UConn Huskies men's basketball

The UConn Huskies men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team of the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Connecticut. They currently play in the Big East Conference and are coached by Dan Hurley.

UConn Huskies
2023–24 UConn Huskies men's basketball team
University	University of Connecticut
First season	1901 (1901)
All-time record	1,799–1,012 (.640)
Head coach	Dan Hurley (5th season)
Conference	Big East
Location	Storrs, Connecticut
Arena	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion 10,167 XL Center 15,564
Nickname	Huskies
Colors	National flag blue and white^[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA tournament champions
1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023
NCAA tournament Final Four
1999, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2023
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1964, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2023
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1951, 1956, 1964, 1976, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996*, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2023
NCAA tournament appearances
1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996*, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023 *vacated by NCAA
Conference tournament champions
ECAC 1976, 1979 Big East 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2011 American 2016
Conference regular season champions
Yankee Conference 1941, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 Big East 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006

The Huskies have won 5 NCAA tournament championships (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014 and 2023), which puts the program in a tie with Duke and Indiana for fourth-most all-time. The Huskies are second in Big East tournament championships with seven, trailing only Georgetown (8). The Huskies also have the most Big East regular season titles with ten and one American Athletic Conference tournament championship. Numerous players have gone on to achieve professional success after their time at UConn, including Clifford Robinson, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Rudy Gay, Charlie Villanueva, Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, and Andre Drummond. The Huskies have participated in 6 NCAA Final Fours (tied for 10th all time) and appeared in the NCAA tournament 36 times.

History

Early history

Men's basketball at UConn began in 1901 with a single game played by Connecticut Agricultural College against Windham High School in January of that year. The college team won, and by 1903 basketball was a varsity sport. The team’s first head coach was John F. Donahue, who coached the school from 1915-1919. The team's first African American player was Harrison Fitch, who was controversially benched by coach John Heldman for a 1934 game against the US Coast Guard Academy.^[2] One of the first true stars from Connecticut was Hartford's Bernie Fisher. He was captain of the 1945 team, which was the first UConn team to play in Madison Square Garden. The Hartford Courant dubbed him "Swisher Fisher".

Hugh Greer era

After graduating from the Connecticut Agricultural College, former player Hugh Greer returned to his alma mater as a freshman coach. He was later named head coach of the Huskies six games into the 1946–47 season. Greer led Connecticut to a perfect 12–0 mark for the remainder of his first season. Posting a record of 16–2, this was the best single season finish in school history to that point. UConn won 12 Yankee Conference titles under Greer in 16 completed seasons, including ten consecutive titles from 1951 to 1960. Greer also led UConn to its first seven NCAA berths and one NIT appearance while compiling an overall head coaching record of 286–112. In 1954, he famously led UConn to a 78–77 victory against undefeated Holy Cross breaking the Crusaders' 47-game home winning streak. Eventually, Holy Cross won the NIT title. In 1956, Greer led UConn to the Sweet 16, where they lost in a close game to Temple. Greer died of a heart attack in 1963, ten games into the 1962–63 season. He was replaced by assistant George Wigton, who led them to the Elite Eight.

Jim Calhoun era

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Connecticut remained a regional power, winning an additional six Yankee Conference titles and earning multiple NCAA tournament berths before the conference dropped basketball at the end of the 1975–1976 season. In 1979, UConn became one of the seven founding schools of the Big East Conference, which was created to focus on basketball.

Prior to the 1986–87 season UConn hired Northeastern head coach Jim Calhoun to take over the program. Calhoun's first team finished the season with a record of 9–19. In 1988, the team showed significant improvement and gained a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. UConn went on a run in the tournament and defeated Ohio State 72–67 at Madison Square Garden to win the NIT, the school's first national basketball title.

The 1990 "Dream Season" would bring UConn basketball back to the national stage. Led by Chris Smith, Nadav Henefeld, Scott Burrell, Tate George, Rod Sellers and John Gwynn, UConn went from unranked in the preseason to winning the Big East Regular Season and Tournament Championships, both for the first time. 1990 also marked the opening of Gampel Pavilion, the program's new on-campus home. In the NCAA tournament the Huskies garnered a #1 seed in the East Region, but trailed Clemson 70–69 with 1 second remaining in the Sweet 16. Burrell's full-court pass found Tate George on the far baseline. George spun, fired, and hit a buzzer-beater that is known in Connecticut simply as "The Shot". They would be eliminated on a buzzer-beater 2 days later by Duke, losing in overtime 79–78.

