daily campus championship reprint
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The Daily Campus Championship edition reprint.TRANSCRIPT
TOP DOGSCalhoun, Huskies win third NCAA title
2011 ncaa men’s national champions
The D
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UConn 53Butler 41
Championship ExtraThe Daily Campus, Page 2 Thursday, April 14, 2011
National title end to a fairytale
season
Mac Cerullo
HOUSTON — This was more than just one shining moment.
This was a fairytale, an ending that no one could have seen coming.
This was the kind of story that they’ll one day make into a Disney movie.
This was vindication for a coach who has dealt with the kind of adversity that would crush a lesser man.
And this was a team that will never be forgotten.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have some great teams at UConn,” coach Jim Calhoun said after the game. “Very honestly, this group to me will always be incredibly special… This group has taken me on one of the great special journeys that was better than I could possibly imagine.”
Coach Calhoun has said time and again how much he loves this team, that he loves how great they are to coach, how much they listen, how hard they have worked in practice and how they have striven to get better.
With each improbable win over the course of this past month, they con-vinced more and more people that they had what it took to climb the mountain.
And in the end, they will go down in history as a special group that overcame all odds to become national champions.
“We had a lot of doubters,” said Kemba Walker after the game. “[We were] picked to finish 10th in the Big East. We finished 9th, but I still thought we overachieved. Big East tournament, we came out strong. We got a lot of confidence from that tour-nament. We kind of felt unstoppable. That’s why we’re national champions. We’re the best team in the country.”
As the players and coaches cut down the nets and the “one shining moment” montage began to play on the big screen, Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway stood and watched as the confetti fell around him.
“I’m just thrilled for [Calhoun],” Hathaway said. “And I’m thrilled that it came in a year where he felt so good about this team and so good about these players and just capped it off with an amazing postseason run that nobody could have ever imagined.”
For the fans in attendance, the scene was a dream come true. It was the type of moment that you could only hope to witness during your college career.
“This is the most unbelievable feeling,” said Kyle Campbell, a 6th-semester visual media science major. “Going into the year nobody thought this would happen. But you know what, they showed resilience and relentless-ness, and this team had the character and the leadership, and they put it all together here in Houston.”
Ben Allain, an 8th-semester actuarial science major, was moved to tears after the game, and summed up his emotions much more bluntly:
“This is the greatest day of my life.”The feeling of winning a national
championship will likely not sink in for the players or coaches for a long time, but the gravity of the accomplish-ment was clear as the team departed the court, when they suddenly found them-selves in the company of greatness.
Rip Hamilton, Charlie Villaneuva, Ben Gordon, Donyell Marshall, Hasheem Thabeet and more all made it out to Houston to watch the next great UConn team reach its crowning glory. Many won a championship at UConn, many did not. But from now on, Kemba Walker and the rest of the 2010-11 Huskies will be in that same pantheon.
“This is great, this is history,” Thabeet said. “I’m happy for the guys, I’m happy for UConn. This is what we do, we win championships.”
It’s been a wild ride, from the open-ing tipoff of the Big East tournament to the final buzzer of the champion-ship game. This may have been the program’s third national title, but what we’ve witnessed over this past month was special. We will never see a team like this at UConn again, and we may never see a run like this any-where again.
Cherish this team, and cherish this moment. You never know what the future may hold, but for now, the UConn Huskies are the national champions.
And that’s truly an amazing thing.
Huskies topple Bulldogs
HOUSTON — Junior Kemba Walker stood smiling at the free throw line.
With 30 seconds left, and a 10-point lead, this UConn men’s basketball team was going to win a national championship. The pre-season pick to finish 10th in the Big East conference, the Maui Invitational champions, the team that went undefeated outside the conference but finished ninth in the Big East was going to do something in a manner never before seen.
The Huskies, the No. 3-seed out of the West Region, defeated Butler 53-41 in the national champion-ship game before 70,376 at Relliant Stadium. UConn, the Big East tour-nament champions, finished the season on an 11-game win streak en route to the national title.
“The championship is incred-ibly wonderful to bring back to Connecticut and our fans,” said coach Jim Calhoun. “But to give these kids, the work they put in, it’s maybe, professionally, the happiest moment of my life.”
