Guru’s WBB March Madness — II: Arizona Testament to Build It And They Will Come

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

SAN ANTONIO —  Two very different kind of matchups will occur in the national semifinals Friday night at the Women’s Final Four here in the Alamodome when Dawn Staley’s top-seeded South Carolina squad faces overall No. 1 Stanford in the 7 p.m. opener — a battle of heavyweights with previous titles in their NCAA resumes — followed by third-seeded Arizona — the other representative from the PAC-12 at 9:30 p.m. — facing No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked Connecticut trying to end a five-year drought from its incredible record collection of 11 titles that many will argue could easily by larger.

ESPN will air both games and the Sunday championship completing a three-week bubble-style operation in which the entire 64-team field competed here, the first weekend in several area venues on local campuses besides one of the major venues that exists besides the AT&T home of the NBA Spurs, and then last weekend the entire Sweet 16 and this moving forward in the Astrodome.

While those outside the program from Tucson will look at the Wildcats (20-5) as a new kid on the block, there had been some success way back in the past.

And truth be told, the program was well on its way to going places back in the fall of 2005 when it was struck with tragedy on a scale similar to what occurred at Army at the back end of that season when rookie coach Maggie Dixon had taken Army to a Patriot League title, became the toast of the military, and a few short days after the Black Knights’ lone NCAA appearance collapsed and died suddenly of a heart murmur while taking a run at West Point.

Months earlier Arizona was getting ready to take another step in its build. The school had hired Joan Bonvicini, originally a New Englander who had played at Southern Connecticut in the AIAW era who had gone west and turned Long Beach into one of the dynamos out West.

Moving into the Power 5 world before there was such terminology as Power 5, the resources offered a chance to eventually take place with the UCLAs, Stanfords, and Southern Cals of the era.

A successful recruiter besides skilled coach, Bonvicini had attracted a star in Shawntinice Polk.

Think of her in stature, if not equivalent playing position, as the Aari McDonald of her day.

Then everything changed the morning of Sept. 25, when the 22-year-old Polk, a three-time All-Pac-10 (before the conference expansion) and an All-American, had gone to the McKale Center and suddenly collapsed and died having had no indication of serious illness.

The cause was a pulmonary blood clot, a rare fatal occurrence for a healthy woman of her age, Dr. Eric Peters, Pima County’s deputy chief medical examiner to the Arizona Star at the time.

Though Polk had suffered with asthma and underwent knee surgery earlier that year, neither should have increased the potential for “throwing clots” to her lungs.

Jim Livengood, then Arizona’s athletic director, told the paper no workout or practice was involved that morning, though Polk wasn’t feeling well.

“This is a terribly sad, heartbreaking day in Arizona women’s basketball,” Bonvicini said at the time. “I can’t put into words the pain and sadness that we’re all feeling right now.”

Polk had led the Wildcats to an NCAA appearance the previous season, leading the Pac-10 in blocked shots (2.1) and was third in rebounding at 8.0.

“Our whole team is in shock, total disbelief,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, still at the Cardinal’s helm this weekend now as the all-time women’s coaching wins leader in Division I. “She was one of those players you weren’t supposed to like but you liked her anyway ... She was a great talent and it’s even hard to use the past tense for her.

“It seems so wrong for someone 22 years old.”

Polk was the school’s program leader in double doubles with 46 and blocked shots at 222 and had been the conference freshman of the year in 2003.

Following the tragedy, the program began to slide and Bonvicini and Arizona eventually went their separate ways though several years later the well-known coach was in charge at Seattle as the school moved into Division I.

Several years after the tragedy in a late night coast-to-coast chat with the Guru, Bonvicini noted that Polk had been such a force and her untimely loss had become so depressing the team more or less lost its mojo.

These days, Bonvicini does color commentary on the Pac-12 network and has been thrilled to watch her former star player Adia Barnes bring the Wildcats back on the path they seemed destined at the time of the tragedy.

Barnes is also part of social history this weekend in joining South Carolina’s Staley in making it the first time in the history of the 39-year tournament that two black coaches have made it to the Women’s Final Four the same weekend.

At the time of her hire, she was advised by friends not to take the job but Barnes, who also played in the WNBA as did Staley, had a commitment of support from the administration.

She noted the total support and family atmosphere as example last weekend when Arizona upset second-seeded Texas A&M, the football staff after practice flew here to be part of the limited 17 percent capacity the NCAA is allowing in consulting with medical officials.

Several years ago Barnes’ work in selling the program in the community was shown when Arizona competed in the WNIT, got to the championship, and she produced the largest crowd in the history of the event.

That led to another major leap last season that would have ended the drought in NCAA appearances had not the coronavirus caused the cancellation of both men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

This season, Arizona resumed the beat and finished second in the Pac-12 chasing Stanford into the last week of competition.

Meanwhile, the fact of who the next opponent is does not cause fear among the Wildcats, Barnes arguing, no pressure, we can play loose, because of where the expectations are.

Those expectations have been fueled by the play of freshman Paige Bueckers, who has been collecting rookie and national player awards — the AP national player of the year was a first to be won by a rookie.

Bueckers brought the Huskies back to life against Baylor Monday night in the River Run title game, scoring 28 points and earning MVP of the River Run Regional.

UConn’s young squad has other prominent contributors, specifically, Aaliyah Edwards, besides the upper class group of Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Christyn Williamson, and Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook.

This week, Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma told how quickly Bueckers’ first week of practice last fall changed his mindset.

“I thought back to when Maya (Moore) was a freshman,” he recalled during Wednesday’s zoom interview session. “I thought back when D (Diana Taurasi) came in as a freshman. Stewie (Breanna Stewart) when she came in as a freshman.

“I tried to think back to some of the most hyped players that have ever come to Connecticut and I tried to think of what their freshman year was like.

“I gave some thought.

“How many national high school players of the year have come to UConn with these great expectations? I thought you know, sometimes it’s not bad for a kid in that situation to come off the bench. It gives them a sense of, `Hey, let me see the game,’ a chance to diffuse some of the pressure, let the air out a little bit.”

Auriemma noted how Taurasi wasn’t even Big East freshman of the year, let alone national player of the year.

Then he pivoted saying, after watching Bueckers the first few weeks, the sixth man idea “went out the window,” acknowledging she was the best player on the team.

“I knew it would happen at some point, I just didn’t expect it to be that quickly and that evident.”

Of course, when he was first hired at UConn more than three decades ago, the scene at UConn was no different, perhaps even less, than what Barnes walked into at her alma mater.

For that matter, South Carolina was at the bottom of the barrel in the Southeastern Conference when Staley was hired away from Temple in her native Philadelphia, and likewise, VanDerveer, when she was plucked out of Ohio State to come enhance the farm, as Stanford is called.

What It’s Not and What It Is

Asked about the conditions and scene here going into the Final Four weekend, VanDerveer noted the team being housed in bubble conditions, no going to dinners and other events that usually happen. Some new signage has appeared.

“What it is is The Covid Final Four.”

And that’s the report.