Saturday, August 04, 2007

Angry Taurasi fires back at Lady Vols

Diana Taurasi is still angry about allegations made by Tennessee and the SEC that she and Sue Bird played an illegal role in the recruitment of Connecticut freshman Maya Moore by offering the then-high school junior a ride to the Naismith Awards in Atlanta after the 2006 Final Four.

Taurasi, a WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, reiterated Thursday she had nothing to do with Moore choosing UConn over Tennessee.

"As ridiculous as that theory is, it's also not true," Taurasi said. "Sue and I were in Moscow at the time (playing in the European championships with their Russian team, Dynamo Moscow). ... If you are going to make allegations like that, you might want to make sure the people (you are accusing) are in the same place at the same time. It's irresponsible to say something like that. It wasn't humanly possible, either. We weren't in the same continent. We offered a written response about our location. We provided witnesses (to vouch for their location). It's ridiculous to do something like that."

The NCAA, UConn and Tennessee are prohibited from publicly admitting the SEC filed a complaint on behalf of Tennessee in regard to Moore's recruitment. But a source other than Taurasi and Bird, who also denied the implication, confirmed Wednesday UConn had to produce documents proving Taurasi and Bird's whereabouts in April 2006.

Alumni are prohibited from solicited contact with recruits in an effort to influence their decision. However, former players are allowed to answer questions provided they were not instructed to interact by the coaching staff.

Taurasi also assumes Tennessee might be angry about alleged contact between alumni and recruits during on-campus visits by former UConn players who return to see coach Geno Auriemma and his staff.

"All these reasons are ridiculous," Taurasi said. "If you are going to blame Coach Auriemma for having players who love him and come back to see him, then it's just too bad. When I visit him, and I try to do so as often as I can because of all his family did for me when I was there, the only people I talk to are the current players."

Moore, of Collins Hill High in Suwanee, Ga., chose UConn over Tennessee one week after winning her first Naismith Award. She won another as a senior.

Taurasi said it's unfortunate if Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt chose the Moore recruitment as the reason to end the series with UConn last month. A Tennessee spokesman told The Courant in June the reasons ran deeper than recruiting.

"I'm really disappointed about this. It took so much to build it up," Taurasi said. "This was a sporting event that sports fans watched. ... But you know, I just guess that certain people don't think this is an important game anymore. ... So let's find someone else and make something beautiful happen, like Rutgers, LSU or Duke. If this was her (Summitt's) reason for stopping the game then we (UConn) are better off not being a part of it."

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