“It says that we have a great coach and a great leader in Kemba
Walker,” said Alex Oriakhi. “When we lost four out of five, Coach Calhoun just told us, “I’m not going to quit on you guys.””
“I can’t even talk right now,” Walker said. “I feel weak right now. I’m sorry, I can’t talk. I’m excited. There’s nothing more to say. This is a dream come true.”
Walker led the Huskies with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb added 12 points and seven boards. Oriakhi outplayed Matt Howard on the low post, put-ting up 11 points and 11 rebounds to Howard’s seven points and six rebounds. Shelvin Mack led the Bulldogs with 13 points, but Butler shot an awful 18.8 percent from the field in the game. It was the worst shooting percentage in a title game.
“They’re very athletic,” Mack said. “They would contest shots that people normally wouldn’t be able to contest.”
With Butler ahead by three, Stigall made a three on the second half’s first possession. But thanks to five points from Lamb and two from Walker, UConn erased the deficit in two minutes and took a 26-25 lead. Lamb’s strip and slam made the score 31-26 with 13:31 left in regulation as the Bulldogs missed 14 straight shots from the
field. Napier led Lamb with an alley-oop pass and the mid-air lay-in pushed the Husky lead to nine with 11 minutes left. Walker’s acro-batic lay-up on the next possession made it 39-28.
“If you play fast on defense, we’ll get faster on offense,” Calhoun told his team at halftime.
With the anemic Butler offense in another shooting drought, Oriakhi hit a baseline jumper to make it 41-28 at the 7:30 mark. Napier made an uncontested lay-up in the paint to push the lead to 14 but Vanzant answered with a three on the other end, cutting the score to 46-35 with under five minutes to play.
“Credit UConn for defending the way they do, because I thought they challenged shots better than any team we’ve played all year,” Stevens said.
After Lamb missed a free throw, Mack made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight with 1:35 in the second half. Walker made both free throws on the other end to put the score at 51-41. Butler missed three shots on the other end and Lamb secured the season’s final rebound with 10 seconds left. He brought the ball up court, starting the celebration.
The Huskies’ shots didn’t fall
early on, but Walker’s first basket with 13:07 left in the first half made it 10-8. After a Howard miss, Walker was fouled on a drive and made the lay-up and free throw to complete the three-point play and stretch the lead to five. The UConn offense would stall for the next four minutes and the Bulldogs pulled within one with nine minutes left in the half.
At the 8:16 mark Lamb commit-ted his second foul and Andrew Smith made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game. Walker was called for his second foul, a charge, and sat out the half’s final three minutes. Mack hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Butler to the locker room with a 22-19 lead, despite shooting 22 percent and being dominated on the glass 27-18. Walker led the Huskies with seven points on 3-for-11 shooting. Mack also had seven points.
Butler, an eight-seed in the NCAA tournament out of the Horizon League, finishes the season with a 28-10 record and drops to 0-2 in title games. UConn, now 3-0 in the championship, finished the season 32-9.
Season-ending run to title not expected
By Matt McDonoughAssociate Sports Editor
» UCONN 53, BUTLER 41 – HUSKIES WIN 2011 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
HOUSTON — On March 5, things looked bleak. The Huskies had ended the regular season having lost four out of the last five games, and in the regular season finale, they suffered a devastating loss to Notre Dame on their own home floor.
According to coach Jim Calhoun, the team looked dejected, disheartened and defeated after that loss. For the first time, he said, they didn’t look like themselves.
So in the first practice into the Big East tournament, Calhoun challenged the team to be better.
“I’m not going to quit on you,” Calhoun said. “And I’m not going to let you quit on yourselves.”
What followed was one of the most intense practices that Calhoun had put the team through all year. He worked them, challenged them and drilled them for hours on end. But when it was over, the Huskies emerged a different team, and as the tournament began, the team began to realize its potential.
The Huskies blew out DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament. The 97-71 win was expected, but it was a comforting sign just the same. Having ended the season so poorly, the Huskies needed some sort of momentum to build on, and in the second round, that momen-tum started to look more promising.
