Welcome to campus.
It’s time that you start enculturating yourself in one of college basketball’s most prestigious and tradition-rich programs.
There’s a lot to unpack, and I’ve decided to let you in on a little secret at the end; how to get your hands on Gampel Pavilion student tickets.
I must mention this first and foremost: If you’re interested in writing for The Daily Campus’ sports section, our first meeting will be this Sunday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. in the building behind the Moe’s downtown.
First off, the coaches.
Head coach Geno Auriemma has been doing this for a little while now — 41 years to be exact. Under his guidance, the program has won 12 national championships, 30 conference titles and over 88% of its games.
He holds the record for the most national titles won by a coach (12), most wins among NCAA basketball coaches, any level (1,250), most NCAA Tournament wins by a coach (137), highest winning percentage among coaches with 10+ years of experience (.883) and is the fastest coach to reach 800, 900, 1,000, 1,100 and 1,200 wins, respectively.
Associate head coach Chris Dailey has coached by his side since 1988. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Three assistant coaches, Jamelle Elliot, Morgan Valley and Tonya Cardoza round out the staff.
Secondly, the team.
Listing every UConn women’s basketball legend would require a separate article. There are too many names that hold too much weight to explain in a “for newbies” article.
This year’s team has a few names to watch — and no, Paige Bueckers is not one of them. Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd head the list. Strong enters her sophomore season on track to become the program’s next all-time great. Fudd, a graduate student, is a sharpshooting wing drawing praise as one of the top players in next year’s WNBA draft class.
Junior guard KK Arnold, junior guard Ashlynn Shade and senior center Serah Williams are some of the other names to keep an eye on. A full team breakdown will be published in October detailing every player on the roster.
Now, what you’ve been waiting for: The ticket claim process.
It’s arduous, anxiety-inducing and can control every aspect of your day.
Head over to uconnhuskies.evenue.net/students to see the dates for when home game tickets go on sale. For example, UConn football’s ticket claim portal has the dates listed for all six home games and when those tickets go on sale.
Once you pick a game, set a reminder on your phone for 9 p.m. the night the tickets go on sale. Go to the ticket claim website, then you will be thrown into a queue. Waiting in the queue with more devices helps (phone, laptop, tablet, etc.) but you are not guaranteed a ticket even with more than one device in the queue.
The queue will test your patience, but don’t exit out or you’ll forfeit your spot. Once you get through, you’ll have to put the ticket in your cart, go to your cart and check out. Do not leave the ticket in your cart — it will not show up on gameday unless you check out.
I’m jakeing it