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STORRS — The first time Geno Auriemma met with Sue Bird in his office on campus, the thing he remembers most is how nervous the star point guard was.

UConn women’s basketball , as Auriemma put it, “wasn’t what UConn is today” in the late 1990s when Bird was emerging as a high school superstar. The Huskies only had the 1995 national championship to their name, so Auriemma said the coaching staff was feeling the pressure to bring in a player of Bird’s caliber. But for all of her flair on the court, Bird was visibly uncomfortable being the center of attention during the recruiting process.

“We’re more as coaches like, we really want to get her, and meanwhile she’s incredibly nervous and jittery about being in that environment and being made a

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