UConn blew out a solid Georgetown team 79-62 in the second round. The
Hoyas were without one of their best players in Chris Wright, who was injured, but the win showed that something was different about the Huskies. It was the kind of performance that UConn hadn’t been able to put together all year against another good team, and it proved to be a sign of things to come as the Huskies faced their nemesis the next day – Pittsburgh.
On Dec. 28, 2010, UConn faced Pittsburgh for the first time, and it wasn’t even a contest. The Panthers outplayed UConn in every facet of the game, and early in their Big East quarterfinal rematch, it seemed that Pittsburgh was ready to hand UConn the same kind of defeat.
But then the Huskies responded.Recovering from an early 12-point
deficit, the Huskies tied the game before halftime, and then hung with Pittsburgh in the second half right until the end, when Kemba Walker delivered one of the season’s iconic moments, a beautiful, ankle-breaking buzzer beater that sent Pittsburgh home early and gave UConn the confidence it needed to keep going.
After all, Pittsburgh crushed them before, and they were one of the best teams in the country. If they could beat Pittsburgh, then they could beat anybody, the team thought.
That win was the tipping point for the Huskies. From that point on, the Huskies believed they could beat any team they faced. As they kept advancing, that’s exactly what they did. They beat Syracuse and Louisville to cap off the
incredible run to the Big East champion-ship, and then they kept going into the NCAA Tournament, easily brushing aside Bucknell in the first round before beating a tough Cincinnati team in the second.
The experience in New York would prove vital into the West Regional, when UConn was subjected to two fantastic teams in San Diego State and Arizona that were physical, had great frontcourts, and brought rabid fanbases with them. Both were the types of games that UConn would have lost in February, but led by Walker and bolstered by Jeremy Lamb, the Huskies overcame, winning both
games in nail-biting fashion.The road to Houston was not a smooth
one. But from the roller coaster Big East season to the wild run to the Final Four, UConn proved that they were more than just a lower-tier Big East team. The Huskies’ performance in the Final Four and second half dominance against Butler is a testament to the type of group they are – a group that won 11 straight postseason games in under a month to become national champions.
UConn players pose at the middle of the court at Reliant Stadium after the Huskies’ 53-41 win over Butler in the NCAA championship game.
JIM ANDERSON/The Daily Campus
By Mac Cerullo Sports Editor
Shabazz Napier guards Ronald Nored during UConn’s national championship game victory over Butler. Napier, a freshman guard, has been a valuable asset off the bench for the Huskies this season.JIM ANDERSON/The Daily Campus
UConn’s defense too much for Butler to handle, Huskies win third championship
Championship ExtraThursday, April 14, 2011 The Daily Campus, Page 3
At 68, Calhoun oldest coach to win an NCAA title
HOUSTON — Coach Jim Calhoun, in his 25th season at the helm of the UConn men’s basketball program, is back on top.
As for whether he will walk away on top – well, that remains to be determined.
“I love coaching,” Calhoun said. “I love my team. Once again, I’ll do the same thing I always do. We’ll go home, relax, get together with these guys and just enjoy the moment.”
At the young age of 68, Calhoun became the oldest coach to win a national championship when his Huskies defeated Butler 53-41 at Reliant Stadium. In the coach’s fourth Final Four, Calhoun won his third national championship. He also claimed his 17th Big East champion-ship this season. In a season where he lost a case with the NCAA and two of his loved ones but won a national title, the experienced coach never thought of making a rash deci-sion on the podium.
“I was riding in an airplane a num-ber of years ago with a guy I became incredibly close to, that’s Dean Smith,” Calhoun said. “Coach Smith was kind enough...to allow me to spend a week down there, just watch the whole oper-ation...In the midst of the conversation, because it was years later, getting near the end of coach’s career, he said to me, ‘One thing you should always do is be who you are and be true to yourself. And the worst time to make a decision about any kind of coaching situation is to do it in the great emotion of great things happening to you.’”
For a guy who started as a teacher and coach in high schools before moving on to his first project at Northearstern and then building UConn’s program from the ground up, he deserves some time to mull things over. But one thing Calhoun reiterated was his commit-ment to this season’s team, the 2010-11 NCAA basketball champions.
