Mike DiMauro: Diana Taurasi: 10,000 points, 10,000 memories

Aug. 4—Not that more evidence is required to reinforce Father Time's undefeated record, but it was 24 summers ago now that Connecticut was first introduced to Diana Taurasi, who made WNBA history Thursday night becoming the longest running women's professional sports league's first 10,000-point scorer.

Two newspaper scribes — I was one of them — attended the 1999 Nike All American camp in Indianapolis, where we saw Taurasi for the first time and wrote several stories about her. I'd never heard Geno Auriemma gush over any one player — not even any of them who had won him the 1995 national title — the way he did Taurasi. And she was in high school.

In those days, scouting services were more of a cottage industry, casting some mystery over the players UConn was recruiting. The 80 best players in the country usually came to Indianapolis, giving yours truly and Carl Adamec of the Manchester Journal Inquirer (and still the dean of the UConn women's beat) a chance to meet the kids and give the fans back home a glimpse of who might be arriving next in Storrs.

I couldn't wait to see her play. Even Chris Dailey, far less prone to hyperbole, was effusive. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, July 18, 1999, none too happy that we'd just missed David Cone's perfect game. I might have mentioned that to Auriemma in the hotel bar a few times, saying this kid better be Oscar Robertson.

We saw her play Monday morning. Put it this way: I'd never seen a high school kid play a basketball game and act as a player, coach, referee, play-by-play person, color commentator and public address announcer simultaneously. I almost giggled at the thought of covering her games for four years in Storrs.

Auriemma asked us at dinner that night what we thought.

"Coach," I said, "if you have to cheat to get her, then cheat to get her. We'll make sure the media looks the other way."

I was kidding. (But not by much.)

She really was Oscar Robertson. Like no other women's player I'd seen. Forget about the talent. It was the attitude. Confident, brash, but lovable. We asked her about UConn when we interviewed her. It was basically between UConn and UCLA (as she grew up in Chino, Calif.) Carl reminded her at the time that at a recent NCAA Tournament game in Los Angeles, the crowd registered barely 1,000.

"You're going to be a great player," he said to her. "It would be a shame if nobody was there to see it."

(This is why I've always given Adamec more credit for recruiting Taurasi here than Auriemma.)

Later that year, UConn played at UCLA in November. Taurasi was there behind the bench. I had a feeling she'd commit soon because she laughed at Auriemma's streams of consciousness throughout the game. UConn had a halftime lead but had allowed 50 points. Auriemma kept yelling "50 (gosh darn) points!" as he walked off the floor at halftime. Taurasi loved it. She committed before November ended.

And the rest, as they say, is current events. She's still the greatest ever. She has retired the trophy. I get that the WNBA and the women's game in general has never been stocked with more talent. But to me, the field has a long way to go to gain ground on the three-time college champion, three-time WNBA champion, five-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time WNBA MVP, two-time WNBA Finals MVP, 10-time WNBA all-star, the greatest competitor the women's game has ever produced ... all while remaining gloriously entertaining.

One time at a UConn regional, Missouri coach Cindy Stein mentioned that Auriemma's good looks couldn't hurt the recruiting process. A reporter then asked Taurasi on the podium if Auriemma's looks had anything to do with her decision.

"No," she said, "I came for the athletic director."

Lew Perkins' face turned redder than a Nebraska football uniform as everyone in the vicinity roared.

That's Diana Lorena Taurasi. Her four years were the golden age of UConn women's basketball. And it was with a bright smile that I saw the news Thursday night that the GOAT eclipsed 10,000 points.

And we media members recall those days fondly, knowing we got a chance to hang around the greatest ever.

As Geno might say: We had Diana and you didn't.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro