Diana Taurasi found herself having flashbacks to her playing days at UConn.
She was back in the Final Four atmosphere again, broadcasting games alongside college teammate and best friend Sue Bird for a special ESPN show in Minneapolis in April. As they watched the Huskies fall to South Carolina in the title game, Taurasi couldn’t help but reflect on her college years with a renewed perspective.
“At that time in your career and your young life, it’s such a big deal to be on that stage,” Taurasi told the Hartford Courant last week. “You forget when you’re in your little bubble, but when you’re looking at it from the outside that’s a lot of pressure on those kids to perform and play really well. Especially when you have that UConn jersey on. … I thought the kids played their hearts out, it just didn’t turn their way.”
The Hartford Courant spoke with Taurasi, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse to get their thoughts on UConn women’s basketball as the 2022-23 team gets underway with summer workouts. The former Husky stars, part of eight different national championships, shared insight on last year’s result, the current roster and what it will take for the program to win its first title since 2016 in the upcoming season.
With the time difference overseas in Hungary, Williams wasn’t able to watch many UConn games last season, but she followed along online and regularly checked box scores. She stayed up to watch the Final Four, though. As she did, so one thing, in particular, stood out: “I think this is the first time I really noticed the generational difference between UConn teams,” Williams said. “And it’s not necessarily the UConn teams, it’s just the sport of women’s college basketball in general. They’re kind of playing a bit more like pros.
" … I remember there being a very distinct difference between the way that players played in college versus when they came into the pros. But now I’m starting to see these players kind of like, they’re more developed earlier.”
The number of talented players and teams also stood out to Stewart, who attended the Final Four in person.
“Women’s college basketball is very competitive,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of great players out there and anybody can beat anybody on any given day. The parity is what we’ve been wanting, and now it’s here and there’s a lot of tough teams out there.”
Bird said the Huskies should be “really proud” of getting to the championship game despite everything they dealt with throughout the season, from COVID-19 pauses to a plethora of injuries. She thinks going through those challenges will serve them well in 2022-23.
“A lot of times you don’t have players, you don’t have teams that have success without some sort of failure prior,” Bird said. “... I’m sure it also is going to motivate them. I’m sure they’re really disappointed because they tasted it, they were right there. … Hopefully, they can build off that but also kind of keep that hunger. Because that’s really what can carry you through, that hunger to win.”
Nurse, Stewart and Taurasi echoed similar sentiments about using the adversity as motivation.
“Those years where there’s a lot of challenges are sometimes the most satisfying,” Taurasi said. “You always want to win, but that’s not always the case.”
Taurasi thinks the most important factor for UConn next season will be Paige Bueckers’ health. The 2021 National Player of the Year missed 19 games with a knee injury before returning to action on Feb. 25 and playing the rest of the season.
“I think Paige has to get healthy,” Taurasi said. “Making sure her body’s ready for eight months. Because it’s a long season, a lot of hard teams you play against, a lot of traveling. The kid works her ass off and loves basketball, so I’m not worried about that.”
Much of UConn’s challenges last season revolved around injuries. Aubrey Griffin was out all season with multiple ailments and eventually had surgery for a disc injury in her back. Azzi Fudd missed 11 games with a foot injury. Though undisclosed at the time, Caroline Ducharme dealt with nagging hip issues all year, which she had surgery for in April. And Dorka Juhász fractured her wrist in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
“Hopefully they can stay healthy because they’ve got great pieces,” Nurse said. “And as soon as those pieces continue to click together, I mean that’s how we won our championships — everybody eats and having a great time playing out there.”
Of those pieces on the 2022-23 roster, Nurse is most familiar with fellow Canadian Aaliyah Edwards through their time competing for their country together.
“I admire [her] and I love watching her play,” Nurse said. “I love watching her continue to grow as an athlete. … She’s continuing to get better every single year. So it’s great seeing her continue to play a really important role for a team like UConn.”
Williams was drawn to Nika Mühl’s play on the court when she watched the Huskies in the Final Four.
“Oh my gosh, she works, man,” Williams said. “I’m a big fan of her.”
Juhász is another player Williams is excited to see continue to develop. Williams spent multiple seasons overseas in Hungary, where Juhász is from, and loved seeing how excited people over there were when she transferred before last year.
“You don’t understand sometimes until you take a step back away from things like how special a program UConn is,” Williams said. “The way they talked about UConn — even in Hungary they know about this college in Storrs, Connecticut. And to see their eyes light up and how proud they were of Dorka, like, ‘We have a Hungarian!’ I was like, ‘Wow,’ you know?”
Seeing their reaction made Williams feel special and gave her a regained sense of pride in the program she was part of. But beyond that, Williams believes Juhász is the X-factor for UConn.
“I think she’s a big reason why they couldn’t pull [the national championship] out, you know, her injury,” Williams said. “I think if she’s on the floor they would have won.”
Much like her fellow alums, Bird noted all of the talents UConn brings back next season. But she’s also quick to point out the players the team lost to graduation in Evina Westbrook, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams.
“They’re gonna have to figure out ways to replace that,” Bird said. “Coach Auriemma and his staff, I feel like as you go through the program, you understand the expectation of when you become a senior you’re now the leader. So you have to then replace when those people graduate. And so I don’t know what the recruiting class looks like, but whenever you have a player like Paige, a player like Azzi, I feel like you have a chance.”
If anyone knows about how to capitalize on that opportunity it’s Stewart, who won four consecutive national championships for the Huskies, two of which came alongside Williams and Nurse. And much like the rest of her fellow former UConn stars, Stewart is optimistic about what’s in store next season.
“A lot of firepower coming back,” Stewart said. “It’s exciting for what they have coming this year, but now they know what it feels like to not accomplish their goals and using that as motivation to hopefully get one.”