During the 1994-1995 campaign, the Huskies hosted Syracuse on ESPN. During an exciting stretch of the second half of that game, ESPN color commentator Dick Vitale claimed that Storrs, CT was the "basketball capital of the world" as both the men's and women's teams were having undefeated seasons so far. The Huskies beat Syracuse but lost to Kansas to end their undefeated season.

 

Exterior view of Gampel Pavilion

UConn continued to rise as a national program throughout the 1990s, winning five more Big East Regular Season and three more Big East tournament championships, as well as reaching several regional finals. The Final Four still eluded Calhoun and the program until the 1999 NCAA tournament. With Richard "Rip" Hamilton leading the way, they claimed the program's first national title that same year. Calhoun's teams would go on to win two more national championships during his tenure at UConn.

Calhoun was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, and officially announced his retirement in September 2012.

After the breakup of the old Big East in 2013, UConn remained as a member of the American Athletic Conference, the legal successor to the original conference. Until leaving the AAC in 2020 to join the new Big East, UConn was the only charter member of the original Big East still playing in that conference.

Kevin Ollie era

Kevin Ollie was hired as UConn's men's basketball coach shortly after Calhoun's retirement. Ollie played for Jim Calhoun from 1991 to 1995 and was a key player on those early 1990s Husky teams. During his first season, the Huskies record was 20–10. That year the Huskies were banned from postseason play by the NCAA because of a low APR score in 2010.^[3] In Ollie's second season, the team made the NCAA tournament. On March 30, 2014, Ollie became the first UConn coach other than Jim Calhoun to lead the Huskies to a Final Four. They won the Men's NCAA tournament on April 7, 2014, defeating the University of Kentucky 60–54. His team was the first #7 seed to ever win the NCAA tournament. Ollie led Connecticut to the American Athletic Conference tournament championship and another NCAA tournament appearance in 2015–16. The Huskies defeated Colorado 74–67 in the Second Round but were eliminated by the number one overall seed Kansas Jayhawks 73–61 in the third round of the tournament.

Kevin Ollie was fired for just cause related to an NCAA investigation of the program on March 10, 2018.^[4]

Dan Hurley era

 

Hurley during a 2023 departure ceremony for the NCAA Final Four

Former Wagner College and Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley was introduced by UConn on March 23, 2018 to be the next Head men's basketball coach following the firing of Kevin Ollie.^[4] After losing in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in his third and fourth year, Hurley broke through in year five, winning the National Championship in 2023.^{[citation needed]}

Facilities

• Hugh S. Greer Fieldhouse (1954–1990)
• XL Center/Hartford Civic Center (1975–present)
• Gampel Pavilion (1990–present)
• Werth Family Champions Center (2014–present)

National Championships

1999 NCAA Title

 

UConn won both the Big East and NCAA National Championships in 2011.

The Huskies were the top seed in the West region, and a win over Gonzaga in the regional final sent UConn to Tropicana Field for the program's first Final Four appearance. They defeated Ohio State 64–58 in the semi-final to face off against Duke in the final. Despite having been ranked #1 for half of the year, the Huskies entered the national championship game as 9-point underdogs.

UConn won their first national title with a 77–74 victory. Richard Hamilton was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

1999 NCAA Tournament
Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#16 Texas-San Antonio	91–66
Round #2	#9 New Mexico	78–56
Sweet 16	#5 Iowa	78–68
Elite 8	#10 Gonzaga	67–62
Final Four	#4 Ohio State	64–58
Championship	#1 Duke	77–74

2004 NCAA Title

In 2004, the Huskies returned to the Final Four. Once again they faced Duke, this time in the National Semifinal, and used a late run to beat the Blue Devils 79–78. Two nights later, led by Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon, Connecticut won their second national title with an 82–73 victory over Georgia Tech. Okafor was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

One day later the UConn women's basketball team also won a national title, making UConn the first and only school in NCAA Division I history to have its men's and women's basketball programs win a national championship in the same season.

