Although Tennessee and Connecticut were in the same arena Tuesday night, don't hold your breath waiting for the women's basketball teams to be on the same court again during the regular season.
But don't abandon hope either.
After playing in an ESPNU Classic doubleheader with the Huskies at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt didn't reject the possibility of having future interest in renewing the series.
"I'm not saying never, but not in the near future,'' Summitt said Wednesday.
A persuasive third party or a worthy cause might be necessary, though, to bring together Summitt and UConn coach Geno Auriemma. Summitt and Tennessee pulled the plug on the rivalry two years ago after submitting more than 30 pages of documents to the SEC office in 2006, alleging a pattern of recruiting violations at UConn.
UConn reported a secondary violation involving an ESPN studio tour in 2005 for then-top recruit Maya Moore, who's now a UConn All-American and reigning national player of the year.
Furthermore, Auriemma's comments in San Antonio indicated that he's moved on. In an ESPN interview during halftime of Tennessee's 91-53 victory over Texas Tech, he indicated that he didn't miss the game.
When asked about the rivalry after the Huskies' 83-58 victory over Texas, he said: "I don't know that it's that important any more.''
Auriemma said that the subject doesn't come up in his conversations with Carol Stiff, ESPN's senior director of programming and acquisitions.
"Carol knows better than to ask me about that,'' Auriemma said. "I've already answered that question. We've already talked about future matchups and they don't come up.
"The only people who really wanted the whole Connecticut-Tennessee thing were people outside of women's basketball ... Everybody in America that's associated with women's basketball at Division I, they were sick and tired of Connecticut-Tennessee. It's like: Come on. How about we see some other people."
Both coaches said their contact over two days in San Antonio was cordial. Summitt said that she hugged Auriemma at a banquet for the teams Monday night.
One of Auriemma's strongest comments referred to what he perceived to be a tepid response at the banquet to the master of ceremonies talking about a women's hoops first: ESPN College Game Day staging its show in conjunction with the Notre Dame-Connecticut game Jan. 16.
"I was so embarrassed for Carol (Stiff) after all that hard work and to get it on,'' Auriemma said. "And you know what, the other three programs in the room did who gives a (bleep). If it's not about us we don't care. It's just embarrassing. So you know what, the biggest game of the year is going to be Notre Dame at UConn. The biggest game next year will be UConn at Notre Dame. After that it's UConn and whoever ESPN decides it's gonna be."
Summitt didn't think that the setting or the presentation lent itself to anything demonstrative.
"It wasn't a situation where you had anything to react to,'' she said. "It was more taking in info."
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Comments » 62
Hoss44 writes:
Exactly, who gives a phooey about Geno??? Blah, blah, blah. Geno you are a man, why don't you coach men?? I love that fact that Calhoun can't stand him either.
volfan_in_mississippi writes:
Geno is always crying about something.
a330m#650327 writes:
sounds like Kara Lawson has turned into a UConn fan....she seems to take a jam at Coach Summitt everytime she gets a chance....wonder why...or am i seeing things wrong
huntined#565710 writes:
Should only play in a N.C. game
MillisaAnn writes:
UCant is a bunch of cheaters.
huntined#565710 writes:
It is once a VOL always a VOL except when you go to ESPN!!!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I would have to see a notarized, date-stamped photo to believe Pat hugged Geno at that banquet(;-P)! Even then, I would say, "Oh, yuck!"
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I guess you mean "take a JAB". I didn't watch the whole UConn-Texas game, but I didn't hear any such thing. About the most I have ever heard her say about UConn and UT not playing is that lots of people would like to see it again. She does give UConn due credit for their consistently high level of play, but I have never heard her say anything clearly negative about Pat or UT.
dwa7#337691 writes:
really UCONN IS LOADED and will probably go 39-0 again.....sad but true......they are rock solid.....oh well
98reax writes:
"Corruptio optimi pessima" Corruption of the best is the worst.
Give Geno a mike and he will step in it. Who really does give a (bleep) what he thinks or says, anyway?
Kara Lawson was, is and will always be a Lady Vol. I do not hear her 'jabbing' Pat. She doesn't know, IMO, what was said in the complaints filed. As I've stated before, we do not know we do not need to know. Ignoramus et ignorabimus.
CTOWNICON writes:
Thirty pages of documents! Wow! How long has this man been cheating? I wonder if Mike can answer that since he is everthing Uconn. What kills me is how Geno tries to act like he has done nothing wrong. Then he acts as if the people associated with NCAA were tired of the rivalry, LIES! Even I enjoyed when the two teams played as I am sure all of America did. The ratings on televison showed that. He tries to down play what he messed up and act as if he is innocent in the whole thing. I wish they would quit asking him about the situation because he never gives a straight answer. He just rambles on with lies and stupid analogies.
