As we bid farewell to the 44th President of The United States, Mr. Barack Obama and his legendary run to the White House, it brought back memories of how a kid from the Bronx took his UConn Huskies on a legendary ride of their own. Kemba Walker proved to the world that it truly doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish.
The year was 2010 and head coach Jim Calhoun knew he had a special team but the rest of the nation was not convinced. Coming into the season unranked, the Huskies showed some promise when they won the Maui Invitational.Walker was the nation’s leading scorer, averaging 26.7 points per game, five rebounds and four assists. Despite Kemba’s numbers, UConn would go on to finish the Big East regular season in a tie for ninth place at 9–9 which was not good enough to secure and at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
As a ninth seed in the Big East Tournament UConn was faced with the daunting task of having to win five games in five days and behind Walker’s record 130 points, the most scored in any conference tournament in the past 15 seasons, they did just that. The Huskies became the first school in NCAA history to pull off the feat, edging out Louisville in the Championship game.
By winning the tournament, they were awarded an automatic berth into the Big Dance where the hot hand of Walker continued to scorch the nets. They advanced to the Final Four with a 65–63 victory over the Arizona Wildcats and advanced to their third National Championship game with a 56–55 victory over Kentucky. UConn would lay claim to the National Title with a 53–41 win over the Butler Bulldogs for their first championship since 2004 and third since 1999.
After winning Most Outstanding Player of both the Big East and NCAA tournaments and winning the Bob Cousey Award as the Nation’s top point guard, it was the opportunity to visit the White House and meet the President for winning the big game that would change Walker’s life forever.
“Man, me and my teammates we were all kind of nervous to meet him, I mean he’s the leader of the free world.” Walker said after the White House visit but you couldn’t tell because in a room full of people he goes and asks the President, “can you teach me that walk?” drawing laughs from nearly 200 people gathered in the East Room of the White House. “That’s a special presidential walk,” Obama replied. “But maybe in a few years. You look pretty good behind a podium, I must say.”
POTUS, who holds a special place in his heart for the game of basketball offered this gem during the introduction, “I have to be honest — this is a bittersweet day for me,” Obama said. “On the one hand, I get to congratulate a great team and a great coach and national champions, but on the other hand, I’m reminded once again my bracket was a bust.” The President had picked Kansas to cut down the nets that year.
The ceremony lasted all of eight and a half minutes and was held after Obama returned from a commencement speech at a Memphis, Tennessee high school earlier in the day. He also visited victims of the Mississippi River flooding.
The fact that the President took the time to not only congratulate the Huskies but actually knew what happened in each game, really resonated with Kemba, “It’s special,” said Walker, who declared for the NBA after that season. “The president has so much going on and you wouldn’t think the president has time to watch college basketball. But for him to say that about me, and about the other guys — it’s special. A lot of people didn’t get that opportunity, so it’s surreal, honestly. But it’s been fun.”
Calhoun, visiting the White House with a championship team for the third time, said afterward that this opportunity was special because he got a chance to spend some personal time with Obama. He spent 90 minutes with President Bill Clinton in 1999 and merely shook hands with President George W. Bush in 2004, but enjoyed a brief discussion with Obama before and after the ceremony.
Calhoun drew parallels between the Huskies success, coming out of nowhere and the way Obama campaigned his way to the White House in 2008.
“This basketball team by the way, has been an underdog as much as you were,” Calhoun told Obama during the ceremony. “Who would have thought 15 years ago [you would be here], or who would have thought nine months ago, that we would be here? But you know what? Yes, we can.”
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