Gear up Old Dominion fans. One of the best players in the game will be at the Constant Center on Thursday. Don’t know much about Elena Delle Donne? Here’s our A-Z primer on Delaware’s dazzling freshman.
A: Auriemma, the coach who wanted her but lost out when she left Storrs after two days of summer school in 2008.
B: Buzzer beater. Delle Donne nailed her first one from the wing against Maine.
C: Center/guard/forward; at 6-5 she can play them all
D: “Delaware Anthem.” A hip-hop song by rapper Abdul “Pearle” Chapman, which includes the following lyrics about the state: “They got game / They got Elena Delle Donne, the female LeBron James / And her jersey’s never changed, same number, eleven / Delaware born and raised, just like 101.7.”
E: Early childhood education, her major
F: Fans. She’s packing them in at the Bob Carpenter Center, where they average 2,780. Delaware has had a 138 percent increase in attendance and tripled season ticket sales.
G: Griner, as in Baylor’s Brittney, the only other player who could win Freshman of the Year (We like EDD better.)
H: Hits. Type Elena Delle Donne into Google and you’ll come up with 701,000.
I: Infuriating are those Husky fans who remain bitter about EDD’s decision to stay close to home.
J: Joanie, EDD’s mom. Ernie is her dad.
K: Kayla Miller, EDD’s teammate at Ursuline, who now plays point guard for the Hens.
L: Lizzie, EDD’s sister and inspiration. Lizzie suffers from cerebral palsy and autism. She is also blind and deaf.
M: Middle Tennessee. EDD’s bro Gene played tight end there.
N: Number: She wears #11. She started wearing it in high school at the request of a friend who used to wear #11 when they were youth league teammates.
O: Old Dominion, Thursday’s opponent, which beat the Hens by one in EDD’s first CAA game.
P: Player. EDD has been CAA Player or Rookie of the Week six times.
Q: Questionable. EDD decision to pass to teammate Lauren Carra when Delaware played ODU rather than shoot the final shot of the game herself. Carra’s layup didn’t fall and Delaware lost 60-59.
R: Records. EDD’s 2,818 points at Ursuline is a Delaware high school record. She set the national record for free throws at Ursuline her sophomore year when she made 80 straight.
S: Statistics. Check out EDD’s: 25.6 ppg, 9.1 rebounds, 2.1 apg, .504 FG percentage, .433 3-point percentage
T: Thirty nine. EDD has scored 39 percent of her team’s points.
U: Ursuline Academy was EDD’s high school. It’s the same high school that produced former Stanford star and WNBA player Val Whiting
V: Volleyball. EDD played for the Blue Hens volleyball team last season, leading the team in blocks with 117.
W: Wilmington, Del., is her hometown
X: X factor. Delaware finished sixth in the CAA last year, but adding EDD throws a wrench into the CAA race.
Y: YouTube. There’s lots of EDD videos, including this awesome one that highlights her high school career. Check her out as an eighth-grader.
Z: Zero. That’s how many games UConn has lost since EDD left Storrs two summers ago.
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