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After a one-year hiatus, First Night is finally back. The UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams will kick off their 2018-19 seasons with the usual fanfare at Gampel Pavilion on Friday night. Students can start lining up as early as 3 p.m., with doors opening officially at 5:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., sign-ups will begin for a selfie session with the players at Gampel’s South Entrance, where the first 300 fans will be able to meet and take pictures with the team.
Once doors open and the selfie session concludes, here’s a quick rundown of what’s on the agenda inside Gampel Pavilion.
6 p.m. - Pre-show party
6:10 - 7 p.m. - Ayo & Teo, UConn Dance Team and UConn Drumline perform
7 p.m. - Player and coach introductions and First Night activities
This year’s activities for the players are:
- Dunk contest
- 3-point contest
- Half court challenge
- Dance off
- 3 on 3 scrimmage
Players from both teams have been split and assigned to Blue and White teams and will compete against one another in these events.
Streaming Info
If you can’t make it to First Night but still want to watch the action, UConn Athletics is offering a livestream on their website, UConnHuskies.com. Click on the multimedia tab and then go to “Huskies All-Access” to pull up the stream.
Can't make it to #UConnFirstNight?
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) October 12, 2018
Watch the show LIVE on https://t.co/CyaaiEscbk starting at 6 p.m.
: https://t.co/X9un9T45z5 pic.twitter.com/bPjYVhjrYP
Notes & News
New men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley has had success recently on the recruiting trail and is looking to use First Night to stay hot. Akok Akok and Quodus Wahab, both class of 2019 recruits, will be in attendance as part of their official visits. Recent commits James Bouknight and Jalen Gaffney will also be in attendance. Four-star class of 2020 power forward Richie Springley, a current teammate of Bouknight, will also be in attendance.
Men’s forward and social media star Kwintin Williams may very well be the best dunker the Huskies have ever had, and Sidney Wilson is well-known for his athletic ability. Highly-touted women’s freshman Olivia Nelson-Ododa can throw it down as well, so this could shape up to be one of the most exciting events of the night.
Here’s some of Williams’ latest work.