UConn Women Make White House Visit
Posted by: Baller-in-Chief in Articles, Photos, Videos, tags: Basketball, Obama, President Barack Obama, White House(From John Altavilla for The Hartford Courant)
WASHINGTON — – Long before he became a candidate, President Barack Obama was a huge basketball fan. Well documented during the presidential campaign, his alter ego is that of a gym rat — a guy with a nice first step, decent jumper and pointy elbows.
And after the ceremony on Monday welcoming the national champion UConn women’s basketball team to the White House, Obama decided to prove it. He invited them to the basketball court he had constructed on the White House grounds.
“We played P-I-G, which is a shorter version of H-O-R-S-E,” UConn center Tina Charles said. “He beat Maya [Moore], Renee [Montgomery] and myself. He was shooting 17-footers all over the perimeter.”
Said Montgomery: “He only missed one shot out of five shots. In 20 years, I’ll remember that I could not make one jump shot at the White House. My clothes hindered me. I couldn’t extend my arms.”
Obama extended all sorts of greetings on this day and he did not need a speech writer to help him find the right words to describe what went on in Storrs this season.
“When we were inside with him, he knew what we’d done,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “He knew who Maya, Tina and Renee were. It certainly wasn’t a run-of-the mill conversation with a Washington politician, who is trying to figure out how to get through the day without messing up anyone’s name.
“And you know what? His shot was a little unorthodox, but I’ve always said I’ve never met a bad left-handed shooter. And he talks a little trash, too. A typical, Chicago trash-talker. But he can back it up. That’s all that counts. He’s got the swagger.”
Before departing, Obama signed and gave Montgomery the basketball they played P-I-G with and offered Auriemma a signed home gray jersey to help him raise money for his charity, Geno’s Cancer Team.
Earlier, before the private time on the court, the South Portico of the White House was the site of the ceremony.
Obama praised the players for their individual accomplishments and community service and put on a pink bracelet given him that represents Geno’s cancer charity.
“All of this makes the Storrs community stronger, the state of Connecticut stronger and our nation stronger,” Obama said. “But I also want to say something as a father. It was this program, as much as anything, in the mid-1990s that helped propel women’s basketball into the national consciousness. Thanks to these women, and those that came before them, young women look at themselves differently, especially the tall ones like my daughters.”
During the course of last year’s presidential campaign, the UConn players, the majority African American, took pride in the ascendancy of Obama, first as a candidate, then as a nominee and finally as the nation’s elected president.
His victory in November, a week before the season began, was met with great elation by the players, many saying they felt personally connected with his story.
“When he was elected, we were all dancing around Coach’s Auriemma’s kitchen, saying we were going to see him,” Montgomery said.
The older players knew that winning UConn’s sixth national championship would likely ensure an invitation to the White House.
“It was definitely motivation for us,” Charles said. “It helped us play hard. And once we arrived at the Final Four, we realized we could actually meet him. It was a big boost for us.”
Well, it happened on this hot afternoon shortly after 2 p.m., just before Obama’s meeting with foreign finance and environmental ministers. The Huskies took pictures and joked and smiled with the president.
Montgomery handed Obama, who picked them to win the national championship in his women’s poll, the requisite UConn jersey — a No. 1 home white with B. Obama written on the back.
They stood behind him, beaming as he spoke of UConn’s third perfect season, the first in NCAA history that included double-digit victories in all 39 games.
“I want to congratulate Coach Geno on his incredible season that took place as a consequence of these extraordinary young women,” Obama said.
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