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They are two coaches fighting to achieve the same goal every season in different parts of the country. They both run elite programs. One just happens to be regarded as the one of the best there is and the other is just a step or two behind. Geno Auriemma and Sherri Coale are two of the most charismatic coaches in the business. They are walking sound bites, always well dressed and always looking for a new way to better the game as the current cabinet of the WBCA. Coale serves as president. Geno as VP.
But, most of all, they are very good friends too. They talk often, although Geno says that Sherri is not much fun to be around the night before a game. Maybe it’s because her Sooners are 0-6 against the Huskies heading into tonight’s game at Gampel Pavilion. I wouldn’t be much fun either if I kept losing to the same time each time we played.
“I just think that we have one of those friendships that’s going to endure and endure because it was created based on a sincere appreciation for what the other did in this profession,’’ Coale said. “And we have a lot of common interests and we see the game the same way, and whether we’re competing against one another for the same title or working together for the good of the growth of the game I think we’re always going to be good friends. And I always feel blessed by his friendship and feel very fortunate to have had him as a mentor, really, over the last 10 years.’’
Make that 10-plus years. They first met when Geno was recruiting Stacy Hansmeyer out of Norman (Okla.) High School where Sherri was the head coach. Stacy went on to win a national championship at UConn in 2000 and is now in her eighth season as an assistant under Sherri.
Geno liked the way Sherri ran her practices back then, the way she interacted with people and how much she had a hand in what was going on with her team. Once she was hired at Oklahoma in 1996 he made it a point to help her and her program gain national exposure. That’s one of the reasons why he agreed to play in Norman for the first time Dec. 29, 1999. The Huskies were No. 1 at the time and the game drew 10,713 at the Lloyd Nobel Center.
Two years later, UConn and Oklahoma met in the NCAA tournament final in San Antonio.
“For a high school coach, I thought what was pretty impressive,’’ Geno said. “The quality of the drills and what they were teaching. And we just kind of got to talking a lot of basketball, different ideas and different things. Then I ended up coaching a junior national team (in 2001), and she was one of the people that was involved. She ended up being one of my assistants. It’s been a great relationship on a lot of different levels. And I think she’s as good a coach as there is in the country in every aspect: promoting her program, recruiting, teaching the game. I don’t think there’s very many people who do it better than she does.’’

Courtney Paris has had plenty of help during her career. She credits her Piedmont (Calif.) High coach Bryan Gardere. She credits Coale, and she also gives credit to the impact Hansmeyer has had on her over the years. And, by now, she knows exactly why she was affectionately called `Bam Bam’ during her playing days at UConn.
“I love Coach Hansmeyer,’’ Courtney said. “I’m probably closer to her than anybody in Oklahoma. She recruited me and I have a lot of respect for her. So I’m really close to Stacy. She’s tried to (toughen me up). She works with the wing players more now, but last year she used to work with us posts and we definitely understand why her nickname was `Bam Bam.’ She fouls pretty hard. She’s pretty aggressive. But she teaches us to play hard like that. And she’s in charge of rebounding so we definitely have learned to block out at a new level with her. So she does a great job.’’

Here’s Sherri’s take on Paris’ NCAA record streak of 97 straight double-doubles:
“I don’t think that I really can put that in any sort of perspective,’’ she said. “Her double-double streak is beyond phenomenal. Obviously, nobody’s ever done it before. But the sheer madness of being able to do night after night after night after night after night regardless of competition, regardless of venue, regardless of whether a kid feels well or not. There are just so many different things that could come into play and I think the consistency with what she’s gone about that is mind-boggling. I don’t think any of us will really appreciate it in a way that it probably should be appreciated until long after the streak is finished.’’

Enjoy the game.

