Lady Vols and UConn: The Greatest Rivalry

About the Book

UConn was a fledging women's basketball program that had been to one Final Four as of 1995. Tennessee was the king of the hill having won 7 National Championships and having produced some of the greatest women's players of all time. Pat Summitt was and is the head coach and is widely considered to be one of the top coaches in women's or men's college basketball history. In fact, she turned down the Tennessee head men's coaching job. She agreed to play Geno Auriemma and UConn in 1995 in an epic battle in Storrs, CT. UConn won that game and won the National Championship that year and off and running was the series. It has produced as much if not more drama than Red Sox-Yankees, Cowboys-Giants and Knicks-Celtics. It has been compared to Carolina-Duke on the men's side. It is certainly produced more National Championships than both of those schools.

"What Duke and North Carolina represent in men's college basketball, UConn and Tennessee represent in women's college basketball, the greatest rivalry in the game. Two teams that when pinned against one another in 1995 for the National Championship changed the sport of women's college basketball forever. The cast of characters from the polarized Hall of Fame coaches to the all-American icons have raised the bar, the talent and the media awareness at the national level. Although the characters change from year to year, the national fever of this matchup continues to grow. It is an ongoing saga that defines women's basketball and encapsulates all that is good and possible about athletic competition. Any young player should read this book and understand that without these teams, these coaches, these players, we would be watching women's basketball exclusively in March at the Final Four." Colleen Healey, former UConn women's basketball player."Every sport needs its standard bearers and that is what Tennessee and UConn are in collegiate women's basketball." Chris Gobrecht, Head Women's Basketball Coach, Yale University "Any conversations of the greatest schools to ever play collegiate women's basketball must always include the names Connecticut and Tennessee. The two have combined to win 12 of the first 26 National Championship trophies and have played some historic regular season and championship games in the process. There promises to be many more pages to add to this storied rivalry in the years to come." Rick Nixon, NCAA "Having had the privilege of being a part of the Tennessee-Connecticut rivalry from 1995 to 2002 I can say from first hand experience that it has been one of the best sports rivalries in our country over the past decade. It has two very important elements that make for a classic rivalry – talented teams coached by the two best and most charismatic coaches in the business. It doesn't get any better that that." Al Brown, Assistant Women's Basketball Coach, Duke University.

About the Author

I have written 5 other books with publishers, including 2 on women?s college basketball. This book is about women?s college basketball and the greatest rivalry of all time UConn and Tennessee. It is topical because the series ended in a very controversial fashion this past April. I live in Westport, Connecticut, practice law by day and am an author by night and weekends. I write for SI.Com, Black Athlete.Com and have written for Athlon Magazine. I am passionate about women?s college basketball and know that there is a strong audience for this already completed book in New Jersey, Tennessee and Connecticut among other places.