UConn Basketball Losing Its Luster

When I arrived at UConn four years ago, the vision of Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon celebrating an NCAA championship was fresh in my mind.

Now, as I prepare to graduate and move on from UConn, I'll be left with four years worth the frustrating memories ­- concluding with a step-back, game-winning jumper by San Diego's De'Jon Jackson that bounced the Huskies from this year's tourney.

Thanks UConn, I thought you were a "basketball school."

To be honest, though, this time around, I'm not too upset about the loss. I received phone calls from friends at universities all across the country that sounded like this:

"Hey! UConn lost! You guys are awful. Can you believe it?"

My response was universal:

"I'm not surprised at all."

And I really wasn't. Last week I wrote that the Huskies could easily be upset in an early round, and that they definitely wouldn't get deeper than the Sweet 16. But let's be serious - did it really take Nostradamus to predict that?

UConn was horrific with this particular group last season, and despite improvement from A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet, there was no reason to be especially confident in them this year. OK, I'm not going to talk about this year's team anymore. I've wasted far too many words on them already.

My animosity toward UConn basketball began when a Huskies team featuring five NBA draftees - Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong and Denham Brown - lost a heartbreaker in the Elite Eight to a tenacious group of no-names from George Mason.

Unacceptable. George Mason was lights out, and I take nothing away from them, but that UConn roster boasted the most talent of any team in the past decade, including back-to-back National Champion Florida Gators led by Joakim Noah and Al Horford.

The difference between the successful Gators and the disappointing Huskies? The Gators played with passion and intensity every night for two straight seasons, and the Huskies carried themselves like a bunch of prima donnas that had nothing to prove.

I was so sure that UConn would win a national championship that year that it's been difficult to have the same enthusiasm since. I found myself assuming the worst for the majority of the past two seasons - and for the most part, I did so with good reason.

Last season was like one long hangover from the devastating loss to George Mason. All the big guns were gone and we were left with a group of fresh faces who weren't ready to win.

Apparently those faces - Thabeet, Stanley Robinson, Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins (among others) - weren't ready to win on the big stage this year, either.

Say what you want about the nasty injury Price suffered in the San Diego game; it shouldn't be an excuse for the Huskies' loss. There is no question that Price was UConn's team MVP this season, but there was enough talent left to pull off the victory.

San Diego lost to the likes of San Diego State, Boise State, New Mexico and Nevada this season - even without Price, the Huskies are better than all four of those lackluster teams.

Where am I going with all this? I don't know. Basically, UConn basketball wasn't what I thought it would be. I'm sure some of you seniors out there can empathize with me.

When my friends from other schools ask - "what happened to UConn basketball?"

I just say - "We're a football school now."

But hey, what am I complaining about? After graduation I'll head home and reaffirm my devotion to a real basketball team: the New York Knicks.

Yup. It's all uphill from here.

John Frascella's column runs every Wednesday.

He can be contacted at

John.Frascella@uconn.edu