By PHIL CHARDIS

Special to uconnhuskies.com

HARTFORD – The sequel was even more popular than the original.

UConn men’s basketball fans who couldn’t make it to last year’s National Championship parade through the streets of Hartford got a second chance Saturday and made the most of it. Some 60,000 people, a sizable increase over last year’s total, lined the streets along the parade route and crowded in front of the entrance to of the XL Center for a ceremony to celebrate the Huskies’ second consecutive National Championship.

A blustery wind did not deter the fans who chanted familiar UConn cheers, held up signs of congratulations and tried to catch shirts being tossed by the UConn band, on a flatbed truck, the UConn staff, on the team bus, and from the Huskies themselves, mounted on a double-decker bus in the back of the parade.

“I’ve never part of a parade before,” said grad student Cam Spencer, who chuckled at the many ‘Cam, Will You Marry Me?’ signs along the route. “That was really a lot of fun, one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. To have all those UConn fans there, that was really incredible. It was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget. I’m so thankful for the year I had here and I wanted the fans to know that.”

Once the parade finished, the UConn players and coaches mounted a podium on Trumbull Street in front of the XL Center, where the crowd was addressed by Hartford mayor Arunan Arulampalam, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict, players Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban, Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton, and Coach Dan Hurley.

“Back to back,” Hurley yelled to the crowd. “Everywhere we went this year, every arena we went into, we said the same thing every time we walked into the arena, ‘The champs are here!’ Well, the champs are here today in Hartford with the best fans in the world. Storrs, Connecticut, is the basketball capital of the world. Back-to-back champs!”

For some of the Huskies, like Bristol native Clingan, it was their second straight parade. All of the players thanked the fans for their support throughout the season.

“One of the coolest things about winning a national title is the parade,” he said. “That is one thing that you will always remember.”

The 7-2 sophomore, who has already declared his intention to forego his last two years of eligibility and enter this year’s NBA Draft, admitted it will be difficult to leave UConn, where he has known nothing but success.

“It is crazy to get to do something so special and leave my mark on the history of this program,” Clingan said. “I cherish these two years. It was very hard for me to go up there and talk to the coaches yesterday and talk about leaving. I am a Husky for life. It is hard, I love UConn. Being able to bring two titles back here is so special.”

The Huskies, who set a program record for wins this season with their 37-3 record and a conference record with an 18-2 BIG EAST mark, wrapped up their second straight NCAA title with a 75-60 win over Purdue last Monday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. They are the first team to win back-to-back National Championships in 17 years.  

“The guys who were here last year told me it would be a lot of fun,” said freshman Stephon Castle. “It was everything I expected it to be. Our fans travel really well, they have all year, so I’m not surprised they showed out today.”

For Hurley, as it was last season, the parade represents the culmination of a season of hard work by all those involved with the program.

“Just going back six months, what it took since June, the work that went into it, treating the summer like it was a winter – it’s just a commitment level up through the coaching staff, through the players,” the coach said. “I think the realization you come to is that you’re putting together teams, and not all-star teams, so as you look at the portal and you look at high school recruiting and at your own roster and it’s like just continue to put together these type of teams with our type of guys. We want to maintain our culture and bring back as many players from this championship team as we can. We want to construct a roster very similar to the last two. It worked.”

Two parades are proof of that.

“And next year,” Hurley said, “we go for the three-peat.”