Starting with junior high, I played on the school's team and continued in high school for a couple of years. At 6'1" I was a center and played back up to a 7 footer who went on the play for Virginia. Eventually moved over to winter track. I was a lot faster than I was a shooter!!
I was also a New York Knicks fan in the days of Willis Reed, Clyde "The Glide" Frazier, and others. When the NBA went from basketball to run and gun and dunk I stopped watching.
Fast forward, I was channel surfing and came across a UConn women's basketball game on CPTV. That was the 94 - 95 season. I was surprised by the flow of the game, the passing, the back door cuts and all. The first game I watched the announcers mention that Jen Rizzotti was from New Fairfield. I taught at New Fairfield HS for a while. By the time Jen went to UConn I was teaching in another system.
That was the beginning of becoming a UConn women's basketball fan. And the wife and I are still fans but we now live in Florida.