(Guru's Note: Your Guru just spent two weeks recovering from a technological nightmare of nuclear proportions - like having windows on a laptop containing the data that includes all things historical going into deep freeze wiuthin 24 hours of the usb port die on a blackberry. Put the Guru has managed to shift through the debris and will file a report on the experience later this weekend. For now, on with the musings.

 Also, for those who think the Guru never takes a hiatus he has been up at Lake George, N.Y. on a working vacation the last week restoring most of the damage while enjoy a few meals and sights.)

By Mel Greenberg

   Things the Guru thought he would never see in his lifetime -- How about the Associated Press preseason poll being trotted out before Halloween and the end of baseball's World Series, a title bout that would have the storied New York Yankees against the defending champion, which would happen to be no less than the Philadelphia Phillies.

    That said, the Guru will say that even for himself having to scramble earlier than ever to get a vote into AP headquarters, this ballot is an all-time dart toss.

     Chalk it up to parity after the 1-2 punch of Connecticut and Stanford. Depending on who is playing who through Jan. 1, anyone taking the rankings seriously in the interim simply needs to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

     Teams high will plunge and others below will soar. 

      Those who are looking at the preseason poll through a conference viewer should understand that league picks were made with far more time by those voters, most of whom were coaches who at this juncture are much closer to the scene in their own locales. People voting in the AP poll in most cases did not have the benefit of knowing the conference picks and for the most part had to look at a consensus of what the magazines were saying and who knows what the percentage of accuracy was in many of those publications.

     But Friday's release offer a multitude of tidbits.

     Youth is showing itself. Freshman Skylar Diggins helped Notre Dame catapult from a final poll ranking of 23 to No. 4. Baylor has been a top 10 resident but having a dunking sensation added to the lineup certainly helped keep the Bears in place. On the other hand, South Carolina didn't draw a single point despite the Gamecocks' addition of Kelsey Bone.

      Experience and a WNIT runnerup slot got Kansas back into the poll for the first time since February 2000 and enabled Jayhawks coach Bonnie Henrickson join the two-timers club in now adding a second ranked team to her resume to go along with her past success at Virginia Tech.

    Lousville, the NCAA runnerup plunges from 7th in the final poll (ballots conclude BEFORE the NCAA tournament) to No. 23 yet the Cardinal were tied for third in the Big East preseason coaches poll.

    Despite that high vote, Louisville didn';t place anyone on the all-Big East preseason team.

     Delaware got one vote and point, a reflection of the arrival of redshirt-freshman Elena Delle Donne. Temple also got a similar nod but neither was on the Guru's ballot, for now.

    Incidentally, the ongoing layoffs at newspapers in part helped reduce the size of the voting board from 45 to 40, which over a two-year period is now a reduction of 10 panel members. However, the Guru believes quality of knowledge is better than quantity of ballots and considering some media victims found ways to stay eligible does provide some stability.

    It was interesting to see Michigan State pop into No. 10 from nowhere at the end of last season.

    Doug Feinberg gave you the teams that went from nowhere in March to the preseason list.

    Here is the list of eight teams who went from a final poll appearance to the others pille at best.

   The octet, with final ranking in parenthesis, include Maryland (3), Auburn (8), Texas A&M (9) -- three top 10s bounced out altogether might be a first -- Pittsburgh (15), South Dakota State (16), Iowa State (17), Kansas State (21) and Florida (22).

      Maryland ended a run of 76 straight weeks, beginning with the preseason poll of 2005-06 which ended with an NCAA title while Texas A&M ended a run of 64 weeks stemming from the same season.

      The Guru will be trotting out lists from the rescued data files over the next few weeks since the next vote that begins the succession through the end of the conference tournaments won't occur until Nov. 15.

                     Regionals Return to Philly

       On Thursday, the NCAA announced that Temple will host a regional in 2011 at the Liacouras Center, a reward for the job the Owls did in 2005.

       At this point in time it is hard to say what the situation will be in terms of host city media considering current ongoing events. But the city is strategically located to draw coverage from the seaboard although the nature of that coverage will continue to evolve.

      Unless the NCAA committee changes its principles and procedures, which can occur between now and next season, here are things to keep in mind.

      Rutgers is the closest team in terms of mileage among the recent traditional powers but needs to be better than Connecticut, if both are on the same line. Maryland is also in proximity. If these schools are on different lines, much will depend on the geographical proximity of other teams to the other regionals.

    For example, Rutgers might not be the best team on a seed line but if the other three are closer to the other regionals, the Scarlet Knights get Philly by default.