2004 NCAA Tournament
Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#15 Vermont	70–53
Round #2	#7 DePaul	72–55
Sweet 16	#6 Vanderbilt	73–53
Elite 8	#8 Alabama	87–71
Final Four	#1 Duke	79–78
Championship	#3 Georgia Tech	82–73

2011 NCAA Title

The 2011 Huskies won 11 straight games in postseason play, the final six of which resulted in the program's third national championship. On April 4, 2011, they defeated the Butler Bulldogs, 53–41. UConn junior Kemba Walker was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Many consider UConn's win in the Championship Game to be a great defensive performance, as the Huskies held Butler to only 18.8% shooting from the field (a record for field goal percentage defense in a championship game) and tied a title game record with ten blocked shots.^[5] An analysis by Sports Illustrated columnist Luke Winn credited the Huskies' defense by demonstrating, for instance, that they blocked or altered a staggering 26.6% of Butler's shots – compared to just 3.8 percent by Pittsburgh and 12.1 percent by VCU in earlier rounds.^[6] The 53 points scored by Connecticut was, in turn, the lowest point total by a winning team in a championship game since 1949.

2011 NCAA Tournament
Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#14 Bucknell	89–52
Round #2	#6 Cincinnati	69–58
Sweet 16	#2 San Diego State	74–67
Elite 8	#5 Arizona	65–63
Final Four	#4 Kentucky	56–55
Championship	#8 Butler	53–41

2014 NCAA Title

 

2014 UConn National Championship teams at the White House

In 2014 led by American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Shabazz Napier, UConn became the first #7 seed to win the NCAA Championship, getting past No. 1 seed Florida, No. 2 seed Villanova, No. 3 seed Iowa State, and No. 4 seed Michigan State, before defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 60–54 in the championship game in Arlington, Texas. UConn is undefeated in the state of Texas in the Final Four (6–0).

As in 2004, the UConn women's basketball team also won a national title, making UConn the first and only school in NCAA Division I history to have its men's and women's basketball programs win a national championship in the same season twice.

2014 NCAA Tournament
Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#10 Saint Joseph's	89–81 ^OT
Round #2	#2 Villanova	77–65
Sweet 16	#3 Iowa State	81–76
Elite 8	#4 Michigan State	60–54
Final Four	#1 Florida	63–53
Championship	#8 Kentucky	60–54

2023 NCAA Title

In 2023, the UConn Huskies won all of their tournament games by more than 10 points. This team is considered to be one of the most dominant teams in the history of March Madness. Their path to the championship began against #13 seed Iona in the first round, in which they would trail at the half but eventually pull away in the end. The second round game pitted the Huskies against #5 Saint Mary's, a dominant win. They would then beat both #8 Arkansas and #3 Gonzaga swiftly. The national semifinal would be a 13 point defeat of #5 Miami as they would advance to their 5th national championship.

The national championship would be a 17 point blowout of #5 San Diego State University as UConn easily won their fifth national title, tying Duke and Indiana for the fourth spot in national championships.

2023 NCAA Tournament
Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#13 Iona	87–63
Round #2	#5 Saint Mary's	70–55
Sweet 16	#8 Arkansas	88–65
Elite 8	#3 Gonzaga	82–54
Final Four	#5 Miami	72–59
Championship	#5 San Diego State	76–59

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Huskies have appeared in the NCAA tournament 36 times. Their combined record is 65–32. They have been to six Final Fours and are five time National Champions (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023).

