Alyssa Naeher may be a star soccer player now, but the USWNT keeper’s first love was basketball.
Naeher tells host and USWNT teammate Kelley O’Hara in the season premiere of the Just Women’s Sports Podcast that she split time between soccer and basketball growing up, with the latter often winning out.
“That’s what I thought I would do with my life. I prayed every morning when I was a kid, my parents can attest to it, of wanting to make the WNBA. I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I wanted to go to UConn,” says Naeher, a Connecticut native.
A proud member of the UConn Huskies Club as a kid, Naeher says it was her dream to “play basketball for Geno (Auriemma).”
Deep into her burgeoning soccer career, Naeher continued to play basketball in high school and even joined an intramural team in college. Ali Krieger, a fellow USWNT legend, happened to be on the same Penn State intramural team, which — no surprise — won the league.
Naeher’s passion for basketball still ended up impacting her soccer career, pushing her to move from a field player to goalie.
“Because I always liked basketball, I always liked being in goal, because I could play with my hands and I liked diving around in the mud and getting dirty.”
A soccer camp at age 13 solidified Naeher’s passion for goalkeeping, with an enthusiastic coach sealing the deal.
“It was just the way that he was talking about it,” says Naeher, adding, “Then we had that first session and I was like, ‘That was awesome. That was fun. I want to do this.’ And I was like, “You can take me out [of the field player drills],’ and I started training more specifically in goal.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Listen to Kelley O’Hara’s full conversation with USWNT teammate Alyssa Naeher on the Just Women’s Sports Podcast.
Sometimes these made-for-TV games can be very cool and women’s college basketball does it better than most sports.
On Jan. 17, 2022, which is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Oregon will host Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies in what is sure to be one of the highlight contests of the regular season.
In response to the news, Oregon coach Kelly Graves tweeted out the following: “Eugene is gonna be rocking for this game! ESPN game on MLK Day—gonna be special.”
UConn, along with national champion Stanford, is one of, if not THE preeminent power of women’s collegiate hoops. Every Duck fan will remember when a Sabrina-led Oregon team marched into Storrs, Conn, and ended the Huskies’ seven-year home winning streak with the 74-56 victory.
After that game, Auriemma praised the Duck program. “They’re just too good, and their big kids are too good,” he said. “We don’t have anybody at that level. We just don’t.”
Two years later, now they do and it should make for one great game inside Matthew Knight Arena.
Fresno State’s offense has plenty of weapons to provide Oregon some problems in the Ducks season opener.
If Mario Cristobal’s goal is to schedule good competition for his Oregon Ducks football team right away in Week 1, mission accomplished.
It would be easy to invite a team from the Football Championship Subdivision such as Portland State to begin the first normal season in two years, but Oregon will welcome Fresno State Sept. 4. When the two teams take the field, it will be 644 days since a full Autzen Stadium will witness a game.
The Bulldogs come into the contest already with a win under their belt as they blew out Connecticut 45-0 last week. Granted UConn didn’t play last season and the Huskies looked more than sluggish, but Fresno State was able to show their overall team speed and an accurate quarterback that will test Oregon’s young secondary.
“They’re a team that’s impressive and you can tell they return a lot of starters,” Cristobal said of Fresno State in his weekly press conference. “They’re explosive on offense and it relates to a couple of different things. At running back, they’re as good as you’ll find. They also have a very experienced quarterback that came over from Washington and can tell by the efficiency of their passing game, the timing and precision, and their ability to protect and launch it down the field when they want to.”
That quarterback from Washington is senior Jake Haener. He transferred from the Huskies to the Bulldogs after the 2018 season where he appeared in four games in Seattle. Haener sat out the 2019 season per NCAA transfer rules, but when he was able to step out on the field for Fresno State, he delivered.
In 2020, Haener was an All-Mountain West honorable mention, leading the conference in averaging 337 yards a game. He also completed nearly 65 percent of his passes. Haener threw for 14 touchdowns in the six games the Bulldogs played last season. In the 2021 season opener, Haener picked up right where he left off going 20-of-26 for 331 yards and three scores.