Rich

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On the surface it appears that tomorrow’s game between the Huskies and No. 4 Oklahoma will be decided in the paint between Sooners’ three-time All-American Courtney Paris, who ultimately chose Oklahoma over UConn during the recruiting process, and UConn All-American in-training Tina Charles. They are two of the nation’s elite centers. Paris has a ridiculous 97 straight double-doubles and 102 in 105 career games. She is averaging 15 points, 14 rebounds and 3.2 blocks this season. Charles, who is playing better – and more consistently and focused – than she has at any point in her career is averaging 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on the nation’s top-ranked team.
But, in fact, the early-season Top 5 clash will offer so much more. Yes, Courtney and Tina is the sexy, made-for-ESPN matchup. Yet players like Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery, Kalana Greene, Caroline Doty and Tiffany Hayes for the Huskies and Ashley Paris, Amanda Thompson, Danielle Robinson and Whitney Hand for the Sooners will have much to say about the final outcome for their respective teams.
Maya is expected to be the best player on the floor for a team that is averaging 92 points and shooting 58.5 percent from the field. She’s averaging 17.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocs in 26.8 minutes. Renee is one of the top two point guards in the nation, while Greene is proving that her severe knee injury is a thing of the past.
“Who’s going to stop Maya Moore? That’s what the game comes down to,’’ Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. “I’m hoping she’ll play a role in that, but I doubt it very seriously. I think they’re very, very balanced and all the attention may be focused on Tina Charles and Courtney Paris in the paint. But the game’s going to be won by the other folks. I think Connecticut’s balance and probably Renee Montgomery gets lost in the shuffle as much as anybody. Of course, I don’t see the paper from the East Coast or know exactly what you guys are talking about. But I think in the national scene, obviously rightly so, Maya Moore gets a tremendous amount of attention and credit. And I do think she is just one of the very, very special athletes to come along in women’s basketball. But at the same time Renee Montgomery makes the ship run. She just is as steady and as good of a decision-maker as there is running the team at the point position in the country right now.’’
For Oklahoma, Ashley Paris is playing exceptionally right now with four double-doubles and two 20-point games. She leads the team in scoring (15.6) and minutes (31.4) and is averaging 10 rebounds. Thompson is solid and Robinson and Hand comprise a dangerous backcourt. The Sooners are averaging 81.0 points and own a plus-14.2 rebounding advantage.
“I think the key to Oklahoma’s team is their players,’’ Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said. “Not just what Courtney Paris brings. They’re averaging (81) points per game and she’s averaging 15. It’s not like she’s getting 50 and everybody else is just making a couple free throws. So I think the success of their team is going to be based on not only how well she plays, but I think the development of their other players has been a big key. That’s one of the reasons why they’ve probably struggled in the NCAA Tournament the three years that she’s been there in some ways because other players have to make plays. You’re not going to be able to go with just one thing. And I watch them play on film their other players are really, really good. I told Sherri that the other night. I watched the Marist game (Wednesday), and I just think they’ve got a lot of really good players at all the other positions. And Ashley Paris is playing the best basketball she’s ever played. So when you look at their team, they’ve got as many pieces that could fit into a national championship picture as anybody else in the country. They’ve got good depth. They’ve got good speed. They’ve got good size. They shoot the ball pretty well. I don’t think anybody will be shocked if they’re in the Final Four or win the national championship.’’
As far what type of strategy Geno will employ tomorrow in an attempt to neutralize Paris and the Sooners, he wouldn’t specifically say.
“We might play with five guards,’’ he said. “We might play with Maya at the center. Then they’ll have to go zone or (Paris) is going to have to guard Maya or Kalana. I just don’t want Sherri to think she’s the smartest person in the building Sunday night. We’ve got a couple things we might do. They may not work, but we may try them. I have been known to come up with a good idea once in a while.’’

The Sooners have lost to the only other Top 10 team they have faced this season – falling to then-No. 4 North Carolina 80-79 at home last Sunday. They are 1-17 during the regular season and 2-27 overall against Top 10 opponents. Needless to say this is another big spot for Oklahoma to earn a big win.
“I don’t know that there’s an adjective out there that justly describes it,’’ Coale said. “That’s what we have to do. It’s like I was explaining to a young coach a couple of weeks ago. When you start setting your goals and you’re building a program goal-setting is very easy. Once you go to the Final Four you have a team goal-setting meeting and pretty much the answer is win a national championship because there’s nothing left and you don’t want to go backwards. So I think for program, for all the things that we’ve done … We’ve won more Big 12 titles than any other team in our league. We’re third in the country in attendance. We’ve been to the NCAA tournament nine years in a row. But what else is out there that we need to do? Obviously, we need to beat somebody we’re not supposed to and the better you get the fewer folks there are with that title, but the harder that task is. So we’re sitting on the cusp of an amazing opportunity and at some point if we want to catapult our program into that … I feel like we’re already in the upper echelon, but if we want to be with the very cream of the crop, the guys that are mentioned year in and year out for a national championship, we’ve got to beat some of those guys. And its starts with Connecticut.’’

