The Basketball Capital of the World

One team was expected to win and if they did not win, many would have been shocked. The other team had the will and skill to pull it off but many doubted them to win anything. Two very different teams that were bound together by one common theme. They were UConn Huskies.

In 2004, the UConn Men’s basketball team and the UConn Women’s basketball team both won the National Championship. No other program in NCAA history was able to pull this accomplishment off as UConn was the first to do so. 10 years later, UConn has been able to do it again. For UConn to do that twice in 10 years, they are truly the Basketball Capitol of the World.

The Men’s team has had numerous times of perseverance and they came out on top of all of it. After the postseason APR ban and the retiring of Jim Calhoun, many speculated how they would bounce back. They became an after thought. No one gave them a chance. Kevin Ollie thought different. He was given the program after the Hall of Fame Coach retired, and Ollie went to work. He knew what it was like to have UCONN across his chest and representing the university which made him the perfect candidate for the job. Once again many doubted the decision of to put him in charge.

One year after the ban, Kevin Ollie saw his Huskies draw the 7 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Some questioned how UConn received such a seed but Ollie did not care. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. They did just that. On their way to the title game, they were able to beat Florida who was the overall 1 seed and they were also able to beat Michigan State who also was a favorite among different analysts and President Obama.

Every step of the way, they were doubted. No one picked them and yet they continued to win. No one every figured out that UConn was the real deal. Shabazz Napier was the clear leader of the team but this was bigger than him. They played as a team. They stayed calm and poised. They played hard. This lead them to win a National Championship. In Kevin Ollie’s first go at a NCAA Tournament, he was able to cut down the nets.

It seems as each time the Men’s team wins, it becomes more and more special. Their first championship they were the clear underdogs against a Duke team that arguably had one of the best lineups ever. 2004 they were lead by Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor and faced adversity but cut down the nets in the end. 2011 they won five games in five days in the Big East Tournament and did not look back as they were led by Kemba to the championship. Finally in 2014 they proved to be top dogs once again. 4-0 in title games and they have the most since 1999.

The UConn Women are a different story. They are the proven. They are the ruthless. They are the ones you have to go through if you want to win a championship, every single year. The amount of perfect seasons they have had under Geno’s tenure is insane to think about. I still have yet to figure out how he does it, and I probably will never figure it out. Last night, he was able to cut down his 9th net and post his 5th perfect season. Geno is in such elite company and year after year, his team is in contention to win it all and finish perfect.

The Women took a different path through their season as they constantly pounded teams into the ground blowing them out giving them no hope to win the game. They cruised through the regular season and without the minor bump against Stanford and BYU, they pretty much cruised to winning it all by beating the Fighting Irish by 21. Every year, Geno is able to drill the UConn way into their brains and every year he sees results. He is truly one of the best basketball coaches of all time.

After winning both the Men’s and Women’s championship in the same year for the 2nd time, I think UConn will start receiving a little more attention and gaining a bit more respect. It has been a fun ride watching all year and watching the Huskies win a championship never gets old. Congratulations to both the Men and Women and I will be looking forward to the title defense.

Sunday Conversation With Tim Fontenault

It has been awhile but I’m back for a new post. The last time I posted something, Shabazz Napier hit a game winner against Florida that sent Gampel into a frenzy. Fast forward to today, and UConn is one win away from a National Championship. Not many people had their bracket with Connecticut selected as one of the finalists. One of my good friends, Tim Fontenault has been covering this special team since the beginning as the beat writer for UConn’s school newspaper, The Daily Campus. The beauty of this friendship is that I have constant access to someone who knows the team better than I do. He has been able to travel to Memphis for the AAC Tournament and has been to Buffalo, New York City, and now Dallas for this NCAA Tournament.

 

Tim took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about Dallas, UConn, and fried gator.

“How was the trip down to Dallas?”

Tim:    The trip to Dallas was good. Hartford to Charlotte was uneventful, but I’ve never been more excited to purchase something in an airport, but that something was a Charlotte Hornets snapback. There was a celebrity presence on the plane from Charlotte to Dallas in the form of Langston Hall, a member of the Mercer basketball team that knocked off Duke in the Round of 64.

 
“What’s the stadium like?”

Tim:  The stadium is ridiculous in multiple meanings of the world. The place is overwhelming in terms of its size and grandeur and seems like an unforgettable place to watch a football game. As a venue for the Final Four, it is atrocious. Never should a basketball game be played in front of 79,444 people. The court is not 100 yards long like a football field, it’s 90 feet. If you are up high, you’re watching on that massive video board. From my spot, I had to watch a lot on the board. I was blessed to be there and blessed to be in the front row of media on the baseline, but I had a massive TBS stage and a student section in the way of an elevated court.

 
“How’s the UConn fan base in Dallas?”

Tim:  For having about four or five days to prepare and having the most expensive travel (I’m guessing), UConn was very well represented. Big Blue Nation from Kentucky and the Florida and Wisconsin crowds were more distinct, but UConn had a decent crowd, especially among students, some of whom sat on a bus for 30 hours.

 
“What kind of celebrity crowd are at the games?”

Tim:  A lot of former UConn players came down here for the game. Jeremy Lamb, Hasheem Thabeet and Caron Butler made the trip from Oklahoma City. Donyell Marshall, Taliek Brown and Khalid El-Amin are here, as are Doug Wiggins and Kyle Bailey, just to name a few. Other celebrities in the crowd included Jerry Jones (obviously), Troy Aikman, LL Cool J, Chris Daughtery, Drake, Johnny Manziel and athletes rooting for their schools, including Chandler Parsons, who brought Dwight Howard to root for Florida, and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson and J.J. Watt. Montee Ball was also there for Wisconsin, and while wearing a frog outfit, he was nearly kicked out of the stadium after getting upset that security would not let him into the Badgers’ student section. Wisconsin students tried to urge security to let him in.

 

I heard you tried fried alligator. How was it?

Tim: Fried alligator is absolutely delicious. I had heard it tastes like chicken, and it really does. It’s an interesting version of popcorn chicken.

 

What were your thoughts on last nights game?

Tim: UConn showed that it is never out of any game and that even when a team tries to make Shabazz Napier irrelevant, he is always going to find a way to beat it. The Huskies were resilient and fearless against the best team in the country, ending the Gators’ win streak the same way it started: with a loss to UConn.

 

Did you get to talk with the team after the win? If so, what’s their general attitude about tomorrow?

Tim: I did talk to the team after the game. They were quite excited to let people know that their Dec. 2 win over Florida was no fluke and that they deserve to be in the championship game, no matter how little anyone believes in them.

 

What’s your general attitude on tomorrow night?

Tim: UConn is a great team. Kentucky is a great team. This matchup is so weird in the sense that UConn beat Florida twice and lost to Louisville three times while Kentucky beat Louisville twice and lost to Florida three times. It is hard to get a read on how that affects the matchup. Kentucky is taller and stronger, but so were Michigan State and Florida. It’s going to come down to UConn having to defend an Aaron Harrison three from 500 feet away.

 

What is on your agenda between now and tip-off tomorrow night?

Tim: There are two viewing parties for the women’s game at the Final Four tonight. I’m going to the Hyatt Regency, where the men’s team is staying, to watch the game with UConn fans, and I believe Donyell Marshall is supposed to be there. Then after that, I’ll make sure to watch Game of Thrones, obviously.