Keith Cieplicki and his wife, Kristin, embraced a few players in the Manley Field House corridors after Wednesday night’s 82-38 demoralization to the Connecticut women’s basketball team.

The players he was embracing, though, weren’t his own.

Cieplicki jokingly placed an Orange cap on the head UConn junior Ashley Valley and gave her older sister, Morgan, a senior on UConn, a hug.

It wasn’t exactly the typical after-game congratulatory handshakes. Then again, it wasn’t your typical situation.

The Syracuse women’s head basketball coach had the opportunity to reminisce with an old player of his and another that he’s known for more than 10 years Wednesday night.

Cieplicki coached Morgan during her freshman year of high school at Rice Memorial in Colchester, Vt. during the 1996-97 season. It was Cieplicki’s final year at Rice before he accepted a job to take over the women’s basketball program at Vermont.

Ashley, like her sister, also had the chance to partake in many of Cieplicki’s basketball camps that he ran in Vermont throughout the 1990s. Ashley started attending his camps in the third grade.

Both players on Wednesday night had the unusual opportunity to play against the man they call a close family friend. In fact, Morgan said she used to baby-sit Cieplicki’s kids.

‘I’ve got a lot of memories, but probably it would take too long to say a whole lot,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I coached Morgan and she’s very close with my family. She’s a very, very wonderful person and it was great to see her tonight.’

Both Morgan and Ashley are reserves on UConn but they made the most of their time off the bench. Ashley scored eight points in 14 minutes, adding three assists and one rebound. She hit 2 of 3 3-point attempts. Morgan connected on her only field goal attempt in 11 minutes, finishing with two points and one rebound.

‘Anytime you get to play, it’s fun,’ Morgan said. ‘We’re competitors, we just like to play basketball.’

Her sister agreed.

‘It’s always good to get extra minutes,’ Ashley said. ‘You just got to keep working hard and hope for the best.’

While the players did manage to grab a few extra minutes than usual Wednesday night, both admitted it was strange seeing such a familiar face on the opposing bench.

‘It’s kind of weird to look over on the bench and see somebody that we know,’ Ashley said. ‘But it’s neat. It’s a great opportunity for him.’

Each had her fond memories of Cieplicki from Vermont, though. Ashley told a story about how during one of his camps, Cieplicki and his brother each ran out of separate doors in their gym. They would run out, come running back in and then they would do a dunk.

‘They were just silly,’ Ashley said. ‘They’re funny people.’

Morgan’s memories weren’t quite as humorous. She remembered his practices in high school as being tough, and she also remembered how competitive Cieplicki was.

‘He used to try to kick crap out of us in practice,’ Morgan said. ‘And he could shoot the rock.’

Neither player was surprised that Cieplicki landed the job at SU. Morgan called him when he was first hired.

‘I’ve always respected him and he’s a big name in Vermont,’ Morgan said. ‘It was just the next step. He had to move on to bigger and better things.’

Cieplicki’s only wish about the evening was that Morgan had been wearing a different color uniform. He attempted to recruit her while he was head coach at Vermont, but the appeal of UConn ultimately won out.

‘Her dad was in the stands and it was just real nice to see her here,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I just wish she was wearing orange.’

Published on February 11, 2004 at 12:00 pm