There are still tickets available for the game, which will feature a charity auction by both coaches. Geno will auction off an autographed Brioni tie and Sherri will auction off a black Cole Haan handbag.
The auction will begin at 8 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. Dec. 6. Fans can make separate charitable bids on both items at www.genoscancerteam.com or www.wbca.org. The proceeds from the auction will benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Rich

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Full-session tickets for the Big East tournament will go on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets Monday at 10 a.m. The event, which will feature all 16 teams for the first time, will be held at the XL Center March 6-10.
Packages for all 15 games are $99, which is discounted by nearly one half of the face value. They can also be ordered by phone at 860-525-4500, 203-624-0033 or 413-733-2500 and online at www.xlcenter.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets will be available at the XL Center box office Tuesday, beginning at noon. For group sales (10 or more) information and discounts, contact the XL Center at 860-548-2000.

Heather Buck was not reevaluated by team doctor Tom Trojian today. According to a team spokesman, she will be reevaluated tomorrow and her status will be revealed Sunday.
Buck has missed the first four games and has not practiced in weeks due to mononucleosis. Should she received a favorable review from Trojian she could be cleared to begin light activity.

How about this stat: Freshmen Caroline Doty and Tiffany Hayes have committed a combined six turnovers in 188 minutes though the first four games. Caroline has committed just two in 103 minutes. Tiffany 4 in 85. Not a bad way to start your college career. No wonder Geno has been so high on both of them since the preseason started.
“They’re good with the ball,’’ Geno said. “They handle it. They know how to get out of trouble. They know when to make the pass, when to make the right pass, which one to make. And they’re not rushed. It’s very hard to rush those two. I think that’s where turnovers come from. When you’re rushed.’’

There are still tickets left for Sunday night’s showdown with No. 4 Oklahoma. Come and get them.

Rich

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Freshman Heather Buck began dealing with a scratchy throat Nov. 3, just three days before UConn’s exhibition opener against Stonehill. She didn’t think much of it at the time, hoping that it was nothing more than a common cold.
A few days would pass and it became increasingly difficult for her to swallow. So difficult that Buck could not eat for two days. It was at this point that she knew there was a more significant problem with her health.
Buck alerted team officials and tests confirmed that she was stricken by mononucleosis. She missed her fourth straight game Tuesday when top-ranked UConn defeated BYU 96-47 in its first road game of the season.
“I just never thought I’d get mono,’’ Buck said. “Ever. But when I wasn’t eating because I couldn’t swallow I knew that it was a problem. Anybody who knows me knows that I’ll pretty much each through anything.’’
Buck, who has only had to miss a couple of classes during this stretch, said she is feeling between 80 and 85 percent health. She will be reevaluated Friday, when she could be cleared by team doctor Tom Trojian to begin light activity, which she hopes will include jogging.
At this point, Buck has been permitted to shoot standing in place and nothing more. Her return to active duty still remains unclear. She hopes to be back in two weeks. However, a definitive date continues to be in the hands of team medical personnel.
“I’m actually feeling a lot better,’’ Buck said. “I’ve been feeling much more myself in the last couple of days. Right now I don’t even think I’m even really supposed to be up and around too much. But really I haven’t been knocked out and in bed.’’
The key for Buck Friday will be the condition of her spleen. Mononucleosis causes it to enlarge, which forces athletes to shut it down until the illness has subsided. Missing games has hurt. But missing practice is what has caused Buck much anxiety.
She was making progress during the preseason, and at a long 6-foot-3 she was tabbed as a player who could come off the bench to provide the Huskies with some minutes in the post.
“That was the thing that made me most nervous,’’ Buck said. “Not my spleen. Not being sick. Missing practice. On the side, I’m trying to make sure that I’m still mentally involved and paying attention and picking up all of the things so that when I come back I’ll be ahead mentally and know where I’m supposed to be going. But, still, watching and running it still isn’t the same. So that’s going to be difficult, and I’m missing all of the conditioning too now.’’
UConn coach Geno Auriemma isn’t concerned with the mental aspect of Buck’s game. He said that she has picked things up quickly when she’s been on the court. But he, too, is concerned with how long it will take Buck to rebound physically in lieu of her illness.
Junior Kaili McLaren, who had a season-high 10 points in 13 minutes against BYU, is the only reserve post player in UConn’s primary rotation right now. She is averaging 5.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 14.0 minutes. So the opportunity is there for Buck to solidify a role once she regains her health and is again able to actively participate in practice.
“I think so much of it has to do with the comfort level that they have on the court and how quickly they can fit in,’’ Auriemma said. “You can tell a lot about a freshman. They come in as a freshman and they can play and they can compete and they can function at real high pace right away. And that a lot of times if you get hurt it doesn’t matter because you already have it and you can just step back in and not worry about it. But I think in Heather’s case because of what we were hoping to get from her was an awful lot of repetitions in practice and get bigger and get stronger. And for a big kid it just takes longer anyway, and especially for someone who’s not used to playing at that level of competition on a regular basis.
“I think the physicalness of the game is obviously something that’s going to be difficult for her And you just have to get in there and do. That’s all there is to it. But I don’t worry about her not being involved or grasping the concepts that we’re talking about. Those will be OK for her. It’s just how far back is she going to be physically because she hasn’t had a chance to get out here and be a part of it. It’s still November and you don’t play your for first Big East game until January. So there’s a lot of time to impact the season. But I just want to see what she looks like physically when she’s cleared and see what happens.’’