CTOWNICON writes:
They good but they are not rock solid. That team is weaker at the guard spot. I give them credit, they are still good but I don't think they will be perfect again this year. As far as the championship goes I can't say who will win because there are a lot teams out there that can challenge Uconn this year and as the season goes on all of those teams are going to get better. Lady vols have the players to get there and if they keep developing and gaining chemistry with one another, I wouldn't count them out!
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
If she has turned into a Uconn fan, then I am very disappointed in her..I thought she was smarter than that..
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
"What kills me is how Geno tries to act like he has done nothing wrong.."
He has always been that same arrogant "man"..He has so much arrogance that it is dripping out of his fingernails!! By stating this, I am not making fun of him because I am simply stating my opinion...
SummittsCourt writes:
You couldn't be more wrong. She is bleeds Lady Vol orange just like the rest of us. She has to be objective as part of her job. She has a strong personality (which makes her a great player) and I'm sure she clashed with Coach Summitt several times. Plus, she played on the National team that he coached, she has to keep the peace while working for espn.
SummittsCourt writes:
If Pat suspects Geno of cheating, we'll never see that rivalry renewed during the regular season while she is coaching. She has too much class and integrity to get involved with someone who cheats. Remember she almost pulled the plug on Duke for taunting Alexis Hornbuckle. It's amazing...she can pull the plug on these popular series, but they can't...they wouldn't, but she can and as unconvicts found out, she is the most powerful person in women's college basketball.
CTOWNICON writes:
I meant to say They're good if that is what you are referring to. I did not proof read it. Now as for you I want you to write out They is good and ask yourself what that sounds like. If that is not your issue, then get back to me and be more specific.
utfan00 writes:
This article is far beyond being stupid.
Let's hope the media can figure out a way to create more jobs in 2010. There are so many people without one. You can tell they have got too much free time on their hands worrying about Tenn. vs Uconn.
BillVol writes:
Pat "hugged" Geno? What? I've had all this anger directed at Geno the last few years because of what he's done, and Pat hugs him? After she ended the great series b/t UT and UConn?
rocky_topper writes:
In regards to Kara Lawson, you do understand what a journalist and/or a sports analyst is right? It isn't exactly someone who is suppose to kiss a certain coach's a**, rather they are to remain neutral and tell it as they see it with all emotions aside! Seems like some of you don't understand the concept. Kara has a job to do and does it well IMO! She is all VOL!
BigRMan writes:
Pat probably really didn't hug Geno. We may presume her stunt double was used for the photo & ceremony.
BigRMan writes:
So 98: Is the solution to give Geno a pair of hip boots before he takes his next microphone so he won't get manure all over his pants the next time he steps in it? (LOL)
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Some people on here only think that because she doesn't dress in orange on the ESPN set and wear a big "I [heart] Pat" button on her lapel. They don't understand that she is a national commentator on women's basketball and isn't paid to shill for her former team. Of course, some also regard ESPN as a partner of UConn, so anybody who works for them automatically becomes a UConn homer.
kazoo writes:
Don't blame Lawson, blame Summitt for the title game loss to Uconn when the huskies had Taurasi and four new players and the Vols had an experienced team.
BigRMan writes:
And all good UCON homers are "On Call" for duty as needed to serve as tour guides for ESPN studios for potential recruits, or as conduits to facilitate luxury housing for recruits and family members of recruits of the women's basketball program who otherwise couldn't afford or qualify for said housing!
utang1602#204610 writes:
Actually, as much as I love Kara Lawson as a player and admire and respect her as a person I know, the championship game to which you refer (I believe it was the 2003 championship in Atlanta.) was lost in good part because Kara didn't turn her offense on in the first half. It was an incredibly, incredibly disappointing game, especially after the fashion in which they destroyed teams on the way to the Final Four.
But really, that's irrelevant now. Kara Lawson is absolutely loyal to her school: you could see the pride in her eyes when Tennessee won back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008. She prides herself at being the best at whatever she does, which means that as a journalist, she is going to be non-partial.
98reax writes:
Oh, come on, kazoo, we must not repudiate Pat Summitt for opportunities lost. I can think of very few times when bad coaching lost a championship game for the Lady Vols. I don't recall that game being one of those.
Ann Strother, Maria Conlon, Wilnet Crocket, Barbara Turner, Jessica Moore were not exactly scrubs, kazoo. Geno had pulled off another one of his recruiting schenanigans. The Huskies had Tuarasi and we did not.