    For now, the situation resembles the Trenton model of last season. Then, perhaps some move could be made to avoid Connecticut and Rutgers projected into the same site especially of the principles and procedures change.

    Remember, Penn State might be back to its olden days by next season and with the Nittany Lions serving as a host school they could get on a path to Philly because of their proximity.

    And what if Delaware becomes a force a year from now.

    But that will be then and this is now.

    The Guru will return with more upon his return to the home city later this weekend.

    -- Mel

Guru's Note: Because of the quantity of coverage from CAA Media Day, this is essentially Part 2 of Wednesday's earlier morning post. A print story from the A-10 women's teleconference will exist early Thursday AM when the Inquirer sports section involving non-baseball coverage posts. The Guru will be in New York Thursday morning for Big East women's media day. The Guru sends his condolences to DePaul women's coach Doug Bruno, who won't attend this year's event due to the passing of his dad earlier this week.

By Mel Greenberg

WASHINGTON - Delaware women's coach Tina Martin has gone through a mixture of emotions since Elena Delle Donne, the former natrional high school player of the year from nearby Wilmington's Ursuline Academy, made the decision to return to the sport from the Blue Hens volleyball team and begin her collegiate career this season as a redshirt freshman.

Delle Donne had originally selected eventual 2009 NCAA champion Connecticut a year ago but quickly returned home and saying two months later in later August she had lost the passion for the sport. She enrolled at Delaware and played volleyball, which she had done her senior season at Ursuline. But the attraction for hoops didn't totally dissipate and she then gravitated back identifying the real cause for her actions as a severe case of being homesick.

Through all of that Delaware women's basketball coach Tina Martin chose not to be pro-active and let Delle Donne decide her future on her own.

But now that Delle Donne is one of her Blue Hens, Martin is walking the balance beam -- excited over the potential look for a squad that has been uncharacteristically down the last two season but has all five starters back, excited over what the new look means for the Colonial Athletic Association, but calm enough to build the chemistry needed to meet expectations and not look too far ahead of what the implications of a Delaware success story means in the future for the Blue Hens.

Martin spoke about all those things Tuesday here. The Guru is going to go to mostly straight transcript off his digital player with Martin's comments essentially being their own narrative:

Asked about the implications of Delle Donne's additions, Martin responded:

 “I think with Elena deciding to play, (the move) certainly brings attention to our program, even more importantly it brings attention to the league. And I think that helps.

“The fact that she’s from Delaware, it’s going to help our attendance, It’s going to help everyone focus on what we can do as at team. And certainly now that she’s decided to play, it’s only going to boost attendance for all the arenas, including our own, which makes it very exciting for all the players in the CAA in my opinion.

“Anytime you have someone that people are interested in and want to know more about, it’s only plus for everybody, not just that individual school, but for everybody."

Guru -- So now that the team is in practice, how does everything look?

“The biggest thing right now is chemistry for our team and everybody adjusting to their roles. Obviously, Elena can do a lot of things and she’s going to attract alot of attention. Everybody in the room knows who she is and they’ve watched her play.

“I think the bottom line right now is just for us to establish what we’re trying to do as a team. Right now, it’s too early to tell how it’s all going to turn out, but certainly, she’s going to have a big impact. She’s going to be able to get on the floor and play both the post position and guard position for us.

“We’re going to run our offenses through her and she’s going to make everybody else better and everybody else is going to make her better because we’ve got other players -- Tesia Harris, who’s our leading returning scorer, she’s a junior now and she’s had two years to learn and get better and get stronger.

"Vanessa Kabongo played this summer with the University Team in Canada. It’s going to help our point guard position when Kayla Miller (former Ursuline teammate and GW transfer) becomes eligible. She has to sit the first eight games but she’s looking good in practice as well. It's just a matter of jelling, getting the right pieces in the right places and really establishing what everybody’s role is going to be.

“That’s the big thing right now -- everybody learning how to play with Elena and Elena learning how to play with them -- understanding where people like to shoot the ball, where they should get the ball, where they can’t get the ball, so that’s the process we’re going through right now.

“It’s an adjustment period. It’s not going to happen overnight. Any team I’ve ever coached in the 23 years I’ve been coaching, it takes time to develop that chemistry. It takes time to develop those roles.

“So although everybody has high expectations, it is going to be an adjustment period, it’s going to be some ups and downs with this process and I realize it, because I’ve been doing this for a long time."

Guru: -- The preconference schedule, built before you knew you'd have Elena, might not be real tough, but the CAA. with its improvement from the past reputation of "Old Dominion and the rest" should provide enough of a test to know where your team is at that point in time, right?