“I needed this team,” Calhoun said. “Very rarely does a coach say that. But I need this team every day for 109 practice sessions, for their walk-ons. For everybody involved, they truly were brothers. They truly were trusting of each other, and very, very special.”
And his players trusted him – always have. Which is why it was no surprise
when following the trophy ceremony a line of his former players formed at courtside. Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton and Charlie Villaneuva were among the masses.
“We shared it in 1999 and 2004,” said assistant coach Kevin Ollie. “Coach makes sure he shared it with his family.”
His current players share the same sentiment.
“He just loves to win, but he also loves all of us,” said Tyler Olander. “He’s just an amazing coach and an amazing person to be associated with.”
“He’s a father to me,” said Charles Okwandu.
“He definitely made me a better as a person,” said Donnell Beverly.
When former Husky Hasheem Thabeet was asked whether he thought it was Calhoun’s final game, he bluntly said, “No.”
When a decision is made in the future, Calhoun will know it’s the right choice. But for now he can enjoy this, when the experienced coach – with help from his players – overcame whatever was thrown his direction.
“I think we helped him overcome everything,” said Kemba Walker.
Jim Calhoun waves to the crowd as he heads on to the court at Reliant Stadium to accept the NCAA championship trophy for the UConn men’s basketball team.
JIM ANDERSON/The Daily Campus
By Matt McDonoughAssociare Sports Editor
Butler served: Cinderella bid falls short for second consecutive year
HOUSTON — A year after Gordon Hayward’s last-second 3-point heave bounced off the backboard and rim, Butler had another opportunity. After losing in last season’s national title game by two points to Duke, it was the Bulldogs, not the Blue Devils, who defied the odds to make it back to the biggest Monday night of the year.
And once again, the boys from Indianapolis came up short, falling to UConn 53-41 in the title game.
“We’re just coming out of a locker room that’s hurting, a locker room that’s got a lot of pride because of the way our kids carried us this year and the way our five seniors have acted their entire career, what they’ve done for Butler,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens after the game.
The Bulldogs reeled off 14 straight victories, winning the Horizon League and making it back to the Final Four. No. 8-seed
Butler defeated Old Dominion in the NCAA tournament second round on a Matt Howard buzzer beater, then upset the New Orleans’ region top seed, Pittsburgh, 71-70. Butler beat Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen, and knocked off No. 2-seed, Florida, 74-71 in over-time. In a battle of mid-majors, the Bulldogs defeated VCU to make it back to Monday night. They were the first eight-seed to reach the final since Villanova beat Georgetown in 1985.
“This group has obviously been able to do something that, you know, we’ve never done before,” said team leader Matt Howard. “I feel very fortunate to have been a part of this and be a part of this class... It’s really hard to put that into words right now ’cause you know, we wanted a little bit more. But maybe at some point I can look back and be proud of what this group has accomplished.”
Butler, a school of 4,400, showed that Cinderella’s slipper can fit lon-ger than one season.
By Matt McDonoughAssociate Sports Editor
[email protected]’s head coach Brad Stevens looks on from the sideline during the Bulldogs 53-41 loss in the NCAA title game.
JIM ANDERSON/The Daily Campus
THE ROAD
TO HOUSTON
...and UConn’s third championship
» UCONN 53, BUTLER 41 – HUSKIES WIN 2011 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Record34-2
Big East Record:16-2
Record vs. Top 25:12-2
Notable names:Rip Hamilton
(21.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg)Khalid El-Amin
(13.8 ppg, 3.8 apg)Kevin Freeman
(12.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg)Ricky Moore
(6.8 ppg, 3.6 apg)Jake Voshkul
(5.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
1999
Stocky point guard Khalid El-Amin (top) and Rip Hamilton.
