2008 Woodie Awards
Big Hopes For 2009
Kevin Meacham
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Sports
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I've learned in my many years at UConn that whatever you hope for will never, ever come true.
Beating a mid-major with the 2006 NBA Rookie All-Star team? Too much to ask. Stopping Pat White? Forget about it. Better student seats at Gampel Pavilion so as to create an actual atmosphere? Fat chance, destitute students.
So I've restricted what's left of my UConn pride to future on-the-field matters. Now we're talking.
Last year was a season in which nearly every major - and some not-so-major - sports team took steps toward becoming national players in 2009. The women's basketball Final Four, the men's basketball NCAA appearance, the football daytrip to Charlotte, men's soccer's mud-fueled loss to Virginia Tech - these are stepping stones.
Whether students realize it or not, next year has an outside shot at being one of the greatest sports years any school can ever remember.
Remember the 2003-2004 season? A couple of basketball national titles and a 9-3 football team not invited to a bowl? I predict that next year will make 2004 look like an average year at Rutgers.
Join me, won't you, for the most sunny, positive press UConn will get anywhere between now and August:
The 2008-09 school year will be my final one in Storrs, as I unfortunately misplaced some paperwork and failed to declare early for the NBA Draft.
Joining me in that regard is Thabeet. You may know him. The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is back, and thus he has become my favorite player on any UConn team. His return automatically gives UConn a force in the post, the perfect complement to a guard-filled recruiting class.
A starting lineup of A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Jeff Adrien and Thabeet - a group that has already played together for two seasons - now has a ridiculously deep pool of reserves that could go 10-strong if everything works out right.
Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated has already named UConn the No. 1 team in the country in his absurdly early preseason poll. Right now, the Huskies look like one of the teams who will be making noise in March 2009.
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