The message at Big East Women’s Basketball Media Day at Madison Square Garden was that University of Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers is back. Although she hasn’t competed in over a year due to a torn ACL, Bueckers was voted Big East Preseason Player of the Year. The UConn Huskies were also atop the conference’s Preseason Poll.
“I’m looking forward to growing my game every single day,” said UConn freshman guard KK Arnold. “Having a coach like Geno Auriemma and having teammates like Paige and Nika [Muhl] are teaching me the way.”
In recent years, there has been a lack of diversity among head coaches in the Big East, but that is no longer the case. If not for the untimely death of Georgetown’s Tasha Butts, there would have been three Black female head coaches in the conference. The other two women, Billi Chambers of Xavier and Erin Batth of Providence, understand representation matters and will be doing their utmost to bring their programs to new heights.
“She cares about us dearly on and off the court,” said Xavier senior guard Tae’lor Purvis of Chambers. “She’s very competitive. Everything we do, we have to do it hard and intentionally. … She drops so much knowledge every day.”
“We haven’t played a game yet, and I’m telling you just in practice they’re giving me everything they’ve got,” said Batth, the first Black female head coach at Providence in any sport. “I’m excited to see them get after it this season.”
There were also some visitors on media day—three women who played in the WBL, a women’s professional basketball league founded in 1978. In New York City to celebrate a WBL display at WNBA headquarters, the women were the guests of DePaul coach Doug Bruno, who coached them with the Chicago Hustle.
“Our mission is to promote the historic and social relevance of the WBL, the first women’s
professional basketball league in the United States,” said Liz Galloway-McQuitter, president of Legends of the Ball. Pioneering WBL player Charlene McWhorter-Jackson said she hopes the college players appreciate the foundation laid for them. “They have their opportunities because of the sacrifices we made and the fact that we walked through the door that Title IX opened for us,” she said.