“The conference has become incredible. Obviously with Drexel, Gabriela Marginean coming back, she’s certainly worthy of being drafted in the WNBA in my opinion, she’s the headliner. She’s the player of the year in the conference. And they’ve got enough players back, they’ve got the core of that championship team.
“I think they’re really going to be tough to beat. And that’s just one team.

“And then you look at James Madison who again basically has everybody back and then they’ve added a terrific freshman class who everybody knows about and knows who they are.

“And the list goes on. And then, of course, there’s always Old Dominion. (Coach) Wendy (Larry) does a terrific job -- a lot more speed, they’ve got terrific athletes, so they’re going to be a handful as well.

“I really believe there are six or seven teams in this league that could potentially challenge for a championship. It’s that good of a league this year.  “The league has grown by leaps and bounds. There was only one game last year that separated the top teams from three to nine, it’s that close. I just think it’s an incredible league, very, very competitive, everybody has terrific players, players who are going to get recognized to the next level to play professional basketball and it’s a great time to be in the CAA.

Guru -- So the preseason pick of fourth after finishing ninth, is it because of the addition of Elena or the fact that the Blue Hens are now very much a veteran group?

“At this point, it’s a combination of both . We now have a core group that are juniors. Certainly, they have to step up and play the way they’re capable of playing, and obviously Elena has to get her feet wet and get into competition.

 "I’m sure she’s going to be really, really anxious and have a lot of nervous energy those first couple of games, but once things settle down -- there’s a lot of excitment right now, a lot of expectations -- once thing settle down, if we can get everybody on the same page, we’ll be a very exciting team to watch."

Guru -- So if it all works, down the road you might be getting more TV requests, national interview requests, maybe even more so-called elite teams wanting to play you. And when you look back at the men, once Kareem decided to go to UCLA, everyone else wanted to go to play with him.

Should Elena have a great freshman year, a major bounce could also occur in getting into recruits' homes whose doors might never have been open to you otherwise. How tricky is it to dream of the future while working on the present to build the bridge to that point in time?

"At this point we’re trying to take it one game at at time, and one week at a time. Certainly, you’re not human if you don’t think about, ‘This can turn out, really, really, well.’ But I can’t allow myself, our staff or anyone else associated with our program to jump ahead.

“We just have to focus on trying to get better. Everything else will take care of itself. If we put the hard work and energy into it, and, God willing, we stay healthy, everything will take care of itself.

“There’s a lot of factors that play into being successful, that play into going playing beyond where you've been -- doing very well in your league, going to postseason.

“Again you just have to take it day by day, hope you have some luck on your side as well and that the kids will come together and play hard and get grasp what you’re trying to teach."

The curtain goes up Nov. 17 at St. Francis of Pennsylvania, coached by former Penn State star Susan Robinson Fruchtl.

          -- Mel

(Guru's Note: A print story combining CAA men and women is in the inquirer sports section area of philly.com Drexel is addressed in that story and some comments are being withheld by the Guru until team preview week.)

By Mel Greenberg

  WASHINGTON _ A year ago, mention of Elena Delle Donne, the former national girls high school basketball player of the year out of Wilmington's Ursuline Academy, was done in whispers and muted asides here at the Colonial Athletic Association's annual media day for men and women at the ESPN Zone.

A month earlier in a quick series of events  there was the stunning news Delle Donne had decided not accept a scholarship from eventual 2009 NCAA champion Connecticut, that she was enrolling at nearby CAA member Delaware, and that she was giving up basketball to play volleyball.

 As coaches made their way around the room, now and then there was a lot of repetitive whispers how they had gone to their respective school's volleyball match when Delaware was in town to get a look at Delle Donne "just in case."

As for Blue Hens women's basketball coach Tina Martin, she wasn't saying anything having already issued a statement that the door was open if Delle Donne had interest of returning to the pursuit of hoops.

To some extent, Martin's situation might be similar to a collector of fine art, who learns the portrait of Mona Lisa was being placed wrapped up outside the office with a directive not to open.

Since then, of course, Delle Donne left the volleyball team after her freshman season and then inched her way back to her original pursuit until early June when she announced she had regained the passion and was joining Martin's squad.

With Delle Donne no longer a taboo topic, there were plenty of words Tuesday from other schools discussing the effect of having the prized talent in the conference and Martin describing how to deal with putting her newly acquired star on display without having the entire gallery destroyed in the process.

Delle Donne was named to the preseason second five. She might have been named hgher but there was some confusion on the voting that led some people to believe newcomers weren't eligible. 

