My Thoughts

[CTBasketball]

So I'll try to make this quick and easy.

I was one of the first skeptics of KO, and cited postseason success as a major point of emphasis as to why I wasn't quite sold yet. Well I'm sold. I was sold after the Villanova game. And each time I watched a post-game presser, I saw a new star being birthed out of a supernova. And we're so lucky to have this star coach with us.

This season was one of my favorites in Husky history. 1999 was fantastic. 2004 was great. 2011 was amazing. But the 2013-2014 Huskies will always have my heart. We were pushed down by the NCAA for bogus reasons, had dirt kicked in our face, had our conference disappear, and everyone said UConn. No one gave us a chance. The only people that gave us a chance were us fans, and more importantly, the players and coaches. The fact we dropkicked everyone in the tournament right in the balls said something about this program. No matter what you do, we're not going away. As long as there is UConn on our chests, the country better get out of the way. Winning this championship, our 4th, just proves that Connecticut is the best college basketball state in the country, and has the best fans as well.

Now this could not have been done without our seniors.

• I'm sure everyone is quick to blame TO, but he put in some important minutes this March. Very important minutes. And the 4 years he gave in practice everyday cannot go unnoticed.
• Kromah. Absolutely great find last off-season. Of course, I was skeptical, but man did this guy give it his all. BTW, he had 4 points last night. Fantastic player.
• Niels Giffey will go down as the best glue-guy, loose-ball diver, do-it-all player in all of UConn history. His 3's last night were HUGE. Absolute testiculos. Ginormous. Despite being one of my favorite players of all-time, I am really disappointed to see Niels have his name mispronounced by cross-eyed Stuart Scrott. I hope Niels has a very successful career and gets a shot at the NBA. And who knows, maybe he'll come back and coach.
• Shabazz. Good lord. Really there is not enough you can say about this man. I know for a fact he is the best Husky of all-time. What he did for this program is on another level in comparison to others. Only Jim Calhoun trumps him.

This off-season will be brutal, as always, but this year it'll be a different kind of brutal. I cannot wait for First Night and absolutely cannot wait for Boatright and Daniels to lead us back to the promised land. And Purvis, Terrence, Brimah, Nolan, Calhoun, DHam, and all the others.

And one more thing: It's going to be weird as hell to see Shabazz rock an NBA jersey. Its going to give me chills, because when I remember Shabazz, he'll always wear Husky blue and white.