(The Daily Campus) (U-WIRE) STORRS, Conn. -- Asjha Jones couldn't miss.
It was the Huskies' final tune-up before leaving for Syracuse last week, and the UConn senior had just scored on three straight practice possessions.
"She was boom, boom, boom," Geno Auriemma said. "Unstoppable."
On the third basket, though, Jones came down hard on her ankle, immediately limping over to the sideline.
"So I started ragging on her," Auriemma said. "I was joking with her -- 'hey, look it's Miss I'm Too Good To Practice. I'm doing good, so I'm done practicing."
The rest of the Huskies chuckled. Jones whipped right around.
"I just hit three straight shots," she said. "I don't need to practice."
The sidelines erupted in laughter.
"You don't expect Asjha to say something like that," Auriemma said. "She never says anything. But that's what makes her special. She can be a goof just like the rest of those guys sometimes."
As Auriemma told that story after practice Tuesday, the rest of "those guys" were swapping plenty of anecdotes of their own.
"I remember the first time I met Swin was at a Nike All-American camp right before we all came up here," Sue Bird said. "She had the big gold earrings on and chains on and was all talking about her boyfriend and how he does this and that and the other thing. She was very animated, very outgoing. She was a drama queen."
She laughed. "Not much has changed."
Swin Cash remembered the meeting, too.
"I thought she was a nerd," Cash said. "She was on the computer all the time talking to people. She was all into the Internet and stuff."
The stories just kept coming. And coming...
Four years ago, this group -- Bird, Cash, Jones and Tamika Williams, arrived in Storrs on a trail of hype and expectations. They were the self-acclaimed T.A.S.S.K. Force (along with fellow freshman Kiersten Walters), the '73 Lakers with ponytails, the Beatles with braids. Four national titles or bust. Here they came.
"You never expect this to come this fast," Cash said. "You get here and you're a freshman and you're like 'we have so much time left.' But then one senior night goes by and another one goes by and you realize yours isn't far off. And now it's here. The time really flew."
The time is now up. It's senior night -- their senior night -- a final Gampel farewell for the most decorated graduating class in school history.
"We've never had this big of a group of kids that have had this big an impact on and off the court," Auriemma said. "Usually it's two tops. I've always said if you have two great players per class, that's great. We have four this time around. That's what makes this senior night that much more special and that much more fun."
Fun seemed to be the operative word Tuesday afternoon.
Auriemma said Tuesday that this class was by far his most fun to be around and to coach. All five joke around at practice and on the bench. They crack on him and at each other. They keep things light. And that, maybe even more than points and rebounds, is what he is going to miss the most.
"You can do a lot when people have a great sense of humor," Auriemma said. "I mean we are all together all the time -- three hours a day at practice, hours more on the plane. You have to have to be able to laugh stuff off. You have to be able to have a good time and make fun of each other a little bit. That's just their personalities. They just like to have fun."
Even on senior night though? No tears?
"I'm not crying," Williams said. "I bet one of the other guys might. Not me."
Williams insisted that this senior night will be different from recent years, different from the tear-soaked night last year where an injured Svetlana Abrosimova and her parents got their final waves in, different from Rebecca Lobo's emotional night in 1995.
Unlike past classes, this group seems intent on making their senior night a celebration rather than a funeral. They don't want tears. They'd much rather go out with a smile. After all, that's what they've been doing for four years now.
"It goes by so fast," Bird said. "I don't know how else to explain it. It's been everything I could have asked for. It's been so much fun."
Eight semesters later, the resume for this group on the court speaks for itself -- three Big East championships, two Final Fours, one national title. All four are Player of the Year finalists. Their off-the-court credentials haven't been too bad, either. All four seniors are on the dean's list. Williams even heads a campus student council.
They did hit some pretty sizable bumps along the way. Bird missed almost her entire freshman year with a torn ACL. Williams and Cash had their share of injuries as well. They even lost a member along the way, when injuries cut short Keirsten Walters' career after last season.
But through all the wins and all the losses, Auriemma said, they kept smiling. Wednesday night's game against Providence will be a celebration of all of that.
"I think if you ask all of them if these four years have been everything they could have hoped for they will tell you yeah," Auriemma said. "Could Tamika have been healthier? Yeah. Does Sue wish she had her freshman year back? Yeah. But all in all if they look in the mirror as a group I think they will say 'wow, we are in a pretty good spot.' We've been here four years. We've been to two Final Fours. We won a national championship. We're all on the dean's list. And we're sitting here undefeated, number one in the country. Life is good -- all smiles, nothing to complain about."
Or cry about.
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