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1951	N/A	Sweet Sixteen	St. John's	L 52–63
1954	N/A	First Round	Navy	L 80–85
1956	N/A	First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Manhattan Temple Dartmouth	W 84–75 L 59–65 L 64–85
1957	N/A	First Round	Syracuse	L 76–82
1958	N/A	First Round	Dartmouth	L 64–75
1959	N/A	First Round	Boston University	L 58–60
1960	N/A	First Round	NYU	L 59–78
1963	N/A	First Round	West Virginia	L 71–77
1964	N/A	First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Temple Princeton Duke	W 53–48 W 52–50 L 54–101
1965	N/A	First Round	Saint Joseph's	L 61–67
1967	N/A	First Round	Boston College	L 42–48
1976	N/A	First Round Sweet Sixteen	Hofstra Rutgers	W 80–79^OT L 79–93
1979	#5	Second Round	#4 Syracuse	L 81–89
1990	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Boston University #9 California #5 Clemson #3 Duke	W 76–52 W 74–54 W 71–70 L 78–79^OT
1991	#11	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 LSU #14 Xavier #2 Duke	W 79–62 W 66–50 L 67–81
1992	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Nebraska #1 Ohio State	W 86–65 L 55–78
1994	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#15 Rider #10 George Washington #3 Florida	W 64–46 W 75–63 L 60–69^OT
1995	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Chattanooga #7 Cincinnati #3 Maryland #1 UCLA	W 100–71 W 96–91 W 99–89 L 96–102
1996	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Colgate #9 Eastern Michigan #5 Mississippi State	W 68–59 W 95–81 L 55–60
1998	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Fairleigh Dickinson #7 Indiana #11 Washington #1 North Carolina	W 93–85 W 78–68 W 75–74 L 64–75
1999	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#16 UTSA #9 New Mexico #5 Iowa #10 Gonzaga #4 Ohio State #1 Duke	W 91–66 W 78–56 W 78–68 W 67–62 W 64–58 W 77–74
2000	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Utah State #4 Tennessee	W 75–67 L 51–65
2002	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Hampton #7 NC State #11 Southern Illinois #1 Maryland	W 78–67 W 77–74 W 71–59 L 82–90
2003	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 BYU #4 Stanford #1 Texas	W 58–53 W 85–74 L 78–82
2004	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#15 Vermont #7 DePaul #6 Vanderbilt #8 Alabama #1 Duke #3 Georgia Tech	W 70–53 W 72–55 W 73–53 W 87–71 W 79–78 W 82–73
2005	#2	First Round Second Round	#15 UCF #10 NC State	W 77–71 L 62–65
2006	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Albany #8 Kentucky #5 Washington #11 George Mason	W 72–59 W 87–83 W 98–92^OT L 84–86^OT
2008	#4	First Round	#13 San Diego	L 69–70^OT
2009	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Chattanooga #9 Texas A&M #5 Purdue #3 Missouri #2 Michigan State	W 103–47 W 92–66 W 72–60 W 82–75 L 73–82
2011	#3	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#14 Bucknell #6 Cincinnati #2 San Diego State #5 Arizona #4 Kentucky #8 Butler	W 81–52 W 69–58 W 74–67 W 65–63 W 56–55 W 53–41
2012	#9	First Round	#8 Iowa State	L 64–77
2014	#7	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#10 Saint Joseph's #2 Villanova #3 Iowa State #4 Michigan State #1 Florida #8 Kentucky	W 89–81^OT W 77–65 W 81–76 W 60–54 W 63–53 W 60–54
2016	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Colorado #1 Kansas	W 74–67 L 61–73
2021	#7	First Round	#10 Maryland	L 54–63
2022	#5	First Round	#12 New Mexico State	L 63–70
2023	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#13 Iona #5 Saint Mary's #8 Arkansas #3 Gonzaga #5 Miami #5 San Diego State	W 87–63 W 70–55 W 88–65 W 82–54 W 72–59 W 76–59

NCAA Tournament seeding history

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

Year →	'79	'90	'91	'92	'94	'95	'96	'98	'99	'00	'02	'03	'04	'05	'06	'08	'09	'11	'12	'14	'16	'21	'22	'23
Seed →	5	1	11	9	2	2	1	2	1	5	2	5	2	2	1	4	1	3	9	7	9	7	5	4

NIT results

The Huskies have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 13 times. Their combined record is 15–12. They were NIT champions in 1988.

