Back in the fall as administrators, coaches, and players, as well as sportswriters and broadcasters, gathered at Mohegan Sun for The American's inaugural women's basketball media day, there was a good amount of disorientation in many minds.

The Mohegan Sun Arena, site of this weekend's excitement, was decorated with all this new signage and decor yet many of the personalities from the conference staff were the familiar and friendly faces that were part of the sport's scene for the past several decades.
 
On the other hand there were people to get to know from The American members who were affiliated with other conferences.
 
All this collision of old and new at the outset caused the urge to spend more time bringing up the old as a comfort zone as opposed to embracing the new.
 
But with new organizations come enhanced ideas and thanks to an innovation via the conference creation of The American Digital Network (ADN) to present a free broadcast package of 30 women's basketball games, in addition to the traditional broadcast partners of the past, it did not take long for The American to seep into the public mindset.
 
“The American Digital Network is an initiative that accomplishes important fundamental goals for The American Athletic Conference,” said Danielle Donehew, associate commissioner of women’s basketball at The American. “In our inaugural season, women’s basketball became the cornerstone of our digital effort with a 30 game package. We have been very pleased as this endeavor continues to grow in an organic fashion. Our priorities continue to be: 1-provide a national platform for women’s basketball in order to provide exposure and tell the stories of our student-athletes, coaches and institutions; 2-create celebrity of student-athletes; 3-brand our coaches; and 4-recruit elite talent to authentically showcase our games. The American Digital Network initiative has become a strong first step and an extension of our conference family’s commitment to providing resources and support, not only for women’s basketball, but also for all sports that compete across our campuses and footprint.”

"We're looking to do other Olympic sports but certainly having a quality staple at the outset gave us a strong backbone to quickly start the initiative," said Mike Coyne, who had worked primarily with women's basketball in the past but is now The American's assistant director of broadcast scheduling.

 
"When you say, The American Digital Network, or if it ends up on ESPN, for The American Athletic Conference it just heightens the exposure that we have," said Memphis coach Melissa McFerrin.

"Secondly, it elevates the perception that people have about our conference and our game," she continued. "We're a brand new product. And we're working very hard to try to be a known product and The American Digital Network has done an outstanding job with that.”

 
"They've really hit a platform that is the new platform," McFerrin observed. "I think three years ago we were all disappointed if our game was on the internet but now we're understanding that is the new platform that the everyday person, the young consumer, is using to get their sports media.”
 
"So much for what we're doing with The American is rebranding ourselves and all those fans who have followed sports for a long time are a little confused as to who is in what league and we do have a new major conference in our country -- but the digital has been helpful to clarifying our mission."

Temple coach Tonya Cardoza quipped, "I'm not thrilled they're all watching on a night we're turning the ball over but I'm glad they get to see a team that goes out and competes all the time."
 
Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott spoke about how the exposure has been beneficial.
 
"It's unbelievable," Elliott said recently when her Bearcats made a conference visit to Rutgers. "Even on the way over here I was able to go on and watch some games from the past.”
 
"From a fan’s standpoint, they can watch our games and the conference is using quality talent. Before one game I even did some chalk talk on the white board and was able to do some things the fans don't usually get to see.”

"I like the fact they are thinking outside the box and doing things from a couple of different angles," she said.
 
"From a team that doesn't get on TV a lot, it really gives us some exposure to allow people to see us who normally wouldn't have had a chance to see us."
 
Temple senior associate athletic director Kristen Foley, a former Rutgers star who was a past head coach at Drexel and with the Owls, in recent seasons was doing color analysis for video streaming and internet radio broadcasts by the University in Philadelphia.
 
So she welcomes the presentation The American has brought to the viewers.
 
"It's just a great initiative by the conference and gives us an opportunity not only to present The American but also Temple and our women's basketball program," Foley said.
 
"It's a great opportunity to put some great events on television as they expand to the Olympic sports."

In terms of the technical jargon and how the things come together, The American partnered with LiveU to utilize an innovative infrastructure to power the digital sports network in a package of live video production, transmission, and asset delivery.
 
