The Tampa Bay Area will have the opportunity to host some of the most talented women coaches and athletes in NCAA sports this coming April, as the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four comes to Tampa Bay.  They are all winners who proudly represent every female, athlete or not, and have set the highest standards for the achievement of their life goals as they pursue one of them, The 2008 NCAA Women’s National Basketball Championship.  Ladies, put on your thinking caps and try your hand at a little trivia test to assess your knowledge as to whom some of these talented and winning women might be.

Let’s start with the coaches.  Who is the all time winningest NCAA coach (men or women!)?  Who is the first woman or man to take 3 different schools to the final four?  Who won an NCAA title on her first trip to the final four and returned to sideline coaching recently just three weeks after giving birth to twin sons?  Who is the only coach to lead teams to national championships at the AIAW, NAIA and NCAA levels?  Who is one of only seven NCAA basketball coaches to win at least 700 games, and prior to her current coaching job, led the Ohio State Buckeye’s women’s program for five years?  If you guessed Pat Summitt (#3Tennessee), C. Vivian Stringer (#7Rutgers), Brenda Freese (#5Maryland), Sylvia Hatchell (#2North Carolina), and Tara VanDerveer (#4Stanford), you scored the slam dunk and can pat yourself on the back for having knowledge on some of the most successful women basketball coaches  in the sport today.  They are all in a position to lead their teams on a run for the national title this year.  (photo right- Pat Summitt)

Now try your hand at guessing who some of the talented women players are that the aforementioned coaches and other’s will be leading on their journey towards a national title.  Who is the first woman to dunk in a NCAA game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game?  Who is this year’s SEC Player of the Year?  Who is the only player in NCAA history to record 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a season?  Who is this year’s PAC-10 player of the year?  One final hint, all four are finalists for the Naismith Trophy to be awarded at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Conference to be held in Tampa on April 7^th.   Did you guess Candace Parker (Tennessee), Sylvia Knowles (LSU), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) and Candace Wiggins (Stanford)?  If so, you ran the court and hit another slam dunk!  Congratulations to those of you who answered correctly on both rounds of questions.  Candace Parker may have some competition for that dunking title!  Pump up that deflated basketball you haven’t touched for years and hit the court to give it a shot!

The 64 team tournament schedule leading up to the final four, to be announced March 16^th, will almost certainly contain the coaches and players mentioned above along with many other talented coaches and players...  Rounding out the top ten teams expected to make a run for the title this year are #1 U Conn led by Coach Geno Auriemma, #6 LSU led by Coach Van Chancellor, #8 Cal led by Coach Joanne Boyle, #9 Baylor led by Coach Kim Mulkey and #10 Duke led by Coach Joanne McCallie.  Other players to watch out for include freshman sensation Maya Moore who leads #1U Conn along with teammate Tina Charles, Maryland’s Kristi Tolliver and Crystal Langhorne, North Carolina’s Ellana Larkins, Rutgers’s Epiphany Prince and Essence Carson, Cal’s Ashley Walker, Baylor’s Angela Tisdale and Duke’s Chante Black and Abby Waner .  Expect to see some explosive and exciting women’s basketball along the way as they all vow for a spot in the coveted Final Four.

"Each and every woman who participates in this magnificent journey on the road to the Final Four is a winner regardless of where they and their teams rank at the end of this year’s tournament."

Each and every woman who participates in this magnificent journey on the road to the Final Four is a winner regardless of where they and their teams rank at the end of this year’s tournament.  They are winners because of the people they have chosen to surround themselves with on this journey.  It is a lesson that we can all apply regardless of what goals in life we may have.  In the words of Coach Pat Summitt, “My parents taught me along time ago that you win in life with people, and that’s important, because if you hang with winners, you stand a great chance of a being a winner.”    Get ready to see some of those winners at the St. Petersburg Times Forum April 6^th and 8th.  By the way, I wasn’t kidding about the deflated basketball.  Pump it up and I’ll see you on the court in Tampa soon.