Betty Jaynes has seen the greatest that women's basketball has produced. For the past 37 years, it's beenthe Lawrenceville resident's business, as part of the All-America committee.
On Saturday, speaking by phone from the women's Final Four in Indianapolis, Jaynes went through a roll call of the game's brightest stars: Carol Blazejowski, Nancy Lieberman, Cheryl Miller and Chamique Holdsclaw, among others. She next tried to compare them with the player from her neighborhood who first took her breath away as a Collins Hill High School ninth-grader.
"I don't think any of them play the game like Maya plays it," Jaynes said.
To those with even a passing interest in women's basketball, Maya is, of course, Maya Moore, Connecticut's star for the past four years whose career ended in a stunning upset loss to Notre Dame on Sunday night in the national semifinals. The Irish will play Texas A&M in Tuesday night's final.
Moore's career ends with an unprecedented three coaches association national player of the year awards, two national championships, a 90-game winning streak, a 3.7 GPA and a miles-long trail of admirers.
"There's a lot of males that really admire her game and see her as not just a women's basketball player, but a tremendous athlete and a great basketball player, period," Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said.
Jaynes would not call Moore the best women's college player ever, saying the players' different styles make a comparison difficult, but she put her in the top five. Joseph said Moore was among the top three with Miller and Teresa Edwards, the former Georgia great who Monday earned entry into the basketball hall of fame.
"To me, the best is yet to come," Joseph said. "I don't think we've seen her best basketball."
Jaynes, who helped found the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in 1981 and served as its executive director for 15 years, first heard about Moore seven years ago from WBCA CEO Beth Bass.
Bass, who leads the WBCA from its offices in Lilburn, raved about Moore, then a freshman at Collins Hill. When she went to watch her, Bass saw a player who had the talent of a college junior.
"I thought, gosh, if she's going to improve she would wind up the greatest player that's ever played the game," Jaynes said.
UConn's Final Four loss aside, Moore has remained centered on that path. Two of her defining attributes, her versatility and her drive, have practically guaranteed it.
"She was a sponge," said Charles Huddleston, Moore's coach with the AAU Georgia Metros. "Even as a freshman in high school, anything she could learn that would make her game better, she would go work her butt off."
Moore, who dropped 36 points on the Irish on Sunday night, was typically gracious after the loss. She said she didn't think her defense was as good as it needed to be and praised the Irish for their single-mindedness.
Asked to name her career's pinnacle, Moore said, "It's just the whole journey. The fact that I have a whole new family that I didn't have four years ago is probably the highlight."
Moore will be selected first overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA draft next Monday. Jaynes predicts continued development and Olympic team spots for the player whom she saluted with "Go Lawrenceville!" at the coaches association's player of the year news conference on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Said Jaynes, "She might even become the greatest player in the world."
