Amid disadvantages, advantages have been forged. Top Croatian youth players often leave home to join club teams, challenging themselves against older women. Goles, 24, joined the senior team of ZKK Split as a 12-year-old and became a starter at 14, playing against women as old as 30. Sent late into her first game at 12, Goles was fouled beyond the 3-point arc. When she hit two of three free throws, she said, both teammates and opponents clapped for her.
Most Croatian players in the United States, including Muhl, come from the same club team in Zagreb — ZKK Tresnjevka 2009. The head coach, Dean Nemec, is known for insisting that all his players learn to handle the ball, shoot a 3-point shot and develop moves in the post. Muhl’s younger sister, Hana, 17, currently plays on the team; she, too, has received interest from American universities.
“There is a lot of emphasis on individual development,” said Nemec, who is also team president, marketing manager and driver of the team van. “The philosophy here is it’s never a good thing to put someone in a certain position from the beginning.”
As could be expected, Muhl’s adjustment to life and basketball in the United States has had its ups and downs. Upon arriving at UConn last July, Muhl said she cried out of homesickness and uncertainty about the challenges ahead. She had an early-season foot injury and was benched for an important game against Tennessee in January because of rough fouling in practice.
“You Americans are soft,” she said. Maybe, Auriemma replied, but American referees officiated basketball a certain way and she would have to adjust.
At another point, he told Muhl, “In the dictionary, look up the word ‘solid,’” meaning he wanted her to be reliable, not always aiming to be spectacular.
Both Muhl and Auriemma have strong personalities. It is the reason, they say, they like each other, and also why they occasionally butt heads. Earlier this season, Muhl said, Auriemma revived an old admonition, telling Makurat and her, “Because of you guys, I’m not going to recruit any more European players.”

Source: New York Times

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