Drexel's Denise Dillon, coach of the reigning CAA champions who are picked to repeat, addressed the topic of Delle Donne's return. Incidentally, her own senior Gabriela Marginean, the CAA player of the year was given the similar preseason honor for the second straight season.

"She certainly does a lot for Delaware women’s basketball and she’ll do a lot for the CAA," Dillon said of Delle Donne. "Her attraction and people wanting to see her play will help all our programs draw better crowds, and if you show them good basketball they’re going to come back for their home team and not just for the game against Delaware. They’ll come watch your program.

"It’s exciting," Dillon said. "It’s a great thing for them. I’m happy she came back to the game that she enjoys and that’s important. You talk to these kids about playing basketball and getting the most out of their college experience and I think she’s found her position."

 Hofstra coach Krista Stevesky noted, "Definitely, the kid is going to have an opportunity to prove herself. I saw her play when she was in AAU. "There’s no argument that it can give us some publicity, television coverage, and it definitely can help us.

“She’s versatile. 6-5. She can play the 2,3, and 4. But you know, as a coach we just prepare for every game and we can’t just focus on one player.

"But this is going to make our league better because at the end of the day people can't recruit against you." Stevesky referred to Old Dominion's long 17-year domination of the CAA tournament that ended when Drexel eliminated the Monarchs in the semifinals on the way the title.

. "`Oh, you’re never going to win a championship." one might say. "`Oh, you’re never going to go anywhere.'"

CAA commissioner Tom Yeager observed, Obviously with that high a profile brings a lot of attention in her home state and in a region where she’s well known. If she has an impact that David Robinson had on the men’s side (when Navy was in the CAA), Elena will set a standard, But, again, a lot goes on between now and four years from now. But it will keep the juices going among the top teams.

   Part II coming Thursday

   - Mel

By Mel Greenberg

    PHILADELPHIA - Considering the recent state of the auto industry in theMotor City, there was a temptation to put up a headline  saying the Shock are leaving Dodge about the three-time WNBA champion Detroit franchises move to Tulsa, which will be formally announced Tuesday in the Sooner State.

     But it would inaccurate to use that bouncy George Strait country tune "Take Me Back Tulsa," `considering the league has never been there long enough in the past.

     Whatever, the move comes eight years and three titles after Detroit had orginally been consigned for doomsday action until former NBA star Bill Laimbeer convinced ownership that he could become coach and turn things around.

    And reverse direction was something the Detroit Pistons "Bad Boy," did quickly taking the Shock from the worst recordin the women's pro league in 2002 to a championship a year later, dethroning the two-time champion Los Angeles Sparks coached by Laimbeer's former NBA rival Michael Cooper, who played with the Lakers.

      Of  course, three games into this past season, Laimbeer pulled his own reverse again, leaving the defending champions for an eventual spot as an assistant with the NBA Timberwolves.

     Someone is probably already wondering if he knew the Shock's ultimate fate down the road when he skipped out of town.

     One ramification, though the Guru hasn't seen the indication yet, is Tulsa would probably end up in the Western Conference, leaving the Eastern crowd at six.

       The Tulsa ownership group had already appointed Nolan Richardson, the former Arkansas men's coach, as the coach for whatever team would arrive -- expansion or one existing.

      For all the WNBA success of the recently concluded season, this marks the second straight year a league heavyweight has picked up stakes or in the case of the Shock, heading for steaks.

     A year ago, the once mighty Houston Comets reduced the West to a six-team competition by folding after having been the original dynasty capturing the first for WNBA titles from 1997-2001.

       While there's no dispersal draft involved with the move, undoubtedly Shock players eligible for free agency might consider dispersing, which could help a team as the floundering New York Liberty if ownership wants to spend the money.

       The transfer also puts Shock general manager and assistant coach Cheryl Reeve, a former college star at La Salle University here in town out of South Jersey, in an interesting spot.

      A finalist a year ago in the Washington Mystics coaching search, Reeve is in postion to join another Philadelphian,  Sparks assistant Marianne Stanley, as candidates for the coaching vacancy in Los Angeles.

      Reeve could also become a candidate in New York if the Liberty and Anne Donovan don't come to an agreement removing her interim title and then the 2008 Olympic coach takes a shot at Hollywood.

         The New Digs At Hawk Hill

         The Guru attended Sunday's annual women's basketball clinic held by the Big Five teams and Drexel, wich took place at St. Joseph's new Michael J. Hagan Arena.

