Brad Penner-Imagn Images
There isn’t a single school in the country that’s had more success on the basketball court over the past few decades than UConn. The Huskies have brought an impressive number of trophies back to Storrs, and nothing sums up that embarassment of riches than a picture of one of them being used for a practical purpose.
In 1985, Geno Auriemma was hired to take over as the head coach of the women’s basketball program at UConn a year before Jim Calhoun was tapped to take the helm for a men’s team that was close to a decade removed from its most recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Those two hirings ushered in an unprecedented two-pronged dynasty that began when Auriemma led his squad to a national championship in 1995. The men got in on the action four years later, and the two teams have now combined for 18 titles in the past 30 years after the Lady Huskies secured their 12th last season.
UConn has also been a Big East juggernaut over that span. 20 of the 23 conference tournament victories the women have secured have come during the run, which is also the case for five of the eight the men have gotten while contributing to the overall total of 31 in a competition that was first held in 1980 (although the women didn’t get in on the action until three years later).
It would not be an exaggeration to say UConn subsequently has more trophies than it knows what to do with, and if you need proof, all you have to do is take a look at how one of those pieces of hardware is currently being deployed at its training facility.
UConn is using one of its many Big East tournament trophies as a doorstop
UConn has more than earned the right to flex thanks to the success on the hardwood, and the school dropped $40 million to construct the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center that contains a “Hall of Champions” where the $30,000 Waterford crystal trophies that are presented to the coach who wins a national championship each year are displayed.
That building is also home to the wooden trophies that are handed out by the NCAA in addition to the dozens of Big East tournament championship trophies that aren’t displayed in a place of prominence.
Garrett Fedewa, the content creator known as “GFed” who’s amassed a sizeable following by chronicling his tours of stadiums around the United States, recently got the chance to take a peek behind the scenes during a trip to Storrs where he got a glimpse at the fate of some trophies that UConn views as a bit of an afterthought.
That includes one that was secured with a win in the Big East tournament at some point in the past decade based on the design, which is currently being used to prop a door open.
UConn’s storage room of non natty trophies is more decorated than 90% of D1 facilities. This is just one half of the wall collecting dust.
Sometimes they get put to use as door stop. https://t.co/d3f055pvCN pic.twitter.com/9uaXRJNF9X
— GFed (@GfedGoCrazy) September 22, 2025
Sick move.