UConn Honored with Parade in Hartford at LinesMaker

UConn Honored with Parade in Hartford

HARTFORD, Conn. —Fans lined up four and five deep at spots Sun­day to catch a glimpse of Connecticut’s bas­ket­ball team as it paraded through down­town to cel­e­brate the program’s third national title.

The Huskies rode on a double-decker bus wav­ing to an esti­mated 40,000 fans who cel­e­brated their 53–41 win over But­ler on April 4 in Hous­ton. They were escorted by bands, jug­glers, politi­cians and even dogs from a local Siber­ian Husky club.

Cen­ter Alex Ori­akhi blew kisses, and star guard Kemba Walker took pic­tures of the crowd as fans held up signs. One read, “One Nation Under Kemba.”

Walker said the cel­e­bra­tion helped him grasp the mag­ni­tude of his team’s accomplishment.

“It was crazy,” he said. “It’s hit me, but not as much as it hit me today. I just keep think­ing to myself, ‘Wow, we’re really national cham­pi­ons.’ To see those peo­ple come out and show sup­port, it’s crazy. It’s surreal.”

Myrna Rivera, 43, of Hart­ford, brought her fam­ily. She said the UConn bas­ket­ball teams set a great exam­ple for the children.

“It shows the youth in Con­necti­cut that they can work hard and be the best that they can be,” she said. “This is what the boys’ and the girls’ bas­ket­ball teams rep­re­sent, giv­ing hope to those that feel there is no hope.”

The parade wound its way from the Capi­tol and around Bush­nell Park, before head­ing down Capi­tol Avenue for a rally on the north steps of the state house.

Coach Jim Cal­houn, who brought three of his grand­chil­dren along for the bus ride, made no promises about the future. He has indi­cated he plans to return next sea­son but said he’s tak­ing his time before final­iz­ing that decision.

“The promise I will make to you is that the bas­ket­ball team at UConn will give every­thing in its heart and soul to make sure we have another rally next year,” he said.

This was the eighth time there has been a parade in Hart­ford to cel­e­brate a UConn national cham­pi­onship. This is the men’s third cham­pi­onship. The women’s bas­ket­ball team has won seven. The state held a rally but no parade after the women’s cham­pi­onship in 2003 after the start of the war in Iraq. In 2004, an esti­mated 300,000 peo­ple showed up for a joint parade after both men’s and women’s teams won NCAA titles.

Cathy Maher, 29, of Cromwell, was attend­ing her first UConn vic­tory parade.

“I think this is the bas­ket­ball cap­i­tal of the world,” she said. “It’s really exciting.”

The team cap­tured the imag­i­na­tions of many fans with an amaz­ing post­sea­son run that included five vic­to­ries in five days to win the Big East tour­na­ment in New York, and six con­sec­u­tive wins in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s good for the state of Con­necti­cut,” said Doug Wil­son, 34, of Plainville. “It’s good for the peo­ple, the fan base. And I’m glad the men finally won, because the women have like seven national cham­pi­onships. I get tired of the women sometimes.”

Many of the fans said they came just to get a glimpse of Walker, who announced last week he is leav­ing school a year early to play pro­fes­sion­ally in the NBA. Team­mates pointed and laughed at one sign, which depicted Walker, a Bronx native, in a New York Knicks jersey.

Walker aver­aged 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists dur­ing his junior sea­son. He scored a school record 965 points, account­ing for 45 per­cent of the Huskies’ offense.

“He’s a cham­pion,” said 8-year-old Chris­t­ian Mereschuk of Enfield. “He’s the best player on the team. I want to play for the Huskies like him and then I want to play for the Miami Heat in the NBA.”

After Walker spoke, the crowd began chant­ing, “One more year, one more year.”

“It’s fun,” Walker said. “But, it’s too late for that. I really wish I could come back. But it’s my time.”

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