Welcome (again) to the elite, Connecticut. Last night, the Huskies validated the fifth national title in their history, the fourth best record of all time tied with Duke and Indiana, ahead of Kansas (4 titles) and only behind UCLA (11 titles), Kentucky (8 titles ) and North Carolina (6 titles). Or the six mythical “Blue Bloods”, these historically dominant programs on the university circuit.
In other words: after a few years of scarcity at the end of the 2010s and then two last years of serene rise in power, Connecticut validated a return to the fore last night, and again recovers a place of choice at the table of facs that count as stalwarts in the NCAA basketball landscape.
The seventh “Blue Blood”?
And a question then arises, the day after this fifth title over the last 25 years (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014 and therefore 2023), the best ratio in the country over this period: has UConn in turn become a “ Blue Blood”?
” I mean… we have all the ingredients » first launched Dan Hurley, the coach of UConn, who has become the third coach to win a title with the program, after Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie. ” We have several titles, several NBA players, a crazy ‘fanbase’. What more do you want? »
The most fussy NCAA observers will no doubt answer him that the Storrs program still lacks regularity in performance in “March Madness”, since the Huskies have “only” six accessions to the “Final Four” to their credit. A total far from being able to compete with the 21 “Final Four” of North Carolina, the largest total of all time, or even the 19 of UCLA and the 17 of Duke.
When the more pragmatic will note, rightly, that the important thing is elsewhere since history ultimately only retains those who lift the trophies, not the semi-finalists or the finalists. And on this account, the facts are the facts: UConn, with now five titles, sits without blushing at the table of the “Blue Bloods”.
” No more doubt. No more “Assured then Kemba Walker, champion in 2011. “ We belong to the elite, there is not much to debate on this subject. That’s how it is, accept it. We can obviously talk about the Dukes, the North Carolinas. But now, you better talk about UConn too. We belong to the crème de la crème of college basketball because we are the crème de la crème this year. And it’s not over. »
Same refrain, unsurprisingly, on the side of two other former glories of the program: Ray Allen, who simply affirmed that Connecticut had ” undeniably took part in the discussion ” after this fifth title, when Emeka Okafor rightly wondered “ how could one deny that status to a team that has more titles than anyone else in the last 25 years. The debate, if there was one, is over. »
The pride of participating in history in an indelible way
But before questioning their place in history and their potential status of “Blue Blood” or not, the heroes of last night prefer first to live in the moment, and to savor.
Enjoy being forever a piece of the rich history of a legendary program.
” The previous four titles and past success had nothing to do with us. But today, we have our title. We’ll hang our banner at the training room then added Dan Hurley. ” We have our lottery picks, with James [Bouknight] in 2021 and most certainly Jordan [Hawkins] This year. And when I look out my office window, every day I will see this banner, acquired by us. We’re in history, we have our chapter, and we’re officially starting to build our trophy cabinet. »
A tremendous sense of accomplishment, proudly highlighted by Alex Karabana freshman from UConn.
” When I return to Gampel [Pavilion, la salle des Huskies, ndlr] in decades, I will be able to say to my children: ‘This title, I helped to obtain it’ concludes the winger. ” It’s surreal to think about it. »
