HARTFORD — Maya Moore of Connecticut is a first-team all-American on the basketball court and in the classroom, which means there are points to be scored, averages to be kept and scholarships to seek on more than one level.
At the urging of her academic advisers, Moore, a 6-foot junior forward who is the consensus best player in the country, said she was considering applying for a Rhodes scholarship. If selected for 2011, she would be the most prominent basketball player chosen since Bill Bradley in 1965 and Tom McMillen in 1974.
“I don’t think you can say that one aspect of my life built my perspective,” Moore, 20, said in an interview before scoring 23 points as top-ranked UConn defeated second-ranked Stanford, 80-68, here Wednesday. “It is a combination of my faith, my family, the people I’ve met at Connecticut and understanding that basketball is a platform for something bigger than the game, helping people, touching people’s lives. You can do that internationally with basketball.”
Of the 12 athletes chosen among 32 Americans as Rhodes scholars for 2009, two played women’s basketball in college — Caitlin Mullarkey, who also played soccer and ran track at Swarthmore; and Lindsay Whorton, an all-Missouri Valley Conference player at Drake. Rebecca Lobo of UConn was a candidate in 1995.
Moore, who has a 3.7 grade point average in sports media and promotion, could not say exactly what broadened her perspective in college. But she noted that she had traveled internationally with USA Basketball, playing in Serbia and in Slovakia. In November 2008, she got out of practice early and sprinted to a lecture by the author and poet Maya Angelou — after whom she was named because her mother admired Angelou’s work.
“She represents so many things, not just for African-Americans, but for our country,” Moore said at the time. “I think of her like a Barack Obama — one of the first icons for us.”
Moore later met President Obama when UConn traveled to the White House after winning the 2009 national title with an undefeated season. She was named both the national player of the year and a first-team academic all-American.
“I felt a deeper appreciation for the founders of this nation,” Moore wrote in a blog post after visiting the White House. “We truly do live in an amazing country. Actually walking where some of our great leaders have walked gave me chills! Meeting President Obama was as enjoyable as advertised, and he left an inspiring impression on us all.”
The fact that the president took time to shoot a few baskets with the players “made me remember what life is all about,” Moore wrote. “It is about investing in people and having faith that the love you impart on them will somehow make the world better than it was.”
She said she had not yet considered whether she, too, might be interested in a political career, as were Bradley and McMillen, who served in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively. Still, reflecting on her trip to the White House, Moore said, “When you have those type of experiences, you start thinking bigger than yourself.”
The application process for a Rhodes scholarship is complicated and arduous. Geno Auriemma, the UConn coach, said that for Moore to be a serious candidate, she must find a deeply felt subject to study at Oxford. She might have to delay her entry into the W.N.B.A., where she is expected to be the first pick in the 2011 draft. But it is a summer league, and Moore said she thinks she could juggle her academic and athletic responsibilities.
“Does she have a passion for one thing that will take her in that direction, like, ‘I want to be the greatest writer ever; I want to get my Ph.D. in this and I think this is the one thing that consumes my life’? ” Auriemma said. “I think you have to have a single-mindedness in order to do that. Some people do and some don’t.”
A chance to play in the 2012 Olympics could also play a factor in her decision, although Moore might find herself in an accommodating position. Auriemma will coach the United States women’s team at those Games, which will be held in London.
Still, athletes can feel tremendous pressure when applying for a Rhodes scholarship, Auriemma said. They excel at their chosen sports because they are in control and are often able to influence the outcome of a game. They become more vulnerable when putting their futures to a vote of a panel of judges.
“The chances of getting turned down are greater than being accepted,” Auriemma said. “You’ve got to be willing at the end to maybe be disappointed. Some of the great ones don’t like to put themselves in a situation where they can’t control the outcome. On the court, the scoreboard is the only vote that counts. But for these kids to put themselves in a situation of applying for a Rhodes scholarship takes courage. They have zero control. I admire anyone in that position. If Maya wanted to, I would do everything in my power to help her see it through.”
Whether Moore applies or not, and is accepted or rejected, she seems to have an insatiable appetite for knowledge and expertise of all sorts, said Kalana Greene, a teammate. “If there is an opportunity out there to get something, she goes and gets it,” Greene said. “She’s a great communicator. She can talk to anyone. We always crack on her, ‘Maya you’re not good at everything,’ but really she is. She’s even a good drummer. She can listen to any song, gather the beat and she has it.”
Can't get enough? We've got all the 
What's the latest in the Tiger Woods scandal? Here's the news you need to know. 
