From 1999 to 2002, Swin Cash was as much a factor to UConn's success in Women's Basketball as any of her fellow Class of 2002 Teammates..Sue Bird, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones. And after graduation, she'd win a few WNBA Titles, a pair of Olympic Gold Medals and start a successful career in broadcasting. But let's focus on that UConn Career right now...
The High School career at McKeesport HS was a dandy, 30p-17r-6blk per game...A Parade, USA Today and Street & Smith First Team All American...The State POY and played in the 1998 WBCA All America Game. Next stop Storrs...
An already talented UConn welcomed a quintet of freshman that included Cash and the aforementioned trio above. With Shea Ralph & Svetlana Abrosimova leading the charge, the Huskies would look go get to their first final four since 1996. The 1998-99 Team started fast where Cash scored in double figures in 8 of the first 10 games...Including a 20p effort against Arkansas in game two of her career....And while Sue Bird torn an ACL, Cash was dealing with a stress fracture where she missed 12 games. Swin recording three double-doubles as a Freshman..15p-11r against St. John's, 11p-12r against Quinnipiac and after returning from the stress fracture, had a 10p-10r game against Georgetown in the Big East Tournament. A two time Big East Rookie of the Week, Cash was a member of the All Tournament Team. The Huskies losing in the Sweet 16 to Iowa State...Averaging 9.5p-5.2rpg in 22 games, where she made 14 starts...
With a healthy Bird back, along with the core group, UConn was poised to make another run in the 99-2000 season...Cash switching numbers from 23 to 32 continued to show her tenacity on the boards. 20p-9r against Illinois. Adding three more double-doubles while averaging 10p-5.5rpg in season two, earning third team All Big East and again being named to the Conference All Tournament Team. At 30-1 heading into the Tournament, the Huskies rolled as a cohesive unit..Cash averaging just under 10 points per game as the Huskies beat Tennessee for the program's second National Championship. There is a funny story about Swin in her Sophomore Season...On December 23, 1999 in a home game against UCLA, Cash rebounded a miss of a Bruin Free Throw and scored on the putback with perfect form...In the UCLA Basket !! Yes it got some laughs....The Huskies won going away...
The 2000-01 Campaign saw the Huskies deal with more injuries, to Svetlana Abrosimova and later Shea Ralph..With the addition of Freshman Diana Taurasi, the Huskies stayed the course with Cash averaging 12 pts and 7.5 boards per game..Earning her All Big East Second Team with 8 double-doubles that included a tremendous 20p-20r game against West Virginia on February 20th in Hartford. After the famous "Bird at the Buzzer" Big East Final win over Notre Dame, Cash racked up 3 double-doubles, 4 double figure point games and 4 double figure rebound games...However a poor team 2nd half, combined with a red hot Notre Dame shooting display, the Huskies Title run was nixed in the Final Four in St. Louis....Swin was named to the All East Regional Team and named an AP Honorable Mention All American
The 01-02' season would be year of payback and domination for the Huskies...The Core Four and Taurasi taking care of business all season. Cash did her part with 15 double-doubles that included a career high 29p-12r performance at Old Dominion in December and being named the MVP of the Preseason WNIT, where she recorded three of her double-doubles...By the end of the regular season, she was the team leader in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage...First Team All Big East and All Tournament Team Member....The NCAA's went well in Storrs with a double-double against St Francis and a rebound shy of another against Iowa...The Regionals in Milwaukee by her own account if you've seen replays of the 02' Tournament, not so great..While shooting 7-11 in the wins over Penn State and Old Dominion, by her standards Cash didn't like the way she played as the Huskies reached the Final Four in San Antonio..
Cash 13p-4r in another dismantling of Tennessee...Then in the National Championship against Oklahoma, Swin saved her best for last...a 20p-13r-4 assist game where she was 10/12 from the FT line in the 82-70 win to cap a perfect 39-0 season and a third championship for the program. Cash named the Final Four MOP in addition to being named a consensus First Team All American in 2002...Swin was the second overall pick behind Sue Bird in the WNBA Draft, heading to Detroit, where she helped the Shock win two WNBA Titles in 2003 and 2006...She'd grab a third with Sue and Svet in Seattle in 2010..Finishing her career with the New York Liberty in 2016. A four time All Star who was twice the MVP of the All Star Game...
Cash would also play a role with USA Basketball...After leading the Shock to the 2003 Championship, she played on 2004 Olympic Team that won Gold in Athens...And after dealing with a herniated disk that became proplematic during the Shock's 2006 Title run.....With a healed Cash, and the National Team now Coached by Geno Auriemma, USA Basketball invited her back, helping the Team win Gold at the 2010 Worlds, averaging 9 points per game. Then with Bird, Tairasi and Asjha Jones on the roster, along with Maya Moore, aided the US to another Gold Medal in London....
Swin got into Television via the MSG and later the CBS Sports Network...Where she was a host of the All Female panel on "We Need to Talk." While providing Analysis for various College Basketball Games.. But in 2019, she was hired for a new venture in life, as VP of Basketball Operations/Team Development for the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans. She is also the founder of Swin Cash Enterprises LLC, Cash Building Blocks, an urban development company that renovates and offers affordable homes for low income families, and the Cash for Kids Foundation, whose mission is to motivate, educate & elevate kids through physical fitness, nutrition, education, cultural trips, and sports camps.
Finally, Swin Cash was to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this year. However the Covid-19 Virus took care of that and has been pushed back to next year....Swin is married and is now a Mom to a little boy....
Swin Cash...another WNBA Star who starred with the Huskies and became a UConn Legend...