UConn, Tennessee and the Gamesmanship of Auriemma and Summitt

Even lacking a national title, Auriemma’s program has still consistently ranked at or near the top in recent years, while Tennessee has struggled to hang on in the Associated Press Top 25. New rivals have filled the vacuum left by Tennessee on UConn’s schedule, especially Notre Dame and Baylor. Other programs have challenged for national prominence — South Carolina, Mississippi State, Louisville, Oregon.

Newly hired from Missouri State, Harper scored an early victory when she made a hasty visit to Ohio last spring to hold on to Jordan Horston, a highly recruited guard who had chosen Tennessee over UConn before Warlick was dismissed. But the Lady Vols have a long way back to the level of the Huskies, who, in addition to Westbrook, have signed their best recruiting class in years for next season.

Be it the resumption of a once-fierce rivalry or a mere nostalgic reunion, don’t expect Harper to relish engaging with Auriemma any more than Summitt did. She hails from Sparta, Tenn., a town of roughly 5,000 people between Nashville and Knoxville. If she was wounded by Auriemma’s heated rhetoric, she hasn’t publicly shown her figurative scar, taking exception only with the notion that Tennessee is now “just another program.”

She added, wryly, “Geno is a very good coach, and he’s a clever coach as well.”

Which gets you to thinking: Has Auriemma been dismissing the renewal of the rivalry in order to promote it? That wouldn’t be unlike his unique and successful brand of salesmanship.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/sports/ncaabasketball/uconn-tennessee-auriemma-summitt.html?emc=rss&partner=rss