Taurasi was one of those college players who could light it up at will. There has not been many like her. For that particular game, she scored 28 points, she was red hot. She was not playing with a team of nobodies as you imply. Ann Strother was crazy with 3s in that game with 17 points. Barbara Turner had our Gwen Jackson handcuffed around the basket and Kara Lawson had to fight like crazy to even get a shot off. She did score 18 points and she had to create every one of those.
Pat never scored a point but she coached a heck of a game considering her team was ice cold shooting, eventhough her team won the boards 40-22 they could not score on the tremendous defense of Crocket and Turner.
seventysevenvol writes:
And Summit hasn't ever displayed arrogance?
utfan00 writes:
PROFANITY, SPORTS, OR JOBS??????????????
utfan00 writes:
PROFANITY, SPORTS, OR JOBS???????????????
utfan00 writes:
PROFANITY, SPORTS, OR JOBS?????????
Equity6 writes:
Pat Summit, for all her great accomplishments, now finds she cannot recruit like UCONN can, so she whines and stops the series. Last time they played, UCONN destroyed the Lady Vols, and a repeat of that would further hurt Pat's recruiting efforts. Let's face it, she is deathly afraid to play UCONN because she would lose by 30 pts. So Pat, beat up on Texas Tech, and the rest knowing full well that
UCONN will win it all this year and next. And, by the way, UCONN's recruiting class is #1 in the country so it looks like the Lady Vols' dynasty will become a distant memory!
CTOWNICON writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
CTOWNICON writes:
I will do that long vol! To all interested parties their is a good game between Notre Dame and Michigan State at 6. I know it is not a lady vol game, but to the womens basketball fans if you want to see a good game this one should be good. You will also get a chance to see why Notre Dame is in the top ten and check out how the top recruit Skylar Diggans fair on the collegiate level.
ladyvolsfan789 writes:
Best coach generally refers to who is doing the best coaching job that year not overall.
In fact if Tennesse keeps playing like they've been playing and rack up a ton of wins then Pat Summit should be an obvious pick for coach of the year. The trasformation the team has gone through on the defensive end has been astounding and her work to turn Stricklen into a skilled point guard and with Johnson to make her a outside defender make should make her a shoe-in for coach of the year.
CTOWNICON writes:
Did you notice how when they were looking at Uconn's up and coming games they had a moment of silence. That list was so weak they couldn't even speak on it. They had to skip to the game with Stanford in order to give Geno a little credit.
For you people to consider him the greatest coach, even you would have to take a look at that weak schedule and wonder why he will not schedule tougher competition. I mean for goodness sake you have already won 15 of your games without even playing them because those schools Uconn has coming up probably could not even beat a high school girls team.
As it goes, Seton Hall, Iona, Northeastern, Holy Cross, Hofstra, Richmond, Clemson, Vermont, South Florida, Cincinatti, Marquette, Villanova, St. John, Providence, Georgetown.
Take a look at those teams, now Geno knows that he will crush those teams into the ground. Then again, that is why he schedules them. You people like to give him all the credit, but his road is very easy.
Pat on the other hand is the toughest, always has been and always will be. Geno will never accomplish what Pat has the way she has. Pat has fought hard for hers while Geno has taken the easy way out.
As far as Kara goes, she is a professional and she is also a lady vol to the core.
98reax writes:
Hey, guess what? GVX, which is an official University of Tennessee site is doing a masterful job of RECRUITING also. Just look at all these UConn fans we have hooked, More huskies than even the official UConn site have we. How ya feel about that, Geno? I guess the Big Orange is just too attractive to turn down, huh? I feel the same way, dude.
seenitall writes:
I know you Vol fans are all in a twit about Geno, but I think you'd probably all be slapping your thighs and high fiving at his comments if he was your coach.
Look at his record. The year before he took the job the team won one (1) game. Five years after that he took a team of no-names (in a mediocre league that had maybe one ranked team) to its first Final Four. Four years later the team won its first National Championship.
In the last fifteen years he's won six and helped the Big East become a power. Was it a fluke they played Louisville in the Final Four this year? No, it was an example of how much his leadership has meant to the league.
Now, about the 30 pages of "documents".
Do any of you really believe there was anything serious in those pages? The secondary violation reported by UCONN was the tour they arranged at ESPN by picking up the phone and asking. At that time anyone could have done the same thing. Do you really think it was a bribe to call ESPN to arrange a tour for the girl and her mother when she was interested in communications and the world's leading sports network is less than 30 miles away?
