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Little League phenom has dreams of playing for Geno Auriemma

Mo'ne Davis

Mo’ne Davis

AP

The biggest story of this summer’s Little League World Series has been 13-year old Mo’ne Davis, a young woman who has pitched impressively in both the regionals and the LLWS for the Taney Dragons out of Philadelphia. Davis’ ability has resulted in improved television ratings for the Little League World Series and more people talking about the games than in years past. Yet even with her recent achievements, Davis’ long-term goal is to play for one of the most successful programs in women’s college basketball.

According to the Hartford Courant, Davis hopes to play college basketball at UConn for Geno Auriemma.

“I want to go to UConn and be the point guard on the basketball team. That’s like my dream and then go into the WNBA,” Davis told ESPN last week. “That’s for Geno. Geno has to know.”

Auriemma knows. A Philadelphia guy at his core, he reached out to Davis earlier this week, a phone call that left the girl speechless.

“It was really fun,” Davis said Tuesday of her conversation with Auriemma. “I was actually very shocked and surprised. He told me he was watching the games. That I should keep it up. And that I needed to get a couple of hits.”


Davis’ stated desire resulted in Auriemma giving her a phone call, which is permissible per NCAA rules due to the fact that she’s yet to reach the grade (ninth) that the NCAA uses to define a “recruitable prospect.” The two also share a connection to the Philadelphia area, with Auriemma and his family emigrating to Norristown, Pennsylvania (which is some six miles northwest of Philadelphia) from their native Italy when he was seven years old.

Davis’ latest appearance on the mound came Wednesday night, as she pitched just 2 1/3 innings in Taney’s 8-1 loss to Mountain Ridge LL (Las Vegas). Davis was removed from the game just before reaching the 50-pitch limit, meaning that she would be available to pitch in Saturday’s United States Championship game should Taney beat Jackie Robinson West LL (Chicago) on Thursday.

Per Little League rules a pitcher throwing between 36 and 50 pitches requires two calendar days of rest before they can reappear on the mound.

While the focus clearly remains on the task at hand for Davis and her teammates, her clear long-term ambition lies in another sport. Like past stars of the Little League World Series (Chris Drury, Sean Burroughs, etc.) it will be interesting to see what Mo’ne Davis can accomplish in the years to come.

h/t CBS Sports

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