Growing up as a UConn men’s basketball fan, there were numerous electric moments at home, whether at Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center, that I can remember watching. There was the whiteout in 2010, when the unranked Huskies upset then-No. 1 Texas. ESPN analyst Dick Vitale coined the now trademarked “Basketball Capital of the World” in 1995 when Connecticut took down their rival Syracuse, and that was before either program took home any national championships. Those who were around for the 1989-1990 “Dream Season” know how electric the Hartford Civic Center (now XL Center) was when the Huskies took down rivals Georgetown and Syracuse in back-to-back games.
There have been a lot of those moments over the years of the historic program, no matter where the game was played. However, UConn graduates feel that the student section has lost the spark that shined in the old Big East days.
Nate Herman, a senior majoring in sports management and a student manager for the UConn men’s basketball team, started the “Husky Pound” alongside Casey Ruff, a senior majoring in mathematics and brother of head student manager Tyler Ruff.
“We just wanted to re-energize the Gampel environment and student section,” Herman explained. “We have tailgates and now events and giveaways.”
The co-founders knew that for them to grow, they needed to start small.
“We started it about two weeks ago,” Ruff said. “Our soft launch was at the DePaul game. We knew it wasn’t going to be a good show out because of winter break and everything, but we wanted to see how it would do.”
Starting as just a basketball hoop and with no more than 20 people in line for the Jan. 2 game against the Blue Demons when doors opened, the Husky Pound grew dramatically for last Wednesday’s top-25 matchup against Creighton. In sub-freezing temperatures 11 hours before tipoff, Herman and Ruff created a schedule for a day-long tailgate to keep people engaged while suffering in the cold.
“The whole point of tailgating is to have fun, right?” Ruff argues. “And the best way to bring people in is to have fun. Free merchandise? Fun. Free doughnuts? Fun. People are going to want to do this often and we can’t do this if we don’t get the support. So the more support we get, the more that we can do this over and over again.”
To the vocal UConn alumni who have criticized the student section for not being what it used to be: you’re in luck. That’s exactly the goal of the Husky Pound.
“We want to have a little bit of a tradition going,” Ruff said. “We want to bring back the old chants. If there are alumni who want to hear that, tell us because we probably haven’t seen all the old chants and everything. We would love to hear feedback.”
It’s no secret that basketball powerhouses such as Kansas, Duke and Kentucky all have incredible homecourt advantages thanks to their rowdy and engaged students. Now that UConn is considered a blue blood program by many, it seems reasonable that every game needs to bring Gampel Pavilion and XL Center to the levels that Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas), Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke) and Rupp Arena (Kentucky) are at every single game, no matter the opponent.
So, outside of getting feedback from the alumni and starting day-long tailgates, how exactly is the Husky Pound improving the student section?
“Just everyone being in sync,” Herman noted. “Whether it’s chanting during free throws, doing certain distractions all in sync, making sure all students are on the same page and making it as loud and hard to play as possible for our opponents.”
The tailgate before the Creighton game last week was a hit. Many people stopped by the north entrance of Gampel Pavilion, where they received free food, drinks and merchandise throughout the day. The Husky Pound also gave away a basketball and a sign autographed by center Donovan Clingan. Clingan seemed to approve of the Husky Pound as he appeared at the tailgate in the morning and dropped off hand warmers.
If those perks don’t appeal to students, the founders argue that the Huskies’ ranking in Monday’s AP Poll should.
“We’re number one in the nation, there’s no excuse now,” Ruff attested. “We are number one right now. Let’s show them we just won [the national championship] last year and let’s show our Husky pride.”
To help the program grow in prominence, both founders emphasized the importance of following the Husky Pound on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter). Without social media, getting the word out to students is nearly impossible.
Thanks in part to the great environment the Husky Pound provided during last week’s game against Creighton, the Huskies won 62-48. It also didn’t hurt that it was $2 beer night.
The defending national champions will be in Hartford on Sunday to host Xavier with a chance to sweep the Musketeers after being on the other end of the brooms last year. Regardless of the weather or anything else, Herman and Ruff will likely be standing in the front row of the student section, ready to lead the student section to what could be the team’s eighth-straight victory.