April 15, 2025 • 11 mins
Rob and Ben are joined by David Benedict who is the athletic director for the UConn Huskies. In this segment they discuss the UConn Women's Basketball winning another national championship last week, the national championship parade that was thrown in the capital over the weekend, the WNBA draft last night with Paige Bueckers being the first overall pick, as well as the Women's Tennis team being the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament for the first time in program history!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm sure you watched the WNBA draft last night. You
had three ladies drafted. How excited are you as an
athletic director when some of your players can go pro?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You just enjoy it for them. You know, they've put
so much time energy into positioning themselves for that moment,
and so I know, obviously with Paige there was an
expectation of when she was going to get drafted. But
you know, for Caitlin and Aubrey, I think although there
(00:34):
was some confidence from our coach, I think obviously they
didn't know for sure, and so to see them get
their names called was certainly really satisfying and very happy
for them.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Nothing new for this university really, this program, and as
far as the WNBA is concerned, I think every team
has a player from Yukon. It might be a little
bit different to start this season, but it was last
We got players all over the place that represent the Huskies.
Major League Baseball, NFL. You talk to us about teaching
the kids about what they're in for when they hit
(01:10):
the transfer portal. You teach the kids what they're in
for when it comes to nil at your university. As
an athletic department, what do you guys do, because I'm
sure you have so many more resources than a lot
of people in Division I athletics. But what do you
all do as far as preparing these kids for a
professional setting in the sport?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, look, I think there's a lot of things that happen,
but you know, most of that is day to day
within their program. I mean the way our coaches, you know,
manage our student athletes, and you know, within the context
of the sports where you see kids going professionally, I
(01:51):
mean on a regular basis at Yukon certainly mental women's basketball, football,
men's ice hockey. You got some women's ice hockey athletes.
You got some lacrosse, so you're you know, men's and
women's soccer. You have a lot of diversity in the
(02:15):
number of kids that are going professional across a lot
of different sports. Each sport is obviously very different. But
you know, most of what I would say is training
for our student athletes to be prepared to be a
pro is happening day to day within their programs. I mean,
(02:35):
it's being disciplined, it's understanding how to manage your schedule.
It's the work ethic that is required to be successful.
Not only at our level, but as a professional athlete,
and so you know, all the other stuff then is
obviously important. You know you mentioned nil and all of
(02:58):
those things, but ultimately they're not taking care of the
things that are happening day to day within preparing themselves
to be great when when it's their opportunity to be
on the field of the court, the other stuff is
going to matter. So I think our coaches do a
great job with that, and you can see that based
on the success that our kids are having.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Talking to David Benedict, the athletic director of the University
of Connecticut, had a parade over the weekend. You know,
another successful season, you know, but it's right back into
you know, getting transfer portal guys onto the next season,
things like that. How quickly is the turnaround in your
office in preparing for twenty five twenty six.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, it doesn't stop. I mean the number of people
that obviously have congratulated me personally, which is fantastic. I
appreciate it, But I think the assumption is where we're
sitting around just enjoying and basking in the glow of
the win, and it's like there's there's no time, there's
(04:02):
no you have the portal going on with the men's
we I just got done with a meeting with coach More.
The football portal opens up tomorrow for them. You know,
they're finishing spring ball and we'll obviously be meeting with
a lot of their players. And so it is, uh,
it's constant, it never stops. And as much as you
(04:24):
should be able to at least take a moment to
enjoy it, we we we just don't have that right now.
