Back to back! UConn fans gather to celebrate another basketball championship

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Thousands of fans lined the streets of downtown Hartford on Saturday to fete the UConn men's basketball team following its second straight NCAA championship, its sixth in the past 25 years.

The players and coaches paraded on a double-decker bus with an open-air top and lifted the national title trophy from the state Capitol to the XL Center, the arena in which the team plays about half its home games. The procession included marching bands, cheerleaders, first responders, top state politicians and other groups as fans shouted and waved UConn signs.

The celebration followed Monday's 75-60 win over Purdue, which capped one of the most dominant two-year runs in NCAA Tournament history, one in which the Huskies won all 12 games they played by double digits.

Coach Dan Hurley, who has spent the week denying that he was considering leaving the program for another school, told the crowd his focus is on a third consecutive championship, as he and the players gave short speeches outside the arena.

“The champs are here today in Hartford with the best fans in the world,” Hurley said. “Basketball capital of the world — Storrs, Connecticut. Back-to-back champs. Back-to-back champs. ... Some of the greatest players to ever wear the UConn uniform are up here, and next year we go for the three-peat! Let's go!”

Donovan Clingan, the 7-foot-2 sophomore center who announced Friday that he was leaving UConn and entering the NBA draft, thanked the fans and said their support helped fuel the title run.

“I appreciate you guys,” the Bristol, Connecticut, native said. “You guys have been the best fans to me for the past two years. I'll cherish those moments for the rest of my life. I’ll be a Husky for life. Love you guys.”

The team also will be losing Tristen Newton, the Final Four’s most outstanding player, and Cam Spencer, who both ran out of eligibility when the season ended. Along with Clingan, freshman Stephon Castle could be a lottery pick in the NBA draft this summer if he also decides to leave.

“Thank you for all the support that you guys have given me the past two years and supporting the team," Newton told the crowd. “Without you guys, back to back wouldn't have been possible.”

This was the 15th victory parade for UConn, which in addition to its six men’s basketball national championships has won 11 women’s basketball titles over the past 30 years.

There were joint parades in 2004 and 2014 when UConn won both the men's and women's titles in the same season — the only Division I school to accomplish that feat.

The UConn men and women are 17-1 in NCAA basketball title games.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who this week hinted that Hurley would get a pay raise, joined the team on the double-decker bus and the podium.

“Hey America, this is what the basketball capital of America looks like. Right here. Let’s hear it for the Huskies. ... We are the champions, my friends."

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

UConn's Alex Karaban, left, and Jayden Ross, right, smile as they board a bus for a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn head coach Dan Hurley greets fans during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Fans react during a parade celebrating the UConn men's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Fans surround a double-decker bus carrying the UConn men's basketball team during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Fans surround a double-decker bus carrying the UConn men's basketball team during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn's Alex Karaban, left, holds up the championship trophy during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn players ride on a double decker bus during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn's Donovan Clingan holds up the championship trophy as he stands with coaches and teammates during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Confetti falls on the UConn men's basketball team during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn players ride on a double decker bus during a parade to celebrate the team's NCAA college basketball championship, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn head coach Dan Hurley, center, and his players celebrate after the NCAA college Final Four championship basketball game against Purdue, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

CHICAGO (AP) — A consultant the Chicago Blackhawks hired to improve relationships with American Indian tribes has filed a lawsuit accusing the team, its charity foundation and its CEO of fraud, breach of contract and sexual harassment.

Nina Sanders filed the civil action late Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. She alleges in the lawsuit that the Blackhawks were facing intense public pressure to change their name and logo in 2020. The team's CEO, Dan Wirtz, hired her that year to serve as a tribal liaison.

Wirtz promised that he would create positions for American Indians, buy land to give to the Sac and Fox Nation and change the team's logo if she decided to accept the job, according to the lawsuit. She took the job based on those promises, but Wirtz never followed through on any of it, the lawsuit alleges.

Sanders goes on to allege that she told her immediate boss that an employee had been sexually harassing her and tried to force her into his hotel room in 2021. The harassment continued into 2022, but nothing was ever done about it, according to the lawsuit. Sanders also maintains that she reported two other incidents of male employees groping women, but nothing was done.

Wirtz ended Sanders' contract last summer, according to the lawsuit.

A Blackhawks spokesperson didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon seeking comment.

The team said in a statement to WBBM-TV that the organization noted “operational issues” in Sanders' work, and external partners told the team that they didn't want to work with her. The team still extended her a new contract in 2023, but Sanders chose not to renew it. The team said it investigated Sanders' sexual harassment allegations and couldn't find enough evidence to substantiate them.

FILE - The Chicago Blackhawks logo adorns a jersey in Raleigh, N.C., May 3, 2021. A consultant the Chicago Blackhawks hired to improve relationships with American Indian tribes filed a lawsuit Tuesday, May 14, 2024, accusing the team, its charity foundation and its CEO of fraud, breach of contract and sexual harassment. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker, File)