35 years ago today, it all began

[FfldCntyFan]

March 11, 1990 - I can't believe we almost missed it



Dominance has followed.

 

[LStudfellow]

I was actually there, working for WHUS (yes, with John Tuite who headed up the sports department, meager as it was, at WHUS at the time).

That whole weekend in Manhattan was awesome!

I will always and forever remember Toraino Walker coming out of nowhere and playing toe to toe with Mourning and Mutombo to play a key role in our semi-final victory over Georgetown on Saturday afternoon. And then followed that up with a strong effort against All-American and future NBAer Derrick Coleman to help us win that first title, 78-75. I also still remember our student section calling out Brent Musburger because he had given us no chance of running the gauntlet through both Georgetown and Syracuse on back to back days to win the tournament. Oh, how wrong he was! And boy did our section let him hear about it!

It was such a great feeling walking from MSG to Grand Central Station that sunny late afternoon knowing we owned New York for the first time ever. UConn fans were scattered all over, and the train ride back to Stamford was incredible as everyone was so elated with the championship while also wanting to know if we would get placed as the 1-seed in the East Region of the NCAA's (we did) and would get to play our first two tournament games in Hartford (which of course we did, as well).

That year was the unforgettable start to what has been a run of excellence far beyond anything any of us could have ever dreamed of 35 years ago, that is for sure.

Thanks for the reminder of some truly wonderful memories @FfldCntyFan!

 

[Kolumbo]

Johnny Gwynn, Chris Smith, Tate George. Great stuff. Johnny's fist-pumping!!! I'd like to show my daughter's basketball coach this clip because he thinks he has to start the 5 tallest girls. And he can't figure out why we can't score or stop the other team from sprinting down the court.

And that hairdo brings back memories of scented hair spray...the female reporter's, not the dweeb's.

 

[UCan3]

What a great post. My only issue with this post is that one could make the argument that this is not when the greatness started.

For us old timers, there was a time before this that you can point to as the flashpoint.

I was on campus for when it all started.

The NIT Championship was, to me, one of the greatest moments in our history as a dominant program.

It is hard for those not around at the time to understand what a turning point this was for our Huskies. Yes, the NIT! We were the “cellar dwellers” for so long. The easy game that every big east team looked forward to on their schedule.

And here we were at the NIT, a tourney no one wants to be in, right? Well, not us, we treated it like the NCAA Tourney, And the shades of greatness, game after game, from our upstart program. And the campus was electric for the entire tourney! Everyone was “turned in” and we watched our Huskies win it all. I still remember the celebrations on campus! Cookouts, classes cancelled, euphoria.

That win laid the groundwork for everything that followed.

Yes, I am celebrating this NIT win, maybe the only one LOL, but OMG what a great moment that was to be a Husky fan, and to me, when the greatness began!

 

[HCCForever]

Great memories from that season. Other players such as Sellers, Burrell, Lyman and Nadav made that season special as well. Their press and defense were unbelievable at times and caused issues with teams such as Georgetown.

We saw things that season that will never happen again. The BET final was then played on a Sunday afternoon but has since been moved to Saturday nights. I was also fortunate to watch UConn play their first and second round games against BU and then California in Hartford which cannot happen now.

There will never be the same feeling with UConn MBB as there was in 1990. It was a special time that can never be duplicated. This was all set in motion with Calhoun's hiring and the NIT championship in 1988.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

What a great post. My only issue with this post is that one could make the argument that this is not when the greatness started.

For us old timers, there was a time before this that you can point to as the flashpoint.

I was on campus for when it all started.

The NIT Championship was, to me, one of the greatest moments in our history as a dominant program.

It is hard for those not around at the time to understand what a turning point this was for our Huskies. Yes, the NIT! We were the “cellar dwellers” for so long. The easy game that every big east team looked forward to on their schedule.

And here we were at the NIT, a tourney no one wants to be in, right? Well, not us, we treated it like the NCAA Tourney, And the shades of greatness, game after game, from our upstart program. And the campus was electric for the entire tourney! Everyone was “turned in” and we watched our Huskies win it all. I still remember the celebrations on campus! Cookouts, classes cancelled, euphoria.

That win laid the groundwork for everything that followed.

Yes, I am celebrating this NIT win, maybe the only one LOL, but OMG what a great moment that was to be a Husky fan, and to me, when the greatness began!