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.

Rich

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Former UConn standout and CPTV current color commentator Meghan (Pattyson) Culmo gave birth to a baby girl Monday. Claire Gabriella was born 8 pounds, nine ounces and was 20 inches long. It is the third child for Meghan and her husband, Angelo. God Bless.

In other news at the Marriott Center, BYU personnel were scurrying about looking for a soda with some caffeine in it for Huskies associate head coach Chris Dailey. Oops.

Rich

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Huskies coach Geno Auriemma and Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale will help kick off Jimmy V Week Sunday night by auctioning off a tie and a handbag, respectively. Geno will auction off a Brioni tie, which is valued at $200, and Sherri will auction off a black Cole Haan handbag, which is valued at $450.
The auction will begin Sunday at 8 p.m. and close Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. Fans can make separate charitable bids on both items by logging on to www.genoscancerteam.com or www.wbca.org. The proceeds from the auction will go toward the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Geno will also auction off the ties he wears during each home game in February – vs. Rutgers Feb. 3; vs. Pittsburgh Feb. 15; vs. Notre Dame Feb. 22; vs. Villanova Feb. 24; and vs. Seton Hall on Senior Night Feb. 28.

By the way, Renee Montgomery and the Huskies could care less that Sunday’s matchup with Oklahoma, who fell 80-79 to North Carolina at home Sunday, could have been the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Gampel Pavilion since the 2001 Big East tournament final when the second-ranked Huskies beat No. 1 Notre Dame 78-76 in the same venue. Rankings don’t matter to the Huskies. Just wins.
Whether the Sooners rest at No. 2 or their current spot of No. 4 in the AP poll, it doesn’t matter. The Huskies will receive their first true test of the season against All-American Tina Charles and the Sooners.
“It doesn’t really matter to me,’’ Montgomery said. “They’re still going to be the same team they were. It just would have been a different ranking when they came here. You know what? They might be even better now that they lost. Once you lose you go home, you evaluate, you practice harder. So they’re probably going to be a better team than they were if they would’ve won.’’

You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well, that holds true in Utah. While talking to tonight’s color commentator Kristen Kozlowski yesterday during practice she told me that her husband played football at the Y. OK. So with me being a somewhat sheltered individual with a small-town mentality I took that to mean that her husband played football at the YMCA. We always call it the Y at home. I used to workout there as a matter of fact. But, of course, I wasn’t even close. Kristen quickly cleared up the situation by saying to the folks here the Y is short for BYU. It was just another of the many instances in my life when I felt like an absolute idiot.
In the future, any time I need a reminder as to what the Y is I can refer to the large white Y on the side of the mountains in the backdrop of the football stadium.

