It’s Christmas time, which means the basketball teams are ready to have their annual “Secret Santa” exchange.
Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi get each other so they just exchange snapbacks. DeAndre Daniels pulls Jim Calhoun’s name out of the hat and makes a freshman mistake. The Los Angeles native gives the Bostonian a Lakers shirt for a present. Calhoun tosses it in the trash, only to have Enosch Wolf find it in the bowels of Gampel Pavilion and keep it.
Wolf gives Roscoe Smith a new Oriole fitted hat with the cartoon bird on it. Smith draws Niels Giffey and makes him delicious Maryland crabs. Unfortunately, the crustaceans don’t sit well in Giffey’s stomach so Michael Bradley, a former pre-pharmacy major, prescribes the right treatment to calm down an upset stomach.
Ryan Boatright goes deep into his attic to dig out an old Halloween mask for Andre Drummond to wear. He’ll be even more imposing inside the paint now. Shabazz Napier, the best dancer in the Big Dance last year, gives the entire women’s basketball team a trophy for their performance at First Night. Since their trophy case is packed, the women’s team hands the dance trophy to Ethan Waite, who would occasionally jump into the dancing circle prior to men’s games last year.
Tyler Olander treats the team to a night of caroling and camaraderie at his home in nearby Mansfield. The Christmas spirit is alive and well as Brendan Allen, P.J. Cochrane and Kyle Bailey dress up as the three kings for the party. Ben Stewart, who hails from Denver, brings “Rocky Mountain Oysters” to the shindig. Smith never tasted seafood like that before.
On the women’s side, Maya Moore already gave Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis her No. 23 jersey, so KML is in the giving mood this time of year. She buys the whole team tickets to Anaheim to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Disneyland. Stefanie Dolson buys a Minnie Mouse costume, to wear herself. Bria Hartley uses the money she’s saved up to give Texas AM 20 points. UConn still wins by double digits.
Kelly Faris escorts her teammates to see the play, “The Music Man.” The play gets the team ready for their trip to Disneyland.
In the end, both programs come together and show the solidarity of the season by sending out a Christmas card together. But these gifts aren’t as good as what UConn as a whole should send up the road to Boston College: a lump of coal.