SAITAMA, Japan (AP) \u2014 There is definitely a UConn flavor to the women\u2019s basketball being played in the Tokyo Games. The school that has dominated women’<\/b>
\nSAITAMA, Japan (AP) \u2014 There is definitely a UConn flavor to the women\u2019s basketball being played in the Tokyo Games. The school that has dominated women\u2019s college hoops for the past two decades has branched out internationally with former players not only representing the U.S., but France and Canada as well. It\u2019s not a coincidence. UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been recruiting more internationally. \u201cThere\u2019s a culture of basketball in some of these other countries, their style of play is more the style I like to coach,\u201d he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. \u201cThere\u2019s a discipline about them that I like.\u201d There are 10 current or former Huskies at the Tokyo Games as either players or coaches in both 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 basketball. No other college has come close to having that many players in Olympic basketball history. There would have been an 11th, but Katie Lou Samuelson came down with COVID right before the teams left for the Olympics from Las Vegas. \u201cIt\u2019s gratifying in a lot of ways and humbling in a lot of ways to see them,\u201d said Auriemma, who coached the U.S. Olympic team in 2012 and 2016. \u201cWe\u2019ve had someone on Olympic teams in every year since 1996. I like to think that\u2019s not an accident that just happens because of circumstance.\u201d The impressive run includes Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Rebecca Lobo and Maya Moore. With Stefanie Dolson helping the 3-on-3 team win the inaugural tournament,10 different Huskies have now earned gold medals in the Olympics. \u201cIt feels like I\u2019m seeing history in the making. From it being Sue and Dee\u2019s last year to see the people who came after me,\u201d first-time Olympian Napheesa Collier said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve been out of college that long and to see people who are in college right now playing in the Olympics is cool. It\u2019s a step back and observe kind of moment. \u201cI grew up watching Sue and Dee. Feels like a full circle kind of moment.\u201d U.S. assistant coach Jen Rizzotti was part of the Huskies\u2019 first title in 1995. She helped the 2016 Rio Games team as a scout and now is on the bench assisting Dawn Staley. \u201cThe 24-25 years that we have represented here, that\u2019s a pretty significant stretch,\u201d she said. \u2018I don\u2019t know that we would have anticipated this when it started many years ago. It\u2019s cool to see other countries now picking up Connecticut players. Back when I played we didn\u2019t have international players, Svetlana (Abrosimova) was the first one and she was quite a bit after me.\u201d It was a Huskies reunion on Monday when the Americans beat France 93-82. Gabby Williams, who played with Breanna Stewart and Collier at Connecticut, was on the French team as her mother is from that country. \u201cI mean that\u2019s UConn. We have great players everywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cUConn produces great athletes.\u201d It\u2019s not just past Huskies that are playing in the Olympics. Aaliyah Edwards is the youngest of the UConn group, playing for Canada, joining Kia Nurse who played in the 2016 Olympics. She only played 31 seconds for Canada, which was eliminated in pool play. She will be starting her sophomore season at the school this year. \u201cUConn is a great program and coach really prides himself on training and developing you into a pro,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cIt speaks for itself. There are a lot of great Huskies here. I\u2019m honored to be on this stage representing my country, Canada, and also show a little love to Husky nation.\u201d Edwards said she didn\u2019t get a chance to watch much of the Huskies growing up in Canada, but Nurse was someone she looked up to. \u201cShe\u2019s Canadian and grew up near my hometown,\u201d Edwards said. Auriemma plans to watch the rest of the Olympics with pride despite the late east coast start times for the games. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words,\u201d the coach said. \u201cI don\u2019t have the right way to express how incredibly proud we are here of them.\u201d ___ More AP Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/2020-tokyo-olympics and https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP_Sports Copyright \u00a9 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n