August 14, 2006

Storrs, CT (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Geno Auriemma and the women's basketball team are used to winning championships, but that goal hasn't been reached in recent years.

That drought may be a thing of the past after this year, though, as the Huskies are bringing in arguably the top recruiting class in the nation. Who will you be cheering on this season? Here's a quick look at the five newest Huskies:

Tina Charles, a 6-foot-4 center from Jamaica, N.Y.

Charles was one of UConn's top recruits early on, which was no shock given that she's considered to be the top player in the incoming freshman class, according to Scout.com.

How good is Charles? She was not only a McDonald's All-American, but she was also named to the USA Women's U-18 National Team and was the Parade Magazine and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year.

She can score, rebound and block shots. Oh, and she can dunk, too. Her all-around dominance of the game has made her a force to be reckoned with.

"I've probably played against her more than I've played with her, but playing against her, you kind of pick up a lot of things that you wouldn't if you were just watching her," said Kaili McLaren, a fellow McDonald's All-American and UConn recruit. "When we finally played in the McDonald's game, I felt as though we had a little bit of chemistry there."

Kaili McLaren, a 6-foot-2 forward from Washington, D.C.

McLaren is one of the best perimeter shooters in the country, and her arrival on campus will yet again boost the inside-outside threat the Huskies have been working with.

She has the skill to make it on the court - as mentioned, McLaren was also a McDonald's All-American. But she's perhaps one of the most light-hearted players on the team, which can help when tournament time approaches.

"I can't help it. I smile all the time," McLaren said. "I crack jokes. [The team] just makes me feel so comfortable."

One of her biggest questions entering the season will be her conditioning. McLaren, who is trying to lose a bit of her 235-pound playing weight, has been going through a workout that sees her waking up at 6:30 a.m. and running around campus.

"It just depends on the mindset, really," McLaren said. "You have to want to do this, and I want to do this, because if I don't I feel like I will be detrimental to the team."

Kristin Phillips, a 6-foot-5 center from Greensboro, N.C.

For Phillips, just coming to UConn has been difficult enough.

After graduating from High Point Central High School June 3, Phillips went home, collected her stuff and boarded a plane early the next morning to arrive June 4 at noon. Her summer classes began the next day.

"My summer vacation was like a three-hour flight," Phillips joked.

Phillips should be prepared for the beginning of the season. She will be the tallest player to take the court for the Huskies and will anchor the paint. That will only come, though, when the stiffness in her foot - the result of a stress fracture - goes away. The injruy made her decline an invitation to try out for the same USA Team Charles made, but she hasn't lost focus.

"They always expect No. 1 here at UConn, so to me, the pressure is on if you're not No. 1," Phillips said. "You're trying to prove something. Here, I think it's expected and I enjoy that. Being No. 1, there is no pressure."

Meghan Gardler, a 6-foot forward from Springfield, Pa.

Gardler heard the whispers when she was just a junior in high school.

"It was December of my junior year and I was more of a role player then," she said. "There was so much tension and people knew me only as the girl who was going to UConn, and I hadn't made that decision yet. I was like, 'No, I don't want to go there, I don't want to be the girl who's known as the coach's daughter and that's why I got offered the scholarship.'"

The story is well known by now: Gardler's father, Buddy, was Auriemma's high school basketball coach. But after taking a visit to Storrs in May of her junior year, she was convinced she could fit in.

She knows she has to work on her dribbling, her jump shot and her outside game, and figures to be able to do so during the summer months when the scrimmages are more relaxed. There has also been talk about redshirting Gardler for the year, with the hope that she could mature enough to help the team as a senior in her fifth year.

Jacquie Fernandes, a 5-foot-9 walk-on guard from Pawcatuck

Fernandes had already planned on attending UConn when she received an offer from Auriemma to walk on to the team for the coming season.

She accepted the offer, a dream come true for any Connecticut girl looking to play collegiate basketball. But then, that dream quickly got a whole lot better when she read an e-mail from Auriemma.

"I read it, and I instantly, I'm not going to lie, I just sweat," Fernandes said. "I didn't know what to think. I honestly didn't. I was just like, 'Are you serious?'"

Auriemma has told her he's left it up to her whether or not the scholarship would be renewed each year.

"It's up to me how hard I work whether or not I keep the scholarship," Fernandes said. "It's definitely all up to me. Whatever I do on this court decides how many minutes I play and whether I keep the scholarship."

(C) 2006 The Daily Campus via CSTV U-WIRE