The members of the 2023-24 UConn men’s basketball program gathered together one last time to share an audience with President Joe Biden and other dignitaries at the White House. Both the men’s Division I champion UConn and the women’s Division I champion South Carolina Gamecocks were honored on Tuesday for reaching the top of the college basketball mountain again. This is the sixth trip to the White House for the UConn men’s basketball program.
UConn’s Latest Championship Run Capped With White House Trip
President Biden was presented with a No. 46 UConn jersey from center Donovan Clingan as family members proudly looked on.
Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton present Joe Biden his second UConn jersey. pic.twitter.com/tFa9FNWvIP
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) September 10, 2024
“We said last year that we want to make this thing an annual visit and here we are again as back-to-back champs right back here,” UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley said.
“Our goal going into the year, we knew we had the potential to have a special team and it was like a real simple mindset that we were trying to create. Let’s just win every single tournament or every opportunity to win a championship. There were five opportunities to win championship trophies and we won all five.”
This will put the finishing touches on a remarkable 2023-24 season for the Huskies with every member of the title-winning squad in attendance. With four starters selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, it might be difficult for those players to make it back to campus when the banner is raised.
Stephon Castle was selected fourth overall by the San Antonio Spurs. Clingan went seventh overall to Portland. Tristen Newton was the No. 49 overall selection by Indiana with Cam Spencer landing in Memphis four picks later. Castle is tied for fifth at +1000 in the NBA Rookie of the Year odds with Clingan tied for ninth at +1600 in the Vegas Insider odds.
UConn’s Championship Odds Are Impressive Once Again
Even with the loss of four starters, UConn has the shortest odds at +700 to win the national title according to the Vegas Insider sportsbook. The odds opened at +1000 but once returning starter Alex Karaban announced that he was pulling his name out of the 2024 NBA Draft in an attempt to lead the Huskies to another national title, the odds moved to +700.
Duke and Kansas are both at +1000 in the championship odds. The next closest Big East teams are Creighton and St. John’s at +5000. The odds are courtesy of the Vegas Insider sportsbook.
Huskies Are Ready To Start Quest For A Three-Peat
There are coaches who would avoid adding pressure to their returning players by mentioning a possible Three-Peat. Hurley is not built like that.
“Our focus is quickly turning to the pursuit of this third national championship in a row,” Hurley said. “Today is an incredible moment for us to pause because basically you just celebrate cool stuff like this. For us, it is lock in on this Three-peat, celebrate these incredible players that we lost and go get ready to truly make history in college basketball as the first 3-peat champion since Coach Wooden and truly do something historic and that is not lost on any of us. The enormity of our season coming up is special and we are excited about that.”
The 2024 National Champs are at the @WhiteHouse! 🏆https://t.co/pbXCjNQNX6
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) September 10, 2024
Hurley’s remarks included a four-letter word that rhymes with spit on a pair of occasions that led to the UConn coach apologizing to the President. Before Hurley had a chance to address the crowd, President Biden weighed in on the dominant run by the 2023-24 Huskies.
“Let me be the first to say, welcome back,” President Biden said. “You proved everybody wrong.”
The biggest road from those in attendance came when President Biden proclaimed that “there is no doubt at all who is the Blue Blood of basketball.”
The Big East schedule could be announced soon. UConn’s non-conference schedule includes games against Baylor on Dec. 4, Texas on Dec. 8, and Gonzaga on Dec. 14. Baylor and Gonzaga are expected to be top-10 teams this season. Additionally, Texas may also land in the top 25 in the national polls. UConn will face Memphis in its first game at the 2024 Maui Invitational on Nov. 25 followed by a matchup with either Colorado or Michigan State. Auburn, Dayton, Iowa State, and North Carolina are on the other half of the bracket.
🚨Breaking news with @TheAndyKatz! 🚨
Your 2024 Maui Invitational bracket is here! #MauiHoops pic.twitter.com/xDptA2ZUSE
— Maui Invitational (@MauiInv) August 20, 2024
Fans will get an early look at the 2024-25 UConn Huskies on Oct. 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena in an NCAA-approved exhibition game against Rhode Island. The season opener will come against Sacred Heart on Nov. 6. ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top-25 rankings have UConn third behind Kansas and Alabama. Creighton, Marquette, and Xavier are other Big East teams that could land in the top 25 in the national polls.
What Is in Store for UConn?
UConn won a second straight national title even after three starters got a taste of life in the NBA. Can the Huskies do it again? What will the UConn basketball stats look like with a much different nucleus?
UConn added former Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney, the No. 22 rated transfer nationally according to the 247sports.com database. Former Michigan post player Tarris Reed Jr. also transferred to UConn. Mahaney had 157 3-pointers in his two seasons with the Gaels and he could step into a role that Spencer thrived at a season ago. Reed will add some size and a defensive presence as UConn lost when the 7-foot-2 Clingan declared for the NBA Draft.
Forward Liam McNeeley, a top-10 national recruit, is expected to contribute immediately while guard Ahmad Nowell and forward Isaiah Abraham are other incoming freshmen. Karaban, Hassan Diarra, Samson Johnson, and Solomon Ball are returning UConn players who averaged more than 10 minutes per game.
Hurley Happy To Be Back
One of the developments that could impact UConn’s championship odds is the return of Hurley after he considered an offer to coach the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers. Even though Bustin’ Brackets had Hurley ranked second behind Bill Self of Kansas in a list of the top men’s college basketball coaches, try telling that to teams preparing to face the Huskies.
The list of coaches who have led their teams to three consecutive NCAA Division I men’s basketball titles currently stands at one – UCLA’s John Wooden. The 2007-08 Florida and the 1992-93 Duke teams are the two most recent squads that failed to complete the three-peat. The last time a team won more than two titles in a row came courtesy of Wooden’s Bruins. UCLA’s run of seven straight national titles ended with a loss to North Carolina State in the 1974 national semifinals. Hurley has already left his stamp on the UConn men’s basketball program that rose to prominence under Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. Coaching the Huskies to a third straight championship in the one-and-done era would put him in an even higher stratosphere.
