debuted with the Orlando Miracle in 1999. She remained with the franchise when it relocated to Connecticut in 2003 and scored 3,955 points in 278 games.

Bird and Cash were taken by Seattle and Detroit with the top two picks in the 2002 WNBA draft.

Bird led Seattle to its first WNBA title two years later. Cash beat her former college teammate and roommate by a year, winning the first of her two WNBA championships with Detroit in her second season in the league. Cash reunited with Bird and as they led Seattle to the 2010 WNBA title.

Taurasi was the top overall pick in the 2004 WNBA draft and was a driving force on Phoenix's run to the 2007 and 2009 league titles. She is also the only former UConn player to be named the MVP of the WNBA finals.

Sales is one of four former Connecticut Sun players on the list joining Katie Douglas, Shannon Johnson and Taj McWilliams- Franklin.

Here is the list of candidates (retired players noted with *):
Seimone Augustus
Sue Bird
Ruthie Bolton*
Swin Cash
Tamika Catchings
Cynthia Cooper*
Katie Douglas
Cheryl Ford
Yolanda Griffith*
Becky Hammon
Chamique Holdsclaw
Lauren Jackson
Shannon Johnson*
Lisa Leslie*
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Delisha Milton-Jones
Deanna Nolan
Candace Parker
Ticha Penicheiro
Cappie Pondexter
Nykesha Sales*
Katie Smith
Tangela Smith
Dawn Staley*
Sheryl Swoopes
Diana Taurasi
Penny Taylor
Tina Thompson
Teresa Weatherspoon*
Natalie Williams*

UConn's Maya Moore was named the Big East Player of the Week for a record-tying seventh time after averaging 31.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 75.8 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range in wins over Duke and DePaul. Moore had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists against No. 3 Duke. Moore had 34 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against No. 9 DePaul.

During the 1997-98 season Nykesha Sales won seven Big East player of the week honors while Louisville's Angel McCoughtry matched the feat in the 2008-09 season. With 11 career player of the week awards, Moore is one shy of the Big East record shared by McCoughtry and former UConn star Rebecca Lobo.

Stefanie Dolson was named the conference's freshman of the week for the first time as she averaged 14.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and shot 72.2 percent from the field. Dolson had eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocks against Duke and then had a career-high 21 points as well as six rebounds against DePaul.

With Maya Moore needing nine points against Sacred Heart on Sunday to pass former teammate Tina Charles and become UConn's all-time leading scorer, I did a little research about past scoring leaders with the Huskies.

Statistics from the inaugural varsity season in 1974-75 are incomplete but considering that the Huskies scored just 420 points in 10 games, I think it is a safe assumption to say that the 98 points scored by Susan Fellows and Linda Staveski was the standard. Staveski finished the following season with a record 240 points. Karen Mullins, known better as UConn's long-time softball coach, became the first Husky to reach the 500-point plateau in 1977. Valerie Sirois graduated in 1979 with a record 747 points. In 1980 Chris Gedney became the program's first 1,000-point scorer. Three years later Cathy Bochain set a record of 1,534 points which stood until Kerry Bascom came around. When Bascom graduated in 1991, she had 2,177 career points. That mark has since been surpassed by Nykesha Sales in 1998 and Tina Charles earlier this year and most recently Moore moved by both Bascom and Sales.

Upon arriving at Mohegan Sun Arena Friday night, one of the first things I saw was a release announcing that Nykesha Sales will be honored by the Connecticut Sun at the Aug. 15 game against Indiana.

The honor is long overdue and something tells me the process of getting Sales to come into town was not a simple one but I'm glad Nykesha and the Sun have ironed out their differences enough to give Sales her day in the Sun as well as her day at the Sun.

Part two of this entry is a little plug for a story I wrote which is scheduled to run in Sunday's edition of the Register. The focus is on the 30th season of the New Haven Summer League but it just so happened that when I was over at Ralph Walker Rink last week conducting my interviews, former UConn guard Maria Conlon was leading her Plus Two squad to another victory.

After the game was over, I spoke with Conlon, who was a member of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 national championship teams at UConn.