I'm sure Pat has arranged tours for her recruits at the Women's Hall of Fame. Hey, maybe we should look into that too.
Remember the charge that Taurasi and Bird were showing Maya Moore around at some dinner and picked her up in a limo? Well, as you probably know, Bird and Taurasi were playing in Russia at the time that dinner was held and it was easily proven. That's why those 30 pages were seen for what are-nothing. So, own up to it. Geno has turned Pat's world upside down. She owned women's basketball when no other major school paid 5 cents worth of attention to it. She made her reputation against Old Dominion and La Tech. She has never beaten Geno in a championship game.
In the past fifteen years he's won more championships(six), beaten your Pat's team 13 times and lost nine (13 and 6 before the Candace Parker teams won the last three).
Think about it:
Only one team has three (count 'em, three) undefeated seasons.
Only one team has two 39 and 0 seasons.
Only one team has won all its games in one season by 10 or more points.
And UCONN didn't do it by cheating. They did it because they've got a wise guy coach who knows how to evaluate talent and motivate the kids.
If you think he's just a wise guy, you're only partly right. He's a wise guy whose players love to play for him and think the world of him. And he's a wise guy who has done more for women's basketball than you probably want to admit.
That's too bad if you're really fans of women's basketball.
CTOWNICON writes:
You might want to say that any night the lady vols hit the floor they are playing quality opponents. This year other than San Francisco, UCLA, and George Washington all of the other games are against quality programs. Now compare lady vols playing three to Uconn playing fifteen. Take a look at your big east teams this year they are even weak. Notre Dame and Uconn are the only ones to make some noise out of the big east.
As for Maya, Pat did not end the series because she did not get her. You might want to say it is because of how Geno got her. I wonder since you are everything Uconn could you tell me what was in those 30 pages of complaints filed against Uconn. Make yourself useful and research it!
Who do you think cares about what those hoodlums up there in Uconn think about Pat, she certainly doesn't or else she would cave and start the series. Since you want to take pop shots, tell the dude at the boneyard he should cancel the chicken pat t-shirts and maybe sell drunk-diana t-shirts. Maybe he could put her on a t-shirt in a car with a keg of beer in the front seat. Then again,Dirty Diana looks like a wild turkey kind of girl. Maybe she likes whiskey, in straight shots, no chaser. That Diana I tell you, she is something serious. I bet she could out drink a man. I would hate to be on the road after she wins a game. It's party time!
BigRMan writes:
The UCON-UT series also ended due to the smarmy treacherous way Geno uses the "L" word around naive recruits and parents of recruits deciding between the 2 programs. Under-the-table contributions to families by way of jobs and luxury housing, smear tactics, you'd swear Geno was running for public office! The tactics are similar but more dastardly than BIG 10 coaches use against Joe PA, Joe Paterno when going after football players. They say why go to a school when you don't even know if the coach will live out your 4 years there. If the school can't get a recruit based on the positives they have to offer, the school doesn't deserve the recruit. It's public knowledge that Coach Summitt is above board in her recruiting methods. Geno is as shady as the Great Northwest rain forest!
98reax writes:
[[ I will tell you something right now, in the old days people from my neck of the woods used to totally respect Pat and her program, but for the last couple of years she has been nothing but a big joke to most Uconn fans]]
[[defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned.]]
Somebody should be asked to exit this site forever. Obviously, the webmaster is not paying attention, so let me just say to MIC. Do you realize how tiny you sound with your rancorous castigation? You have become a laughing stock here on the GVX site. I can see you now climbing up to reach your mommie's keyboard. Perhaps you are sitting in someone's lap. Actually there's nothing wrong with your tiny size, but if you are a grown up, please cease your unwelcome nescience.
ssport1 writes:
Why would you want that? History shows that Geno WINS those games. Love him or hate him, he is the best coach in WCB and continues to prove that every year. Maya Moore will be even better this year and Tina Charles will dominate in the paint. Montgomery will be missed, but has adequate replacements in Faris, Doty and Dixon.
Vols have looked good so far, exhibiting a chemistry they sorely lacked last year. Pat is a great coach and willhave the Lady Vols there when it counts. Should be another great year for WCB!
BeRealistic writes:
I can hear Geno telling a recruit, if you come play for me, I promise I will show you my pink panties. Kara Lawson is a joke!
nate3766 writes:
Hey all , how u doing today. I am a alumnus of that school in Storrs , seems like from another century, from a time when the mens team played in a field house with raised basketball floor over dirt base and the woman , it there was a team then, would play in a gym that was built before the turn of the century.{ Still there methinks, Yankees never throw stuff away, that's why they are Yankees.
