Mo’ne Davis’ star has exploded over the past two weeks as her steely composure, rocket arm and general presence has overwhelmed everyone at the Little League World Series.
But despite her impressive dominance on the mound, baseball, shockingly, isn’t her first love. Under the intense media spotlight she’s endured, she revealed that playing basketball at UConn for legendary coach Geno Auriemma is actually her ultimate dream.
“Geno has to know that,” she told The Wall Street Journal.
He probably does, given that Auriemma reached out to Davis to offer his support for her Taney Dragons, who’ll take on Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West on Thursday night for a spot in the U.S. championship game. His advice to her? “Get more hits,” she said.
"I was actually very shocked and surprised. He told me he was watching the games. That I should keep it up. And that I needed to get a couple of hits," Davis said of the phone call.
That’s actually not an NCAA violation as “prospective student-athletes” have to have started ninth grade, and Davis, who’s only 13, will be entering eighth grade this upcoming school year.
Auriemma may want to seriously consider recruiting her. A random YouTube search found this gem: Mo'ne Davis breaking a kid's ankles from 2010.
Aside from her on-field history – she’s the first girl to ever toss a shutout in the LLWS – she will also become the first little leaguer to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. She has aspirations of another cover in the future, albeit with a slightly different look.
“Hopefully, it’ll be me in a UConn jersey,” she said.
