Optimism Abounds at First Night

The crowd was electric before they were even in the building. Lines stretched out from all entrances of Gampel Pavilion on Friday night, packed with fans eager to get a first glimpse of the men’s and women’s basketball teams at UConn’s annual First Night.

So many people showed up that security guards were turning people away at the door once Gampel was filled to capacity. An autograph session with players and coaches before the celebration was mobbed, straining the assembly line system as staff scrambled to get fans in and out before the players were scheduled to take the court.

The official proceedings began with raucous introductions. The crowd roared as the players entered with dance moves and descended through the 100-level seats down to the court. Amida Brimah won the unofficial award for best dance moves. Breanna Stewart and coach Geno Auriemma received the loudest ovations.

The coaches speak:

Kevin Ollie was his typical earnest self in addressing the crowd. He thanked the former UConn players in the audience — there were many in attendance including Chris Smith, Tyler Olander, Donny Marshall and Ray Allen — for helping pave the way for the current players. He also profusely thanked his assistant coaches for being there for him as he struggled with personal problems last season — presumably referring to his divorce.

Not one to relinquish the last word, Auriemma used his time on the mic to admonish Husky fans for not buying more tickets. He specifically mentioned going to early-season men’s games last year following their national championship run, where there was a noticeable amount of unsold seats.   

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He made a point to remind the crowd that seniors Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson — along with redshirt junior Morgan Tuck — will attempt to become the first collegiate basketball players in history to win four consecutive titles.

Vance Jackson:

At one point in the evening, the media was reminded by UConn staff that it is impermissible for current players to discuss any recruits. The promise of four-star recruit Vance Jackson’s impending announcement had many eagerly refreshing their twitter feeds early on in the evening. When the news finally broke that Jackson had chosen the Huskies, an immediate buzz began in the crowd and added another positive moment to an optimistic evening in Storrs.

The Contests:

Sterling Gibbs made a half-court shot to help his team win the first contest in which four teams consisting of one men’s player, one women’s player and an intramural student were racing to hit shots from four spots on the court.

Moriah Jefferson won the three-point contest, besting freshman Katie Lou Samuelson, who drew adoration in the semi-finals by defeating Stewart. Afterwards saying, “I went out there and shot it. That’s what I do.” Indeed.

Between rounds, UConn legends Marshall and Allen competed in a three-point contest of their own. Marshall was the first of the pair to hit a three, winning the impromptu competition. I’m sure Ray heard all about it for the rest of the night.

Three Husky newcomers competed in the return of the slam dunk contest. Steve Enoch impressed with a 360º windmill. Terry Larrier had to settle for third place following several unsuccessful attempts at a between-the-legs dunk off a pass to himself. Fifth-year senior Shonn Miller claimed victory by jumping over a seated Sterling Gibbs as Ollie looked on visibly nervous.

The scrimmage:

Team Geno, led by Phil Nolan, defeated Team Kevin 63-56. The game, as expected, featured little defense, lots of silliness and a lot of dunks.

Nolan and Amida Brimah had a playground-style face-off where each dribbled and drove at the other like a point guard. At one point, Brimah sank a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key — the box score called it a three because why not?

Brimah also recorded the game’s most memorable blocked shot, sending a Kia Nurse layup attempt flying into the front row of fans. “We talked about not blocking me and not dunking on me before we started the game but apparently we don’t keep promises around here,” said an amused Nurse after the game. “I heard ‘block party’ as soon as I got in the lane and I knew it wasn’t going to go well.”

Freshman Jalen Adams, reminiscent of his behind-the-back alley-oop that took the internet by storm this summer, tossed a between-the-legs off-the-glass pass to Larrier for a slam in the second half.

Freshman Napheesa Collier led all women’s players with eight points.

The Takeaway: WBB

Samuelson has a beautiful shooting stroke. It’s easy to see why she’s projected to take over Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis’s role as the team’s go to three-point option. Collier also looked impressive in the scrimmage. The pool of talent never dries up for Auriemma.

After the game, Stewart defended Auriemma’s criticism of the fans, imploring the Husky faithful to come out in droves to support the team this season.

The Takeaway: MBB

Shonn Miller is crazy athletic. Asked after the game what he’ll bring to this team he said “Defense, rebounding, offensively whatever is needed. I feel I can definitely be a low-post threat.” That might be understating his potential impact. Miller is fast, smooth and powerful around the rim.

Ollie declared freshman Steve Enoch as the most pleasant surprise in the early stages of practice, saying “he’s good. He’s big and he’s skilled. He can shoot it outside. He’s poised and he’s a sponge. He wants to get better and that’s a beautiful thing. Whatever I say, he’s always hanging on every word. He’s coachable. He works very, very hard and its not like we have to put any weight on him. He’s 250 lbs already and just turned 18. He’s going to be a great player for us. Steve’s probably surprised me the most.”

Added Miller on his young front court mate, “his motor is unbelievable. Defense, offense, rebounding, everything. His motor is really high.”

The word that came up the most after the game was chemistry. “We’ve been gelling a lot. We’ve been here since the beginning of June so we’ve had a few months to build team chemistry and it’s going well,” said Miller.

Freshman Jalen Adams added “we’ve only been together for a month or so but it feels like we’ve been together for a year. Everybody’s really close.”

The MVP:

Rodney Purvis was not available for interviews after the game. He had a good reason. While players and coaches made their way to the locker room, or to the hallway where the press was waiting, Purvis remained on the Gampel Pavilion court, taking photographs with anyone who asked. He signed t-shirts for kids. If he caught a parent calling out for their child — “Jason get in the picture.” — Purvis would join in, “come here Jason. We’re taking a picture,” draping his arms over their shoulder and smiling from ear to ear as iPhones clicked. Had security not cleared the court 45 minutes after the game event, Purvis might still be there.