The Fresno State tailback Cristobal mentioned was senior Ronnie Rivers, a 5-foot-9, 195-pounder from Brentwood, Calif. Although he had a slow day against UConn (13 carries for 58 yards), Rivers has been spectacular in his career.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Rivers was a first-team all-conference tailback last season where he scored seven rushing touchdowns and nine total. Rivers’ next touchdown, his 45th, will make Rivers the all-time leading touchdown scorer in school history.
Fresno State’s deep threat was on full display last week with receiver Jalen Cropper. The 6-0, 172-pounder from Parlier, Calif. had an 86-yard touchdown against UConn where his speed was just too much for the Huskies’ secondary to handle. But that was the first time Cropper has exploded for a score in his career. Far from it.
Cropper has 55 catches in his two-plus-year career and is averaging almost 15 yards per reception. He caught 37 passes last year, good for 520 yards and five touchdowns in the six-game season.
As for their next game, inside a full Autzen Stadium, Fresno State offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb knows Oregon will provide a more difficult challenge than UConn did.
“Jake (Haener) is going to have to get that ball out on time,” he said of his quarterback avoiding sacks. “I think a big part of it is staying in rhythm and not getting ourselves in a position where Jake has to throw the ball. The O-line has to play well and know where the matchup is. We’re looking for a heavy dose of a pass rush and we just have to stay firm up there.”
A lot of offensive coordinators have said the same thing when facing the Ducks defense led by defensive Kayvon Thibodeaux and have walked away wondering what went wrong. Fresno State could be in that same position about three hours after kickoff.
After a long period of sustained success, Notre Dame has been in a rut the past two seasons. Niele Ivey’s first year succeeding the legendary Muffet McGraw as coach had a respectable 10-10 record. While an improvement from when the Irish went 13-18 in McGraw’s final season, it still was nowhere near the 30-plus wins they had over the previous nine years. However, the Irish have real cause to hope that a light could be at the end of the tunnel with this tweet from five-star recruit Ashlynn Shade:
The 5-foot-11 Shade, who is entering her junior year at Noblesville, has been turning coaches’ heads since at least third grade. As a sophomore, she averaged 23.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.3 steals a game. She’s well on her way to becoming one of the best girls players in the history of Indiana prep basketball.
With Notre Dame and Indiana both on Shade’s final list, it isn’t clear which school has the home state advantage. On one hand, the Irish have had more success in their history. It also will be tough to compete with legendary programs like UConn and Tennessee, programs with recent success like Stanford and Louisville, and schools with solid academic reputations like North Carolina and Vanderbilt. The only thing to say here is may the best program for her be chosen.
The Irish are after a forward that’s on a bunch of schools’ radars.
Notre Dame is going after a player who has every intention of taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible. For the past two years, forward recruit Alex Karaban has played prep basketball in New Hampton, New Hampshire. As a senior, he will attend the renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. That commitment to excellence was too good for the Irish to ignore, so they decided to become the latest program to make him an offer:
It’s hard to know for certain which direction Karaban is leaning towards. 247Sports believes Penn State and Northwestern, two schools he made official visits to in June, are the top contenders. Rivals forecasts him heading to Indiana. Of course, he also could choose one of the many other schools that have offered him, including Purdue, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Iowa, UConn, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Stanford, LSU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Creighton and even Harvard.
With the No. 7 overall pick in the latest mock draft from For The Win’s Bryan Kalbrosky, the Warriors landed UCONN guard James Bouknight.
While the NBA Finals take center stage in the basketball world, the draft is quickly approaching in the background. As the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks meet in the Finals, the Golden State Warriors will be studying for July’s draft night.
With two picks in the lottery at No. 7 and No. 14, Bob Myers and Steve Kerr will have the opportunity to land a pair of top prospects in the 2021 edition of the draft. Before Myers and Kerr are on the clock on July 29, mock drafts are submitting different predictions for Golden State’s selections.
UCONN’s James Bouknight averaged 18.7 points per game as a sophomore. That included a massive 40-point game against Creighton. Anyone who is capable of that type of explosive scoring performance is going to get some love from evaluators, especially when they are as athletic as Bouknight.
During his sophomore season at Connecticut, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 18.7 points on 44.7% shooting from the floor with 5.7 boards, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 31.7 minutes per contest.
