The votes are in and student spoons are ready for this year’s Senior Scoop, the custom ice cream flavor celebrating graduating Huskies. “Basketball Capital of the Swirl’d,” a black raspberry ice cream with Oreo cookie pieces and fudge ripple, was announced as the Class of 2024 winner.
Every year, the University of Connecticut Dairy Bar and senior class committee host a contest where students can submit ideas for the commemorative ice cream. After finalizing the actual flavor, another set of submissions and voting for the winning name occurs. This year, five students submitted the winning ice cream flavor and two students named the Scoop.
“As far as I know, we each came up with the combination [separately] and had the winning flavor,” says Kaley McCumiskey, a fourth-year applied and resource economics and psychological sciences student who shared in submitting this year’s delicious dessert.
“Basketball Capital of the Swirl’d” was created by Anthony Barile, Madison Bigelow, Luke Bunosso, Emma Mankarios and Kaley McCumiskey and named by Jillian Barron and Dayna Hausspiegel.
Every Senior Scoop is made in smaller batches than regular menu flavors and only available while supplies last. The annual contest was initiated in 2012 by former UConn president Susan Herbst, who suggested a student-created flavor to honor that year’s graduating senior class. Last year’s Scoop was “Hurley’s Almond Swirly” and other past flavors include “Mirror Lake Mint,” “Geno Oreomma” and “Jonathan Java Crunch,” among others. Each receives a plaque on the Dairy Bar’s “wall of fame.”
“I knew it was a tradition at UConn and wanted to be a part of it. I honestly wasn’t expecting to win, I just wanted to say I participated,” added McCumiskey. “I do think it’s one of the best traditions we have, by far.”
The UConn Dairy Bar is no stranger to student-created concoctions — all the ice cream sold in the Dairy Bar storefront and truck is produced at UConn Animal Science’s Kellogg Creamery located in the George White Building on campus. The milk is sourced from local livestock and used as part of student labs and dairy research initiatives of UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. Students also make cheese, learn about food safety and use the Dairy Bar as a learning lab in restaurant management. The Dairy Bar ice cream is also consistently award-winning and has always been great-tasting, a UConn staple since 1953.
McCumiskey describes “Basketball Capital of the Swirl’d” as a “sweet blend of berry and chocolate, with a bit of crunch from the Oreo.” The official announcement adds that it is “the perfect sweet treat to enjoy while you root for the Huskies!” With the men’s basketball team’s fifth NCAA National Championship title last year and both teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 10, Huskies fans are ready for March (I like basketball, but maybe I’ll like this year’s Senior Scoop just a bit more).
Trying this year’s Senior Scoop with an inspired name and a tasty flavor is a great way to support our teams and honor our students. “Basketball Capital of the Swirl’d” will only be available for a limited time during the spring semester at the UConn Dairy Bar, located at 17 Manter Road on the UConn main campus in Storrs Mansfield.