Geno Auriemma Reported to NCAA for Calling Mo'Ne Davis to Congratulate Her; 'That's the World We Live In'
ByGeno Auriemma only wanted to congratulate Mo'Ne Davis for her impressive run in the Little League World Series (LLWS), but a rival AAC school was not having it.
According to the Hartford Courant, an anonymous women's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) reported Auriemma's call to the NCAA. Auriemma's call may have been by the book, but Davis has made public her post-high-school goals.
During the LLWS, Davis, 13, said she wants to play point guard for Auriemma and the UConn Huskies. Davis was seen at the WNBA semifinals meeting former UConn star Maya Moore wearing her Huskies hoodie, the same one she wore when she met L.A. Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw.
Davis is going into the eighth grade and the NCAA defines prospective student-athletes as young people who have already started the ninth grade. Davis led the Taney Dragons in the LLWS and made headlines for striking out eight batters in a complete game shutout.
"The conversation lasted like two minutes and we hung up," Auriemma told the Courant. "And then I was told a school turned us in for a recruiting violation because we are not allowed contact of July 1 before her junior year of high school... That's the world that we live in."
Possibly the most astonishing thing about Davis is her mysterious hardcourt prowess, as her teammates have said she is a far better basketball player than she is a pitcher. Not even Auriemma has seen her play though, nor has he spoken with anyone who has.
"Under normal circumstances, I would probably not know anything about her until she was in ninth grade," Auriemma said. "So what does this mean? If a kid wins a swimming contest somewhere and is wearing a [UConn] sweatshirt and I call to congratulate her in seventh grade, is someone now going to say you are not allowed to do that? Well, why not? Isn't that unbelievable?
"There are guys playing college basketball driving around in cars worth more than my house and we're worried about a phone call to a little girl?"