Yes UConn!

Yes UConn!

By Mac CerulloSportsBasketball
Download on the App Store

Yes UConn! episodes

  • 18. Back to the Big East: A Deep Dive into UConn's Past, Present and Future

    This week UConn officially re-joins the Big East, ending a decade of instability and uncertainty while providing a measure of clarity for the future of the athletic department. The move also comes a week after UConn announced it is cutting four sports, a painful loss and the ultimate cost of the school's failure to land a Power Five conference invite during the last round of conference realignment and its subsequent struggles in the American Athletic Conference.

    How did UConn get here? What does the future hold? Tim Fontenault is back and today we cover it all, taking a deep dive into UConn's past, examine how different events led us to the present, and what the future might hold as the university forges ahead.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr 15 min
  • 17. Changing Expectations: The 1988 NIT Championship

    Today we go all the way back to the beginning, when Jim Calhoun's UConn program first showed signs of its potential by winning the 1988 NIT Championship.

    Hartford Courant beat writer Dom Amore returns to share his experience covering UConn's epic tournament run as a young reporter, including the team's wild quarterfinal win over VCU in the old field house, its satisfying semifinal win over Dana Barros' Boston College club in the semifinals and its championship victory over Ohio State.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    59 min
  • 16. Taliek Brown From Downtown: The 2002 Big East Championship Game

    Tim Fontenault returns to discuss the epic double overtime showdown between UConn and Pitt in the 2002 Big East Tournament championship, which famously culminated with Taliek Brown's game-sealing 3-pointer from well beyond the arc.

    We discuss Brown's heroics, Caron Butler's underrated greatness, where Butler ranks in the pantheon of all-time UConn basketball stars and how awesome this 2002 UConn basketball team was.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr
  • 15. Bigger Than Basketball: Khalid El-Amin and Souleymane Wane on George Floyd

    Over the past two weeks, we've seen protests and demonstrations sweep across the country in response to the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police. In a moment like this, basketball just isn't as relevant a topic of discussion, so instead of breaking down classic UConn games, we're keeping our focus on what really matters.

    Khalid El-Amin and Souleymane Wane, both members of the national champion 1999 UConn men's basketball team, join the show to talk about race, police brutality, and their own experiences as black men in America. El-Amin also shares his perspective as a Minneapolis resident who has seen everything unfold in his own hometown, and Wane goes into detail about how racism has affected his family.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    45 min
  • 14. Paradise Found: The 2010 Maui Invitational

    Before the 2010-11 UConn men's team won five games in five days to claim the Big East Championship, the Huskies went on another epic run to serve notice to the country that the supposedly rebuilding Huskies would be a force to be reckoned with.

    Today we look back at the 2010 Maui Invitational, when Kemba Walker led UConn to three consecutive wins against Wichita State, No. 2 ranked Michigan State and No. 8 ranked Kentucky. Walker had 90 points over the course of the week, and after knocking down late game-winners to beat the Shockers and Spartans, he and his teammates absolutely ran the Wildcats out of the tiny Lahaina Civic Center gym in what would eventually prove to be a Final Four preview.

    Colin McDonough, a former Daily Campus football and basketball writer, joins the show to break down all three games. We also talk about the big picture ramifications of this tournament and reflect on some old history regarding Kentucky guard Brandon Knight.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr
  • 13. Big Monday: No. 1 UConn crushes No. 5 Louisville on the road in 2009

    Remember how great the old Big East used to be? Longtime UConn basketball writer and blogger Kevin Meacham – you'd know him best as one half of @NoEscalators on Twitter — joins the show to talk about one of the most satisfying beatdowns in UConn history.

    Having just ascended to the No. 1 spot in the polls, UConn had a really tough matchup on the road against Louisville, who at that time was ranked No. 5 and who would eventually finish the regular season ranked No. 1 before winning the Big East regular season and tournament titles en route to an Elite Eight appearance. Needless to say, this was a huge game that got top billing on ESPN's old Big Monday showcase, and UConn took advantage of the big stage by absolutely smashing Louisville in dominant fashion.

    If you're looking for drama and late heroics, you won't find them here. This was a good old fashioned butt kicking a great opportunity to look back on how fun this era of Big East basketball was.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr
  • 12. Allen vs. Allen: The 1996 Big East Championship Game

    Longtime UConn men's basketball beat writer Ken Davis joins the show to discuss one of the most iconic matchups in college basketball history, Ray Allen vs. Allen Iverson in the 1996 Big East Tournament Final.

    Coming into the game both Ray Allen's UConn team and Allen Iverson's Georgetown team were ranked in the top 10 nationally and each player was considered a National Player of the Year candidate. UConn was in search of its first Big East Tournament title since 1990, and despite having already established itself as a national power, the Huskies were still out to prove themselves against a blue blood like Georgetown. The game more than lived up to the hype, and Ray Allen's winner with 13 seconds left remains one of the greatest in college basketball history.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr 12 min
  • 11. Sticks to the Rafters: UConn beats No. 1 Texas at Gampel in 2010

    Andrew Callahan, the New England Patriots beat writer for the Boston Herald and a former Daily Campus sportswriter, joins the show to discuss the epic 2010 showdown between UConn and No. 1 ranked Texas at Gampel Pavilion.

    This game was a thrilling high in what was an otherwise disastrous season for the Huskies. Not long before this game, UConn had lost three straight and had fallen out of the Top 25. Not long after, UConn finished 18-16, had a wave of transfers and posted academic scores so bad that the program wound up getting banned from the postseason as a result in 2013. But on this one day, the Huskies lived up to their potential in an awesome showcase highlighted by Stanley Robinson's iconic half-court alley-oop dunk, a monster second-half comeback and the student section storming the court after the final buzzer.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    52 min
  • 10. Garden Party: The 2014 Elite Eight vs. Michigan State

    Tim Fontenault is back for his second episode to discuss one of the most fun and meaningful UConn wins in history, the 2014 men's basketball team's epic Elite Eight win over Michigan State.

    Coming into this game, UConn had already overcome incredible odds just to put itself into position to reach another Final Four. The Huskies had lost Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun to retirement two years earlier, were coming off a postseason ban due to prior academic issues and faced an uncertain future heading into the new American Athletic Conference era. Despite all of this, UConn had made it back to the tournament and upset the No. 2 and 3 seeds to set up a date with prohibitive favorite Michigan State at, where else, Madison Square Garden.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    56 min
  • 9. The Great Escape: UConn survives Arizona in 2011 Elite Eight

    Matt McDonough returns to break down one of the pivotal games of the 2011 UConn men's basketball team's national championship run, the Elite Eight showdown with Arizona.

    Having taken similar journeys to reach the Elite Eight, UConn and Arizona traded haymakers all game long, each riding big runs back and forth before Arizona finished the game with a shot to tie or win the game at the buzzer. Jamelle Horne got a great look from three to win at the buzzer, but the shot rimmed out and UConn survived to advance back to the Final Four.

    Like what you hear? Want to offer feedback? Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @MacCerullo.

    Podcast artwork courtesy of Jon Kulakofsky/The Daily Campus 2014.

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and RadioPublic.

    1 hr 12 min

About Yes UConn!

From the publisher's feed

A deep dive into the greatest UConn basketball games ever played.