Photo Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP
Another tournament comes to an end with a new champion cutting down the nets. Second year head coach Kevin Ollie led his team to a victory over the Kentucky Wildcats last night. Ollie, who was an NBA journeyman for over a decade, was never thought of as the permanent replacement to legendary head coach Jim Calhoun. He was praised for his leadership skills, but not thought of as a basketball mind.
In his first year as head coach, UConn was deemed academically ineligible from competing in the NCAA Tournament. However, many of his players, including senior guard Shabazz Napier, decided to stay in school for an additional year. Quite a smart decision by the players! Finally being eligible, Ollie was able to show off what he was capable of as a head coach. Being a motivator, Ollie always told his players to just believe. Believe in themselves, believe in the system, and believe that they are good enough to beat any team.
After their huge win, Napier expressed his coach’s sentiments, “You can’t let anything hold you down. You have to find the positive and push through. No matter if you’re from a good neighborhood or a bad one, you’re going to have obstacles. It’s about how you handle them.”
While Napier was the star of the show, he got by with a little help from fellow teammate Ryan Boatright. Boatright has struggled all season with personal issues, including burying his cousin who he looked at as more of a brother just two months ago. Throughout the game, the two were able to set the tone for both teams about how this game was going to be player. Boatright did give UConn fans quite a scare when he rolled his ankle with four minutes left in the game and appeared to be in serious pain. However, he was able to stay in the game and made a jump shot just seconds after the injury. When asked about the ankle after the game, “It’s killing me,” he said. “But there was no way I was coming out.”
The UConn Huskies have all taught us something. Despite everyone counting you out and feeling like you are being set up to fail, all you have to do is believe in yourself.