          It was the Guru's first look at the remodeling of what was known as Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse and he can say after given the grand tour by Hawks women's coach Cindy Griffin, the facility is sensational.

         Griffin and legendary men's coach Phil Martelli have relocated from hole-in-the-wall offices inside the arena to presidential-style palaces in the adjoining Ramsay Center named for Hall of Fame St. Joseph's men's coach Jack Ramsay.

        There are many more amenities, including upgrades for media accomodations such as the postgame interview room.

         The clinic, incidentally, raised over $3,000 for the Coaches vs. Cancer foundation which gained an additional $450 from sales at the Alex's Lemonade Stand during the two-hour session.

            Players of the Decade

      As the collegiate season approaches, the Guru is aware that the number 2009-10 means thoughts need to begiven to naming players and teams of the decade.

         The Guru and Jonathan are conjuring some ideas on the local front but the Guru needs to talk to the area teams involved that he covers.

         The core group is the Big Five and Drexel, but Delaware, Rutgers, and Penn State could also be involved.

         The thinking is to name all-decade teams and a top player at each school by January and then produce an overall squad and player by the end of the season.

          The question is whether each school would handle the Part 1 at their own sites, but Jonathan says he can produce a ballot that means all the voting can be done here in Guru-land.

       Stay tuned, but feel free to email the Guru your thoughts if the idea intrigues you.

                 CAA-Bound

    The Guru has to sign off now and take off in a few hours for the nation's capital where the Colonial Athletic Association will host its annual men's and women's media days. He will be doing double duty producing two print -- yes -- print stories for Wednesday editions somewhere in the space not being given to praise for the baseball Phillies or bricks to the football Eagles.

     And for those that are curious, the Guru has resurrected his dysfunctional blackberry through a new external device that can charge the unit through a wireless tranfer. This would normally be twitter fodder, but the Guru will offer his copings the past week enduring technological tidal waves.

    No word on the main laptop yet, but poll history files off of last season that are 98 percent of what the total package should be. The backup laptop has finally kicked into a situation that in the spirit of the Apollo 13 return trip from the moon, mangeable communications has returned in the short-term.

     And with that, be back in the next 24.

          -- Mel

This would be breaking news. Mel just called me with confirmation from his sources, who are quite close to all of this, that the WNBA's Detroit Shock are moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma. This confirmation is independent of the AP's reporting from this morning, at least in that Mel's sources told him directly.

The Shock won the WNBA title in 1998, its first season as a franchise, and also won in 2003, 2006 and 2008. According to the AP's report, former Arkansas men's basketball coach Nolan Richardson will be the Shock's new coach and general manager.

By Mel Greenberg

  Less than 24 hours after the dedication of St. Joseph's Michael Hagan Arena, players and coaches from allthe Big Five women's teams and Drexel will gather on Hawk Hill Sunday morning for the annual Big Five basketball clinic, which also serves as a fundraiser for the Coaches vs. Cancer foundation.

 The fee is $25 for and the clinic is open to the first 300 girls who register between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. just before the two-hour session gets under way.

 Players must be in the grades 1-8 while the event is also open to AAU, grade school and high school coaches.

Sunday's gathering will be the first formal Big Five participation of new Penn coach Mike McLaughlin and his staff after his longtime stint at Holy Family. Drexel coach Denise Dillon's Dragons are the reigning Colonial Athletic Association champions, including senior Gabriela Marginean, the CAA player of the year.

  The Guru hears more could be in store for Drexel on Tuesday morning in Washington when the men's and women's pre-season picks are made known at the CAA annual media day.

                      Lisa Leslie's new cause

    As mentioned in the previous blog, former WNBA star Lisa Leslie, who retired three weeks ago after a storied career in the pro league, internationally with three Olynpic gold  medals, and at Southern Cal, visited town Friday as part of a barnstorming tour promoting liver cancer awareness.

    Leslie lost her stepfather Tom Espinoza to the disease in early 2001 after being diagnosed in December 2000, which is a year earlier than the Guru mentioned on a previous post.

   Due to a schedule switch, Leslie did not speak at a luncheon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, as orginally planned, but did have lunch across the street in Center City at Doctor Watson's Pub, a longtime hangout of The Inquirer Sports Department.

   "I've always been involved with causes that are more helpful for people than for myself," Leslie said of her involvement.

    "This is no different. Losing my stepfather in 2001, it was hard to see someone deteriorate very quickly when he lost his battle to liver cancer," Leslie said. "To see my mom and him go through that without options was probably the hardest part.