I mean we've got to We've got a class action
lawsuit in the house case that everyone is kind of,
you know, waiting for what is going to be the
result of that, because it's going to drive a lot
of behavior moving forward into next year. And so there
(04:49):
there is no time to sit around and think about
what you did yesterday. You just got to be continually
moving forward and trying to position are our so and
Yukon and all of our sport programs in a way
that will allow us to continue to be successful. And
there's a lot that goes into that because every day
(05:12):
things are changing.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Can you give us a sense of how coach Moore
is handling springball? And when we were playing, man, I
loved it. I thought spring ball was a great stepping
stone to the next season, and if you had a
great spring couple of weeks, that could propel you as
a player, and it could propel you as a team
if you guys really got things together heading into your
summer sessions then into your camp. But now, I mean,
(05:35):
it's like you don't want to give up any kind
of x's and o's that you're going to be using
at the beginning of the season because some of these
guys might not even be on your team. Like, you
want to get everybody as a cohesive as possible. But
there's so many moving parts these days compared to when
you and I were in college football.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But just how is.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Coach handling this spring session this time around?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Well, I think then, you know you touched on it
a little bit, you know, because there are so many
new bodies on not just our team, but if you
look around the country, the movement that's taking place is
so different than it was even five years ago. You
(06:20):
really have to utilize spring to ingrain your culture and
to galvanize your team, because you if you wait until
the fall to do that, it's probably too late. And
so you know, you have to get that you know,
foundation put in place, and you know, we're I would
(06:42):
imagine we're gonna even introduce You're going to have, you know,
a handful of incoming freshmen come in that won't have
taken part in spring practice, and then you're going to
have some additional transfers. And so you know, if that's
only representative of about you know, ten or fifteen percent
of the overall, then you can probably get away with that.
(07:02):
But it's really about trying to build a cohesive team
in the spring. So he feels Coach More feels really
good based on our conversation that we just had about
how spring has gone thus far. I believe they have
one more practice tomorrow, and you know, they're excited about
(07:24):
where they're at. Obviously there's always an opportunity to get better,
but I think generally speaking, I think they feel pretty
good coming out of spring ball. But there's a lot
of work to be done still.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is there a committee or is it just something to
coach and the athletic director. Maybe the president's school when
you retire someone's jersey. I know there's a school I'm
not going to name it, but they're already retiring two
student athletes jerseys. They haven't even been drafted into the NFL,
they're just completing their senior years at the school. Is
(08:00):
there any kind of like grace period you guys wait
on before you retire jerseys.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, it's one of the things, Dips that we need
to do a better job of here and it's something
that Kevin Freeman, who oversees our national CEA club, is
working on. We do a good job of recognizing men's
and women's basketball student athletes here and we have a
lot of what you're talking about in place, but across
(08:29):
the board for the rest of our sports, it's not
as structured and we need to do a better job
so that there is a there is a set of
guidelines as to how you recognize people. So we're in
the process of building that. Obviously, it's a little bit
different for every sport. I mean, the bar for men's
(08:50):
and women's basketball is you know, you're getting inducted into
the Hall of Fame, and we just had two two
more individuals go in on the women's side in you know,
the past month, and so you know that bar is
pretty high. What's appropriate for other sports may be a
(09:11):
little bit different, and so you know, you work with
former athletes to talk about those things and what's appropriate,
but if you're going to retire someone's jersey, it should
be a significant bar.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
In my opinion, springs Sports don't stop. Springsports is still
going on. Yukon baseball at Boston College today, they've got
another home weekend series. Seaton Hall is going to be
in town for a big Big East weekend series. Softball
is kicking off as well. But women's tennis already in
the Big East Tournament. Number one seed for women's tennis
(09:46):
in the Big East Tournament. How significant is that for
this program?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Well, it's really significant because they've never been a one
seed going into the tournament and so, you know, we're
just as we've talked about other sports programs achieving things
that they've never achieved before historically. I think those things
are really significant and it's great to see. You know,
Glenn does a great job with the program, and it's
(10:15):
again it's great for those student athletes. When you when
you do things that have never been accomplished before by
a program, it's a it's a milestone. It raises the
bar for the program and the rest of the individuals
that are part of the program, and so I'm very
excited for that group of individuals, and you know, I
want nothing more for them to go out and win
(10:37):
a conference championship. This week. The tournament championship is down
in Columbia, South Carolina. Not don't ask me why it's there.
They just have a really nice They just have a
nice facility. It's obviously in a warmer climate than where
most of the Big East schools reside, and so there's
(10:58):
a better likelihood that you're gonna be able to play outdoors.
I think our team has only been able to play
outdoors one match at home this year, which is, you know,
for an outdoor sport, that's pretty disappointing for them. But
nonetheless they've done, you know, done a remarkable job and
really excited to see what happens this week. They'll play
(11:22):
Friday morning, is their first match.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
David, always look forward to our discussions. We always learn
a lot from you. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Thanks a lot, guys, have a great rest of the week,
and go Huskies.
