President Obama:
Hello, everybody! Please,
have a seat, have a seat. Well, welcome to the
White House, everybody. Congratulations to the UConn
Huskies on your second straight undefeated season and your
second straight NCAA championship. (applause) I want to point out this
team has not lost a game since I was elected President. (laughter) I'm just saying. (laughter) I want to acknowledge a few
UConn fans who made the trek from the other side of
Pennsylvania Avenue. We've got Senators Chris Dodd
and Joe Lieberman in the house. (applause) And Congressmen John Larson and
Joe Courtney are here as well. (applause) Now, when this team came to
the White House last year, I was just pointing out to Maya,
we went out back -- I've got a little court, we
shot a little bit. I'm not going to say who won. (laughter) But I noticed then there
were people who were saying, you know, these Huskies, they've
got a little too much swagger, because they said that
they'd be back in 2010. They said that at the time. I'm not sure anybody
believed them. I believed them,
listening to them, and that confidence
was well-deserved. This team has had an
unbelievable run. I think most of you know
the statistics: Seven of the last 16 NCAA titles; six
undefeated regular seasons; four undefeated
championship seasons. And last year, Coach
Auriemma promised you guys would go 40-0 this year. It's not your fault that he
can't do math very well -- there were only 39 games. (laughter) So, Coach, you can't win 40
if there are only 39 games. (laughter) But 39-0 is pretty good. These women beat their own
NCAA record to become the first women's basketball team in
history to win 78 games in a row over the past two
years -- which is just a staggering achievement. And I was telling them Michelle
and I work out in the morning -- we've got a little gym
here in the White House. And we'd just watch
Sports Center. I know you'll be surprised that
we don't watch the news shows. (laughter) But this is really true. During the entire season,
I just kept on repeating, and I truly believed this was
the best team in all of sports, any sport, any gender, by far. (applause) And that's just something
that made us all very proud. I want to point out that Coach
Geno's teams have had a 100 percent graduation rate
over the past 25 years. (applause) And that's true again this year
-- because these players work as hard in the classroom
as they do on the court. I want to congratulate the
seniors that graduated last week -- if I'm not mistaken,
number one WMBA draft pick Tina Charles -- (applause) -- is going to be graduating. Jacquie Fernandes,
Meghan Gardler, Kalana Greene and Kaili McLaren. Give them all a big
round of applause. (applause) Congratulations to Tina for
winning the Naismith Trophy as player of the year
-- for graduating as UConn's all-time scoring leader. I do have to say, though,
Maya has her sights set on that record. She's coming after it. (laughter) And, Maya, congratulations on
being named the Final Four's most valuable -- most
outstanding player. When you consider that Maya says
she approaches her academics as she does her basketball, it's
no surprise that she was named first team Academic All-American
for the third year in a row. That is worth an applause. (applause) So obviously this team was under
enormous pressure this season. Everyone was watching and
waiting for them to stumble, figuring out -- figuring
there was no way for them to go undefeated again. When your toughest test
came in this year's national championship game -- you trailed
the longest that you had all year -- you came out swinging in
the second half and brought that championship home yet again to
the Storrs community that loves and believes in you so deeply. And when you're
at home in Storrs, you apply that same winning
attitude off the court. You read with
elementary children, spend time with cancer patients. Today, you brought that sense
of service to Washington, visiting wounded
warriors in Walter Reed. And I know they were
thrilled to see you. Whether it's winning a
national championship, balancing practice with
schoolwork, or serving others, these young women
made it all look easy, despite the fact that
we all know they put in enormous amounts of work. It's that perseverance and
dedication and that will to succeed that makes
them so special. And that's why every single
one of these young women sets a terrific example for girls
and women today -- as athletes, as scholars and as leaders. And I think, Coach, you have
just been an extraordinary leader, and I think all of
us are extremely proud of the example that you've set. So, as your President, I commend
you for setting that example. As the father of
two tall girls -- (laughter) -- who are also very cute and -- (laughter) -- also do great work in the
classroom -- I'm just so glad that they've got all
of you to look up to, and I thank you for it. I will say I will be very
impressed if you make it here a third time in a row. (laughter) Congratulations to all of you. Give them a big
round of applause. (applause) All right. What do we got
here? What do we got? Speaker:
On behalf of the Conneticut
Women's Basketball team, we would like to present
you with a back to back National Chanpionship ball. President Obama:
Back to back National Chapionship ball. (applause) All right. Hold this up, Maya. (applause) That is very nice. Beautiful.
Thank you so much. All right. Does somebody want to strike
this podium so we are going to get a good picture. Oh, the coach just informed
me that they were counting on meeting me this year that was -- (laughter) (inaudible) (laughter) Secret Service with a -- (laughter) (applause)
