NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

In another amazing article about the UCONN women's basketball team, our own Art Benedict gives an amazing insight into the freshman players on this years squad!!!!

Article by Art Benedict

The UConn women’s basketball team has been an elite group to say the least. The Huskies have won 9 NCAA Division I national championships, advanced to 15 Final Fours, and won over 30 Big East/AAC regular season and tournament championships. UConn has also been one of the leaders in women's basketball history. There have been many great players (too many to mention and hit them all on this blog), but the one thing that all of them have in common is that they all started out as freshman. And this year’s team is not different. So let’s take a closer look at the freshman of this year’s UConn squad.

KIA NURSE

Kia Nurse makes her home in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. She attended St. Thomas More Catholic High School and led her team to gold at the AAAA OFSAA Championship in 2012 and 2013. She also won five straight Provincial Championships with Team Ontario and was selected as the Tournament MVP on both occasions. Her team finished third in the World Qualifiers and also took third in the World Championships with Team Canada. Kia has won two Hazel Minor Awards and two Player of the Year Honors for Basketball Ontario. Oh yes, and she was also honored as her soccer teams MVP in 2012.

As a Husky, and coming onto a defending National Championship team, Kia knew the difficulties and what she expected of herself. “I knew that I needed to be more aggressive offensively. I knew passivity was not going to work anymore. The coaches had confidence in me and they’ve let that be known. It was important for me to know that and it was important helping me get going”. And get going she has done. Nurse is averaging almost 13 points a game and almost 4 rebounds as well.

And Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma’s comments concerning Kia’s role compared to what she did with her high school team in Canada? “"For us, her role is more than that (meaning getting the ball to her open player), and we're constantly urging her to do more, do more, do more, because she's capable of doing more. The intensity level she's playing at, all the plays that she makes, all she gets accomplished on the court, I'm not surprised."

COURTNEY EKMARK

Courtney Ekmark missed nine games with a stress fracture reaction in her right foot before returning on a Wednesday night against East Carolina, and scored the first basket of her collegiate career with 13:30 to play on a backdoor layup. Before that Ekmark only appeared in the opening game of the season against UC Davis before being sidelined, playing only 10 minutes and was 1 of 4 from the field with two rebounds. Although she has not played much so far for UConn, she has a very impressive resume coming from Saint Mary’s High School in Phoenix Arizona. She was considered one of the best shooters in the country in her high school class, not to mention that she was on track to be valedictorian at her high school. She elected to be home schooled in her senior year so that she could meet with business leaders and gain different experiences. There is life after basketball however.

The 6 foot guard comes from a line of athletic prowess. Her father Curtis was a basketball player at Marquette, and her Mom played tennis there. She has also trained with family friend and former Phoenix Suns head coach and player Frank Johnson. Ekmark’s Saint Mary’s high school team won three state titles and a national championship in 2012. Even though she has been slowed by injuries early in her collegiate career, it is not slowing her down. “Anyone who has been forced to sit out because of injury knows that it stinks,” Ekmark said. “You want to play so badly. It’s just great to be back. The games are coming faster now and time is flying by. But I am a confident person and that helps.”  

GABBY WILLIAMS

Gabby Williams attended Reed High School in Sparks Nevada where she was a three year starter, and as a sophomore averaged 18 ppg along with 10 RPG and 7 steals. She helped lead Reed to the Class 4A state title. She had 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in a semifinal win over Foothill, then followed that up with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the championship game win over Reno. She was also named the Las Vegas Review-Journal Class 4A Player of the Year. In her junior year she was averaging 30 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, when she suffered a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament and partially torn meniscus in her right knee. She had season ending surgery and was cleared to resume basketball activities some 8 months later. She injured the same knee twice more and was reassured by her surgeon, Dr. Michael Joyce that she could perform up to collegiate standards after her most recent surgery. And to complicate matters more, Williams had inconsistent practice habits with UConn and was benched in the Nov. 17 game at Stanford which the Huskies lost in overtime.

When they returned from the West Coast, Williams began to practice with more energy and as a result her role on the team increased. “I do need to be more aggressive and I have been too passive. I feel like I am not producing the way I should be and maybe because I am looking at the juniors and seniors doing stuff”, says Williams. She followed that up by scoring in double figures three times in the next four games. She has averaged 10 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assist in those four outings. “Gabby, she is just getting better all the time”, says UConn coach Geno Auriemma. “She makes tough shots in the lane, she is active.”

So there you have it, the new freshman trio for the UConn Huskies. The one word that comes from all of these freshmen is “aggressive”. And like the freshman before them they will build on that aggressive play to become better players. Some words of wisdom from now Junior forward Brianna Stewart, “When I’m on the court with them (Kia, Courtney, & Gabby) I no longer think of them as freshman. I think of them as just another UConn basketball player. The fact that they’ve been assertive and aggressive (there’s that word again) on the court is going to help. One thing to remember also, Stewy was a freshman once too!

Next week: The freshman UConn Men.