1999 Big East tournament:
QuarterfinalUConn 57, Seton Hall 56
SemifinalUConn 71, Syracuse 50
ChampionshipUConn 82, St. John’s 63
1999 NCAA Tournament:
First RoundUConn 91, Texas-San Antonio 66
Second RoundUConn 78, New Mexico 56
Sweet 16UConn 78, Iowa 68
Elite EightUConn 67, Gonzaga 62
Final FourUConn 64, Ohio State 58
ChampionshipUConn 77, Duke 74
Record33-6
Big East Record:12-4
Record vs. Top 25:6-3
Notable names:Ben Gordon
(18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg)Emeka Okafor
(17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg)Rashad Anderson
(11.2 ppg, 41% 3pt)Denham Brown
(8.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg)Josh Boone
(5.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg)
2004
Ben Gordon (top) and Emeka Okafor led the Huskies to an easy title .
2004 Big East tournament:
QuarterfinalUConn 66, Notre Dame 58
SemifinalUConn 87, Villanova 64
ChampionshipUConn 61, Pittsburgh 58
2004 NCAA Tournament:
First RoundUConn 70, Vermont 53
Second RoundUConn 72, DePaul 55
Sweet 16UConn 73, Vanderbilt 53
Elite EightUConn 87, Alabama 71
Final FourUConn 79, Duke 78
ChampionshipUConn 82, Georgia Tech 73
Record32-9
Big East Record:9-9
Record vs. Top 25:8-8
Notable names:Kemba Walker
(23.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg)Jeremy Lamb
(11.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg)Alex Oriakhi
(9.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg)Shabazz Napier
(7.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg)Roscoe Smith
(6.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
2011
Kemba Walker (top) saw help from freshman Jeremy Lamb in the NCAAs.
2011 Big East tournament:
QuarterfinalUConn 79, South Florida 42
SemifinalUConn 72, Villanova 42
ChampionshipUConn 75, Louisville 36
2011 NCAA Tournament:
First RoundUConn 81, Bucknell 52
Second RoundUConn 69, Cincinnati 58
Sweet 16UConn 74, San Diego St. 67
Elite EightUConn 65, Arizona 63
Final FourUConn 56, Kentucky 55
ChampionshipUConn 53 Butler 41
WHO’STHE
BEST?The UConn men’s bas-ketball team won its third national champion-ship Monday night. Any of those teams could make a case for being the greatest champion-ship team. Which one is it? Decide for yourself.
at Verizon Center, Washington
Bucknell had pulled the upset as the No. 14 seed against Kansas in 2005, but it wouldn’t be the case for the Bison this time around. Kemba Walker showed his skill as a distributor and floor general, racking up a career-high 12 assist to go with 18 points and eight rebounds.Shabazz Napier plays defense in UConn’s first round win.
AP
»UConn 81, No. 14 Bucknell 52 (First Round – March 17)
at Verizon Center, Washington
Walker took control in the Huskies’ second-round matchup with Big East foe Cincinnati. His game-high 33 points paced the Huskies to an 11-point victory. The Bearcats were knocked out before the Sweet 16 for their fifth straight NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats’ star forward Yancy Gates was held to just 11 points. Jim Calhoun watches from the sideline.
AP
»UConn 69, No. 6 Cincinnati 58 (Second Round – March 19)
at Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
San Diego State had powerful players in the post, but the Huskies advanced to the Elite Eight by shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, knock-ing down eight 3-pointers. Walker tied a school record for most points in an NCAA tournament game with 36, and Jeremy Lamb chipped in a career-high 24.Kemba Walker goes to the floor for a loose ball.
AP
»UConn 74, No. 2 San Diego St. 67 (Sweet 16 – March 24)
at Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
Jamelle Horne’s textbook 3-pointer clanged off the back rim and the Huskies danced their way to their fourth Final Four. All-American Derrick Williams got in foul trouble for the Wildcats, and the Huskies took advantage of his abscence to push to a 7-point halftime lead. The Huskies celebrate their fourth trip to the Final Four.
AP
»UConn 65, No. 5 Arizona 63 (Elite Eight – March 26)
at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
Vegas favored the Wildcats in the national semifinals, but the Huskies came out the top dogs once again. Connecticut shot just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc, but Kentucky shot themselves in the foot by missing eight free throws.Alex Oriakhi battles for a rebound against Kentucky.