 "I'm teaming with Covidien, which is a health care company and it provides different procedures and some surgeries that can help with the liver cancer. I wanted to make sure people got information from their new website www.mylivercanceroptions.com."

Leslie said the health care group found her in terms of her involvement in the crusade.

"That was really good and they did their research and were aware Tom died from liver cancer. It eas easy for me to get involved, a no-brainer because the situation we went through having options and information, I just thought it would be great for people to know they have options.

"Liver cancer and lung cancer are two diseases you don't hear a lot about," she said.

Leslie has been involved in campaigns battling breast cancer and she said, "The difference is that there are so many options that make you feel it is preventative and it gives you hope. Now there's those things that are surrounding livercancer, too, so it's great we can get that message out."

Of course, the conversation also turned to basketball.

Leslie is looking at broadcast and maybe coaching opportunities, among other options, but noted, "I really want to take my time. Because when I get involved with something I'm really passionate about it and I want to make sure that can continue."

 She has no idea who the Sparks will turn to replace Michael Cooper, who is the new coach of Leslie's alma mater at USC. But she would be thrilled to see her USC coach Marianne Stanley, the former Immaculata star and Old Dominion coach who has been a Sparks assistant, get promoted.

Leslie wants to be around the pro game and noted, "It will be interesting to see the staying power (in the pros) between the Connecticut players and Tennessee players,"

 She thought former Huskies guard Renee Montgomery came into a tough situation as a rookie in being picked by the Minnesota Lynx, which is a very young team.

 Leslie, a good friend of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, the former Temple member who was her Olympic teammate, also discussed the difference in mindsets of younger players, even some in the WNBA, as opposed to her generation.

"I only knew one thing and that was to keep working hard whether it was just at practice or in a game," Leslie said.

She cited Connecticut junior Maya Moore as a player who gets after it in all situations.

Leslie said she doesn't feel any different right now in the early days of her retirement since her activities are the same as if she would be still an active player.

"But it was time to leave," Leslie said. "However, when next summer comes around, wow, for the first time I'm going to have it all to myself."

                  -- Mel

The Guru interrupts what will be a loooong blog to apologize for some glitch that never put the content into the previous post headline about Lisa Leslie Don't fear because all will be re-addressed here with new content. The Guru is curious, though,whether it was a link from somewhere or the new-look web page that caused his daily number to shoot up since there's been nothing new until today.

Also, attention those who need to know spread the word. The AP marching orders to voters has arrived and the preseason AP poll will be released, in the earliest date ever on Oct. 30, which may occur BEFORE the world series is over. This begins season 34 and hopefully the people now working on the Guru's primary laptop will rescue the Guru's poll history files. Won't know for the next two weeks. OK, now on with the blog.

By Mel Greenberg

 Less than a month following former WNBA star Lisa Leslie's entrance into retirement, the three-time Olympic gold medalist will be visiting Philadelphia Friday with a different purpose than in the past when she was usually in town to visit her longtime friend and Olympic teammate Dawn Staley.

Leslie, who starred at Southern Cal in college, will speak at a luncheon at Thomas Jefferson University, about the fight against liver cancer. The native of Los Angeles is visiting hospitals across the country in that cause.

She lost her stepfather two months after a diagnosis in December, 2001, that he was in Stage III of primary liver cancer.

Leslie's illustrious career officially ended when the Sparks lost to the eventual WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference final's deciding Game 3.

Speaking of Staley, who now is in her second season coaching at South Carolina following an eight-year run at Temple, she apparently has leared a little marketing along the way.

On Thursday, 24 hours in advance of the official beginning of fall practice, Staley hosted a 32-team 3-on-3 tipoff tournament on campus for Gamecock students.

Spectators were treated to free food and drinks while the coaching staff did some commentating on the competition.

  The final will be played at halftime of the season-opener against Penn State abd Staley will pick up to tab for the winning team's books for the spring semester.

                  Jimmy V Dinner and Auction

    The Gur was in New York Wednesday night for the annual ESPN-hosted Jimmy V event named for the foundation and late North Carolina State men's coach Jim Valvano, who was a victim of cancer.

   Rutgers will again be a host of the women's game against Florida, while during Jimmy V week on the network, Indiana will meet Pittsburgh and Georgetown will meet Butler in a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.

   Scarlet Knights coach C. Vivian Stringer, inducted last month into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., gave a short and eloquent presentation about fighting the disease, herself being a breast cancer survivor.

  She gave a short list of statistics of what has been lost from last year's team through roster departures, attempting to give some comfort to Florida coach Amanda Butler. However, Stringer promised her team would finish strong by the end of the season.