Year	Round	Opponent	Results
1955	First Round	Saint Louis	L 103–110
1974	First Round Quarterfinals	St. John's Boston College	W 82–70 L 75–76
1975	First Round	South Carolina	L 61–71
1980	First Round	Saint Peter's	L 56–71
1981	First Round Second Round	South Florida Minnesota	W 66–55 L 66–84
1982	First Round	Dayton	L 75–76
1988	First Round Second Round Quarterfials Semifinals Final	West Virginia Louisiana Tech VCU Boston College Ohio State	W 62–57 W 65–59 W 69–60 W 73–67 W 72–67
1989	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Charlotte California UAB	W 67–62 W 73–72 L 79–85
1993	First Round	Jackson State	L 88–90
1997	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Iona Bradley Nebraska Florida State Arkansas	W 71–66 W 63–47 W 76–67 L 65–71 W 74–64
2001	First Round Second Round	South Carolina Detroit	W 72–65 L 61–67
2010	First Round Second Round	Northeastern Virginia Tech	W 59–57 L 63–65
2015	First Round	Arizona State	L 61–68

Coaches

The following is a list of Connecticut Huskies men's basketball head coaches. The team is currently coached by Dan Hurley.

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1900–15^[7]	No Coach	15	45–44	.506
1915–19^[7]	John F. Donahue	4	11–23	.324
1919–21^[7]	M.R. Swartz	2	14–14	.500
1921–22^[7]	J. Wilder Tasker	2	15–5	.750
1922–23^[7]	Roy J. Guyer	1	8–6	.571
1923–27^[7]	Sumner Dole	4	39–25	.609
1927–31^[7]	Louis A. Alexander	4	35–19	.648
1931–36^[7]	John J. Heldman, Jr.	5	19–42	.311
1935–36^[7]	J. Orlean Christian (interim)	1	3–10	.231
1936–45^[7]	Don White	9	94–59	.614
1945–46^[7]	Blair Gullion	2	14–7	.667
1946–63^[7]	Hugh Greer	17	287–113	.718
1963^[7]	George Wigton (interim)	1	11–4	.733
1963–67^[7]	Fred Shabel	4	72–29	.713
1967–69^[7]	Burr Carlson	2	16–32	.333
1969–77^[7]	Donald "Dee" Rowe	8	120–88	.577
1977–86^[7]	Dominic "Dom" Perno	9	139–114	.549
1986–2012^[7]	Jim Calhoun	26	625–243	.720
2012–2018	Kevin Ollie	6	127–79	.617
2018–present	Dan Hurley	5	104–55	.654

Huskies of Honor

Main article: Huskies of Honor

On December 26, 2006, UConn announced inaugural inductees into the "Huskies of Honor" recognition program, a class of 13 players and 3 coaches that were later introduced at halftime during the February 5, 2007 UConn-Syracuse game.^[8] Former athletic director John Toner was inducted on February 28, 2009.^[9] On April 5, 2011, Kemba Walker was the first men's basketball player to be added to the program since the inaugural inductees, an honor he was bestowed after leading the team to a national championship.^{[citation needed]}

The Huskies of Honor are each recognized by a four by five foot panel which displays his name, jersey number and years of service, and a plaque which summarizes each's career accomplishments;^[8] Both the panels and the plaques are on permanent display at Gampel Pavilion on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, Connecticut.^[10]

Players

• Walt Dropo 1942–47
• Art Quimby 1951–55
• Toby Kimball 1961–65
• Wes Bialosuknia 1964–67
• Tony Hanson 1973–77
• Corny Thompson 1978–82
• Clifford Robinson 1985–89
• Chris Smith 1988–92
• Donyell Marshall 1991–94
• Ray Allen 1993–96
• Richard Hamilton 1996–99
• Khalid El-Amin 1997–00
• Caron Butler 2000–02
• Emeka Okafor 2001–04
• Rudy Gay 2004–06
• Kemba Walker 2008–11
• Andre Drummond 2011–12
• Shabazz Napier 2010–14

Coaches and administrators

• Hugh Greer, Head Coach, 1946–63
• Dee Rowe, Head Coach, 1969–77
• John Toner, Athletic Director, 1969–87
• Jim Calhoun, Head Coach, 1986–2012

Teams

• 1999 National Championship Team

Retired numbers

Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers

 

Ray Allen's #34 (here playing for the Boston Celtics) is the only number retired by Connecticut

UConn Huskies retired numbers
No.	Player	Pos.	Years played	No. ret.	Ref.
34	Ray Allen	SG	1993–1996	2019	^[11]

On December 7, 2018, UConn announced that the #34 worn by Ray Allen would be permanently retired, effective with ceremonies to be held during the Huskies' final 2018–19 home game on March 3, 2019. In its announcement, UConn stated that going forward, number retirement would be reserved for former Huskies players inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as Allen was earlier that year.

