UConn Women's Basketball Team Receive Presidential Honors at the White House

*Editor’s note: This story was first published Sept. 15. Here it is again, in case you missed it.

Photo: The UConn Women’s Basketball team with President Obama during a White House ceremony Sept. 15. Credit: Stephen Slade, chief UConn photographer.

As the UConn Women’s Basketball team was honored for the third time in as many years for winning the NCAA Championship, President Obama on Tuesday praised them as “outstanding basketball players, more importantly, outstanding citizens, outstanding role models for our kids — and not just for our girls but also for our boys.”

The team and Coach Geno Auriemma were honored in the noon ceremony in the White House East Room, that also included chairman of the University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees Larry McHugh and former Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd.

In comments provided by the White House, Obama quipped, “As some of you may be aware, this is Coach’s tenth championship. This is this team’s third visit in a row. They are now certified to provide White House tours. I was telling folks, this is becoming like the annual Christmas tree lighting. We do this every year around this time.”

The team’s off court efforts both in the classroom and in the community weren’t lost on the President.

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“They’re also academic all-stars. These women won an award for achieving the highest GPA of any women’s basketball team in their conference, and half the team made the Dean’s List,” Obama said. “Over the past four years, every Husky who has completed their four years of eligibility at UConn has graduated. And that’s something worth celebrating.”

Obama added, “These women are also all-stars in their communities. They run Thanksgiving and winter food drives. They help stock shelves at local food banks. They put on a Christmas party for children with terminal illnesses. They spend their afternoons with senior citizens. They host basketball clinics and bike drives for kids in downtown Hartford.”

After their White House tour and ceremony, the team celebrated with lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington. And in a post on Twitter, the team said, “Thanks @BarackObama and staff for an incredible experience.”