Dishin & Swishin 2/25/16 Podcast: Moriah Jefferson ready to join the Huskies of Honor, but what comes next?

Dishin & Swishin interview in 2012 with a freshman Moriah Jefferson.

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At senior day festivities on Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion, Moriah Jefferson will join an elite group of University of Connecticut All-Americans on the Huskies of Honor wall, recognizing each for their achievements. The game against Tulane is already sold out (1 p.m. ET on ESPN 3 and SNY).

Jefferson will be the sixth point guard to have her number mounted for all to see, joining a veritable who’s who in Husky history: Jennifer Rizzotti, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Renee Montgomery and Bria Hartley.

All have gone on to the WNBA with different degrees of success. Bird and Taurasi are all-time greats. Montgomery and Hartley are still writing their story, but have been valuable contributors to their teams. Rizzotti has championship rings from years with the Houston Comets before moving to coaching.

Jefferson will join the WNBA this summer, after completing a historical career.

She enters Saturday’s game with 598 assists and 333 steals; this makes her only the third UConn player to have 500 assists and 300 steals, joining former national players of the year Rizzotti and Maya Moore. Rizzotti is the only one to reach the 600-assist and 300-steal milestone.

Jefferson is a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman award, given to the nation’s best point guard. Since its inception in 2000, four Huskies have taken home the award a total of seven times. She would be a two-time winner, joining Bird and Taurasi in that club (Bird won it three times).

The one accolade she really wants, the one that is unprecedented, is to become the first four-time national champion in NCAA women’s basketball history, along with teammates Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck. The three would go down as the most successful class ever, and they want it badly.

It is a pleasure to welcome Moriah Jefferson to this week’s Dishin & Swishin podcast, to discuss the season, her career, taking a “back seat” to Stewart in her personal stats and recognition, senior day and her future.

What about that future? She is a virtual lock to be a top draft pick in the WNBA draft. As good as Jefferson is, unlike teammate Stewart who is considered to be a future superstar, there are questions being asked about Jefferson, mostly based on her size. Generously listed at 5-7, she slight of build. Can she withstand the pounding of larger professional players? She has extremely rare combinations of speed and quickness, but can she defend strong guards like Taurasi or Lindsay Whalen?

It is a pleasure to welcome back to Dishin & Swishin one of the most experienced and best talent evaluators out there, former coach Lin Dunn.

Coach Dunn graciously agreed to come on and discuss Jefferson’s WNBA potential, the pros and cons, and also discussed the “other” guard gaining much attention as draft time nears, Minnesota’s Rachel Banham.

Will San Antonio with the number two draft pick look at these two guards? Will Connecticut be patient at three and four to take whichever one San Antonio does not take, or will they try to trade up to land local UConn product Jefferson? Jefferson is from Texas, the first Texas player in UConn history in fact, so will that sway San Antonio to take a local product? Coach Dunn discusses, and you can form your own opinion.

Enjoy the podcast!