When opposing coaches say that UCONN has the best players as a way of explaining why they have just been pounded by the Huskies they do a disservice to the craft of coaching as a whole.
Over the last ten years Duke, ND, Stanford, Baylor and now South Carolina have had recruiting classes considered the equal of Uconn's but have not had the same success. It is easy for opposing coaches to say that "We got some good players but we didn't get Maya Moore, or Breanna Stewart." What they don't ask of themselves is what would they have done with them if they did have them?
Baylor recruited Griner and the world expected them to march to four (or at least three) National Championships. It didn't go that way.
Notre Dame got Diggins and a great supporting cast and they have performed exceptionally well without grabbing the ring.
Stewie may now be the considered great but we all remember Geno sitting her as a freshman when we could have used her points, and as beloved as Stephanie Dolson became to us she started at Uconn as a project; (although a very talented one) but in order for her to develop into the star that she became Geno had to break her down and build her back up into an All-American.
Over the last thirty years he's done that with almost all of his great players. He devlopes talent while others often squander it.
If all that it took to win was to put talented players on the court, there would be a different National Champion every year.
College sports is about three things. Coaching, coaching, coaching.
*Excellent post, B. Great points. I was perturbed by the NYTimes article in which the writer denigrates the NCAA tournament because a few teams are dominant (especially that evil empire in the Northeast) and those unfortunate #14, 15 and 16 seeds never ever win and are "not even in the same ballparks their opponents." Isn't that what happens when a mediocre team plays a really good team, in any sport? FGCU coach Smesko wants to address that unfairness in a semi-delirious manner by instituting rules changes, like "reducing fouls shots from two to one and eliminating the ball screen entirely." Yikes! Better yet, no post-season tournament, have a post-season get-together, invite
all wcbb teams-great, mediocre, and poor- give every team a trophy, pass out marshmellows, sing kumbaya. FSU's Sue Semrau declared, "We want parity," and for her apparently the best way to achieve that is not by developing her own players right out of high school, but by putting a starting five on the floor composed entirely of D1
transfers, kids who have already had success at other schools.
*Geno, as always, has the answer, which few like, to the thorny issue of parity-
Coaches need to do a better job coaching. He is not going to lower the bar at UConn to allow others to catch up. That's their job. It is the job of other coaches to make their teams and individual players better. There has been and continues to be lots of really really talented athletes in the women's game, and several schools regularly bring in recruiting classes rated higher than UConn's, as bonpland points out. [I think Azure Stevens at Duke has the potential to be really great- let's see if her coach brings that out and enables her to reach her full potential. I thought the same when I first saw Elizabeth Williams and the result after 4 years is kind of disappointing. I can't help but wonder how much of a difference top coaching would have made here.] And it isn't just about developing the highly recognized, talented HS kids- what Geno accomplished with a kid of (I think) better-than-average skills but huge heart and determination- Kelly Faris- is another example of the seminal importance of great coaching. I don't believe Kelly would have reached those heights without GA and CD. Same for Stef (stealing from bonpland). Sorry, rambling rambling rambling.....
* UConn is so damn dominant because it has the greatest coaches in the game.
Anson Dorrance's UNC women's soccer team won 16 NCAA Championships in a span of 19 years!!! Domination.
John Wooden's UCLA team won 10 championships in 12 years!!! Domination.
Red Auerbach's Boston Celtics won 11 NBA titles in 13 years!!!
Phil Jackson's Chicago Bulls won 6 NBA titles in 8 years!!! All these teams had great players, but they also had THE BEST COACHES of their time, and GREAT COACHES = CHAMPIONSHIPS.