AP
»UConn 56, No. 4 Kentucky 55 (Final Four – April 3)
at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
Butler hung with the Huskies for much of the first half, going into the locker room with a three-point lead. But in the second half, UConn stepped it up on the defen-sive end, holding Butler to an NCAA championship game record low 18.8 percent from the field for the game. Kemba Walker glides to the basket in the championship game.
AP
»UConn 53, No. 8 Butler 41 (Championship – April 5)
All is right in the world again. UConn coach Jim Calhoun
pulled off one of the best coaching jobs of all time, at the tender age of 68, to crown the scenic state land grant of Storrs the capital of the college basketball universe.
Although the inept offense of the title game may be viewed as an ugly end to an excit-ing season in the nation’s eyes, nothing was more beautiful to the state of Connecticut than Butler bricking shot after shot. Not to overshadow the Huskies’ accomplishments by any means, but at the request of some stu-dents, as well as various posts on Facebook and Twitter, some-thing needs to be said.
The empty chairs that domi-nated the 884-seat UConn stu-dent section were sad. So sad, in fact, that Reliant Stadium personnel told me that for the national championship game, Rice and University of Houston student-athletes were given tickets in the section to make it look full and respect-able for television. A sign in the Butler section read that the school in Indianapolis was one-fifth the size, but had five times the heart.
I’ve never read anything more untrue in my life. There is no heart larger than that of a Husky. For proof, just look at the team.
The other three schools’ administrations helped their students get down to Houston. Unfortunately, there was no real travel package for UConn students. Aside from the $25 ticket, no buses or reduced air-fare were provided. Hence, the empty seats in the semifinal. Virginia Commonwealth didn’t have that problem. From talk-ing to a lot of their fans – who are about the nicest people you could ever meet, by the way – I learned VCU provided a lottery that gave 200 students a free bus ride, hotel room and ticket. The other 664 paid only $25 for a hotel through Monday night and game tickets. They did have to find their own transportation, but all in all, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal. And the Rams fans cherished the experi-ence, supporting UConn in the national championship. VCU kids even snuck in our student section to support us. I even let them borrow a couple Husky
jerseys for the game so they’d look the part. And they returned them to me.
Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway is a nice guy. I know his plate is full right now, but a plan should be in place for next April in New Orleans. A cheap bus or some kind of transportation should be provided, so that anyone who wants to go to the Final Four will be able to do so. Make it a humanitarian effort. Coordinate a relief trip on that Sunday. Students can help out people still suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrina at day and celebrate on Bourbon Street on Monday night.
The UConn students cannot be held accountable for the attendance shortcoming. How is it their fault? A college stu-dent’s budget is small to begin with, and one can’t blame a peer for staying in Storrs and partying here after the nation-al championship game. Aside from that, classes should have been cancelled. When Alabama won the national title in foot-ball a couple years ago, class-es were cancelled for a week. Granted, Alabama didn’t get as many snow days as we did, but the Huskies winning the national championship has only happened three times.
Furthermore, some profes-sors didn’t excuse students from class. Most of the kids I talked to were excused, and props to those professors. But it’s unfor-tunate when a professor lets his or her ego get in the way and won’t let a student make up an assignment or exam because they went to Houston to support the school. Newsflash – this ever-lasting Big Dance will be remembered forever. A 50-min-ute class won’t. It was refresh-ing to hear of many understand-ing professors who took a memo from this extraordinary team and acted selflessly.
I hope everyone on campus knows how truly special this is. Speaking with UConn alums, the first question I always ask isn’t what subject they earned their degree in, but rather if they saw a national championship. Forget what Nike says about a certain NBA player who can’t win a single championship. We are the real witnesses. We can take this one with us forever.
I don’t mean to keep saying we. I don’t believe I logged a single minute this season. But this is our championship. The players will be the first ones to tell you that this is for all of us. And I thank them for that.
My 2011 national champion-ship hat will be hung on my wall in the place where my 2012 graduation mortarboard and tassel was supposed to go.
Sure, CBS thought our fans were embarrassing, but who cares?
No embarrassment, only pride, can come from what Calhoun, the players and we as a campus accomplished in the last 27 days.
