No. 3 UConn opens the regular season Wednesday against SHU

STORRS – The search for a Husky hat trick begins Wednesday night when the No. 3 UConn men’s basketball team (0-0) wraps up its 2024-25 season at Gampel Pavilion. The back-to-back defending state champions welcome state opponent Sacred Heart (0-0) to campus for a tipoff at 7 p.m. The competition will air in its entirety on FS1, with John Fanta and Sarah Kustok.

As part of Wednesday’s opening ceremonies, UConn will unveil its 2024 National Championship banner in a pregame ceremony in Gampel. The banner reveal is presented by KeyBank*. For fans unable to attend the game, full video of the ceremony will be posted on UConn+ and UConn social media channels.

UConn Athletics recommends fans be in their seats by 6:20 p.m. to avoid missing a moment of the banner ceremony. The doors to Gampel will open at 5:30 p.m. The first 3,500 fans in attendance on Monday night will receive a banner rally towel commemorating the national championship.

Tickets for the opening evening are sold out. Fans can purchase tickets on the secondary market through SeatGeek, the Huskies’ official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace.

Connecticut is the nation’s back-to-back defending champions, culminating with titles in 2023 and 2024, giving the program an astounding six national titles – all since 1999. Head coach Dan Hurley is entering his seventh season at the helm of the Huskies after leading UConn to a 37-3 record a year ago — setting multiple program records and making history in a place where making history is difficult .

The Huskies sent four starters to the NBA after the 2024 title, but returned a starter in the All-American preseason who had won the title for two years Alex Karaban (Southborough, Mass.). Karaban averaged career-highs of 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and returns to Storrs after testing the waters of the NBA Draft with a chance to cement an unparalleled collegiate legacy in the sport’s modern era .

Also back for Connecticut is Hassan Diarra (Queens, NY) who rose to stardom in his role last season, winning the BIG EAST Sixth Man of the Year award. Samson Johnson (Lome, Togo) returns to the frontcourt after setting a UConn single-season field goal percentage of 72.5 a season ago and finishing in the top five in the country in dunks.

This season, the Huskies are relying heavily on the player development they have done so well under Hurley. The second class of Solo ball (Leesburg, Virginia), Jayden Ross (Bristow, Virginia), Youssouf Singare (Bamako, Mali) and Jaylin Stewart (Seattle, Washington) will all play larger roles this season after showing promise in limited action as rookies.

In addition to the seven returning players, UConn welcomes five newcomers to the roster, including two influential transfers Aidan Mahaney (Lafayette, California) and Tarris Reed Jr. (St. Louis, Missouri). Mahaney was named All-Conference twice in his two seasons at Saint Mary’s and earned Preseason All-BIG EAST Third Team honors. Reed comes to Storrs after two years at Michigan, where he was a regular starter in the B1G as a sophomore.

Liam McNeeley (Richardson, Texas) highlights a talented three-member freshman class that earned Preseason BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors last month after a prep career that included McDonald’s All-America laurels and a Chipotle National Championship. Isaiah Abraham (Gainesville, Virginia) And Ahmad Nowell (Philadelphia, Pa.) round out the rookie class and enter the fray as consensus four-star recruits.

Sacred Heart began its season Monday night with a record of 81-70 at Temple. Tanner Thomas led the Pioneers with 22 points and Bryce Johnson posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Before conference play begins in late December, the Huskies will face another challenging non-league team. After four home games to start the year, Connecticut will compete in the high-profile 2024 Maui Invitational before facing top-10 opponents Baylor and Gonzaga in December.

The next home game after Wednesday’s opener is the XL Center debut on Saturday, November 9th against New Hampshire.

* About KeyCorp

KeyCorp’s roots stretch back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the largest bank-based financial services companies in the country with approximately $188 billion in assets as of September 30, 2023.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the KeyBank National Association name through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Under the trading name KeyBanc Capital Markets, Key also offers a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, including mergers and acquisitions advisory, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in select industries throughout the United States. For more information, see KeyBank is a member of the FDIC.