WASHINGTON — For Jordan Hawkins, it was the moment the Chiefs turned to him and started joking about playing a one-on-one family game, and marveling at his performance in the Final Four after he got up. All night with stomach problems.
“when Joe Biden “That was amazing,” said Hawkins. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I’m definitely going to tell my grandkids about it.”
Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo present President Biden with his #46 jersey in UConn.
“You don’t want him to spread you out” – Hurley to Biden pic.twitter.com/AFqSVnukhW
– Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) May 26, 2023
Andre Jackson walked the aisles with his UConn teammates, in awe of the impressive portraits of presidents and first ladies.
“My favorite part was the artwork,” said Jackson. “All the people I learned about in history class, just being there and seeing the original paintings.”
Patriotic heroes finally lined up on risers in the East Room of the White House, among paintings of George and Martha Washington, where President Joe Biden, 80, logged a Friday afternoon break from the nation’s and the world’s troubles, calculating and praising accomplishments.
“One of the leading programs in the country,” Biden said. “And it’s not an exaggeration, it’s a fact. … I started the year unranked, then I went 14-0. Then just to keep everyone interested, I lost six out of eight games. But you have a coach who decides it doesn’t matter, and he knows something about How to win. And rebounded again with a resounding 15-2 run.”
All of these accomplishments, which culminated in wins over Miami and San Diego State in the Final Four in Houston, their last double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament, will be recounted at future reunions. Five years, 10 years, 25, 50.
This ceremony, one of those spoils which Andrew Jackson said belonged to such a victor, marked the end, the last of a long line of exclamations.
Hurley: A day we will never forget pic.twitter.com/E9n1UTHS5f
– Dom Amore (@AmoreCourant) May 26, 2023
“We don’t know a lot of other people, we can ask what it’s like,” Hurley said. “Because no one comes here, it’s a special experience. For us, this is an end to what the team accomplished last year. I feel like this was the perfect end to a magical season.”
Heroes better enjoy these moments, no matter how strong the program is, even if this tournament is No. 5, or how exciting the recruiting class is, there is no guarantee that these things will come back again. The home parade to campus, the parade in Hartford, the throwing of first pitches in major league games, the ringing of the opening bell on Wall Street, all of it. The UConn guys earned it all. All that remains is to show up at Fenway Park.
After the 15-minute ceremony, Biden takes his helicopter to Camp David, and the Huskies will go their separate ways as well, heading to their plane. Hawkins and Adama Sanogo are heading into the NBA draft, with Jackson likely to follow. Tristen Newton hasn’t committed himself yet. The freshman class, ranked as one of the best in the country, arrives on campus next week.
“Some of our players go through the recruiting process,” said freshman Alex Karapan. “For them to come back for this, it really felt like the end. We’re all going to miss them, and hopefully we’ll be together in the future at some point, but this really feels like the end.”
Earlier in the day, the president had joked with Hawkins’ cousin, Angel Reese, when she was in the East Room with her team, the LSU Women’s National Championships, and told her he’d bet on her in a singles game with her team. UConn star.
Dom Amore: Dan Hurley did it his way, and for the UConn guys, national champions, there was no one else
He was also goofing around with young children in the audience and hitting the senator. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), who was wounded in the fAn unfortunate accident in the show.
“He was great with our players,” said Hurley. “He made us feel so comfortable. He was so relatable. We had a great experience talking to him. A great guy.”
Hurley was a little more fun with a post-tournament incident in which Biden called, and the coach didn’t answer the phone. “I recovered, I told different stories there, but I was talking to my wife,” Hurley said.
“When he walks into the room, you see the president everywhere, you see him on videos, he gets interviewed, but actually seeing him face to face was something I never thought would happen,” Karapan said.
The national champion UConn men’s basketball team makes its fifth visit to the White House on Friday
Hawkins didn’t guess, for example, that the lemonade served at the White House was as good as it was. Even lemonade tastes better when you’re toasting to a championship with the President of the United States.
“It was crazy,” said Hawkins, who grew up in Maryland. “I never thought I’d be in the White House, because I grew up here, and I see the White House every day, but being inside is a completely different thing.”
It was a day, Hurley told Biden, “we’ll never forget.” Hurley said that all he wanted in April was to coach this group for a few games, but it must be over, and the White House is the last stop, the place to turn the pages of history, to say goodbye to a group that the coach wanted. I would love to hold you together forever.
“There will be a bunch of reunions,” Hurley said. “We will always meet because of the history we made together.”