How did you become a huskie fan?

[Florida Fan]

Since April 2, 1995. THE game.

Ditto, the hype over Tennessee, and that contest at Uconn. And the title game that the Huskies were supposed to lose, people standing along the road and on the overpasses to catch a glimpse of the team bus, for Connecticut's FIRST title in anything. Front page stuff then, and ever since. We were hooked.

 

[Ozimoto]

My women's basketball journey started when I was in high school in the late 1970's. Went to a small co-ed Catholic high school in Cumberland, Maryland. Like other Catholic schools, basketball, both boys and girls, was big. I had a number of friends (one I had a crush on) on the girls' team and went to their games often. Several of them went on to have fairly decent college careers at the DII level and one of them was recruited by Immaculata, a women's powerhouse at the time. Once the women's game started to get TV airplay it was a natural progression to start watching the games when the were available. Saw a lot of games with Tennessee, LA Tech, UVA, Texas and Stanford in those early years of TV coverage. And then there was this team from Connecticut with the demonstrative Italian guy who was starting to upset the apple cart of the "blue bloods" of the time. I've always had a soft spot for the underdog (which the Huskies were at the time) and I liked the way the way they got under Tennessee's skin (some of Pat Summitt's facial expressions were priceless during games). I've been hooked ever since, even though the Huskies haven't been underdogs for quite some time.

 

[CL82]

We were contemporaries at UConn. I can’t recall exactly what the tuition, room & board costs were back then but they were very close to the costs you quoted. The only cost I remember accurately was the price of beer at a bar in Norwich - two drafts for 25 cents. Watched my first women’s bb game around 1994 and became an instant fan.

I remember nickel beer night at a bar in Willimantic. It was perfect for a bunch of broke college students. We’d all pile in a car and head over there. Our presence wasn’t always appreciated by the locals.

I became a UConn fan when I was a student there. I’ve posted about it a bunch of times, but, man, the old Field House rocked. People would file in and squeeze into the bleachers, then, when the seats were filled, people would fill in the aisles. When the stands were completely filled, people would sit on the floor in front of them one or two deep. Then every crevice in the building would get filled with people standing. As I’ve talked about how many occasions, it would get so loud that the dust would shake down from the rafters, and create a cloud around the lights at the top of the arena. It was an absolutely insane atmosphere.

Like so many others, I became a fan of the woman’s program during the 1995 season. You youngsters out there can’t appreciate how much the state adopted and loved that team. Taking down the mighty Lady Vols in a nationally televised game was a powerful moment that not only are was the signature moment of the ascendancy of Connecticut women’s basketball, but was a defining moment for women’s basketball in general. The Connecticut, Tennessee games were must see TV, not just for fans of the women’s game, but sports fans in general end, even non-sports fans. The games became water cooler talk the next day. The 95 team was charismatic with Rebecca Lobo and Jen Rizzotti as the faces of the team and a young, brash head coach who combined basketball acumen with a wry wit and fearless attitude. It was a perfect storm that created lifelong fans out of a bunch of us.

 

[dbmill]

Connection to Geno went back to 1970 or 1971 when my wife went to HS (Bishop Kendrick, Norristown, PA) with Geno and I lived nearby. Saw him play for some type of championship at the Phila. Palestra. Most folks in the general neighborhood knew of this Italian family that had several generations packed into a city row house with several of them still not speaking English. Followed his career since then.

While I was attending UConn, my family moved from Connecticut to West Chester, PA. West Chester is where West Chester University is located, which is where Geno went to college. West Chester University is about a 5 or 10 minute drive from where my parents lived. One of my brothers ended up going to that school. In an odd way, I always felt an odd connection to Geno because of this. My wife and I have attended numerous women's basketball final fours starting in 1996. During autograph sessions at a few of these final fours, Geno has worn a West Chester University tee shirt, and at least once or twice I have commented to him about my family living in West Chester.

 

[HopJim]

Connection to Geno went back to 1970 or 1971 when my wife went to HS (Bishop Kendrick, Norristown, PA) with Geno and I lived nearby. Saw him play for some type of championship at the Phila. Palestra. Most folks in the general neighborhood knew of this Italian family that had several generations packed into a city row house with several of them still not speaking English. Followed his career since then.

Here is a copy of Geno's HS Year Book picture. Nice hair and bow tie.