Championship ExtraThe Daily Campus, Page 4 Thursday, April 14, 2011
Matt McDonough
Student fans need more support
from university
UConn came out in full force to celebrate the NCAA men’s basketball championship win over Butler.
Thousands of students, from all reaches of the Storrs campus, hurdled towards Fairfield Way to celebrate the 53-41 victory over Butler University. Students by the hundreds left the local bars and traveled towards the epicenter of the celebration, in order to celebrate the out-come of the game.
Fireworks went off near crowds of students on Fairfield Way, and were set off intermit-tently both on- and off-campus. Off-campus shouts could be heard as students celebrated at private parties.
“It was insane. It was basically like Spring Weekend came early,” said Grace Vasington, a 4th-semester French and English major and copy editor for The Daily Campus. “I am so incredibly proud to go to UConn right.”
Music resounded through the jubilant crowd as the students rang in a third championship under coach Jim Calhoun. People piled out of Gampel and several students stood by idly tak-ing video of the historic event.
Chelsea Oyer, an 8th-semester communi-cations major, watched the game in Gampel Pavilion. “Everybody got pretty rambunctious
in the second half,” Oyer said. “When we got that 10-point lead, everybody went crazy.”
In 2004, the celebrations went from exuber-ant to destructive when students lit fires and flipped cars. UConn and state police mobilized to address concerns that left in the wake of the 2004. Police officers limited traffic into the area around West and Alumni, blocking off the area beyond the Co-op.
After the final buzzer sounded in Houston, the crowd rushed outside and kept grow-ing, with people coming from all directions, screaming and yelling university cheers. There were students climbing up trees, and crowd surfing through Fairfield Way.
Interim President Philip Austin and UConn Police Chief Robert Hudd sent a message to the university urging everyone to keep the celebra-tions safe.
They warned students on the campus of the risks of losing control of the celebration, includ-ing the risks to their future.
“Unfortunately, too often at campuses across the nation post-game celebrations have gone from exuberant to destructive,” they said in the message.
“Nothing can be gained from harmful, destructive, or criminal actions.”
Celebrating area residents started a fire out-side of 87 Hunting Lodge Road following the game. UConn emergency officials also responded to a drug overdose call at North
Residence Hall and a head injury outside Hall after midnight.
A light pole was also unearthed on campus.The hum of the crowd could be heard late
into the night, with students continuing to gath-er. There was an enormous amount of enthusi-asm throughout the day. More than 1,000 fans went to Gampel yesterday morning to show their school spirit in a taping of NBC’s Today Show. Later, students filled Gampel Pavilion to watch the game and support their Huskies men’s basketball team.
The partying followed the same pattern as Saturday night’s Final Four victory, when a crowd of more than 400 students gathered in front of the Student Union, while hundreds more marched down North Hillside and then onto North Eagleville, heading toward Celeron and Carriage.
The Huskies won the National Championship in 1999 in a 77-74 victory over Duke University, and again in 2004 an 82-73 victory over Georgia Tech.
The team’s charter flight will arrive at Bradley International Airport at approximately 3:45 p.m. today.
An event will be held at Gampel at 5 p.m. that is free and open to the public.
Joseph Adinolfi and Brian Zahn contrib-uted reporting.
Students celebrate after championship win over Butler
Students watch the Huskies beat the Bulldogs 53-41 in the NCAA men’s basketball championship from Gampel on Monday, April 4.
HUSKIES CELEBRATE ACROSS THE GLOBE
LILIAN DUREY/The Daily Campus
Jim Calhoun couldn’t resist cracking a large smile as he walked onto the court of Gampel Pavilion, under the outstretched hands of fans slung over the bleacher railings.
The entire team received the same greeting last night, in a pep rally held in honor of the men’s basketball team’s national champi-onship victory. The rally brought out multitudes of excited fans and a very humble men’s basketball team.
The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of Kemba Walker’s name and number on the interior wall of Gampel for his induction into the “UConn Huskies of Honor.”
“The success of this team has consisted of Kemba stand-ing up and saying,‘Follow me,’” said radio personality Joe D’Ambrosio. “Kemba has been a bright star since day one.”
Walker couldn’t hold back tears after his name was unveiled.
