SI's Girls Athlete of the Year: Elena Delle Donne to join UConn family

UConn signee Elena Delle Donne from Delaware stepped away from basketball last summer when she felt burned out. Getty Images

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Like two paisans in a pod, Geno Auriemma and Lizzie Delle Donne felt comfortable together.

Early last October, the UConn coach made his way to the nation's smallest state to visit his big-name recruit, Lizzie's sister, Elena, a 6-foot-5 forward from Ursuline Academy who had already given him a verbal commitment. Entering the Delle Donne's house, Auriemma slipped past Elena to say hello to Lizzie, 24, who is blind, deaf and has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and autism. "I know it's hard for people not comfortable with disabilities to relate sometimes," says the girls' mother, Joannie. "So I wasn't sure how Geno would handle it."

Uncertain of how Lizzie -- who is nervous of newcomers -- would react, Joannie watched Auriemma sweep in and reach his arms out toward Lizzie. Lizzie then kicked her legs around the coach and relished in his embrace. "I told Elena that Lizzie is telling you something with her acceptance," Joannie says.

At home in the Mediterranean atmosphere, Auriemma -- a native of Montella, Italy -- was not done leaving an impression. After touring the sprawling property on the family's golf cart, the traditional Sunday meal included veal and red pepper sandwiches. Fully fed and ostensibly tuckered from talking, Auriemma feel asleep for a half an hour.

"At least he wasn't drooling or snoring," says Chris Dailey, his associate coach of 23 years. "It was great because I got to do all the talking for once."

The courtship of Delle Donne, SI's Girls Athlete of the Year for her exploits on the basketball and volleyball courts, had been exhausting. As the top-ranked player in her class since the eighth grade, she never enjoyed under-the-radar anonymity. During her sophomore year she established a new national record with 80 consecutive free throws made. In the state title game that year, she scored 50 points in front of 4,800 onlookers. Heavy was the crown placed atop her and heady were the expectations laid out by others. "She never really played a game where the bar was set low because of her reputation," says Ernie Delle Donne, a real estate developer, who played for Columbia.

Last July, as colleges attempted to secure a commitment from Delle Donne, she felt burned out and stepped away from basketball. She contacted the four schools still on her list at that point -- Tennessee, UConn, Middle Tennessee State and Villanova -- and informed them that she would contact them when she returned. With no ball, she went to the gym with her mother and performed exercises without weights or the burden of basketball-focused thoughts. She was not to touch a ball or receive a phone call from recruiters. "We didn't hear from her for about a month," Dailey says. "We knew she knew where to reach us."

On Aug. 23, Delle Donne called Dailey while the coach was shopping at a Connecticut mall. Elena had arranged to call Auriemma the day before, and she did not call. Worth the wait, the star recruit -- who is UConn's third consecutive Naismith National Player of the Year following Tina Charles and Maya Moore -- assured Dailey that her word would be positive. "I texted Geno that it was good," Dailey says. "And not to be a jerk when Elena called."

Even after committing to the Huskies, message board posters speculated that Tennessee coach Pat Summitt's decision to end her team's series with UConn was over Delle Donne's recruitment. "The schools have so much more in common than differences that is unfortunate they series won't go on," Ernie says.

Once committed, Delle Donne soon had another, non-basketball choice to make. The middle hitter for Ursuline's volleyball team went down with an injury, and the volleyball coach asked Delle Donne if she would like to play. After discussions with her family, she called Auriemma, and he endorsed the idea. "The best part was not playing under a microscope," says Elena, who helped win a state title.

The Delle Donne odyssey back to the hardwood did not seamlessly segue into basketball season. In the late fall, she contracted mononucleosis and missed 10 games. Upon her return, she scored 38 points in a win over national power Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.). "I think she'd be a helluva cross country runner. If she wanted to bowl she could spin with the best," Christ the King coach Bob Mackey says. "I don't see her being a softball catcher, but if you teach her to windmill she might be one of the best in that, too."

Despite the incessant double- and triple-teaming of its star, many times being picked up as she crossed the half-court line, Ursuline took won the state title. Able to adapt and attack, Delle Donne, who had been trained by family friend John Noonan since she was a youth, had built her game from the outside-in, rather than locking her into a post position. To strengthen and quicken her ball handling, Noonan would have former Clemson offensive lineman and 1998 NFL draft pick Jim Bundren defend Delle Donne. "John created Frankenstein, my daughter," Ernie says.

Comfortable in her own skin and college choice, Delle Donne attended the prom at her sister Lizzie's old school two weeks ago. Twisting the night away with disabled children in wheelchairs, her mother saw her daughter at a level of comfort she was unable to enjoy before her break last summer. "The break was the best thing that could have happened," Joannie says.

On June 2, Elena -- who maintains a 3.8 GPA -- will graduate from Ursuline and immediately make her way north to UConn for summer classes. What's in Storrs for her are studies in special education and a family setting. "I'm just as comfortable there as I am at home," she says. "I wish I could bring Lizzie with me."