Spring Break
UConn enjoys academic and athletic success
Brittany Perotti
Issue date: 2/25/09 Section: Sports
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In fact, much of the attention was shifted toward educational success.
It all started with Maya Moore, who was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN First Team Academic All-America with a 3.74 GPA.
"I'm excited," she said. "I've never got an award of this caliber in academics."
Education plays a large role in her family, as most of her relatives are in the field one way or another, she said.
To her, the honor shows that her hard work paid off.
She is the first UConn player since Emeka Okafor to be named to the team and the first women's basketball player since Jennifer Rizzotti to be named.
As for her ability to balance schoolwork with high-level basketball, Moore attributed her success to an instilled work ethic. Even after road trips, she said she tries to attend as many classes as possible.
"It's very hard," she said. "I say my prayers: 'Lord, Give me strength to go to classes. You know, you get back in the middle of the night, coming from Wisconsin or something, and you suck it up and go to class. And I know that if I just go, I'll be OK."
She is the youngest player on this season's team and is the first sophomore to ever be named to a first-team selection in the past nine years.
"There is nothing that Maya tries to do that she doesn't put her heart and soul into it, and there isn't anything that she tries to do that she doesn't want to be great at," said coach Geno Auriemma. "It's no surprise to anyone that she's a great student and she's being honored like she is. It's part of her character, it's part of her makeup and it's who she is."
Five Starter Reliance
From this point on, Auriemma acknowledged that the team will need to rely on its starters - Moore, Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery, Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes - to ensure wins.
In fact, he said that 80 percent of the team's total offensive will have to come from them, on a bad night.
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