The victory parade for the UConn men’s basketball team after winning its second consecutive national title will be held in downtown Hartford on Saturday.
The Huskies beat Purdue, 75-60, on Monday night to cap off a 37-3 season and complete the most dominant run in NCAA Tournament history with a margin of victory of 140 points over six double-figure wins.
“The thing that’s crazy for me, there are really two things I thought about,” said head coach Dan Hurley, who was still processing what he and his team accomplished. “I thought about what that parade was like in Hartford and I want to experience that with the group. I thought about black and yellow confetti not dropping on our heads today. But it’s gonna take a while (to process).”
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Hartford police estimated there were about 45,000 people in attendance for last year’s parade, when Hurley proclaimed that the team would be “in the mix for No. 6” and Bristol’s Donovan Clingan said, “One felt good, but what do we say we run it back for No. 2?”
The parade is set to begin at 11 a.m. and will start off at the State Capitol building at the intersection of Trinity Street and Elm Street. From there, it will proceed north on Trinity Street, go through the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, turn right (east) onto Jewell Street, turn left (north) onto Trumbull Street, and end at the intersection of Asylum Street and Trumbull Street, per a release from the Governor’s office.
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The rally will begin at approximately 11:30 a.m. outside of the main entrance of the XL Center on Trumbull Street, where the players, coaches, and other guests will be invited to give speeches.
“For the second year in a row, the UConn men’s basketball team wowed the nation by dominating the NCAA tournament, and now it’s time for Connecticut to give them the victory celebration they deserve,” Governor Ned Lamont said in a release. “I urge basketball fans from all over Connecticut to come to Hartford on Saturday morning and show the Huskies how much this team means to our state and how proud we are of their accomplishments.”