Conlon was joking with the league founder Bill Dixon that she is playing better now than she did in college. When I asked her about that, she said while that it not the case but she is still feeling and playing pretty well.

"I am really good shape right now, I am feeling really good," Conlon said. "I am playing a lot of basketball and it is amazing what you learn when you get older just from watching the sport, coaching and getting older, it affects your game a lot. I feel like I am probably not as good as I was in college but I am right there."

Tina Charles ushered in her professional career with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 6 blocks as she led the Connecticut Sun to an 86-79 win over the Atlanta Dream.

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault was quick to point out that Charles didn't do her damage against Atlanta's dynamic frontcourt duo of Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle but on the other hand, UConn's all-time leading scorer and rebounder didn't have All-Star Asjha Jones and rising star Sandrine Gruda on the court to take some of the defensive attention off of her.

Charles' output is the most for a Connecticut Sun player in a preseason game since Nykesha Sales, whose UConn scoring record Charles broke, dropped 30 on Phoenix in 2006.

Charles took her impressive debut in stride.

"I was calm," Charles said. "I was fine, I came into the game like any other game I have been playing my senior year. I have teammates who have confidence in me and respect my game, know what I can do is a good thing and it makes me want to go out and perform my best. I feel like that is what I have been developing my game to be my whole life is to be a go-to player, somebody you can count on, somebody your teammate will have respect for and that is something that Coach (Geno) Auriemma taught me that it is not about the wins, it is about having the respect of your teammates."

Connecticut had four players score in double figures and three are rookies as fellow first-round pick Kelsey Griffin had 11 points and second-round selection Allison Hightower finished with 10. Second-year guard Renee Montgomery, acquired in a trade which netted the Sun the No. 1 overall pick in exchange for Lindsay Whalen and the second overall pick, had 12 points and four assists.

If it wasn't clear before, the roster situation is pretty easy to decipher for the Sun. Charles, Griffin, Hightower and Montgomery will be joined on the opening day roster by Jones, DeMya Walker, Kara Lawson, Kerri Gardin, Tan White and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. Since Sandrine Gruda won't be reporting until early June, the Sun can keep one of its training camp invitees until Gruda is put on the active roster. If I was guessing, I would say it will come down to Pauline Love and Judie Lomax vying for that spot. Watching Thibault pull aside Love for an extended coaching session late in Tuesday's preseason game would lead me to deduce that Love, who had more than 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in three seasons at Southern Mississippi, is a frontrunner to make the cut but I thought 2009 second-round pick Lyndra Littles was going to be around longer than she was in the 2009 training camp.

The Sun will have an open practice from 5-7 p.m. at St. Joseph College in West Hartford on Wednesday. Fans can watch the practice for free and there will be an autograph session following practice.

This is a busy week for Charles. She will take the last of her college exams on Wednesday, have another exhibition game on Friday and graduate on Sunday. Charles spoke about what figures to be an emotional day on Sunday as graduation day will be her final official act of what has been a special four years for her at UConn.

"It is going to be really important because my family has (had) my back my whole four years at UConn and they see the basketball aspect but now they get to take in what I have been doing academically," Charles said.

Harriet Unger, the executive producer of UConn women's basketball broadcasts for CPTV, wanted to clarify some misinformation being put out there regarding the Feb. 27 Georgetown game.

I'll let her tell you in her own words courtesy of an e-mail she sent out to the Connecticut media earlier this afternoon.

There seems to be a bit of confusion about CPTV’s carriage of the
Georgetown /BE Game Of The Week. It WILL be on CPTV. Each year we have been granted rights to carry the UConn BE Game. We will be carrying the ceremony live from the XL with Meghan (Culmo) and Beth Mowins. When the Senior Day/Night game is a CPTV production, the ceremony always begins at the scheduled game time and the tip is pushed back In this case, that won’t happen so the ceremony will start at approximately 11:37am. I want to make sure folks tuning into the game don’t miss this. Below is our UConn day schedule:

9:00am – Geno Show with special guests Bob Joyce and Kara Wolters
10:00am – A Tribute To The Class of 2010
11:30am – Senior Ceremony – live from the XL
12:00pm – UConn vs. Georgetown
2:15pm* - A Tribute To The Class of 2010 replay
3:30pm* - Witness To Perfection: UConn Women’s Basketball 2009
*time approximate

With Notre Dame's loss to St. John's last night, if UConn runs the table that game should clinch the Big East's regular season title. There's an outside chance that Tina Charles could break either Nykesha Sales' UConn career scoring record (although she would need to average 25 points per game against Providence, Syracuse and Georgetown to get there in three games) or Rebecca Lobo's career rebounding record (Charles needs 33 to tie and 34 to set the mark). Other than that, there's not much going on that day at the XL Center.