At the same time, the Huskies announced that the #50 worn by Rebecca Lobo, a 2017 Naismith Hall inductee, would be retired by UConn women's basketball, with ceremonies held during the season's final women's home game on March 2, 2019.^[12]

UConn's announcement did not make it clear whether both numbers would be retired across both men's and women's programs, but a university spokesperson clarified that the retirements applied only to the teams that Allen and Lobo competed for, meaning that #50 will remain available in men's basketball and #34 in women's.^[13]

Notable victories

• February 27, 1954 – Worthy Patterson's buzzer-beater at Holy Cross gave UConn an upset of the then-powerhouse Crusaders, 78–77.
• March 14, 1964 – UConn upset Princeton and star forward Bill Bradley 52–50 in the Sweet 16. The victory was sealed when Dom Perno stole the ball from Bradley with 19 seconds to play. Perno would later become UConn's coach.
• February 28, 1970 ("The Slowdown Game") – With four players unavailable and a share of the Yankee Conference Regular-Season Championship on the line, UConn beat Rhode Island 35–32 at the Field House. Played before the shot clock-era, UConn dribbled endlessly for 38 minutes to make up for the limited roster.
• March 30, 1988 – UConn defeated Ohio State 72–67 at Madison Square Garden to win the NIT.
• January 27, 1990 – UConn beat #15 St. John's 72–58 in the first game played at Gampel Pavilion.
• March 11, 1990 – UConn beat Syracuse 78–75 at Madison Square Garden to win its first Big East tournament Championship.
• March 22, 1990 ("The Shot") – Tate George made a shot at the buzzer to beat Clemson 71–70 in the 1990 Sweet 16 at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
• March 9, 1996 – With 4 minutes remaining, UConn trailed Georgetown 74–63. The Huskies closed the game with a 12–0 run and won the Big East Championship 75–74 on an off-balance floater from All-American Ray Allen at Madison Square Garden.
• March 20, 1998 (Hamilton "Rips" Washington's heart out) – Down 74–73 in the Sweet Sixteen to the eleven seed Washington Huskies, two seed UConn gets three shot attempts off in the final 15 seconds with Rip Hamilton's buzzer beating jumper winning it 75-74.
• March 29, 1999 – UConn won its first NCAA Championship, defeating Duke 77–74 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
• April 5, 2004 – UConn won its second NCAA Championship, defeating Georgia Tech 82–73 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
• March 28, 2009 – defeated Missouri 82–75 to win the Arizona Regional Final and advance to their third Final Four
• March 12, 2011 – In the final of the Big East tournament, the Huskies defeated Louisville by a score of 69–66 to claim their seventh Big East Championship. The victory capped an unprecedented run wherein the Huskies won five tournament games in five consecutive days. Four of those wins came against top-25 opponents. Junior All-American guard Kemba Walker scored a tournament-record 130 points in the five-game run, and was named tournament MVP.
• April 4, 2011 – The Huskies defeated Butler 53–41 to claim the NCAA Championship in Houston's Reliant Stadium.
• November 9, 2012 – In Kevin Ollie's first game as Connecticut head coach the Huskies beat the #14 Michigan State Spartans 66–62 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
• March 30, 2014 – The Huskies defeat Michigan State 60–54 at Madison Square Garden to advance to the Final Four for the fifth time.
• April 7, 2014 – The Huskies defeated Kentucky 60–54 to win the 2014 NCAA Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
• March 11, 2016 – With 0.8 seconds remaining and UConn down by 3, Freshman point guard Jalen Adams hits a 60-foot 3 pointer to tie an American Conference tournament quarterfinal game vs Cincinnati and force a fourth overtime. UConn would win the game 104-97, the final against Memphis two days later and advance to the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
• April 3, 2023 – The Huskies defeated San Diego State 76-59 to win the 2023 NCAA Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Awards

