WASHINGTON, D.C. — As is tradition for all champions of American sports leagues, the UConn men’s basketball team was finally able to make the trip down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The program hopes this becomes an annual pilgrimage, and President Joe Biden believes there’s a good chance it will be, saying, “I won’t be here next year, but you may be.”
The President and White House had a busy morning. Right before the Huskies’ arrival, Biden honored the South Carolina women’s basketball team for their similar dominant March Madness run, although the President couldn’t help but express how historic UConn’s back-to-back run truly was.
“Man, you proved everybody wrong. You were a force,” said Biden said in his speech last Tuesday. “Winning the Big East regular season title, winning the Big East tournament, winning the NCAA tournament games by an average of 23 points.”
As hard as it may be to believe, Connecticut did come into this season viewed as an underdog. Three of their starters, Andre Jackson Jr., Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, all left for the NBA and, as a result, UConn wasn’t even picked to win the Big East. Despite this, from day one, head coach Dan Hurley never lost faith in the team he and the Connecticut coaching staff built. He always believed this was a squad that could overcome any obstacle. Last Tuesday, Hurley expressed just how historic that 2023-2024 team’s journey was.
“A team that will go down as one of the most dominant teams in college basketball history, in the way we just destroyed everyone,” said Hurley.
Despite all the good that this team accomplished this past year, it wasn’t without its challenges. There were instances where this team was shorthanded. Four out of the five starters—Donovan Clingan, Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle and Alex Karaban—all suffered injuries throughout the season. Despite missing some of these key pieces at times, the team took the “next man up” mentality to another level. They never made excuses. The program kept moving forward one game at a time and never lost sight of the end goal: meeting POTS for the second year in a row.
Another challenge for UConn nation popped up this offseason. Other programs, including an NBA team, tried poaching Hurley from Connecticut. Although no official figure is known, Kentucky made a “massive offer” to try and sign Hurley. The Los Angeles Lakers also joined in on the sweepstakes, offering the former Seton Hall guard a six-year, $70 million deal. Despite this, after much anticipation, Hurley decided to stay. Biden believes this decision will bring much success to Connecticut basketball for years to come.
“Coach, you’ve said that UConn has been running college basketball for 30 years; with you at the helm, I think they better get ready for another 30,” said Biden.
Last Tuesday was likely the last time, for a long time, this championship squad will be together in one place. Newton, Spencer, Clingan and Castle are all at the next level and beginning their NBA journeys. However, Tuesday also represented a befitting ending to this historic team. They will go down as arguably the greatest team in college basketball history, and what better way to honor them than in the East Room of the White House? After all, not just anyone gets to step foot in this historic room.
“Only the champs come in here. There’s no participation or higher scorer.” noted Hurley in his speech last Tuesday. “Triple doubles don’t get you in the White House; you got to be a champion to get in here, and we’re in here.”
With this visit, many now consider UConn to be one of the great programs in basketball history. Most people rank them in the same class as schools like Duke, UNC and Kentucky. However, President Biden put them in a class of their own last Tuesday.
“So now there is no doubt at all about who are the “blue bloods” of [college] basketball,” said Biden.