  Butler, a southerner, perhaps had the funniest line of the night in the crowd of New Yorkers, saying, "I guess yu can tell from the few sentences I have spoken, I am not part of your family."

                                  CAA Cites Drexel's Marginean and Delaware Duo

     The Collonial Athletic Association earlier this week announced its 25-member silver anniversary team and reigning CAA player of the year Gabriella Marginean of Drexel, a senior, is the only current player in the group.

   Former Delaware stars Tiara Malcom, now a Blue Hens assistant coach, and Tyresa Smith were also named to the team righfully dominated by Old Dominion, which had 11 players named.

    The Monarchs had won every CAA tournament since joining the conference before Drexel on the way to a title eliminated them in last season's semifinal.

   JamesMadison placed five players, while Richmond, now with the Atlantic 10 but a CAA winner prior to ODU's entrance, placed Pam Bryant Jordan on the squad.

   Here's the list:

       Meredith Alexis (James Madison), Mery Andrade (Old Dominion), Kristine Austgulen (VCU), Sydney Beasley (James Madison), Lucienne Berthieu (Old Dominion), Sylvia Bragg (East Carolina), Pam Bryant (Richmond), Monique Coker (Old Dominion), Natalie Diaz (Old Dominion), Shareese Grant (Old Dominion), Tonya Hargrove (East Carolina), Alisa Harris (James Madison), Celeste Hill (Old Dominion), Quanitra Hollingsworth (VCU), Floretta Jackson (James Madison), T.J. Jordan (Old Dominion), Kyra Kaylor (William and Mary), Clarisse Machanguana (Old Dominion), Hamchetou Maiga (Old Dominion), Tiara Malcom (Delaware), Gabriela Marginean (Drexel), Ticha Penicheiro (Old Dominion), Nyree Roberts (Old Dominion), Tyresa Smith (Delaware) and Tamera Young (James Madison).

     A panel of current and former coaches made the picks.

    While a coach of the team was not named, that honor should go to Old Dominion's Wendy Larry with Delaware's Tina Martin, and James Madison's Kenny Brooksand former coach Sheila Moorman as assistants.

   The group includes 17 former CAA players of the year, including Marginean's honor of last seasaon, 10 all-Americans and nine players drafted by the WNBA.

     One sign of how the conference has grown is the number of recent players named such as James Madison's Tamera Young and Virginia Commonwealth's Quanitra Hollingsworth.

    If she former national high school player of the year Elena Delle Donne, who resumes her basketball career as a red-shirt freshman on Friday, lives up to her pre-college hype, she most likely will be on the 30th anniversary team a year after her proiected expiration of eligibility.

   Delle Donne, of course, orginally accepted a scholarship from Connecticut, left after less than 48 hours on campus a year ago for the start of summer school, enrolled at Delaware near her home and played volleyball last season, saying she had lost her passion for the sport, where she had been acclaimed since the ninth grade.

  Upon announcing her return in June, she said she now understood it wasn't the lost passion as a cause but a serious case of home sickness.

                                       Geno cvs. Geno

     Speaking of UConn., with Huskies coach Geno Auriemma heading the Olympic squad for 2012 which has a slew of his former and some current players on the roster, the Guru would like to see an exhibition game between that group and UConn where Auriemma could coach against himself taking each team for a half.

   And here's a thought as the season gets under way, although most likely not to happen, if Connecticut goes unbeaten into the Big East tournament, it's mathematically possible the Huskies could meet Villanova after a NCAA-record tying 70th straight win.

  That was the number the Huskies reached in 2003 before Villanova ended the run with a stunning upset in the Bg East title game. Diana Taurasi and company, however, recovered to win the second of three-straight NCAA titles.

                                        New Big East Hire

       In recent years there has been jokes in Knoxville about the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's hire in 2006 of Karen Tucker as director of programs. She had been a beat writer covering the Huskies and the WNBA's Connecticut Sun before taking the job in the home of arch-UConn rival Tennessee.

     Well, maybe now the player-to-be named later in the deal to go up North has been picked.

   The Big East on Thursday annouced the hire of Danielle Donehew to a new position of associate commissioner of the conference for women's basketball. She had been executive director of the new WNBA Atlanta Dream the last two seasons.

    But before that Donohew was an assistant athletic director at Tennessee and is a former start at GeorgiaTech.

     At the Conference office, Donehew will be assuming duties relating to the oversight and management of all aspects of BIG EAST Women’s Basketball including television, scheduling, branding and messaging as well as management of the Conference championship.
 