“Sorry I’m a bit emotional,” Walker said. “I never thought I’d see this day…I want to thank you guys, because without you, none of this would be possible.”
In Jim Calhoun’s short speech, he thanked the players and the fans.
“Everything that you do tells us that you love this team,” said Calhoun. “You’ve helped us win the national champion-ship. Thank you.”
Fans more than reciprocated the appreciation with posters, such as “Kemba will you marry me?” and “Kemba had a little Lamb.”
“I’m just glad I got to be here,” said Scott Hagen, a 4th-semester marketing major. “I was at Gampel last night. I walked with everyone after the game…I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”
“I appreciate most the over-all sense of pride they bring to the state,” said Ned Froan, a Coventry resident. “I work for a bunch of people who aren’t from Connecticut and I ask them, ‘Which Final Four game are you going to?’ And it is like Calhoun said, they seem like a really good group of kids.”
Some segments of the ceremony were cut out, such as the remarks from the president. The pep rally lasted around 30 minutes.
By Garrett GianneschiStaff Writer
Walker inducted into Huskies of Honor
FROM HOUSTON TO STORRS, HUSKIES REJOICE» UCONN 53, BUTLER 41 – HUSKIES WIN 2011 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
By Nicholas RondinoneSenior Staff Writer
More than a thousand UConn students gathered at Gampel Pavilion early Monday morning to show Husky pride when NBC’s Today Show arrived to film the NCAA men’s basketball tourna-ment’s final teams.
By 6 a.m., hundreds of UConn students were already lined up outside of the pavilion, waiting in the rain for free T-shirts and a chance to be on national televi-sion, as cameramen filmed the fan-filled sidewalk.
Though Sunday night marked the end of the road for the women’s team in the NCAA Tournament, the men were still powering strong, with one game
standing in the way of their first national title since 2004.
“The women have won so much,” said 2nd-semester com-munication disorders major Liam Heeks. “It’s exciting to see the men step up and win.”
Taylor Byrne, a 2nd-semester fine arts major, woke up early in the name of school spirit. “We want to show our Husky pride and show how much we support our guys in the road to the champion-ship,” she said.
Once inside, students were ush-ered into place and given pom-poms and signs to hold up for the cameras. Many brought home-made posters, reading “Nobody Beats Connecticut” and “Kemba, will you go to Spring Weekend with me?” among others. Even large boards bearing the play-
ers’ faces quickly emerged in the crowd and were passed amongst the students.
The energy on the court was palpable, as the UConn Dance Team cheered and Jonathan the Husky danced in the light of the film crew. Alpha Phi Omega also brought along the real husky dog to rally even more spirit. The fans grew louder and more anxious as the minutes ticked by until the live shot.
Finally, at 7:18 a.m., after a quick screen view of Butler University’s student section, Today Show host Matt Lauer cut to Gampel Pavilion. Students erupted in loud cheers, throwing pompoms in the air and chanting signature UConn fight songs in an effort to outshine the Butler fans.
The screams were so loud that
reporter Mara Schiavocampo was barely audible on camera, even with her microphone.
“We had to show Butler we’re better,” said 6th-semester ele-mentary education major Nicole Bortolan.
6th-semester English major Genna Sperling said she was excited to celebrate in the name of UConn. “Not only do we have to show our true blue to the country, but we all forget that these players are our schoolmates,” she said. “We see them in class, at the Union, around campus, and it’s only right that we give them our support.”
The event was well-attended and had enough painted faces to show that early morning hours do little to stifle Husky pride.
By Steph RattyStaff Writer
NBC’s Today Show films at Gampel Pavilion
Twenty-three UConn students who are studying abroad in Grenada, Spain stop celebrating at a bar to pose for a picture following UConn’s triumph over Butler.
Courtesy of Steven Ellis
Sixteen students studying abroad in Capetown, South Africa gather for a picture at 5:46 a.m. following UConn’s win over Butler in the national championship.
Courtesy of Dana Navalance
Championship ExtraThe Daily Campus, Page 6 Thursday, April 14, 2011
Championship Extra The Daily Campus, Page 7Thursday, April 14, 2011
