By Shirley Murtha
By all accounts, the acceptance speech given by Granby’s Rebecca Lobo was one of the best ever; certainly the best of that night, September 8, 2017. That was the night the women’s basketball player, now WNBA analyst, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Accompanied by her family and escorted to the podium by her college coach, UConn’s Geno Auriemma, Lobo used humor and poignant stories to describe what this accolade meant to her. Missing from the festivities was her beloved mother, who passed away of cancer a few years ago. You can see the entire speech on You Tube.
Rebecca Lobo photo by Jon Lopez, Basketball Hall of Fame
Despite a couple of publications to the contrary, Lobo is not a native of Granby, although now a long- time resident who we are happy to call our own. No, she hails from Southwick, Massachusetts, where she played high school basketball, scoring a then-record 2,710 points in her four years on the team.
At the University of Connecticut, Lobo led the Huskies to their first undefeated season, capped off by the national championship 1995. That was the same year she won the ESPY award for Outstanding Female Athlete, the AP Female Athlete of the Year, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy. After UConn, she played for the New York Liberty, the Houston Comets and capped off her playing career in 2003 with the Connecticut Sun. Along the way, she was named a WNBA All-Star and was inducted into the WNBA Hall of Fame in 2010.
Her intelligence and quick humor made Lobo a natural analyst and she was hired by ESPN in 2004. She works NCAA games during the winter season and WNBA games in the summer.
At the University of Connecticut, Lobo led the Huskies to their first undefeated season, capped off by the national championship 1995. That was the same year she won the ESPY award for Outstanding Female Athlete, the AP Female Athlete of the Year, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy. After UConn, she played for the New York Liberty, the Houston Comets and capped off her playing career in 2003 with the Connecticut Sun. Along the way, she was named a WNBA All-Star and was inducted into the WNBA Hall of Fame in 2010.
Her intelligence and quick humor made Lobo a natural analyst and she was hired by ESPN in 2004. She works NCAA games during the winter season and WNBA games in the summer.