While we are on the topic of misinformation, let me address another subject. I usually only provide this service when I am the one making the error and usually that is more than enough to keep my busy but since I have received e-mails on the subject of Stefanie Dolson possibly sitting out next season as a non-medical redshirt, here's what I have to say on the matter.

There is no way that a healthy Stefanie Dolson will be redshirted next season. It is not going happen, no way, no how. Yes, there was some scuttlebutt when UConn was involved with Chiney Ogwumike and Cassie Harberts that if they brought in a six or seven player class that one of the players could sit out the season in an attempt to even out the classes. With a five-player class and with Dolson one of the leading candidates to fill the gaping hoping left by the graduation of Tina Charles, any talk of Dolson or Michala Johnson being intentionally sidelined is an absolute foolish notion. Of course injuries and other circumstances can take place that could change the plan but assuming Dolson is healthy and Johnson doesn't have any setbacks from her recovery from having the ACL in her right knee repaired, I expect the two of them along with classmate Samarie Walker to figure prominently in UConn's plans next season.

The first time senior center Tina Charles heard chatter that people were using here perceived strained relationship with Geno Auriemma against the UConn Hall of Fame women's basketball coach, she could hardly believe her ears.

Sure, Charles did not like being replaced as a starter by classmate Kaili McLaren in the 2008 NCAA tournament but she was stunned that those outside the program believe there's any friction between her and Auriemma.

"I think it is ridiculous," Charles said. "I know they did that with (UConn incoming freshman) Bria Hartley, they would say that Tina doesn't like it here. I had a talk with Bria Hartley to tell her that I love it here."

Charles knew what she was getting into when she signed with UConn. Her high school coach Bob Mackey, who also coached Sue Bird at New York powerhouse Christ the King, told her as much.

Now as Charles is on the cusp of becoming the sixth UConn player to score 2,000 points, will graduate with honors, is in line to be the No. 1 pick in April's WNBA draft and has a bright future with the U.S. national team, she has no regrets. Neither does Auriemma.

"You'd be surprised how many people use it against us in recruiting about Tina Charles hates (Auriemma), she hates it up there," Auriemma said. "I said 'well, she looks pretty happy for a kid who hates it. They have this impression that I don't like her, it is just the opposite. I wish I didn't like her, I like her a lot. I wish she is the kind of kid you didn't like because 'nobody likes you, play your (butt) off.' But she is such a nice kid, she and Sylvia Fowles are identical. Her, Sylvia Fowles, Rebecca Lobo are the same kind of personalities."

Auriemma didn't name any names but I don't think you have to be at the top of the Yale graduating class to take a look at which AAU program Bria Hartley played for to surmise where some of that stuff came from. Enough said.

Changing gears, I spoke to Mackey on Wednesday as part of my advance focusing on Charles getting ready to join Nykesha Sales, Kerry Bascom, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi and Kara Wolters as the only 2,000-point scorers in UConn history.

I also talked to him about highly-touted Christ the King junior guard Bria Smith. He said Bria has been to a couple of UConn games including the Dec. 23 one against Stanford and to a UConn practice but she is nowhere near making any sort of decision. He's like her to start considering where she wants to take some unofficial visits but it sounds as if this is one recruitment process which will take some time.

I will leave you with this. I hate anonymous comments, rarely respond to them on my blog. Personally, if you aren't going to leave your name (even if it is a fake one) don't expect a response from me. But I did chuckle at an anonymous comment saying that breaking a record with five games to spare does not constitute "shattering." Well, in my eyes breaking Kerry Bascom's mark for being the quickest UConn player to 2,000 points by five games if that is the way it plays out would go down as shattering the mark in my eyes. If Albert Pujols broke the single-season home-run record in 155 games (which would be the same pace as Moore is on in quest of Bascom's program record) I'd be willing to be it would be viewed as Pujols shattering the record. Since this blog is my opinion, I love forward to Maya Moore doing some shattering in early March.