 

[JellyBean]

Freshmen year, Fall of 1987. One of my instructors was offering extra credit if we attended a women's basketball game and wrote about our experience. Well back then, there really was no charge to attend the women's game. Attendance was horrible. I went to every UConn home game from 1987 thru 1990 and that started my fandom for UConn WBB.

 

[EasyEd]

First became a UConn fan with the Scott Burrell 3/4 court pass and shot by Tate George. Followed the men closely after that. Would check the women's results, but CPTV coverage of UConn in the BE tournament in '94 (I believe) motivated me to go watch in person. Then I bought a three or four game ticket package for the 94-95 women's season to go with my daughter. After seeing them in person, I was hooked. They were (are) great role models. Starting with 95-96 season through 2003-4 I was a season ticket holder. When my daughter grew up (and away), I lost the desire to go in person, because I didn't have anyone to go with (and CPTV coverage was great).

 

[caramel]

I was originally a men fan, but personally seeing some of the girls piqued my interest, until I saw Sue Bird play. That was it for me in becoming hooked on the team until my days are over.

 

[Hoops66]

I started watching the women's game when I ran the scoreboard in our high school 6 on 6 team. Yes, 3 on offense and 3 on defense; only 3 dribbles and you had to pass or shoot; and only 3 of those and you had to shoot, or it would be a turnover. This was not in Iowa (the last state to play it in schools), but in Massachusetts. It was pretty tedious but I wasn't too busy. I remember how happy we were to have a .500 season. Not much changed, I think, until Oxford won 2 state championships in the early 90's. I had to find who the players were (I had long since moved) and who was the star...Carla Berube! I then found out she was going to UConn. No doubt that UConn was going to have an instant fan, and after the 1995, season, a permanent fan forever (PFF).
So many great years! So many great players!

 

[rjuconn]

I was part of the Horde from 2006-08, covering the team for the Record-Journal out of Meriden (lived there for three years before returning home to Minnesota). I just fell in love with the team, the coaches, and the entire vibe around the program. Now that I’m no longer covering them in a professional capacity, I can just be a fan from afar!

 

[CTlifer]

The 1988 NIT started it all for me

 

[CL82]

I started watching the women's game when I ran the scoreboard in our high school 6 on 6 team.

I feel like you should’ve been paying attention to the game you were keeping score for instead.

 

[Beemer]

Fall of 1994. My mother was painting the master bedroom and she started watching by accident, she liked to have the tv or radio on while she worked. She became a fan, then converted my father & then me (who until that point detested basketball) in a matter of weeks lol. They were so much fun to watch and their title run really captivated the entire state.

 

[Skeets]

As a kid I poo-poo'ed women's sports until when I was in HS (the 70's) and my brother was in the Air Force stationed in DC. Somehow, he hooked up with 2 Maryland Women's basketball players. He came home to NJ on leave and these 2 women stopped in NJ for a visit on their way to Long Island. My brother and I played them 2x2 and won, but not because we were better basketball players. They were clearly more skilled, we were just bigger and stronger. That opened my eyes. I woke, to coin a phrase.

Moving to CT in '89 everything was UConn. Huskiemania was becoming a thing. I used to pick up single game tickets a few times a season until the best available seats were in the double letter rows at the Civic Center. I decided this is nuts. In 1999 I got season tickets, men in Hartford, women in Gampel. I wanted my young daughters just entering HS to become enthused with the college atmosphere. I've been a Women's season ticket holder ever since (now only Hartford).

 

[hoopingcrane]

Followed the 1991 team in the NCAA tournament. Loved the style of play. Sat a couple of rows away from Rebecca Lobo at a men‘s game and that was that!

 

[oldude]

I grew up in CT and was a casual fan for many years. Like many UConn fans, my initial interest in WBB started with the 1995 championship team. But my diehard fandom really didn’t come along until the 2012-13 season, and was largely inspired by my mother.

Mom loved UConn WBB. She was part of a legion of older Italian-American women in CT that adored Geno Auriemma. She watched every UConn game, on the edge of her seat, until the Huskies got up by 20 pts or more, at which point she could relax.

Mom passed away in the fall of 2012 at the age of 88. From that point on, I began rooting for “mom’s team.” The Big 3’s 1st of four championships during the 2012-13 season was both thrilling and emotional. I have been a diehard UConn WBB fan ever since.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I worked ar WHUS starting in 1981 and we covered women's games. It was easy to root for any of the teams and even though the women weren't very good, I was hooked.

