STORRS, Conn. — UConn, with its women's and men's basketball teams looking to compete in the 2024 NCAA championships, has an extensive list of successful players that went on to play professionally.
As both basketball teams move forward to their respective Final Four games on April 5 and April 6, here is a look at distinguished players from the past who made the leap from Huskies to the most competitive basketball leagues on the planet.
Notable UConn alumni who thrived in the NBA include Ray Allen, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, and Kemba Walker. On the WNBA side, significant players with a UConn past include Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart.
NBA
Ray Allen: As is written in his UConn bio, the 48-year-old Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist is a "10-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA championship winner." He averaged 19 points during his three seasons with UConn as a guard from 1993 to 1996 and left school early to join the NBA, where he played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat. In May of 2023, 27 years after his last game at Gampel, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in general studies.
Rip Hamilton: Leading the Huskies to their first NCAA National Championship, he represented UConn as a guard for three seasons from 1996 to 1999 and scored 2,036 points. His accolades included being named a two-time All-American and two-time Big East Player of the Year. In his 14-year NBA career, playing for the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and Chicago Bulls, he was a three-time NBA All-Star and won a championship with the Pistons in 2003-2004. His No. 32 jersey was retired on Feb. 24, the second to be retired in program history.
Kemba Walker: Now 33 years old, the four-time NBA All-Star led the Huskies to a NCAA Championship in 2011 as a junior point guard and was awarded the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player for that year, according to the Associated Press. Between 2008-11 at UConn, he played 111 career games and averaged "16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals per contest." He went on to play for the Charlotte Bobcats, the Charlotte Hornets, the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks, and most recently the Dallas Mavericks. He was also the recipient of the 2017-18 NBA Sportsmanship of the Year Award.
WNBA
Diana Taurasi: The 41-year-old three-time WNBA champion had an outstanding college career as a UConn guard from 2000-04, earning Naismith Player of the Year award in 2003 and 2004 and two Big East Player of the Year awards (2003, 2004). She led the Huskies to three consecutive national championships from 2002-04. According to her UConn bio, she was the first player in history to "total 2,000 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds in her career." She has played for the Phoenix Mercury for 16 seasons, and is one of the only two athletes in history with five Olympic gold medals in basketball, along with Sue Bird, according to the WNBA. She is also a six-time Euroleague Champion.
Maya Moore: According to her UConn bio, the 34-year-old forward is the "one of the most prolific winners in NCAA history, leading the Huskies to four Final Four appearances and two National Championships" with a record of 150-4 over her four-year career from 2008-12. Her bio includes that she scored a total of 3,036 points making her the fourth-highest scorer in NCAA history, and she holds a UConn record scoring average of 22.8 from 2010-11. During her time in the WNBA, in which she was named among the top 25 players in the league, she played for the Minnesota Lynx for eight seasons and became a "four-time champion and seven-time All-WNBA selection." Additionally, she was a "six-time All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive team pick," according to the WNBA. In 2023, she retired from her basketball career, four years after stepping away from the WNBA, and will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Breanna Stewart: A two-time WNBA champion, Stewart was named among the top 25 most "dominant, skilled, and entertaining players in league history," according to the WNBA. She played for the Huskies as a forward from 2012-16 with a 151-6 record and led them to four consecutive national championships, being named Final Four MVP each season, along with being a three-time All American and three-time National Player of the Year, UConn said. In the WNBA, she played for the Seattle Storm for six seasons and currently plays for the New York Liberty. She was given the title of WNBA MVP in 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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