STORRS, Conn. — It was an exciting night in Storrs, as fans got a first look at the 2024-2025 UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams.
First Night is the unofficial kick off to the college basketball season in Storrs.
Fans filled Gampel Pavilion to cheer on their UConn Huskies. The two squads split up and played some friendly scrimmage games against each other. They also had a three-point shooting contest to get warmed up for the season.
Freshman Joey Newman says, "It's just different, you know, you can't go to any other stadium and find this. UConn is just its own, and its amazing."
The students and fans got the party started out on Jim Calhoun Way with music and carnival games before packing the stands. The cheer and dance teams were there too handing out some prizes to fans.
Before the game, FOX61 caught up with two of the men working to make magic happen for the Huskies and asked the coaches how they are feeling looking at their teams in October.
Women’s coach Geno Auriemma said, "I’m excited to see what can happen, but right now it hasn't yet."
Hurley, the men's coach, said he is looking to break his players bad habits.
"I’m weighing on the players heavily to eradicate things I know are going to make us lose. It's a tough time of year for them. I am sure they can't wait for the games to start," Hurley said.
Hurley is back in Storrs after a summer of NBA rumors. He says he is ready to lead his team to a three-peat.
"I think they have shown enough that we can go into this believing we are right where we want to be at UConn and believe we have as good of a chance as anyone to get a championship," Hurley said.
Auriemma is also chasing history, not only for another national title, but to soon become the all-time winningest head coach in college basketball history. Despite that, he's more focused on the team he is putting on the court.
"We haven’t had a full team in three years, so I think there is a lot of excitement about what will we look like if we have everyone available, and its [Paige Bueckers'] last year; all that great stuff, so there is a lot of expectation of it being great," Auriemma said.
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Alexa Farrell is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at afarrell@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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