Rich

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I had never before seen street signs with a direction, a numbers and another direction on them. But that was before I started driving around Provo and Salt Lake City today. They are cookie cutter cities surrounded by mountains. It is a beautiful sight. Much like Vegas, minus the vice. But I could do without taking a left on South 500 West Street or 100 North Street or taking the exit toward 1300 Street. It was interesting to say the least. And try inserting these streets into a GPS. It’s not happening.
That why the Huskies have their own bus that carts them around. Geno & Co. are the smart ones. After they arrived Sunday, it took them to Park City, Utah, a resort town that is about 12 square miles in size. Today, it took them to the Jazz practice facility where they worked out for about 90 minutes. Then it was off to a shop, eat dinner and the Jazz/Bulls game at EnergySolutions Arena.
Geno tries to keep the players occupied by doing fun things on every road trip. As you can see this trip was no different. And Chris Dailey was trying to get in touch with former UConn star and current Bulls star Ben Gordon too.
“They’re basketball kids,’’ Geno said. “They like basketball and they’re basketball fans. We’re in town. They’re in town. I happen to know the GM (Kevin O’Connor) here. We’ve done it a bunch of times and sometimes it’s counterproductive because it’s a lousy game or it’s just a waste of time. But I think kids get a kick out of watching people do what they do. I’m want to see them enjoy themselves and kind of not sit around the hotel room.’’
Freshman Buck was one of many players who was excited about taking in the Jazz game. But before she went she had to do some homework. Without cable TV in her house growing up she wasn’t able to watch NBA games and keep track of who’s who and who plays for who. That’s where her current teammates came in handy.
“I’ve never been to a men’s professional game,’’ Buck said. I’ve only been to like three women’s professional games and they were all Sun games so it’s going to be exciting. I actually have to do a little research. My parents got cable like last month. So if I was going to go and watch something it wasn’t going to be a pro men’s basketball game. So I haven’t ever really followed them or watched at all. So I have to kind of pick everybody’s brain and find out what’s going on.’’
Heather said the main reason that her parents decided to get cable was so that they could watch her play when the Huskies are not on CPTV. By the way, they have become fans of “House’’ too.

Friday will be a big day for Heather. She will be reevaluated yet again. If all goes well she will be cleared to being some light activity, which is more than just shooting in one place like she’s doing now. She said she’s about 80-85 percent as she tries to kick this bout with mononucleosis.

Rich

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It’s another Football Sunday, and once again none of my fantasy teams are doing anything at this point. There is nothing more frustrating for a fantasy owner than watching your quarterback throw multiple interceptions against a bad secondary or see a team run play-action at the goal line instead of handing it to you running back of a punch-in. This must have been similar to what Rhode Island coach Tom Garrick was feeling sitting on the bench at the XL Center yesterday as his team was being taken apart by the Huskies. Right?
Actually, that wasn’t the case. Of, course, he would have liked to have gone home with a win. But that was not going to happen. Everyone in the building knew that before tip-off. We’re talking about the No. 1 team in the country against a team that was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 this season. Still, the experience is one that Garrick and the Rams, who called UConn to set up the game in the first place, can take away and learn some things.
“It’s an opportunity to up the level of intensity for our kids,’’ Garrick said. “I would play them every year. I’m not afraid to play anyone. Why not play the best, because you get to gauge where you are going forward in your season. You get to see where your kids are and they get to see another level of basketball and what they need to do to attain that level. You saw what the top level of talent in women’s basketball was so you should aspire to that. Come Tuesday (against Brown) we should be much better than we were (yesterday), and whoever we see should feel the brunt of that.’’
The Huskies took care of business against the Rams. Just as they should have. They didn’t lose focus. They executed at both ends just like they hoped they would. In doing the math, Rhode Island did not score for a stretch of 10:45 in the first half as UConn had runs of 17-0 and 24-0 to take a 51-9 lead with 3:33 left in the half.
Led by Tina Charles, who is firmly establishing herself as one of the elite centers in the country, and Renee Montgomery, who is already one of the top two points guards in the country, the Huskies shot 56.7 percent from the field and scored 22 points off of 14 turnovers to take a 53-16 lead at halftime.
The second half belonged to shining freshman guard Tiffany Hayes. She scored 10 of her season-high 17 points in just nine minutes. She can slash to the basket. She can shoot the 3-pointer. This is a player that is fun to watch, and one that is only going to get better from here on out.
“That left-handed game helps her a lot,’’ Garrick said. “She is kind of a herky-jerky player, but she is quicker than she reveals until she needs to use her speed, and she can shoot the heck out of the ball.’’
Garrick also left the game with no doubt in his mind that in a season that already seen its share of Top 5 upsets that UConn is the nation’s best team. Heading into their first road game of the season at BYU Tuesday, the Huskies have outscored the opposition by 34.3 points. They are averaging 90.7 points with six players averaging in double figures. And defensively, they have allowed 56.3 points and have forced an average of 24 turnovers.
UConn won’t face its first ranked opponent until next Sunday night when it hosts No. 2 Oklahoma at Gampel. But after three games their progression has been steady.
“They aren’t the biggest team, but technically they are so sound,’’ Garrick said. “Everybody on the team knows what it means to find a girl in the other color jersey and block out and then go get the ball. They create fastbreak opportunities for themselves and they execute in the halfcourt. That’s what the best team in the country looks like.’’

Rich