It’s finally that time of the year: the weather is starting to get cold which means that basketball season is officially back in Storrs. But in the Basketball Capital of the World, the season openers do not just mark the start of the season, they mark the start of the peak of the student culture at UConn. From selling out student ticket claims within minutes of release to fans waiting in lines at Gampel Pavilion for hours before the doors, students live and breathe UConn basketball.
At the beginning of September, USA Today released their 10 Best Readers Choice 2023 of “The Best College for Sports Fans” and UConn was ranked No. 1. The other top schools included Florida State, Alabama, Florida, Indiana and LSU, but UConn stood alone on the top.
“It [basketball season] brings a lot of energy to the students, all the excitement, especially when this place gets packed,” said Kyle Bergstrom, a UConn student who was in line at Gampel Pavilion at 8 a.m. for the men’s basketball season opener against NAU. “The energy that Gampel brings, the whole campus atmosphere changes when basketball comes back. UConn is a basketball school at the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for.”
“Basketball gets me so excited and it feels like we’re actually a community,” said a student in the line for the men’s basketball game against NAU. “I don’t even know how to put it into words, just being there makes me so happy. Especially after we won the National Championship, that was so exciting.”
Another huge factor for basketball this year in Storrs is that star guard Paige Bueckers is back after missing the entirety of last season from an ACL tear. Bueckers is one of the big faces of college basketball and to see her on the sideline in her temporary role of “Coach P” was heartbreaking for fans who love watching her on the court.
“It’s definitely going to draw more people to the women’s games 100%,” said Bergstrom. “I think it’s good for the whole school to bring the publicity back to UConn a little more and get more attention on our basketball programs, they deserve it.”
“That is very exciting,” said a student in the line for the men’s basketball game against NAU. “That makes it a lot more possible that we will win a National Championship since she hasn’t been able to help us out recently. I feel like she’s the face of basketball at UConn so it’s going to be exciting to watch her.”
In the UConn men’s basketball season opener on Monday, the entire arena was sold out to see the defending national champions get back in action. There was also a ceremony to unveil the 2023 national championship banner prior to the start of the game. Right as the doors opened a little before 5 p.m., student fans stormed in to get their front row seats after waiting for hours in line. From there, the sections were packed to the max by around 5:15 p.m., and students filled out throughout the whole arena. Later in the game, UConn announced on the big screen that there were 10,299 people in attendance, which marked a new record for the all-time Gampel Pavilion attendance. The UConn basketball fanbase stems from students to people of all ages and there is no stopping the passion and dedication they have throughout the season.
UConn fans are not just limited to people living in Connecticut. UConn men’s and women’s basketball are programs known worldwide for their success in bringing championships to Connecutict. They have consistent players playing in the NBA and WNBA, bring in some of the most prestigious coaches, now having Geno Auriemma and Dan Hurley, as well as having some of the most iconic moments in college sports history. The UConn women’s basketball team holds the record for the most NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championships won with 11, which includes four straight titles through 2013-2016. On the men’s side, UConn stands alone at the top of men’s college basketball in the past quarter century, winning NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championships in the past 25 years; 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014 and this past season 2023. No other program in college men’s basketball has five national titles in that span of time. As a result, UConn stands out and their fanbases backs it up across the country and around the world.
Men’s and women’s basketball creates a community at UConn, whether they’re celebrating national championships or just going to a regular game in the middle of February at the infamous Gampel Pavilion or XL Center. That excitement all starts now and student fans are so ready to bring all the energy into the 2023-24 college basketball season in Storrs.