I'm sure you watched the WNBA draft last night. You
had three ladies drafted. How excited are you as an
athletic director when some of your players can go pro?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You just enjoy it for them. You know, they've put
so much time energy into positioning themselves for that moment,
and so I know, obviously with Paige there was an
expectation of when she was going to get drafted. But
you know, for Caitlin and Aubrey, I think although there
(00:34):
was some confidence from our coach, I think obviously they
didn't know for sure, and so to see them get
their names called was certainly really satisfying and very happy
for them.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Nothing new for this university really, this program, and as
far as the WNBA is concerned, I think every team
has a player from Yukon. It might be a little
bit different to start this season, but it was last
We got players all over the place that represent the Huskies.
Major League Baseball, NFL. You talk to us about teaching
the kids about what they're in for when they hit
(01:10):
the transfer portal. You teach the kids what they're in
for when it comes to nil at your university. As
an athletic department, what do you guys do, because I'm
sure you have so many more resources than a lot
of people in Division I athletics. But what do you
all do as far as preparing these kids for a
professional setting in the sport?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, look, I think there's a lot of things that happen,
but you know, most of that is day to day
within their program. I mean the way our coaches, you know,
manage our student athletes, and you know, within the context
of the sports where you see kids going professionally, I
(01:51):
mean on a regular basis at Yukon certainly mental women's basketball, football,
men's ice hockey. You got some women's ice hockey athletes.
You got some lacrosse, so you're you know, men's and
women's soccer. You have a lot of diversity in the
(02:15):
number of kids that are going professional across a lot
of different sports. Each sport is obviously very different. But
you know, most of what I would say is training
for our student athletes to be prepared to be a
pro is happening day to day within their programs. I mean,
(02:35):
it's being disciplined, it's understanding how to manage your schedule.
It's the work ethic that is required to be successful.
Not only at our level, but as a professional athlete,
and so you know, all the other stuff then is
obviously important. You know you mentioned nil and all of
(02:58):
those things, but ultimately they're not taking care of the
things that are happening day to day within preparing themselves
to be great when when it's their opportunity to be
on the field of the court, the other stuff is
going to matter. So I think our coaches do a
great job with that, and you can see that based
on the success that our kids are having.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Talking to David Benedict, the athletic director of the University
of Connecticut, had a parade over the weekend. You know,
another successful season, you know, but it's right back into
you know, getting transfer portal guys onto the next season,
things like that. How quickly is the turnaround in your
office in preparing for twenty five twenty six.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, it doesn't stop. I mean the number of people
that obviously have congratulated me personally, which is fantastic. I
appreciate it, But I think the assumption is where we're
sitting around just enjoying and basking in the glow of
the win, and it's like there's there's no time, there's
(04:02):
no you have the portal going on with the men's
we I just got done with a meeting with coach More.
The football portal opens up tomorrow for them. You know,
they're finishing spring ball and we'll obviously be meeting with
a lot of their players. And so it is, uh,
it's constant, it never stops. And as much as you
(04:24):
should be able to at least take a moment to
enjoy it, we we we just don't have that right now.