 

[oldude]

I went to the same High School as Tommy Penders. He was two years ahead of me. As a sophomore, he was starting point guard ( I don't think they called it that back then). The 64 -65 team went something like 25 and 2, made the NCAA tourney which only had 32 teams back then. Toby Kimball and Wes Bialosuknia were stars of the team. Then I went to UConn, as it was the only college I could afford. I think it was $1500 a semester back then. There were no Women's teams in any sports back then.

I’m an SHS grad myself. I went to school with Tom’s younger sister Kathy and played football on Jim Penders Field, which was named after Tom’s father, the longtime coach at SHS.

 

[HuskyNan]

Ditto, the hype over Tennessee, and that contest at Uconn. And the title game that the Huskies were supposed to lose, people standing along the road and on the overpasses to catch a glimpse of the team bus, for Connecticut's FIRST title in anything. Front page stuff then, and ever since. We were hooked.

Well, not quite….

National Championships

National Championships

uconnhuskies.com

 

[Husky fanatic]

Always the basketball fan I heard of this Epping,NH girl with a scholarship to UConn. Followed Kerry and got hooked on UConn women’s basketball. These days it’s the only basketball I watch until the NBA playoffs and men’s March Madness

 

[JeannoCT]

I grew up in CT and was a casual fan for many years. Like many UConn fans, my initial interest in WBB started with the 1995 championship team. But my diehard fandom really didn’t come along until the 2012-13 season, and was largely inspired by my mother.

Mom loved UConn WBB. She was part of a legion of older Italian-American women in CT that adored Geno Auriemma. She watched every UConn game, on the edge of her seat, until the Huskies got up by 20 pts or more, at which point she could relax.

Mom passed away in the fall of 2012 at the age of 88. From that point on, I began rooting for “mom’s team.” The Big 3’s 1st of four championships during the 2012-13 season was both thrilling and emotional. I have been a diehard UConn WBB fan ever since.

My parents, too, were big women's fans. Followed them thru CPTV, until they switched to SNY, which my mom couldn't get in Western Mass at the time. She was livid! God forbid you called her during the game - the conversation lasted about 15 seconds!

 

[maple]

I became a UConn fan when I was born in CT in '88. But my oldest memories are of going to a game in the 1993-1994 season, seeing UConn go to the '95 NC and win, and attending the first ever championship celebration parade. My parents and my grandparents were always UConn fans (in general, though specifically for MBB and WBB) so there was never a chance I would like anyone else! We never missed a WBB game on CPTV when I was a kid.

 

[dbmill]

I worked ar WHUS starting in 1981 and we covered women's games. It was easy to root for any of the teams and even though the women weren't very good, I was hooked.

I mentioned earlier that I first started going to UConn women's basketball games starting during the 1982-83 season while I was a graduate student at UConn. After we graduated, my wife and I consistently started going to the games again during the 1991-92 season. At the same time, if we couldn't make it to a game, we would listen to the women's games on WHUS. There were at least a couple seasons that WHUS carried every women's basketball game before the commercial stations started carrying their games.

While I was a student at UConn, I also got into the habit of listening to men's soccer on WHUS. At some point during the early to mid 2000's I got into the habit of listening to almost every UConn sporting event that WHUS carried if I had the time. For quite a while, WHUS carried a goodly number of UConn games in many different sports. It is where I first listened to Adam Giardino and Chris Jones broadcasting UConn games, including UConn baseball. I have to partly credit WHUS for my interest in UConn women's basketball, as they carried games when no commercial station was doing so. And WHUS is a big reason why I became such a fan of UConn baseball when I started listening to baseball games carried by WHUS around 2005 or so (a big credit to Giardino and Jones there, as they both helped increase the coverage of UConn baseball games on WHUS.

Sad to say, in the few years prior to the pandemic, WHUS did not carry as many games as they once did. That declined even further when the pandemic hit. It has gotten to the point where WHUS has not carried any UConn sporting events at all so far during the 2022-23 academic year. I was told in the fall that WHUS was looking at hiring a sports director for the station, but to this day they have not done so. To me this is a very sad state of affairs, to say the least.

 

[Oracle9]

It all started by accident in 2001. I mostly followed BE mens basketball with a little ACC thrown in because I love NC mbb too. Then I started hearing things about DT and wanted check this player out. I was hooked after that.

 

[Jokerman619]

Mainly because of this year. The way all plays for one. Just like all the other years in the past. They play the way the game should be. A team. Not a star. And thier Coaches. Live by the same rules. So I guess you could say I came to love this school, from all the amazing women, that has come through and leading the way for many more.