Only after you trudge through the slosh lining Fairfield Way — likely the product of a snow squall that couldn’t even cancel your 8 a.m. lecture — and impatiently wait amongst the swaths of your drunken peers to get in, will you get glimpses of it.
Fleeting glimpses. So tantalizingly close, yet still so far out of reach.
You’ll see it through the smudged glass doors that line this bastion of basketball, between the windows of students sprinting inside to claim the most coveted seats in the country— if any remain. You’ll hear it, too. You’ll likely feel it under your feet, as well.
The uniform and thunderous claps commenced by three chimes of a bell before tip-off. The cascading waves of blue and white seemingly spilling over each other, belting out the five most intimidating letters in college basketball.
“U-C-O-N-N.”
Then, if you’re lucky enough to get in, you’ll see him. He’ll enter across the court from you, likely in a black blazer and black shirt — no tie, no collar. He’ll walk (somewhat stiffly) under the opposite hoop, head down, shoulders slightly sagging, a look of indifference dotting his face as he saunters past the opposing team warming up.
Every screen will pan to him. A tangible fervor will likely follow.
He’s the one who built this. This grand theater in the middle of a cow town in Northeast Connecticut. This caldron of noise, lined with the fiercely loyal Husky Nation. He’s more than likely part of the reason you enrolled here.
Seventy-two year-old Geno Auriemma, entering year 42 at the helm of the UConn women’s basketball team, winner of the 12 national championship trophies used as doorstops around Gampel Pavilion, has something to prove this season.
Something to avenge.
His goal, which will be outlined more thoroughly in The Daily Campus’ Husky Hoopla in October, is simply to not lose. Not like UConn did in April in Phoenix, when it melted down against bitter rival South Carolina.
He’ll have to do it without All-American sharpshooter Azzi Fudd, who joined Paige Bueckers as the program’s second consecutive No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, spearheading the offense.
Gone are stalwarts Caroline Ducharme, Ayanna Patterson and Ice Brady, replaced by an infusion of youth, including blue-chip freshman Olivia Vukosa down low.
It will not be easy — UConn plays Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Louisville, South Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Notre Dame, Tennessee and LSU all before Christmas — but Auriemma returns enough to will Connecticut to its 26th Final Four, and 19th in 20 years.
For those of you still marking calendars: UConn opens the regular season against Cornell on Nov. 2 either in Storrs or Hartford. It’s marquee home game of the first semester will likely be a Sunday matinee versus Iowa (also in either Storrs or Hartford) on Dec. 8.
The ticket claiming process for students is an arduous one. There isn’t much skill to it; you’ll have to get lucky in the queue 10 days before the game you want to see tips off. Our advice: Log in with multiple devices and don’t ever refresh the page.
Good luck. The theater awaits you.