The UConn men’s basketball team was honored at the White House on Tuesday for winning their second national championship last April. (Photo courtesy White House)
The two-time defending champion UConn men’s basketball team made another trip to the White House on Tuesday, Sept. 10 to be recognized by President Biden.
It’s the sixth trip for the men’s program to the White House since the Huskies won their first national championship in 1999.
“Let me be the first to say, welcome back. I won’t be here next year, but you may be,” Biden said.
Biden ended his bid for a second term by withdrawing from the presidential race in July. But the Huskies under head coach Dan Hurley hope to become the first team since UCLA in the early 1970s to win three consecutive NCAA championships.
“We said it last year that we wanted to make this thing an annual visit for us,” Hurley said. “Here we are again as — as back-to-back champs. So, you know, obviously thrilled to be here.
“We knew we had the potential to have a special team, and it was like a real simple mindset that we were trying to create, which was like: Let’s just win every single, you know, tournament or every opportunity to win a championship; like, let’s just win everything,” he said.
UConn went 37-3 in its historic 2023-24 campaign, setting a program record for wins and winning the Big East regular season, Big East tournament and NCAA championship with a 75-60 win over Purdue. The Huskies became the first team in 17 years to go back-to-back and won the sixth national title in the storied program’s history.
They also won the Phil Knight Invitational and the Empire Classic last season.
“There were five opportunities for us to win championship trophies during the course of the season, and we — and we won — we won all five,” Hurley said.
“You know, being a championship program, I think everyone in the organization understands the standards and the way we go about our business. In the organization, it’s the highest possible standards that we hold each other to. We understand that because we’ve climbed the mountain before,” he said.
“And this team here, it was — it was a different group of men that we took the court with this year and, you know, produced even greater results and an even — an even greater team — and a team that will go down as one of the most dominant teams in college basketball history, the way we just destroyed everybody,” Hurley said.
Biden praised the Huskies for their championship run.
Over the last two seasons, UConn has won 12 consecutive NCAA tournament games by 13 points or more – a dominating achievement. The next closest team to this record has six wins.
“You made it look easy at times. You made a lot of sacrifices. The trust you built in each other, taking the time to the court, knowing every team in America was going after you,” Biden said. “Every time you showed up on the court, you were the number one target. And — but you’re winners. And winners win. You know, you know that — that winning takes a lot of work. We know that.
“Together, you capped off one of the most successful two-year runs in the — in the history of the sport, ushering in a new era of UConn men’s basketball, passing the likes of Duke and Indiana for all-time national titles. And now there’s no doubt at all about who are the blue bloods of basketball,” Biden said to applause from the gathered audience.
The Huskies were previously hosted at the White House by President Bill Clinton in 1999, President George W. Bush in 2004, President Barack Obama in 2011 and 2014 and President Biden in 2023.