     -- Mel

(Guru's note: While the Guru is coping with a major crisis on his laptop, the previous model has been brought to life and made operational until hopefully the issue can be resolved without serious data loss, though most important files are backed up on thumb drives. Here is the AP coverage of the championship to which the Guru adds it's been a pretty good run so far for Mercury exec and Hall of Famer Ann Meyers-Drysdale since she left the broadcast booth to join Phoenix three years ago. Two titles in three seasons. Also amazing time off this season between title game and start of college practice -- all of seven days.) -- Mel

By Bob Baum

AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — Diana Taurasi has just about everything any WNBA player would want — league MVP, finals MVP and a championship.

A season she called "up and down" had a magnificent conclusion.

Taurasi scored 26 points Friday night and the Mercury held off the tenacious Indiana Fever 94-86 in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA finals.

"It's been a humbling summer, throughout," she said. "You know, the last month it's been an incredible high, from the MVP to the championship. But rewind 2½ months ago and I was probably as low as I can get."

She was referring to her July 2 driving under the influence arrest. She had a blood-alcohol level of .17 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Taurasi has spoke openly about how the incident changed her life.

"I used it to make myself better in areas you guys will never understand," she said.

The Mercury won their second championship in three years, and both were accomplished with a core of three players as talented as any in the game — Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor.

Each of them played a crucial role in Game 5.

Pondexter scored 24 points and Taylor made two critical free throws with 37.7 seconds left for the Mercury, who won the last two games to take the intense series.

"This is what we do, we make big plays," Taurasi said, holding a towel over her head in the champagne-drenched locker room. "We have people that step up and love to live the moment. It's a great team, great team."

When it was over, the three hugged in elation, and Taylor — the Australian who joined the team Aug. 1 after reconstructive ankle surgery — broke down in tears.

"I was only here from half the season but it was a long half and it's been a hard half," she said. "Just the build-up of that emotion of wanting to do so well, and wanting to do well for your teammates, wanting to win every game and it's just a release right now that we have been able to do it,"

Tammy Sutton-Brown scored 22 points, and Jessica Davenport had a career-high 18 for Indiana in its first finals appearance. Tamika Catchings added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Fever.

"I thought we played about as well as we could play," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "I thought there were a couple of times that we missed some shots that maybe could have helped us win a championship, but they didn't fall."

Sutton-Brown pointed to the crucial home loss in Game 4.

"We had an opportunity to close it out at home, and we let that one slip away," she said, "but I think we came out and fought hard tonight. Phoenix is a great team. I think it was a great series. It was great for the WNBA."

Indiana rallied from 10 down in the second half to tie it at 80 on Sutton-Brown's layup with 4:29 to play, then Tangela Smith made two 3-pointers, her only field goals of the night, to put the Mercury ahead for good.

Her second, after Davenport scored for Indiana, put Phoenix ahead 86-82 with 3:34 to go.

Pondexter's 9-footer made it 88-82 with 2:22 left, but the Fever — who had led the series 2-1 — weren't finished. Davenport's inside basket cut it to 88-84, then Catchings' rebound basket made it 88-86 with 2:07 to play.

On the Mercury's next possession, Taylor took the ball and drove the lane into a crowd of defenders. Davenport was called for the foul, and Taylor's two free throws made it 90-86. Two free throws apiece from DeWanna Bonner and Taurasi provided the final margin.

Taylor added 14 points and Bonner 13 for Phoenix. Katie Douglas had her second straight rough shooting night. The Indiana star was 4 of 14 for 13 points after going 2 of 14 in Game 4. The Mercury made 10 of 17 3s.

Phoenix won it with the super-speed style that then-coach Paul Westhead used in 2007 and Corey Gaines — an assistant under Westhead — adopted when he took over.

"When I first started coaching in the WNBA coach Westhead, who is my mentor — who we owe this championship to as much as him being here right now — he told me, 'We're going to coach the players as players, not women, ball players'" Gaines said. "And it's funny how they embraced it because they enjoyed being treated that way. Instead of being treated as women basketball players, we treat them as ball players."

After a cold-shooting first quarter, the Mercury turned it on with one of their best 10 minutes of the season, shooting a finals record 76.5 percent (13 of 17) — and they even missed their last two shots — in a second-quarter blitz.

Taurasi, after struggling with her shot against Catchings' defense in the first four games, was 5 for 5 in a 13-point second quarter, three of them 3-pointers.

Attendance for the five games was a finals record 82,018, winding up with three consecutive sellouts. It helped that Phoenix Suns co-captains purchased all the tickets in the upper bowl for Friday's game and gave them away.