For any of those worry warts - some of whom have been nice enough to drop me a line over the last couple of days - concerned to hear that UConn sophomore guard Caroline Doty was wearing a walking boot.

Doty was held out of last half of practice the day before Tuesday's game against Rutgers to rest her surgically-repaired knee and then was limited to 15 minutes.

However, after Thursday's practice Doty said the issue was much ado about nothing.

"It's nothing to worry about, I just have to be cautious with it, ice after every practice and every game other than that it feels great," Doty said.

Doty admitted that being held out of practice does occasionally impact the crispness of her play but it's a small price to pay for being full speed come March when she attempts to lead the Huskies to their second straight national title.

"It is definitely tough, you have to know it is good for you and there is a time that you can practice and can play and take advantage of it," Doty said. "That is what you need to be able to do."

CLOSING IN
I did some research over the last couple of days to compare how long it will take Tina Charles to reach the 2,000-point plateau.

If Charles scores 17 points Saturday against Pittsburgh, she will reach the mark in her 134th game. Kerry Bascom leads the way by requiring just 113 games to hit 2,000 points at UConn followed by Rebecca Lobo (118 games), Nykesha Sales (128), Kara Wolters (129) and Diana Taurasi (135).

For those wondering, if Maya Moore continues her current scoring pace she would hit the 2,000-point mark in UConn's first game of the Big East tournament, her 108th career game shattering Bascom's record pace.

Senior center Tina Charles has been named the Big East Player of the Week for the third week in a row after averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds in wins over Marquette and Notre Dame.

Charles is the first player to win the award three weeks in a row since Louisville's Angel McCoughtry earned the prestigious honor the final three times it was awarded last season. Doing a little research, you have to go back to Nykesha Sales in 1998 to find a player from UConn to win the conference's player of the week honor but that came during a time when the Big East tended to award more than one player per week. Sales shared the honor twice in the three-week span. Rebecca Lobo also shared the honor once during the run of four straight weeks earning the award in 1994. No UConn player has been the sole recipient of the Big East Player of the Week award three straight times since the honors first started being awarded in 1982.

Charles, who did not receive a POW honor in her first three seasons, has been so honored four times this season. With one more nod from the Big East, she will join some select company as only six players have received the award at least five times in the same season. UConn is well represented on the list with Nykesha Sales winning it seven times in the 1997-98 season, Lobo getting it six times in 1993-94 and Diana Taurasi winning it five times in the 2002-03 campaign.

With Indiana and Phoenix winning the third and deciding game in the WNBA's Eastern and Western Conference finals, three former UConn players will be in the finals.

Diana Taurasi, who led Phoenix to the 2007 WNBA title, will be joined by Ketia Swanier while Jessica Moore is a member of the Indiana squad. It also means that for the sixth time in the last seven years, an ex-Husky will be a member of the WNBA championship team.

The streak began in 2003 when Swin Cash was a member of Detroit's title-winning team. The next year Sue Bird and Seattle were WNBA champions. Sacramento, the 2005 champs, had no UConn players. In 2006, Cash and Detroit won again. Taurasi and Kelly Schumacher were Phoenix's 2007 team and last year Schumacher won her second title, this time with Detroit.

Here's the breakdown of UConn players in the WNBA finals
1997: Rebecca Lobo and New York lost in championship game
1998: no UConn players in finals
1999: Jen Rizzotti and Kara Wolters were on victorious Houston team. Lobo was a member of New York squad but was injured.
2000: Rizzotti and Houston won again. Lobo was again injured and could not play for New York.
2001: no UConn players in finals
2002: no UConn players in finals
2003: Swin Cash and Detroit win title
2004: Sue Bird and Seattle win championship, Asjha Jones and Nykesha Sales played for Eastern Conference champion Connecticut
2005: Jones and Sales members of Eastern Conference champ Connecticut
2006: Cash and Detroit win second title
2007: Diana Taurasi and Kelly Schumacher members of Phoenix's championship team, Cash played for Eastern Conference champion Detroit
2008: Schumacher wins her second straight title, this one with Detroit.

