April 18, 2003

     No one ever has claimed that recruiting is an exact science. But I was struck by the amount of attention that was directed at national-champion Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma during last week's Women's Final Four over the Huskies' recruitment of Maria Conlon.
     Auriemma repeatedly was asked about Conlon, a 5-8 junior guard who many regarded as too short and too slow to play for the nation's premier women's basketball program.
     UConn has signed entire classes of prep All-Americans. And Conlon was a hometown girl, the only Connecticut player on the Huskies roster.
     The Derby, Conn., native was a three-time all-stater at Seymour High, a two-time state-tournament MVP and a two-time Gatorade state player of the year. She was the state record-holder for three-pointers in a season (86) and career (246). She led her team to 62 straight wins and a four-year record of 96-4.
     "I just went on a gut feeling," Auriemma said. "Anybody that can win that many games at the high school level without a great supporting cast ... I just thought it's a gut feeling, and hopefully it would pay off.
     "It's like you are betting on a horse race and you say, I like that horse. I don't know why, I just think they are going to win. For two years, it didn't play out that way for Maria because of who else we had."
     Who they had was 2001 national player of the year Sue Bird at point guard and 2002 national player of the year Diana Taurasi at a wing and as their second option at the point.
     In 2001-02, UConn was 39-0 and had four senior starters who all were among the top six draft picks in the WNBA. Conlon played in 39 games, started one and averaged 4.1 points and 17.7 minutes. As a freshman, she averaged 3.6 points and 7.1 minutes.
     "I knew I'd get a chance sooner or later," Conlon said. "The thing was, I knew who I was practicing against every day."
     After not scoring a point in the 2002 Final Four, Conlon turned into a big winner for the Huskies. In a two-point semifinal win against Texas, she came up with a defensive gem, stealing an inbounds pass that led to Taurasi's three-pointer that put UConn ahead to stay.
     And in the title game against Tennessee, Conlon had 11 points, including three three-pointers in the first 22 minutes of the game.
     "When we needed a big play or a big shot, Maria came through," Auriemma said. "I think I underestimated her toughness, her internal toughness, but inside, she has this quality about her that is starting to come out now. Every other kid on the team loves her."
     "The thing about Maria is, she is just cool," Taurasi said. "We wouldn't have even been in the Final Four, let alone won it, without her."
     "What makes Maria so good is the way she fits in," DePaul women's coach Doug Bruno said. "When you have someone like Taurasi, who is a combination of Magic Johnson and Rick Barry, you need kids that will fit in with them. Maria does that, and she's a lot tougher than people think."
     "A lot of people look at athleticism as how fast you are or how high you jump. But with Maria, there is a lot of hand-eye quickness that makes her very athletic."
     An interesting fact about the national-championship game is that Tennessee's roster included nine prep All-Americans and UConn had seven.
     "When you play with someone like Diana, you always know what the first option is," Conlon said. "The thing is, opponents pay so much attention to her and she is such an unbelievable passer, all you have to do is be ready. And this was a dream season, and a lot of fun to be a part of."
     UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey, who played for Illinois coach Theresa Grentz at Rutgers, had watched Conlon the summer before her senior year in high school, but did not attend any of her high school games.
     "Sure, I was concerned [about her ability to play at the game's highest level]," Dailey said. "But there was just something about her."
     Auriemma did watch her and noticed something, too. "When I watched her in high school, she had a miserable demeanor and was never happy on the court," he said. "If she were a doctor, she'd have no patients."
     "But [her team] won all the time. And she was double- and triple-teamed all the time, and I'm thinking, how does this kid do this? She doesn't look like she is having any fun, so I was really worried about her."
     No need to worry. Conlon showed the nation something that Auriemma noticed three years earlier, that despite less than imposing size and not great speed, Maria Conlon was a winner.
     Now she's a national champion, too.