UConn Huskies men's basketball

The UConn Huskies men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I men's college basketball team of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. They play in the Big East Conference and are coached by Dan Hurley. With six national championships and 45 conference titles, the program is considered one of the blue bloods of college basketball.

UConn has won six NCAA tournament championships (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2024), which puts the program in a tie for third most all time and is the most of any program since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. The Huskies have won eight Big East tournament championships (tied for most all time) and 11 Big East regular season championships (most all time). UConn has 37 NCAA tournament appearances (tied for 11th most all time) and has played in seven NCAA Final Fours (tied for 10th most all time), 13 NCAA Elite Eights (11th most all time) and 19 NCAA Sweet Sixteens (tied for 11th most all time). UConn won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship in 1988 and the NIT third-place game in 1997, with 13 NIT appearances in total. The Huskies also have one American Athletic Conference tournament championship and two ECAC New England regional tournament championships.

From the Huskies' first game in 1900–01 season to the end of the 2024–25 season, the program has amassed 1,861 wins and compiled a .645 winning percentage, both top 25 in NCAA Division I history. Initially a New England regional powerhouse, UConn won multiple conference championships in the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including a run of 10-straight Yankee Conference championships from 1951 to 1960. The Huskies appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times between 1939 and 1970—second most of any school in the tournament's early era—reaching their first Sweet Sixteen in 1956 and first Elite Eight in 1964. The program began its emergence as a national powerhouse after becoming a charter member of the newly formed Big East Conference in 1979, building steadily from its first national postseason championship in the NIT in 1988 to its first NCAA championship in 1999.

Since 1999, the Huskies have won six national championships in a span of 25 years, one of the best runs in the sport's history. In 2024, UConn became the eighth school in NCAA Division I history to win back-to-back national championships, and the first to do so in 17 years. After the 2023–24 season, Fox Sports dubbed the Huskies' sustained success "the greatest run of the 21st century" and recognized UConn as "one of the greatest programs in the history of college basketball."

History

Early history (1901–1946)

Connecticut Agricultural College played its first organized men's basketball game on February 8, 1901, a 17–12 win against Willimantic High School. The victory led the school to add men's basketball as a varsity sport the following year. The program's first intercollegiate game came in the 1904–05 season, a 66–22 loss to UMass. Connecticut did not have a home court during these early years and eventually ceased competition in 1908 as a result. An independent team was given permission to compete under the school's name from 1910 to 1914. Connecticut resumed sponsorship of men's basketball as a varsity sport in the 1914–15 season following the construction of Hawley Armory, the school's first on-campus basketball court. The Aggies, as they were called at the time, had no coach from 1901 to 1915 and posted a 1–4 record on the 1914–15 season.

1915–1921: John Donahue and Ross Swartz

Looking to improve on its performance in the previous seasons, Connecticut named John F. Donahue as the program's first head coach in 1915. However, he led the team to four losing seasons and an 11–23 overall record during his tenure as head coach. Connecticut named M. Ross Swartz as Donahue's replacement in 1919. He posted a 7–5 record in his first year—the school's first winning season since returning basketball as a varsity sport—but finished 7–9 in his second.

1921–1922: Wilder Tasker

With losing records in five out of the previous six years, Connecticut finally turned the corner when it named J. Wilder Tasker as head coach for the 1921–22 season. The Aggies played their most aggressive schedule to date, and opened the season with a 38–33 win against Harvard in Cambridge. In its second game, the team notched the program's first major upset, a 33–31 win over Army at West Point on December 21, 1921. Army was ranked No. 3 in the nation that season by the retrospective Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Connecticut finished the year 15–4 overall, the program's best season to date. Tasker returned for the 1922–23 season but abruptly resigned after the team's first game, a 52–19 loss to Army. He left Connecticut with a 15–5 overall record. Roy J. Guyer coached the remainder of the season, finishing 8–6 as interim head coach.

1923–1927: Sumner Dole

Connecticut named Sumner Dole as head coach ahead of the 1923–24 season. After posting a losing record in his first season, Dole led Connecticut to back-to-back New England Conference championships in 1925 and 1926. Hugh Greer was captain of the 1925–26 team. That season included a 30–26 win over UMass, a team ranked No. 25 in the country that season by the retrospective Premo-Porretta Power Poll. After the 1926–27 season, Dole stepped down as men's basketball head coach, but continued to coach the school's football team. He finished with a 34–22 record over four seasons as head coach.

1927–1931: Louis Alexander

With Dole shifting his focus to the school's football team, Louis A. Alexander was named Connecticut's first men's basketball-only head coach in 1927. In his first season, Alexander won the school's third New England Conference championship. That season included a 39–36 win over Springfield College, a team ranked No. 11 in the nation that year by the retrospective Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Alexander led the team to winning records again in the next two seasons before stepping down halfway through the 1930–31 season. He left Connecticut with a 35–19 overall record. Dole, who was still head coach of Connecticut's football team, coached the remainder of the men's basketball season, posting a 5–3 record as interim head coach and bringing his overall record to 39–25.

1931–1936: John Heldman Jr.

Connecticut named John Heldman Jr. head coach ahead of the 1931–32 season. Harrison "Honey" Fitch, the program's first African American player, joined the team in the 1932–33 season. Heldman made the controversial decision to bench Fitch in a game against the US Coast Guard Academy in 1934 after Coast Guard refused to play if Fitch was on the floor. Heldman coached the following year, but resigned after the first game of the 1935–36 season, a loss to the school's alumni. Heldman finished with a 19–42 overall record. J. O. Christian coached the remainder of the 1935–36 season, finishing with a 3–10 record as interim head coach.

1936–1945: Don White

After five straight losing seasons, Don White was named head coach of the Huskies for the 1936–37 season. Prior to arriving at UConn, White spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Washington University. He led Connecticut to an 11–7 record in his first year. In the 1940–41 season, the team went 14–2 and won the school's fourth New England Conference championship. One of the first true stars from Connecticut was Hartford's Bernie Fisher, who played under White. He was captain of the 1944–45 team, which was the first Huskies team to play a game in Madison Square Garden. That season also included a 67–59 win over Rhode Island, a team ranked No. 19 in the country that year by the retrospective Premo-Porretta Power Poll. White left the Huskies after eight seasons to become the head coach at Rutgers. He compiled an overall record of 94–59 during his time with Connecticut.

1945–1946: Blair Gullion

Connecticut hired Blair Gullion as White's replacement for the 1945–46 season. Gullion spent three seasons as head coach at Tennessee prior to World War II and took over as Connecticut's head coach after returning from his service in the war. He coached the Huskies to a 12–6 record in his first season. At the start of the 1946–47 season, Connecticut joined the newly formed Yankee Conference. Gullion left the team six games into the season to accept a position as Washington University's athletic director, finishing with a 15–8 overall record as head coach.