I have watched the VCU game on huskygames. Seems like the earliest "UConn classic" available to watch

 

[jdb50]

What a great post. My only issue with this post is that one could make the argument that this is not when the greatness started.

For us old timers, there was a time before this that you can point to as the flashpoint.

I was on campus for when it all started.

The NIT Championship was, to me, one of the greatest moments in our history as a dominant program.

It is hard for those not around at the time to understand what a turning point this was for our Huskies. Yes, the NIT! We were the “cellar dwellers” for so long. The easy game that every big east team looked forward to on their schedule.

And here we were at the NIT, a tourney no one wants to be in, right? Well, not us, we treated it like the NCAA Tourney, And the shades of greatness, game after game, from our upstart program. And the campus was electric for the entire tourney! Everyone was “turned in” and we watched our Huskies win it all. I still remember the celebrations on campus! Cookouts, classes cancelled, euphoria.

That win laid the groundwork for everything that followed.

Yes, I am celebrating this NIT win, maybe the only one LOL, but OMG what a great moment that was to be a Husky fan, and to me, when the greatness began!

Was at the VCU game at The Fieldhouse which they sold extra tickets for. There was a crowd noise level that was the same as any game at Gampel. Re watched the game a couple years ago and Jeff king made a lot of plays for us to get us the NYC for the NIT Final 4.

 

[80shusky]

March 11, 1990 - I can't believe we almost missed it



Dominance has followed.

Watched this at Teds!

 

[StllH8L8ner]

My favorite season ever, even without a title and seeded what developed into my utter disdain for all things Duke.

Post/Handle

 

[HCCForever]

My favorite season ever, even without a title and seeded what developed into my utter disdain for all things Duke.

Post/Handle

I totally agree with this. I used to respect Duke with players such as Bilas, Amaker and Dawkins on that 1986 team. That all changed with the loss to Duke in 1990. That is why Bilas doesn't bother me today as he does for some on this board.

 

[87Xfer]

Watched this at Teds!

I was supposed to be at MSG, but I got the flu. Watched the Toraino show from the off campus apartment I was living in at Norwegian Wood.

 

[Chasm64]

What a great post. My only issue with this post is that one could make the argument that this is not when the greatness started.

For us old timers, there was a time before this that you can point to as the flashpoint.

I was on campus for when it all started.

The NIT Championship was, to me, one of the greatest moments in our history as a dominant program.

It is hard for those not around at the time to understand what a turning point this was for our Huskies. Yes, the NIT! We were the “cellar dwellers” for so long. The easy game that every big east team looked forward to on their schedule.

And here we were at the NIT, a tourney no one wants to be in, right? Well, not us, we treated it like the NCAA Tourney, And the shades of greatness, game after game, from our upstart program. And the campus was electric for the entire tourney! Everyone was “turned in” and we watched our Huskies win it all. I still remember the celebrations on campus! Cookouts, classes cancelled, euphoria.

That win laid the groundwork for everything that followed.

Yes, I am celebrating this NIT win, maybe the only one LOL, but OMG what a great moment that was to be a Husky fan, and to me, when the greatness began!

I was at the game at the field house, I thought the bleachers were going to collapse !

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to minimize the NIT title. That was desperately needed fresh meat for a fan base that had been starving for far too long.

The thing is, that BE title was on another level and it was then that everything that has come since became possible.

 

[TheShot1990]

The NIT and BE title were phenomenal but this is what gave me my title and cemented UConn BB in history forever for me:

March Madness rewind: Taking a look back at Tate George’s iconic buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16

Tate George helped UConn’s dream season live on with an iconic buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16 of the 1990 NCAA Tournament.

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[huskyjawz]

The NIT and BE title were phenomenal but this is what gave me my title and cemented UConn BB in history forever for me:

March Madness rewind: Taking a look back at Tate George’s iconic buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16

Tate George helped UConn’s dream season live on with an iconic buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16 of the 1990 NCAA Tournament.

www.theuconnblog.com

“I’ve worked 23 years a coach, ever since I got out of college, and my dream is to coach in the Final Four someday, and I think I will someday” Calhoun said. “But I wouldn’t trade 100 Final Fours for the privilege of coaching this team.”

 

[huskyjawz]

I was actually there, working for WHUS (yes, with John Tuite who headed up the sports department, meager as it was, at WHUS at the time).

That whole weekend in Manhattan was awesome!