Source^[14]

AP National Coach of the Year Jim Calhoun – 1990 NABC National Player of the Year Emeka Okafor – 2004 Consensus First Team All-Americans Donyell Marshall – 1994 Ray Allen – 1996 Richard Hamilton – 1999 Emeka Okafor – 2004 Kemba Walker – 2011 Shabazz Napier – 2014 National Defensive Player of the Year Emeka Okafor – 2003, 2004 Hasheem Thabeet – 2008, 2009 Pete Newell Big Man Award Emeka Okafor – 2004 Bob Cousy Award Kemba Walker – 2011 Shabazz Napier – 2014 Big East Player of the Year Donyell Marshall – 1994 Ray Allen – 1996 Richard Hamilton – 1998, 1999 Caron Butler – 2002 Emeka Okafor – 2004 Hasheem Thabeet – 2009 AAC Player of the Year Shabazz Napier – 2014 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Most Improved Player Marcus Williams – 2004 American Athletic Conference Most Improved Player Josh Carlton – 2019

Big East Defensive Player of the Year Donyell Marshall – 1994 Emeka Okafor – 2003, 2004 Josh Boone – 2005 Hilton Armstrong – 2006 Hasheem Thabeet – 2008, 2009 Isaiah Whaley – 2020 Big East Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Polley – 2020 AAC Defensive Player of the Year Amida Brimah – 2015 Big East tournament MVP Chris Smith – 1990 Khalid El-Amin – 1998 Kevin Freeman – 1999 Caron Butler – 2002 Ben Gordon – 2004 Kemba Walker – 2011 AAC Tournament MVP Daniel Hamilton – 2016 Big East Coach of the Year Jim Calhoun – 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998 Big East Rookie of the Year Earl Kelley – 1983 Nadav Henefeld – 1990 Doron Sheffer – 1994 Khalid El-Amin – 1998 Rudy Gay – 2005 NCAA Tournament MOP Richard Hamilton – 1999 Emeka Okafor – 2004 Kemba Walker – 2011 Shabazz Napier – 2014 Adama Sanogo – 2023 AAC Rookie of the Year Daniel Hamilton – 2015

Huskies in the NBA

Since the 1990s, UConn has been recognized as being a consistent pipeline for players to enter the National Basketball Association. During the 2006–2007 season, there were an NBA-high 14 former Huskies on active rosters. During the 2013–14 season, 13 former Huskies were on active NBA rosters. UConn has sent a total of 41 players to the NBA and ABA.

UConn has had 15 players selected as lottery picks in the NBA draft:

UConn Lottery Picks
Player	Year	Pick #	Team
Donyell Marshall	1994	4	Minnesota Timberwolves
Ray Allen	1996	5	Minnesota Timberwolves
Richard Hamilton	1999	7	Washington Wizards
Caron Butler	2002	10	Miami Heat
Emeka Okafor	2004	2	Charlotte Bobcats
Ben Gordon	2004	3	Chicago Bulls
Charlie Villanueva	2005	7	Toronto Raptors
Rudy Gay	2006	8	Houston Rockets
Hilton Armstrong	2006	12	New Orleans Hornets
Hasheem Thabeet	2009	2	Memphis Grizzlies
Kemba Walker	2011	9	Charlotte Bobcats
Andre Drummond	2012	9	Detroit Pistons
Jeremy Lamb	2012	12	Houston Rockets
James Bouknight	2021	11	Charlotte Hornets
Jordan Hawkins	2023	14	New Orleans Pelicans

• The 2006 Draft class was notable for tying the record of most first-round picks from one school, with four. With five players drafted in the two rounds, UConn tied for the second-most ever taken in an NBA draft.^[15]
• Two players (Clifford Robinson, 1992–93, and Ben Gordon, 2004–05) have been winners of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.
• Emeka Okafor was the winner of the 2004–05 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
• Ray Allen was the winner of the 2002–03 NBA Sportsmanship Award, and retired as the all-time leading scorer in 3-point field goals made.
• Five players (Scott Burrell, '97–'98, Travis Knight, '99–'00, Richard Hamilton, '03–'04, Ray Allen, '07–'08 and '12–'13, Caron Butler, '10–'11) have won NBA championships.

