Former UConn Huskies star and current Minnesota Lynx guard Napheesa Collier recently disclosed her alma mater and former coach Geno Auriemma’s secret blueprint. On Friday, Aug. 22, Collier appeared on her fellow former Huskies star Sue Bird’s YouTube channel, where they discussed her current game, their college program, and much more.
Bird opined that most Huskies players are great at adapting, where the longer their career progresses, the more they find ways to expand their game. Collier resonated with this, saying this was what Auriemma taught the Huskies, while mentioning Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck, and Moriana Jefferson.
“After that senior class left, so like Stewie, Tuck, and Mo, he would tell us every single day, ‘All the talent’s gone. Now you guys have to be smarter than everybody. All the talent’s gone, we had all those WNBA players you listed.’ He’s like, ‘All the talent’s gone, you guys better be smarter than everyone else.’ So, the next three years, he really worked on our mental IQ and mental toughness,” Collier shared (25:00).
“But, yeah, I do think that’s what the secret sauce is; UConn players are just so smart in the way that they play,” she added.
Collier played for four years under the tutelage of coach Auriemma and the Huskies, from 2015 to 2019. Their most successful year came in her freshman season in the 2015-16 campaign, when the Huskies won the 2016 national championship, the last of UConn’s illustrious national title four-peat.
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Napheesa Collier agrees that UConn Huskies prioritize player adaptability
On the same podcast, Sue Bird said the UConn Huskies program instills confidence in its players.
She asked Napheesa Collier if she feels that this is how coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies help elevate the game of the players, to which she fully agreed while mentioning another program legend, Diana Taurasi.
“I think so because your physical abilities, there’s always going to be someone bigger, faster, stronger than you. If you can build that mental fortitude, that basketball IQ, you can play forever like you and D did, like into your 40s. It allows you to still be a top player in there, like you find your ways to adapt. You’re smarter than everyone else,” Collier said.
Collier is currently in her seventh year in the WNBA after she was selected with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2019 draft, right after her successful stint with coach Auriemma and the Huskies.
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