The debate has resurfaced again: is UConn’s women’s basketball dominance bad for the sport? The answer: of course not

It is not a stretch to say the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team was one of the worst in the country for their first 13 years of existence. Dreadful, in fact. Playing in the tiny Yankee Conference and hidden in the state’s northeast, a typical season for UConn was 7-13 – placing them light years from the burgeoning dynasties in the American South.

Only once before the arrival of an Italian immigrant coach named Geno Auriemma did Connecticut have a winning season. In the inglorious early history of UConn, that 16-14 year seems an odd anomaly. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, women’s basketball at UConn was, at best, an afterthought.

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This is important because a debate has bubbled up again asking if UConn is good for women’s college basketball. On Friday night, the Huskies will play in their 10th straight Final Four, trying to win their seventh national championship of the last decade. Their run toward this year’s title has seemed especially comical with lopsided scores that seem almost unfair.

Earlier this month Connecticut vanquished Cincinnati 75-21 in the semifinals of the AAC conference tournament. Considering they led 43-5 at halftime, the second half was a bit of a disappointment. A week later, they beat St Francis of Pennsylvania 140-52 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Last weekend’s highly anticipated Elite Eight matchup with defending national champion South Carolina was a competitive bust: UConn won by 29 points.

Some wonder what’s the point? How is it fun to watch one team trample across the rest of the field, with 11 national titles in 22 years and a 12th seemingly imminent. They look at the parade of elite players marching into Storrs, Connecticut, and question how a sport still fighting to gain the prominence of men’s basketball can possibly benefit from having one team be so much better than all the rest.

But here’s the thing about the UConn women’s team: They are fun to watch. They have been for years. Much the way the Golden State Warriors are a joy to behold in the NBA, Auriemma’s teams mesmerize with their power, intensity and selflessness. Their backup players – most of whom could be stars on other teams – have so much fun watching their teammates succeed it’s hard to not be excited as well.

Years ago, in another sports writing lifetime, I covered UConn mbasketball for a paper in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In those days that meant watching the daily practices of the men’s team coached by the prickly and intense Jim Calhoun, who would eventually win three national titles at the school. Few men’s teams in the country worked as hard as Calhoun’s. The mere act of observing his drills from the safety of the stands could leave you drained.

Auriemma’s teams often practiced right before or right after Calhoun’s and there were many days I slipped into the arena to watch them too. Back then, UConn’s women were chasing the dominance of Tennessee and Stanford, pushing to make themselves a national name, and what struck me most was how little difference there was between the practices of Auriemma and Calhoun. Auriemma’s pursuit of a seamless offense was a daily grind. Their defensive ferocity was chiseled through hours of sweat.

I noticed that UConn’s men’s players often lingered around the women’s practices, something I was sure did not happen at other schools. One afternoon, I sat with Doron Sheffer, a star guard on the men’s team and a veteran of Israel’s professional league as he watched an Auriemma practice. Sheffer had picked a seat up in the stands, behind the basket so he could watch the women’s plays as they developed. As the practice rolled on, Sheffer marveled at tiny perfections, noting how well the players blended together, absorbing instruction and playing for one another

“It’s so much fun to watch,” Sheffer finally said.

What struck me then was how much Auriemma wanted his team to be great and how much his players wanted to be great themselves. UConn was not yet the place where every top high school star wanted to go. His best players mostly came from New England, not California or Florida or Texas or wherever else the great recruits grow up. He built a giant in the Connecticut woods and then hunted down Tennessee ... until his program became the next Tennessee.

Someday Auriemma will leave UConn. The Huskies won’t be the greatest women’s basketball team forever. Somewhere, more UConns are bursting to rise. If nothing else, Connecticut’s basketball dominance has raised the level for women’s basketball, inspiring better players, pushing rivals to be better. There’s nothing wrong with a super champion. There’s no shame in a team that steamrolls through their opponents on the way to presumably another confetti ceremony Sunday night in Columbus, Ohio.

There’s just a team that came from nothing and climbed to the top showing others that they can do the same as well.