If you count Caroline Doty, the Huskies incoming recruiting class goes from unreal to unfair. In addition to Doty, who is completely recovered from a knee injury that kept her out last season and will play point guard in 2011-12, UConn also welcomes freshmen Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kiah Stokes and Brianna Banks.
Mosqueda-Lewis was widely considered the best recruit in the country last year, and even before her first official practice in Storrs, expectations are already high. That she will wear No. 23, Maya's number, only feeds those expectations, but Mosqueda-Lewis appears well equipped to handle the pressures that come with playing on the biggest stage in college basketball.
The media officially met the freshmen last Friday, and when asked about University of Hartford coach and Under-19 National Team coach Jen Rizzotti (who also played for Auriemma at UConn in the mid-1990s), Mosqueda-Lewis said, "Coach [Rizzotti] asks a lot of us and expects the same things Coach Auriemma does, which is nothing less than perfection. She will get me ready for UConn. She is a perfectionist. Everything you do needs to be done hard, right and the way she wants it done…"
As for the differences in coaching styles, high school to college, Mosqueda-Lewis didn't mince words: "Coming out of high school, well, it's different because a lot of coaches kiss your butt and tell you how great you are, But they don't do that in college. They tell you everything you need to know and I like that about her. She wants you to do your best or you won't play for her - exactly like coach Auriemma."
And the No. 23? Turns out, it's not solely an homage to Maya Moore.
"I've been wearing No. 23 for about six or seven years," Mosqueda-Lewis said Friday. "It's the number I knew I always wanted to wear in college. Of course, I had no idea Maya Moore would be wearing the number before me.
"But after asking Maya if I could have it, and then finally getting it, I realize there is a lot that comes with No. 23 at UConn. I hope I can live up to it."
And if Mosqueda-Lewis turns out to be half the player Moore was at UConn, not only will she have a great career, but the Huskies will likely have a few more championship banners to hang as well.