I will always and forever remember Toraino Walker coming out of nowhere and playing toe to toe with Mourning and Mutombo to play a key role in our semi-final victory over Georgetown on Saturday afternoon. And then followed that up with a strong effort against All-American and future NBAer Derrick Coleman to help us win that first title, 78-75. I also still remember our student section calling out Brent Musburger because he had given us no chance of running the gauntlet through both Georgetown and Syracuse on back to back days to win the tournament. Oh, how wrong he was! And boy did our section let him hear about it!

It was such a great feeling walking from MSG to Grand Central Station that sunny late afternoon knowing we owned New York for the first time ever. UConn fans were scattered all over, and the train ride back to Stamford was incredible as everyone was so elated with the championship while also wanting to know if we would get placed as the 1-seed in the East Region of the NCAA's (we did) and would get to play our first two tournament games in Hartford (which of course we did, as well).

That year was the unforgettable start to what has been a run of excellence far beyond anything any of us could have ever dreamed of 35 years ago, that is for sure.

Thanks for the reminder of some truly wonderful memories @FfldCntyFan!

We stuck around to celebrate and watch the brackets revealed in one of the bars by the Garden.

 

[uchusky32]

1988 NIT Championship is when it started.

 

[Marbles90]

March 11, 1990 - I can't believe we almost missed it



Dominance has followed.

I attended all three games in person. I was a student in my senior year at UConn and scored a student ticket in the lottery. My buddy from HS went to Columbia and my girlfriend at the time (also a UConn student and also scoring a ticket in the lottery) and I stayed at his fraternity house all weekend and we trekked down to MSG each day.

After partying Saturday night at Columbia, she and I decided to stay up all night and head down to MSG in the wee hours of Sunday to get in line for seats in the student section. We were one of the firsts ones in line and sat in the second row right behind the basket - of course rushing the court after beating Syracuse. Great times...

 

[TheShot1990]

 

[businesslawyer]

Great thread. Two thoughts.

1. The Big East championship was great, but the "start" was in January when we beat Georgetown at home, in a game when Mourning woofed at Nadav and Nadav posted him up, and scored an "and 1" right over him. And then stared back without opening his mouth.

2. John Gwynn was such an unbelievable microwave scorer off the bench, but he scored the same way every single time. Caught the ball at the three point line, took one dribble to his left (as a righthander) and, catching the defender by surprise that he went left instead of right, had room to shoot his 3. Incredibly, he was able to do that all through not just the Dream Season but the next year, as if no one we played had ever scouted a damn basketball game, until we got Duke in the Sweet 16 the second year. In which game, Gwynn was totally ineffective because every time he caught the ball he was overplayed so he couldn't take the one dribble left. For all the bad things said about Coach K, he was able to run an adequate scouting operation.

 

[huskyjawz]

I attended all three games in person. I was a student in my senior year at UConn and scored a student ticket in the lottery. My buddy from HS went to Columbia and my girlfriend at the time (also a UConn student and also scoring a ticket in the lottery) and I stayed at his fraternity house all weekend and we trekked down to MSG each day.

After partying Saturday night at Columbia, she and I decided to stay up all night and head down to MSG in the wee hours of Sunday to get in line for seats in the student section. We were one of the firsts ones in line and sat in the second row right behind the basket - of course rushing the court after beating Syracuse. Great times...

Yup. I was in that section as well. Same seats for the Meadowlands; birds eye view for The Shot. I thought Scotty overthrew it as it came towards us; then of course it fell, just like a fly ball in centerfield.

 

[UCTitleTown]

I'd been a fan since about 1981, and for me, it all began with the 1988 NIT Championship. I remember buying an NIT Champs shirt and wearing it to school and kids saying, "UConn???".... I knew when we won that NIT that we were a real program and I'd no longer be happy with an occasional Big East upset win.

 

[uchusky32]

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to minimize the NIT title. That was desperately needed fresh meat for a fan base that had been starving for far too long.

The thing is, that BE title was on another level and it was then that everything that has come since became possible.

Yes, another level but transformation started 88 NIT.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Transformation started when we hired Jim Calhoun.

 

[alexd]

This is from the Huskymania VCR tape they sold that summer.

On March 11, 1990 UConn defeated Syracuse in the Big East tournament championship game 78–75 at Madison Square Garden, to claim their first Big East... | By Davenport Sports Network | Facebook

On March 11, 1990 UConn defeated Syracuse in the Big East tournament championship game 78–75 at Madison Square Garden, to claim their first Big East...

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