One of the perks to winning a national championship is that, in addition to being the best team in the country, after the dust settles you also get to visit the White House and be honored by the president.
Monday, the UConn men's basketball team did just that. (If you missed it, you can watch Barack Obama's remarks here.)
ESPN's Andy Katz was at the White House for the event, too, and Tuesday he filed a behind-the-scenes look at what the players and coaches got to experience.
Center Alex Oriakhi summed up the trip nicely. "I think I can speak for my teammates when I say the [national championship] didn't really hit us yet," said Oriakhi. "But when you go to the White House to meet the president … it's definitely starting to hit us now."
The funniest exchange, by far, was a quiet conversation between Obama and Calhoun, moments before the ceremony:
Obama (pointing at ESPN's Andy Katz): "You know this guy? Watch out for him."
Calhoun (laughing): "You know, you did make a little mistake on that bracket."
Obama: "That's because [Katz] gave me all the tips. If I had picked my own [bracket] I would've said Connecticut."
(Obama, you might recall, picked Kansas to win the whole thing. Though, to his credit, he had UConn making it to the Elite Eight, which was a few rounds beyond what just about everybody else predicted.)
Obama: "It was a dream season. You couldn't have asked for a better season."
Calhoun: "It was one of those things where … 'Yes we can.'"
Obama: "Yes we can."
Sadly, Obama didn't ask Calhoun about his plans to coach the Huskies in the fall.
