The message, via Facebook, arrived sometime Thursday.

“Mike,” former UConn guard Maria Conlon wrote, “you made me quite famous last week, LOL. Hope you are well.”

And what transpired the next day was the most enjoyable one-hour phone conversation of the new year.

The two-minute drill background: I lost my sunny disposition last week upon hearing national pundits anoint Iowa’s Caitlin Clark as women’s college basketball’s GOAT (greatest of all time). A popular narrative: Clark’s path to becoming the NCAA career scoring leader and leading Iowa to its success has been more difficult because she’s not surrounded by much talent.

I took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Diana Taurasi won a national championship with Maria Conlon at point guard, for (heaven’s) sake.”

And then the torch met the Sunoco truck. A number of hot-and-bothered old teammates, friends and assorted pundits took to X, rushing to Conlon’s defense. I rather enjoyed being an irritant, especially because the entire point wasn’t to belittle Conlon (who I’ve always liked), but to show Taurasi won without elite talent around her, too.

Conlon took it all in the intended spirit. And then followed it up with a phone call, revealing how she’s become a deep, insightful young coach whose wisdom and wit already approach Geno Auriemma levels.

Conlon, who once led Notre Dame of Fairfield to a state title, is coaching at the Westport-based Greens Farms Academy prep school.

“A nice story would actually be about teaching this current generation that toughness is actually what made Diana great,” Conlon said. “This generation is going down a horrible path. I built an entire course about some of this. I’m partnering with a nonprofit to educate these kids. I’m really passionate about the topic. Talent is awesome but toughness is imperative.”

A working definition of “toughness” is amorphous. Here is Conlon’s take:

“Toughness in purest form is being comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she said. “It’s easy to be tough when everything is going your way. When things are uncomfortable, your true toughness comes out.

“Those years at UConn were hard. But having to do the things we did from an adversity standpoint is what kept us together. Toughness isn’t always taking a punch or setting a big screen. It’s the ability to put yourself in a situation above your own.

“I’ll use myself as an example. I was recruited by a ton of Division I programs and probably could have gone somewhere else and been more of a scorer and had an easy four years. Or I could go work my butt off for four years, struggle, and maybe win a national championship. It doesn’t get more uncomfortable than that.”

Conlon didn’t play in the transfer portal/NIL era. But she’s coaching in it. She sees how the portal and NIL have spawned a marriage between two hard-wired aspects of the human condition: the grass is always greener (portal) and show me the money (NIL). The residual effect: When the going gets tough, the concept of toughness transfers somewhere else, usually where the money is.

“All these AAU programs and schools now promise they can get your kid a scholarship,” Conlon said. “They’re lying. The only person who can get your kid a college scholarship is your kid.

“These kids have so much access to so much stuff now. Shooting trainers. Dribble trainers. Mental trainers. Recovery stations. It’s nice they have access. But I just wonder. Even the kids who have a ton of skill, can they apply that in the game? They struggle because of instant gratification. Post something to social media and get 500 likes in an hour. In my day, it was pick up basketball against the boys. Toughness was the only option I had.”

Stand back, folks. She’s rolling.

“Candace Parker, Cheryl Miller. Diana. Others. Their blood, sweat and tears came before the transfer portal and NIL. It’s why I appreciate players from the past more than the present,” Conlon said. “That’s no hit on anyone. Caitlin Clark is special. She’s a cult phenom. I just worry about this generation. It feels like since COVID, instant gratification is worse. Clark has a million NIL deals. Is she an actual student? Or running to commercial takes? Where is that separator?”

Conlon, who sounds very much like her old coach sometimes, sought counsel from Auriemma in the summer.

“I hate to use the term ‘old school,’” Conlon said. “But when Geno and I were talking, he said, ‘how do I coach in an environment where they think I owe them everything and they owe me nothing?’ That one really hit me. He’s so right. We need to have more conversations about that. You work for something and then you get it.”

Conlon isn’t merely proud of what she accomplished at UConn, helping hang banners. She’s also part of the pioneers on whose foundation the game keeps growing. It’s just that Conlon would prefer the kids of today actually absorb how it all happened.

“The ones I love to coach and can win with are the ones who are tough,” Conlon said. “Hire as many trainers as you want. But the amount of mental toughness you need in order to survive is crazy.”

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro