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Seventeen years after helping lead UConn to a national championship, and nine years after retiring from the WNBA, Rebecca Lobo is back on the basketball court.

Only this time, Lobo is not a UConn Husky or a Connecticut Sun, but a Blue Knight at St. Mary’s School in Simsbury, Connecticut. The Hall of Famer is coaching a team of second-graders, including her daughter Siobhan.

“I never would have imagined this 15 years ago,” the former WNBA forward said as she took a break from practice to talk to the Hartford Courant.  Now an ESPN women’s basketball analyst, Lobo jokes that when it came to doing the parent thing at the school, she had her choice of volunteering for the Jump Rope Club or the second-grade basketball team, the two activities that Siobhan was interested in.

The 6-foot-4 Lobo has to kneel to get eye to eye with her young players.  She plays the role of encouraging coach, letting her maternal side show as she gives the youngsters gentle instructions and praise.  She has to remind her players that it’s okay to fight for the ball when teaching them how to master the art of grabbing a rebound.

“It’s funny,” she says as she assesses the drill. “The hardest thing to teach the girls is to be aggressive about getting the ball. For the boys, they have no problems fighting for a ball, but have trouble playing as a team. Playing as a team is natural for the girls.”.

When asked if her former UConn coach, Geno Auriemma had been down to watch a practice, Lobo said. “Geno hasn’t been down to watch; I don’t have anyone he would want to scout yet.”

I’m not sure that’s entirely true however. While only in grade school, there’s a good chance that if Siobhan likes basketball, she could develop into just the kind of player Auriemma would want playing for UConn. I’m not sure what the NCAA rule is for signing youth players, but she’d be a likely candidate for recruitment.

In the meantime, kudos to Lobo for stepping up to help out on her daughter’s team. And how lucky are those girls to have such a legend and role model teaching them not only how to play well, but how to have fun at the same time.

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