I was there too Milo and also my junior year. I remember a few years earlier Coach Baylock was showing my parents and I the campus and we stopped at the big parking lot at what would then become Gampel. Over the next few years it was cool to watch it go up little by little. One thing I didn’t like when Gampel opened was that I couldn’t go watch the practices anymore. When the team was practicing in the field house I used to sneak up to the second level in between classes and watch JC scream his lungs out for two hours. The first game in the new place was awesome!
The year Gampel opened seemed like the basketball Gods were with us. Last game in the field house, Gampel opens mid season, the Dove arrives and takes the state by storm, JC wins National Coach of the Year, UConn wins first regular season and tournament Big East Championships, HOME ncaa tournament games in Hartford, and finally back to back classic tournament games one in our favor and one not. That year was the foundation for the great things that were to come. My avatar is the scoreboard at Gampel after that first game. The February 9th game against Cincy will celebrate that 1989-90 team and Gampel opening. Happy Birthday Gampel!
