INDIANAPOLIS — When Sydney Wiese was 9 years old, Connecticut staged a practice prior to a 2004 game at Arizona State at the Phoenix-area high school gym where her father, Troy, was the girls basketball coach.
Wiese met legendary coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies, which sparked a dream of someday playing for the school.
"It was sort of a fairy-tale team to me," Wiese said.
Wiese was never recruited by UConn, though, instead prompting her to head to Oregon State and take part in the complete transformation of that program. And her story isn't entirely unique, with several Beavers players and coaches admiring the Huskies from afar throughout their reign as the sport's biggest power.