The results of the conference finals means that Indiana's Tamika Catchings and the Phoenix duo of Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter will not be able to take part in the U.S. Senior National team training camp which starts Wednesday in Washington, D.C. It will be the first training camp with UConn's Geno Auriemma as the U.S. head coach.

Phoenix's win also brought an end to the career of future Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, one of the faces of the WNBA since its inception in 1997. Leslie held court in the press conference after her Los Angeles team was eliminated and acted with the grace and dignity becoming of her place in the world of women's basketball.

Something tells me that over the next couple of weeks, Asjha Jones true value as a basketball player will finally begin to be appreciated as she shuts it down for two weeks to rest an ailing left Achilles tendon.

Dating back to her days at UConn, Jones was always overshadowed by more glamourous teammates. Much of that was due to her no-frills personality and the fact that she did not consistently force the issue offensively until her senior season. Still, when she graduated as a member of two national championship teams, she played in a then school record 144 games, had more than 1,500 points and nearly 800 rebounds. But Jones' value has and still does transcend her numbers. Whether it was setting a screen, boxing out her opponent, deflect a pass, she has an ability to do all the little things.

Now, even as she is one of the WNBA's premier players, she is still overlooked. I covered Jones her final three seasons in college and for much of her WNBA career and yet I have never received one e-mail about Jones whether it be good, bad or indifferent. I get e-mails on Bria Hartley on a regular basis who may or may not play at UConn and assorted other high school phenoms who may or may not suit up for the Huskies but not one for a player who epitomizes everything UConn stands far. Jones is talented, driven, successful, modest, classy and pretty much ignored by what is supposed to be the best women's basketball fan base out there. She was the seventh leading vote getter among Eastern Conference forwards and 15th among all Eastern Conference players. Some day somebody needs to explain that one to me.

With the Sun smack dab in a tight playoff race, the remaining 10 players will need to fill the void left by Jones' absence. While her 16.7 points will be missed, I think her biggest contributions come on a defensive end. Jones ability to lock up on the opposing team's top post player has allowed Sandrine Gruda more freedom on the defensive end. Lauren Jackson, arguably the world's top player, was 3 for 16 the last time she went up against Jones. In Seattle's seven-game losing streak to Connecticut, Jackson is shooting 39 percent from the floor. As a point of reference, Jackson's career field-goal percentage is 46.3. If you discard Jackson's first two seasons in the league, she is shooting 48.5 percent.

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault referenced Jones' success against Jackson. It isn't limited to WNBA showdowns. When Jones' UMMC Ekaterinburg's team upset Jackson and Spartak Moscow Region in the best of three game Russian championship series, Jackson was just 14 of 35 from the floor.

This brings me to my next point regarding Jones, shouldn't she be in the mix to be on the U.S. squad in next year's world championships. From head coach Geno Auriemma, women's national team director Carol Callan to selection committee member Renee Brown, the talk was of adding a post presence to complement the eight players named to the Senior National Team on Monday. No offense to UConn's Tina Charles or Stanford's Jayne Appel, who are outstanding players who will likely be in the running for national team berths for years to come, but considering that defending Jackson will be one of the United States squad's No. 1 objective, wouldn't a player like Jones with experience and success slowing down Jackson be a wise addition to the squad.

Auriemma doesn't pick the players he will coach but he is not shy at offering his opinions on any matter and there may not be a person who is a bigger supporter of Jones than Auriemma. When he was putting together what is considered by many to be the best recruiting class of all time, Auriemma's one directive he gave associate head coach Chris Dailey was "just make sure we get Asjha Jones."

Now for a bit of trivia, tomorrow's game will mark the first time since the team moved to Connecticut that the Sun will have no former UConn players to call upon in a regular season game. Nykesha Sales played every game from 2003-05. When Sales missed 12 games in 2006, Jones was in the lineup for each game. Jones missed four games and Sales eight in the 2007 games but they were never sidelined at the same time. Last year with five UConn players in the fold, not having an ex-Husky to call upon was never an issue.