HARTFORD — The UConn women’s basketball team came together on Sunday to celebrate their 2025 national championship with a downtown parade and a rally outside the XL Center. As fans honored their achievement, the question remained whether their next big moment as a team will be a trip to the White House an honor they’ve received 10 times in the past. While no formal invitation has been extended yet, it’s expected the school would accept one if it comes.
Meanwhile, Florida’s men’s basketball team, who clinched their third national title with a narrow 65-63 win over Houston in San Antonio, is already preparing for their own White House visit. Head coach Todd Golden confirmed the plans during a celebration in Gainesville, expressing excitement about the upcoming trip.
In other sports news, the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of the World Series, visited former President Donald Trump, while the Philadelphia Eagles are scheduled to celebrate their Super Bowl LIX title with a visit to the White House on April 28. The Ohio State football team, this year’s College Football Playoff champion, will also be hosted by Trump marking the first such visit for a college football champion since the pandemic began.
UConn’s women’s team has a rich history of visiting the White House after championship victories, missing the trip only once in 2000 due to scheduling conflicts. Their first appearance came in 1995, when co-captain Pam Webber presented President Bill Clinton with team memorabilia. Her teammate, Rebecca Lobo, wasn’t present, as she was preparing for the Olympics with Team USA.
During the early 2000s, UConn’s historic championship three-peat brought them to meet President George W. Bush. Players like Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Diana Taurasi were among those presenting jerseys to the president. In 2004, when both the men’s and women’s teams won national titles, UConn athletes Maria Conlon and Emeka Okafor presented Bush with matching jerseys.
Under President Barack Obama, UConn made six visits from 2009 to 2016. Obama formed a strong rapport with coach Geno Auriemma and the team. Highlights from those years include a casual game of “P-I-G” on the White House basketball court in 2009, and All-American Stefanie Dolson giving Obama “bunny ears” in a photo something she later said was meant as a joke, not disrespect.
Dolson also famously shouted “President Obama, we’re back!” after UConn’s 2014 title win. During the White House celebration that year, she handed the president a jersey before nearly falling off the risers, though she quickly recovered.
The team returned again in 2015 and 2016 as they completed an unprecedented streak of four consecutive championships. More recently, UConn’s men’s team visited the White House in both 2023 and 2024 during President Joe Biden’s term.
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