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Barking to repeat Huskies take the court as defending national champs
Posted: Saturday October 16, 1999 01:20 AM
STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Huskymania met Midnight Madness. Six months after winning its first national championship, Connecticut treated more than 10,000 fans to Midnight Madness. The school unveiled a $1 million scoreboard that shows live action and replays, and shortly before the clock struck midnight, the crowd relived the highlights of the championship run. With Tina Turner's "Simply The Best" bouncing off the walls in Gampel Pavilion, the 1999-00 edition of the Huskies entered through clouds of smoke and laser lights. "During Midnight Madness last year, I told the country we had the best fans in the country," coach Jim Calhoun said. "We need you all this year, because we want to try and do it again." The latest of the honors following the 77-74 victory over Duke to win it all last season was a White House reception on Thursday. At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the Huskies officially began working on defending their title, with full court drills, a slam dunk and 3-point contests. Calhoun's rotation will have some openings this year. Gone are All-America Richard Hamilton, drafted by the Washington Wizards after his junior year, and the Huskies also are without defensive stopper Ricky Moore, who graduated. Two of the three returning starters are seniors, 6-foot-11 center Jake Voskuhl and 6-7 forward Kevin Freeman. The other is junior point guard Khalid El-Amin. "The first day is going to be a little different," Freeman said. "Normally, it would be 12 guys who knew what they were doing. We've got some young guys that are going to be learning." Among the newcomers are redshirts Beau Archibald, Justin Brown and Ajou Ajou Deng. They are joined by freshmen Tony Robertson, Marcus Cox and Doug Wrenn. The free festivities included fan relay contests, a unicycle exhibition and T-shirt giveaways. Some 2,000 fans were turned away from a packed Gampel Pavilion. But those who did make it were a handful of UConn recruits, getting a taste of big-time college basketball. "I would think it's a thrill for a recruit to see what it's like when your fans are screaming and they're screaming your name, trying to get you to come to the school," Calhoun said.
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