I have great respect for the lady VOLS in general and Pat Summitt in pariculer. I agree whole heartedly with comments from others here who have stated she is the driving force of womans basketball and will add , with out her, womans sports in our country, and in effect the world, would never be where it is today and all those young ladys who are getting full and partial rides for their education owe here a hug and well done and big thanks to her.
With all that said , however, I also have to say, I have found in life, a long one by the way, that type A personalities, big ego type peoplr, can and do get into tiffs , disagreements and for we the outsiders looking in and trying to take sides and give support , with out knowing all the facts is just silly. Best sit back and enjoy and get on with it.
In that vein I am going to post a two liner from the master of one and two liners in this sport we are yapping about , Coach Geno Auriemma , and hope u enjoy it in a non partisan spirit as I believe it was given.
While in San Antone, during a press conference Geno A said this.
{ I am paraphrasing}
" You people{meaning the media} expect that Pat and I will be going out to dinner every time we are in the same venue with each other. I don't go out to dinner with my girl basketball players and I like my girl basketball players. "
I thought that was a beaut, to be added to those he has posted before, possible u remember the "evil empire one?" and I do believe if pat S has seen it , got a kick out of it, and wished she had said it firse.
good luck to lady Vols this year, hope to see u in san Antone. Know wouldn't that be a hoot , to be playing each other again there. Warm this old Yankee's bones it would indeed.
Jephry writes:
Can anyone tell me why we bite on Mike's comments again? If we ignore him, will he just fade away...sort of like Ann Strother did her senior year?
BigRMan writes:
Kara Lawson will always be secretly bitter and resentful that she was not able to win at least one NCAA title during her tenure at UT
BigRMan writes:
Great Post 98 & a royal put-down of MIC. I thought the part about rancorous castigation hit the mark. After Mikey is rancorously castigated, he won't be able to procreate with anyone. Then we'll be rid of a true societal scourge!
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
Wow, I can tell you are a UCan't alumni. Can't type, can't spell and can't put more than 2 sentences together that make sense. Please proof read your posts before you actually post them.
CTOWNICON writes:
If there is nothing in those documents, then tell Geno and Uconn to release them. If they have nothing to hide, show the complaints made and prove them wrong. If anybody could have arranged tours during that time which was only a few years ago, do you think Geno would be the only one out of all coaches in America offering tours to recruits and their family members. He is a cheater! Unless you can provide proof, keep your opinions up north!
Pat plays by the rules and she recruits by the rules. I don't think after all this time has passed by, that you Uconn people would allow any stone to go unturned if you even thought Pat had violated in any way. Pat has respect for the game and has not tarnished it like Geno has with all of his scandals.
It was said Diana was with Moore while she was being recruited as well as being with Caroline Doty along with Sue Bird in Geno's office. Now what do you think they were talking about in there. Diana tried to lie her way out of it but her and Caroline's statements contradicted each other. Then she tried to say she was just there to visit Geno. Might have worked if Sue was not in the picture as well. Caroline went on to say that she made up her mind after that meeting. The powers of persuasion!
It seems that Pat has turned Uconn's world upside down. You people have been crying every since she cancelled the series. Who seems to be affected more, Uconn fans! Pat is just coming off of two championships so she is still part owner of womens basketball. Just because Uconn was not good enough in the past to be considered in the same breath as Tennessee, La Tech, Old Dominion etc. does not mean the competition wasn't stiff. The way games are called now, I say it was stiffer in the past. You had to play, you were not bailed out by the refs. What you fail to realize is that the lady vols have always been there, past and present. Uconn is a newcomer to this arena. Lady vols roots are deep in this arena. Pat gave Uconn the opportunity to be recognized when they came begging. But it is just like a dog to bite the hand that fed them.
Look at all of the accomplishments about Uconn you listed. Even with all of that, they still trail Tennessee. That is what got you hicks up north in such a bind.
Maybe Pat has never beaten Geno at the big dance, but guess what, she was there 4 out of the 6 times he made it. So she was a part of his championships. Where was he when she won all 8 of hers. He wasn't good enough to make it. At least she was there to challenge him for his. Can't say the same for him. Pat has nothing to prove, her work speaks for itself. Geno is trying with all of his might to be better and he is doing it by any means necessary. Illegal recruiting, bribes, I mean you name it he is doing it. His jealousy of Pat and desire to be better has made him a crook. He alone is tarnishing the womens game with all of his controversy.
Nomo writes:
8 NC in 35 years of coaching or 6 NC in 24 years.... Choose?
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