New Book Chronicles Women’s Rivalry
by Ray Floriani
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – One could say Richard Kent’s life centers around the court. An attorney by profession, Kent is a basketball writer and “connoisseur” in his other vocation. He has authored six books, three on basketball and the most recent, Lady Vols and UCONN: The Greatest Rivalry, is just being released.
Kent, a Westport, Connecticut resident, is similar to a number of fans today. Specifically, those who follow the men but have taken to the women’s game for its qualities such as sharing the ball, attention to fundamentals and the lack of “one and done” types exiting campus for a lucrative pro payday. The difference with Kent is he found this out and was attracted to the women’s game years ago.
As we spoke Louisville and Kansas State were on the floor going through their pre-game routine before their second round NCAA game at the Arena at Harbor Yards. Kent is a 1972 graduate of Rutgers University and a Boston College law School (’75) alum as well. Ironically, it was a star from undergrad rival Princeton that captured Kent’s basketball imagination.
“Bill Bradley was an idol of mine,” Kent said. “The women’s game reminds me of the men’s game in the mid sixties. It was below the rim, there was an emphasis on fundamentals and passing and kids didn’t leave early. You could identify with a player knowing they stayed four years.”
Kent has followed the Scarlet Knights men and women for years. An especially proud moment was 1982, when Rutgers captured the last AIAW title. Chris Dailey, a center on that team and current associate head coach with Geno Auriemma at UConn, was a key player on that team.
Why UConn-Tennessee? “You have bigger rivalries,” Kent said, “like Carolina-Duke, Giants-Eagles and Yankees-Red Sox, but in the women’s game there is nothing like this one.”
He has seen several of the Vol-Husky games in person, including the 2000 championship in Philadelphia won by the Lady Huskies. Besides covering live and catching games on ESPN, Kent spoke with a number of players and coaches who came through the two programs. A common thread was their cooperation and willingness to open up and elaborate on the rivalry, even if memories summoned were painful ones of bitter defeat.
Kent also gave great insight on the head coaches of the respective schools, Auriemma at UConn and Pat Summitt of Tennessee. “Both are at the top of their profession,” Kent said of the storied mentors. “But both endeared their own personal hardship.”
Summitt, a great player in her day, entered the coaching profession amidst much uncertainty. There were no seven-figure compensation packages, national TV games or guarantees. Women’s basketball was in its infancy when she began over three decades ago. “Pat (Summitt) was 23 years old when she began in coaching,” Kent said. “There were no guarantees. Pat was close with her dad, but he was not sure coaching was the profession she should be in. So she had that struggle.”
With Auriemma, it was a different situation. “Gene was a guy entering a female (coaching) dominated sport back in 1986,” Kent said. “He’s brash, an Easterner and a good guy, but his humor doesn’t resonate well with everyone.”
Auriemma, like his Tennessee counterpart, found uncertainty in his career move. He took the head coaching job in Storrs after assisting Debbie Ryan at Virginia. At Connecticut he found a program with virtually no tradition, an antiquated field house and a history of fan disinterest. Those two-plus decades ago that he began his Storrs tenure seem like centuries compared to today.
“I feel Geno is the best coach, men’s or women’s in the college game today,” Kent noted. “His kids also come back to the program as assistants. He simply has the total picture.”
Kent, with his experience, perspective and expertise, is the perfect writer to recount the greatest rivalry in the women’s game. Even Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma, competitive rivals, would wholeheartedly agree on that statement.
