Nebraska got its SportsCenter moment Saturday. ESPN, broadcast home of the NCAA women's tournament, showed several highlights of NU's first loss, to Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. At the end of the segment, the cameras tried to catch a meeting of the head coaches. Only, ESPN failed to show Connie Yori's embrace with Texas A&M coach Gary Blair; it was her assistant, Sunny Smallwood. Presumably, the network didn't know the difference. Think that would ever happen to the coaches at Tennessee, Stanford or Connecticut? Of course not.
Here are Yori's credentials in comparison to the coaches of the other top-seeded teams in the NCAA field — the heaviest of all heavyweights in women's hoops.
Connie Yori
Team: Nebraska (Kansas City regional)
Age: 46
Hometown: Des Moines
Alma mater: Creighton
Overall record: 346-238 in 20 years
Record at Nebraska: 151-98 in eight seasons
NCAA tournament: 2-4 in four appearances
Highlights: 2010 Big 12 coach of the year. ... School-record 30-game winning streak and Big 12 title in 2009-10. ... School-record seven consecutive postseason appearances from 2004-10. ... Two NCAA tournament appearances in 10 seasons as head coach at Creighton. ... 2002 Missouri Valley coach of the year.
Notable: Inductee for basketball and softball into Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union. ... Inductee in Creighton Hall of Fame in 1992. ... Third all-time scorer in CU history.
Pat Summitt
Team: Tennessee (Memphis regional)
Age: 57
Hometown: Clarksville, Tenn.
Alma mater: Tennessee-Martin
Record at Tennessee: 1,035-195 in 36 years
NCAA tournament: 104-20 in 28 appearances
Highlights: Most coaching wins in the history of college basketball. ... Eight NCAA titles and 18 Final Fours. ... Seven-time national coach of the year. ... Naismith coach of the century in 2000. ... 23 straight Sweet 16 appearances from 1986-2008. ... 16 Southeastern Conference championships and 15 SEC tournament titles. ... Eight-time SEC coach of the year.
Notable: Inductee in Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. ... Co-captain of the first U.S. women's team and participant in 1976 Olympics. ... No. 11 by the Sporting News among 50 greatest American coaches of all time. ... Coach of 1988 U.S. Olympic women's gold-medal winning basketball team.
Geno Auriemma
Team: Connecticut (Dayton Regional)
Age: 55
Hometown: Montella, Italy
Alma mater: West Chester (Pa.) University
Record at UConn: 729-122 in 25 years
NCAA tournament: 71-15 in 21 appearances
Highlights: Most winning active coach (.857) in college basketball. ... Six NCAA titles and 10 Final Fours. ... Six-time national coach of the year. ... Current streak of 16 straight Sweet 16 appearances. ... 16 Big East Conference championships and 15 Big East tournament titles. ... Eight-time Big East coach of the year. ... Coach of three (of six all-time) unbeaten NCAA-championship teams. ... Current NCAA women's record 72-game winning streak.
Other notables: Inductee into Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. ... Assistant coach on 2000 U.S. Olympic women's gold-medal winning basketball team and current Team USA coach.
Tara VanDerveer
Team: Stanford (Sacramento regional)
Age: 56
Hometown: Boston
Alma mater: Indiana
Overall record: 788-194 in 31 seasons
Record at Stanford: 636-143 in 24 seasons
NCAA tournament: 54-22 in 24 appearances
Highlights: Two NCAA titles and six Final Fours. ... Three-time national coach of the year. ... 19 Pac-10 titles. ... 10-time Pac-10 coach of the year. ... Three NCAA tournament appearances in five seasons as coach at Ohio State.
Other notables: Inducted into Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. ... Coach of 1996 U.S. Olympic women's gold-medal winning basketball team.
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