I mean we've got to We've got a class action
lawsuit in the house case that everyone is kind of,
you know, waiting for what is going to be the
result of that, because it's going to drive a lot
of behavior moving forward into next year. And so there
(04:49):
there is no time to sit around and think about
what you did yesterday. You just got to be continually
moving forward and trying to position are our so and
Yukon and all of our sport programs in a way
that will allow us to continue to be successful. And
there's a lot that goes into that because every day
(05:12):
things are changing.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Can you give us a sense of how coach Moore
is handling springball? And when we were playing, man, I
loved it. I thought spring ball was a great stepping
stone to the next season, and if you had a
great spring couple of weeks, that could propel you as
a player, and it could propel you as a team
if you guys really got things together heading into your
summer sessions then into your camp. But now, I mean,
(05:35):
it's like you don't want to give up any kind
of x's and o's that you're going to be using
at the beginning of the season because some of these
guys might not even be on your team. Like, you
want to get everybody as a cohesive as possible. But
there's so many moving parts these days compared to when
you and I were in college football.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But just how is.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Coach handling this spring session this time around?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Well, I think then, you know you touched on it
a little bit, you know, because there are so many
new bodies on not just our team, but if you
look around the country, the movement that's taking place is
so different than it was even five years ago. You
(06:20):
really have to utilize spring to ingrain your culture and
to galvanize your team, because you if you wait until
the fall to do that, it's probably too late. And
so you know, you have to get that you know,
foundation put in place, and you know, we're I would
(06:42):
imagine we're gonna even introduce You're going to have, you know,
a handful of incoming freshmen come in that won't have
taken part in spring practice, and then you're going to
have some additional transfers. And so you know, if that's
only representative of about you know, ten or fifteen percent
of the overall, then you can probably get away with that.
(07:02):
But it's really about trying to build a cohesive team
in the spring. So he feels Coach More feels really
good based on our conversation that we just had about
how spring has gone thus far. I believe they have
one more practice tomorrow, and you know, they're excited about
(07:24):
where they're at. Obviously there's always an opportunity to get better,
but I think generally speaking, I think they feel pretty
good coming out of spring ball. But there's a lot
of work to be done still.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is there a committee or is it just something to
coach and the athletic director. Maybe the president's school when
you retire someone's jersey. I know there's a school I'm
not going to name it, but they're already retiring two
student athletes jerseys. They haven't even been drafted into the NFL,
they're just completing their senior years at the school. Is
(08:00):
there any kind of like grace period you guys wait
on before you retire jerseys.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, it's one of the things, Dips that we need
to do a better job of here and it's something
that Kevin Freeman, who oversees our national CEA club, is
working on. We do a good job of recognizing men's
and women's basketball student athletes here and we have a
lot of what you're talking about in place, but across
(08:29):
the board for the rest of our sports, it's not
as structured and we need to do a better job
so that there is a there is a set of
guidelines as to how you recognize people. So we're in
the process of building that. Obviously, it's a little bit
different for every sport. I mean, the bar for men's
(08:50):
and women's basketball is you know, you're getting inducted into
the Hall of Fame, and we just had two two
more individuals go in on the women's side in you know,
the past month, and so you know that bar is
pretty high. What's appropriate for other sports may be a
(09:11):
little bit different, and so you know, you work with
former athletes to talk about those things and what's appropriate,
but if you're going to retire someone's jersey, it should
be a significant bar.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
In my opinion, springs Sports don't stop. Springsports is still
going on. Yukon baseball at Boston College today, they've got
another home weekend series. Seaton Hall is going to be
in town for a big Big East weekend series. Softball
is kicking off as well. But women's tennis already in
the Big East Tournament. Number one seed for women's tennis
(09:46):
in the Big East Tournament. How significant is that for
this program?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Well, it's really significant because they've never been a one
seed going into the tournament and so, you know, we're
just as we've talked about other sports programs achieving things
that they've never achieved before historically. I think those things
are really significant and it's great to see. You know,
Glenn does a great job with the program, and it's
(10:15):
again it's great for those student athletes. When you when
you do things that have never been accomplished before by
a program, it's a it's a milestone. It raises the
bar for the program and the rest of the individuals
that are part of the program, and so I'm very
excited for that group of individuals, and you know, I
want nothing more for them to go out and win
(10:37):
a conference championship. This week. The tournament championship is down
in Columbia, South Carolina. Not don't ask me why it's there.
They just have a really nice They just have a
nice facility. It's obviously in a warmer climate than where
most of the Big East schools reside, and so there's
(10:58):
a better likelihood that you're gonna be able to play outdoors.
I think our team has only been able to play
outdoors one match at home this year, which is, you know,
for an outdoor sport, that's pretty disappointing for them. But
nonetheless they've done, you know, done a remarkable job and
really excited to see what happens this week. They'll play
(11:22):
Friday morning, is their first match.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
David, always look forward to our discussions. We always learn
a lot from you. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Thanks a lot, guys, have a great rest of the week,
and go Huskies.
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