NBA Players Past and Present^[16][17]

• Adrien, Jeff 2010–2015
• Aleksinas, Chuck 1984–1985
• Allen, Ray 1996–2014
• Armstrong, Hilton 2006–2014
• Bialosuknia, Wes 1967–1968
• Boone, Josh 2006–2010
• Bouknight, James 2021–present
• Brimah, Amida 2020–2021
• Burrell, Scott 1993–2000
• Butler, Caron 2002–2016
• Drummond, Andre 2012–present
• Dyson, Jerome 2012
• El-Amin, Khalid 2000–2001
• Foster, Jimmy 1974–1975
• Gay, Rudy 2006–present
• George, Tate 1990–1994
• Gordon, Ben 2004–2015
• Hamilton, Daniel 2017–2019
• Hamilton, Richard 1999–2013
• Hawkins, Jordan 2023–Present
• Jackson Jr., Andre 2023–Present
• Kimball, Toby 1966–1974
• Knight, Travis 1996–2002
• Kuczenski, Bruce 1983–1984
• Lamb, Jeremy 2012–2022
• Marshall, Donny 1995–2002
• Marshall, Donyell 1994–2009
• Martin, Tyrese 2022–present
• Napier, Shabazz 2014–2020
• Okafor, Emeka 2004–2013, 2018
• Ollie, Kevin 1997–2010
• Patterson, Worthy 1957
• Price, A.J. 2009–2015
• Rodney Purvis 2018
• Robinson, Clifford 1989–2006
• Sanogo, Adama 2023–Present
• Smith, Chris 1992–1994
• Thabeet, Hasheem 2009–2014
• Thompson, Corny 1982–1983
• Villanueva, Charlie 2005–2016
• Voskuhl, Jake 2000–2009
• Walker, Kemba 2011–2023
• Williams, Marcus 2006–2010

References

1. "University of Connecticut Brand Colors" (PDF). Brand.UConn.edu. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
2. Amore, Dom (2021-02-14). "'Honey' Fitch, UConn's first Black basketball player, endured racism in 1930s to blaze the trail for future Huskies". The Hartford Courant. from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
3. AP Staff (2012-04-20). "NCAA defends Connecticut Huskies postseason ban stemming from APR" (online news report). ESPN.com. Associated Press. from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
4. Amore, Dom (10 March 2018). "Kevin Ollie Fired After UConn Claims 'Just Cause'; Coach Says He Will Fight". courant.com. from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
5. ESPN Staff (2011-04-04). "Butler vs. Connecticut—Game Recap" (online news report). ESPN.com. from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
6. Winn, Luke (2011-04-13). "The last word on defense: A comprehensive title-game study" (online news report). Sports Illustrated. from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
7. CSTV (2011). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
8. UConn Staff (2006-12-26). . uconnhuskies.com. Storrs, Connecticut: University of Connecticut. Archived from the original (university news release) on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
9. UConn Staff (2009-02-28). "John Toner inducted into [school's "Huskies of Honor" program]" (university news release). uconnhuskies.com. Storrs, Connecticut: University of Connecticut. from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
10. "UConn Men's Basketball 2019-20 Media Guide" (PDF). uconnhuskies.com. 2019. p. 154. (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
11. UConn Huskies retire Ray Allen’s number 2022-11-21 at the Wayback Machine By PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press - 3 Mar 2019
12. "Allen and Lobo to Have Numbers Retired" (Press release). Connecticut Huskies. December 7, 2018. from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
13. Putterman, Alex (December 7, 2018). "Ray Allen, Rebecca Lobo to have UConn numbers retired". The Hartford Courant. from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
14. "UConn Men's Basketball 2019-20 Media Guide" (PDF). uconnhuskies.com. 2019. p. 156. (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
15. AP Staff (2006-06-29). "UConn ties draft record with four first-round picks" (online news report). ESPN.com. Associated Press. from the original on 2010-05-25. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
16. "Connecticut Players in the NBA - RealGM".
17. "Players Who Played for UConn".

External links

• Official website