HARTFORD — The state House of Representatives was in  the middle of a heated, three-prong debate. Should the lollipop be Connecticut’s official state candy, or locally manufactured Pez? Should the praying mantis be the state insect? Should the Siberian husky be the state dog? Finally, Rep. Doug Dubitsky rose to call out colleagues on the absurdity he was hearing, but he was gaveled down midsentence. The champs had arrived. Husky Day is known around the state Capitol as a day not much gets done, a day to talk, apparently, about frivolous legislation. The UConn men’s basketball team, repeat ..read more

Former University of Michigan big man Tarris Reed Jr. has committed to the UConn men’s basketball program for next season. Reed, a 6-foot-10, 265-pound sophomore who averaged 9.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and shot 52 percent from the field, visited the Huskies during their championship parade in Hartford on Saturday. The St. Louis native was a four-star recruit coming out of high school at Link Year Academy in Branson, Mo. in 2022, and ranked by ESPN as the No. 9 center in the class. God got me…I ain’t stressin #Committed pic.twitter.com/dwrbVsOFGz — Tarris”Big Hoss” Reed Jr. (@TarrisR ..read more

It’s been acknowledged across the country, declared loudly by commentators and fans in front of hardwood floors in gyms across the U.S. But on Monday, Rep. Joe Courtney brought the phrase ‘College Basketball Capital of the World’ to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Courtney, a Democrat who represents eastern Connecticut and the state’s second congressional district, took the time to praise the UConn men’s basketball team during a speech on the House floor on Monday. “Mr. Speaker, a couple days ago on Saturday in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, the capital city of the state of ..read more

UConn graduate Mark Daigneault, who served as a student manager for the men’s basketball team under Jim Calhoun from 2003-07, won the National Basketball Coaches Association’s NBA Coach of the Year award on Monday. The 39-year-old led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 57-25 record and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. With an average age of 24 years old, the team became the youngest in modern league history to finish with a top seed in the West. Daigneault, who’s originally from Leominster, Mass., earned his bachelor’s degree at UConn and went on to serve as an assistant at Holy Cross and ..read more

The broadcast alluded to it multiple times as Adama Sanogo put together the best game of his young NBA career in a 129-127 Chicago Bulls win over the Washington Wizards Friday night. “That’s Huskies Sanogo right there!” NBC Sports Chicago play-by-play man Adam Amin said after Sanogo finished a layup off a pick-and-roll in the second quarter. “There it is … Sanogo! National champion,” color man Stacey King said after the 6-foot-9 big man from Mali and 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player finished a layup over Washington’s Anthony Gill. The pair went nuts when Sanogo grabbed his 20th rebound ..read more

As fast as he had to turn his mind to the transfer portal and reloading UConn’s roster for a possible three-peat, first head coach Dan Hurley had to answer hundreds of questions about another blue blood, Kentucky, and its high-dollar coaching search. Of course, Hurley, celebrating his second national championship parade in as many years in Hartford Saturday, would be the top man on the market. If only he had actually been on the market. “You talk to your agent the whole year, you talk to him more later in the year (and) a lot of the conversations he’s just checking in with you. But he made me ..read more

HARTFORD — Donovan Clingan, at 7 feet 2, had to stoop to get to the mic, and he kept his valedictory short and on point, about 25 seconds. “Let’s go, back to back champs, what do you say?” he said, as the UConn fans, bunched together on Trumbull Street as far as he could see. “… These last two years, I’ll cherish the rest of my life. I’ll be a Husky for life. Love you guys.” It was an exuberant day for the UConn men’s basketball team, five days past their victory over Purdue for the national championship, the second in a row and the program’s sixth since 1999. But Saturday was also a sad day ..read more

An estimated 60,000 UConn fans filled the streets of Hartford, erupting when the double-decker bus carrying the back-to-back champion UConn men pulled in front of the XL Center. Like deja vu, there was head coach Dan Hurley, with his sunglasses on, hat on backwards, addressing the crowd from the podium on Trumbull Street with the championship trophy on a table to his left. He began to speak and the crowd started chanting his name. He stopped to egg them on: “Let’s go!” “Everywhere we went this year, every arena we went to, on the road, MSG, Brooklyn then Boston then Phoenix, we said the same t ..read more

Let the celebrations begin. Most of the UConn men’s basketball program knows what to expect in the wake of a national championship, but there are a few newcomers set to experience the thrill for the first time. The series of first pitches and appearances starts with seeing tens of thousands in Hartford for what coach Dan Hurley called “the coolest thing we got to do.” More than 45,000 fans gathered along the streets of downtown Hartford last season as the Huskies celebrated the program’s fifth national championship. The parade for No. 6 is set to start at 11 a.m. beginning at the Connecticut S ..read more

Donovan Clingan has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-2 sophomore from Bristol announced his decision on social media Friday after it was originally reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, just four days after winning a second consecutive national title with the UConn men’s basketball team. Clingan was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocks over six double-digit victories. “First and foremost, BACK TO BACK National Championships is legendary! These past two years have exceeded all my dreams and expectations. I will be forever grateful ..read more