Overall, beyond women's basketball, the inaugural American Digital Network includes eight additional events and the technology includes a hybrid of cellular and KA-Band satellite. The LiveU Central browser-based management system on the cloud is where all solutions are managed and controlled.

Cincinnati's Elliott likes the fact the talent are people who know the women's game.
 
"They're using people who have been around a long time -- they know their stuff, they're prepared and I enjoy talking to them. It's good to have people talking to you who are ambassadors for the women's game but more importantly it's good for people to see a new conference because we are a new conference, it allows so many people to see us play."
 
Some other conferences began initial digital presentations this season but viewers had to pay subscription fees and in the case of one league, each member provides the talent for the broadcast.
 
The American, however, besides offering free content, went to the kind of veterans from major networks who have handled prominent events, including NCAA tournament action.
 
Former North Carolina State star Debbie Antonelli, who is also the voice of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., spoke of the need for an initiative like the ADN.
 
"It's important that people get to see the games that want to see them," she said. "We have a lot of loyal fan bases around this league -- all the feedback we got is a lot of people who are tuning in and accessing the internet to do it.”
 
"For me, I don't treat this any different than if it were a regular television game or a championship game," Antonelli said. "I treat them all the same in my prep and my delivery and I'm just as excited to be here as I would to be doing the national championship.”
 
"We got great personalities in our game and in this league -- we got some great coaches that people aren't aware of. It's the greatest asset this league has," Antonelli said.
 
"I mean we all know (UConn coach) Geno (Auriemma) and (Louisville coach) Jeff (Walz) and (Rutgers coach) Vivian (Stringer) but there's some other personalities in this league like (USF’s) Jose (Fernandez), and (SMU's) Rhonda Rompola that people haven't gotten to know yet -- that's the strength of this package -- you feature the head coaches and it's a great branding strategy."
 
Bob Picozzi, who has been around the growth of the UConn program besides doing numerous events, said, "It's great exposure for the league. They have more games on than ever.”
 
"When you have a digital package, you don't have to worry about pre-empting a show so the schools that aren't used to getting the extensive coverage that a UConn, Louisville or a Rutgers would get, they're enjoying it because a good percentage of their games are on TV," he said.
 
"As announcers, we don't look at the package any differently than we look at any other game that's televised. We don't pay any attention to how many cameras are being used.
 
"To Debbie and me, it's another TV game. We don't approach it any differently than any other game on TV."
 
Some other broadcasters who have worked games for The American are LaChina Robinson, who has done extensive WNBA work, former North Carolina star and Boston College coach Sylvia Crawley Milbry, former Texas star Fran Harris who also has done extensive WNBA work, Tara Petrolino, who has worked with ESPN, the Fox College Sports and MSG networks, and John Rooke, the voice of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

"It has been an honor for me to be a part of history with the debut of the American Athletic Conference, which includes the American Digital Network," Robinson said. "I am very impressed by the innovative technology used by Bob White and LiveU, its cutting edge and represents the future of how we will be watching television for years to come. I commend Commissioner Mike Aresco, Associate Commissioner Danielle Donehew, and The American Athletic Conference staff for taking on the task of broadcasting 30 regular season women's basketball games. That number speaks volumes of the commitment to the sport, the athletics programs, and the fans of women's basketball."

The ADN has also used talent from locales of the various American members such as Matt Thomas in Houston, Neil Solondz in Tampa, national broadcaster Leah Secondo, Elizabeth Lay, who played for Southwestern Oklahoma State, Bernie Guenther who has been an FSN South play-by-play broadcaster, Jeff Brightwell in Memphis, and Tom Gelehrter in Cincinnati.
 
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Mel Greenberg is a hall of fame writer who spent 40 years with The Philadelphia Inquirer primarily covering women's basketball and founded what became the weekly Associated Press women's basketball poll. Noted for pioneering national coverage of the sport, he is also the women's coordinator for the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).