Spring Break
Time to celebrate the seniors
Kevin Meacham
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Sports
If nothing else, Saturday's pair of Senior Day festivities should remind everybody that 2005 was a long time ago.
The UConn men will honor its three scholarship seniors (Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price and Craig Austrie), as well as three walk-on seniors (Johnnie Bird, John Lindner, Jim Veronick) prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. nationally-televised Gampel Pavilion game against Notre Dame. The UConn women will honor their three seniors (Renee Montgomery, Tahirah Williams and Cassie Kerns) prior to destroying Seton Hall at the XL Center about five hours later.
Of that group, Adrien and Montgomery have been more or less the face of UConn basketball for a long time. I certainly don't mean to discount what any of those nine have done. All have represented the university well, and all should be proud of their accomplishments here. But I single those two out because they are the heirs to the last great era of UConn basketball.
Maybe this particular graduating class means more to me because they came to Storrs when I did, and they'll leave when I do. But really, what is Senior Day if not an opportunity to link the graduating class to those that came before?
As everyone remembers, in the fall of 2005, UConn was just a season removed from its historic dual national championship.
The biggest stars of those teams - Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and Diana Taurasi - had moved on to bigger things. But much of the core of those teams - including Hilton Armstrong, Rashad Anderson, Josh Boone, Ann Strother, Willnett Crockett and Barbara Turner - remained, two years later.
Adrien was a role player his freshman year, Montgomery a starter thrust into the spotlight early on.
Of course, thanks to George Mason and Duke, the last gasp of those previous championship teams died within 48 hours of each other. That left Adrien and Montgomery to carry the torch for UConn basketball.
And they shined, each becoming very important parts of the UConn basketball story.
The UConn men will honor its three scholarship seniors (Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price and Craig Austrie), as well as three walk-on seniors (Johnnie Bird, John Lindner, Jim Veronick) prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. nationally-televised Gampel Pavilion game against Notre Dame. The UConn women will honor their three seniors (Renee Montgomery, Tahirah Williams and Cassie Kerns) prior to destroying Seton Hall at the XL Center about five hours later.
Of that group, Adrien and Montgomery have been more or less the face of UConn basketball for a long time. I certainly don't mean to discount what any of those nine have done. All have represented the university well, and all should be proud of their accomplishments here. But I single those two out because they are the heirs to the last great era of UConn basketball.
Maybe this particular graduating class means more to me because they came to Storrs when I did, and they'll leave when I do. But really, what is Senior Day if not an opportunity to link the graduating class to those that came before?
As everyone remembers, in the fall of 2005, UConn was just a season removed from its historic dual national championship.
The biggest stars of those teams - Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and Diana Taurasi - had moved on to bigger things. But much of the core of those teams - including Hilton Armstrong, Rashad Anderson, Josh Boone, Ann Strother, Willnett Crockett and Barbara Turner - remained, two years later.
Adrien was a role player his freshman year, Montgomery a starter thrust into the spotlight early on.
Of course, thanks to George Mason and Duke, the last gasp of those previous championship teams died within 48 hours of each other. That left Adrien and Montgomery to carry the torch for UConn basketball.
And they shined, each becoming very important parts of the UConn basketball story.
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