Bouknight tallied 20 or more points in seven of 15 games, including a 40 point performance on 13-of-24 shooting from the floor against Creighton.
Adding Bouknight would give the Warriors a punch of scoring alongside Jordan Poole in the backcourt off the bench. When Steph Curry and Klay Thompson come off the floor, Kerr could turn to the Bouknight and Poole tandem for scoring in the second unit.
View Kalbrosky’s complete mock draft here, including Golden State’s pick at No. 14.
The Irish have their latest target for their future backcourt.
Notre Dame has been eager to pursue the combo guard route in its recruiting lately. Last week, the Irish gave an offer to Lawrent Rice of Dayton, Ohio. However, he wouldn’t be able to come to South Bend for another couple of years. Whether it’s related or not, the Irish now have extended an offer to a combo guard who will have to wait one less year to begin his collegiate career: Denver Anglin of Gill St. Bernard’s in New Jersey;
Anglin is going into his senior season, so he already has plenty of offers lined up. They include Northwestern, Stanford, Georgetown, Providence, UConn, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Seton Hall, Ole Miss, TCU and SMU. Many of these schools have strong academic reputations, and Notre Dame is no exception in that regard. He has plenty of options for college, and he really can’t go wrong with any of them, though we’d obviously love to see him in the blue and gold.
The Irish were warmly received as they returned home.
Notre Dame fell just short in its bid to reach the College World Series. However, that doesn’t mean Irish fans didn’t appreciate everything that made this season so special. Returning to campus after their super-regional loss to Mississippi State, the Irish received a hero’s welcome from many fans who wanted to show their appreciation. Coach Link Jarrett was among those who gladly accepted the love being thrown in his team’s direction:
— The Fighting Irish 😷 (@FightingIrish) June 15, 2021
Notre Dame finished the season with a 34-13 record. It included a perfect 3-0 in the South Bend Regional of the NCAA Tournament in which they outscored Central Michigan and UConn, 50-5. The Irish won the ACC Atlantic Division championship, and Jarrett was named the conference’s coach of the year in his first full season at the helm.
Now begins an offseason in which Notre Dame will continue to work toward its goal of making its first College World Series since 2002 and third in program history. While it will tough to be top a season like this, it’s all part of the challenge.
On this day, Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and team president of the Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson retired, and 3 Cs were taken in the ’68 expansion draft.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former head coach and team president Rick Pitino was hired as head coach and general manager of the team in 1997. He had previously coached at the NBA level as a moderately successful head coach of the New York Knicks between 1987 and 1989, and most recently at Kentucky in the NCAA ranks.
His tenure with the Celtics went considerably worse, with the pressure to return to greatness after the longest losing streak in team history undoubtedly a factor in the several questionable ‘win-now’ decisions made by Pitino.The New Yorker would throw in the towel after four seasons with the franchise, amassing a 102 – 146 record in the regular season, good for a .411 winning percentage.
He never made the postseason in his role as team president and head coach.
21 Nov 1997: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics (left) talks to his guard Ron Mercer during a game against the New Jersey Nets at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics won the game 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport
The future of Notre Dame got some exposure during Final Four week.
Both Notre Dame and South Bend were represented in this year’s American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships. Specifically, Riley product and Irish commit Blake Wesley was on hand for the competition ahead of the Final Four in Indianapolis. The contest was held Tuesday, but the broadcast was delayed until Sunday on CBS.
Wesley’s first appearance in the competition came in the IHOP Team Shootout, which teamed him with Auburn commit Jabari Smith and UConn commit Azzi Fudd. His team went first, and it took 48 seconds for the group to complete the sequence, which bore a resemblance to the Shooting Stars competition that once took place at NBA All-Star Weekend. The second team failed to make the final half-court shot in 48 seconds, so Wesley’s team was declared the winner. His prize was a trophy shaped like a stack of pancakes, one of the coolest things you’ll ever see:
Wesley also took part in the dunk contest, but he did not fare nearly as well. Scoring a 22 out of a possible 30 on his first dunk of the first round already put him in a hole. He sealed his fate when he failed to complete his second dunk of the round in the allotted 30 seconds, giving him a 15 on the attempt and a 37 overall. Kansas commit KJ Adams ultimately won the title.
