“Somebody told me we were Cinderella. I responded no, we’re UConn. This is what we do, we we’re born to cut down nets. We aren’t chasing championships, championships are chasing us,” said Kevin Ollie, University of Connecticut head basketball coach, when asked about his team playing the role of the underdog in this year’s NCAA tournament.
This quote embodies Ollie’s attitude towards his team over the past 2 years in a nut shell. Connecticut basketball has recently been in the news for two things, the women dominating their league year in and year out and the men’s team being suspended. Before the 2013 sanctions came out about the team’s grades not meeting NCAA standards. This resulted in the team being banned from the post season in 2013 and long time; legendary head coach Jim Calhoun stepping down.
Former Huskie Kevin Ollie took over as interim coach. At 41 years young, he was only a few years removed from his NBA career. An NBA career that consisted of a dozen 10 day contracts to stay in the league. A true testament to his mental toughness and passion for the game. 12 teams got the privilege of having Ollie on their roster. Not because he was the most talented by any means, but because his leadership qualities were next to none. Sharing the court with future Hall of Famers like Kevin Durant and Allen Iverson, they both paid homage to Ollie when asked about their success. Iverson recently paid a tribute to his former team mate in a heartfelt Instagram post.
He was always a coach on the court so his recent success in his short career at UConn came as no surprise to former teammates. Ollie always brought the utmost grit and intensity to basketball in whatever facet of the game he was participating in, which is fitting for a former player with Philadelphia roots. That same grit, intensity and confidence in his guys brought them from irrelevant to champions in just a two year span. The most impressive part of that is the core players could have easily left after being told they were ban from the postseason. Coach KO was able convinced them to stay on a ‘2 year plan’ and instill a burning confidence in them that it would unquestionably pay off.
Keeping his star players from leaving speaks volumes about his coaching and leadership abilities. A backcourt with the abilities of a Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright could have packed their bags and played for just about any contender in the nation last year. Instead they stayed and Napier became the first in the history of UConn to win two national titles and the first player in the history of the NCAA to win it his freshman season and his senior season. After Russ Smith and Peyton Siva cut down the nets last year for Louisville, Napier and Boatright added to the argument that dominant, veteran guard play is taking over college basketball.
Napier referred to his team as the ‘hungry huskies’ in the postgame trophy ceremony Monday night. A team that was suspended from achieving their dreams because of something that they essentially had nothing to do with. UConn went 20-10 in 2013 and probably would have been in the tournament. But they were banned from the Big East and NCAA tournaments based on their A.P.R. scores from the 2007-08 through 2010-11 academic years. Scores that were taken from before this current team had even come along. However with great perseverance and a great leader at the helm, they used this as a chip on their shoulder and not only made it to the tournament this year, but took down powerhouses Villanova, Michigan State, Florida and Kentucky en route to winning a title.
When asked where the credit should be given, Kevin Ollie deferred any of it and said this is all about the players. “Those players that were up here, they should get all the attention because if it wasn’t for them, this program wouldn’t be here,” Ollie said. “They believed in a vision before anyone had seen it. They stuck with it through the down times when we were losing.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
