STORRS, CT — Sue Bird remembers her first unofficial visit to UConn.
The now basketball Hall of Famer came with her coaches from Christ the King High School in Middle Village, New York.
‘We saw a game and Gampel Pavilion was filled, everybody going nuts, and I was like, ‘Well, this is kind of cool,” said Bird, who made her return to Storrs to have her number retired on Sunday, Dec. 7.
‘And I remember thinking to myself, which is just so kind of silly … ‘Well, if I went here, I could probably go home on weekends to do my laundry, so that’s a plus.”
Bird, who won two national titles at UConn, remains the school record holder in 3-point field goal percentage (45.9) and free throw percentage (89.2). She is the third women’s player to have her jersey number retired at UConn joining Rebecca Lobo (50) and Swin Cash (32).
When asked how many many schools she got offers from back then, Bird joked: ‘A lot. Like, a lot. Like all of them.’ All but Tennessee, which had just signed its point guards of the future. She said she quickly narrowed the list to five, Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford, UConn and Vanderbilt, and took official visits to the latter three.
She remembers sitting in UConn coach Geno Auriemma’s office on that visit and being a little overwhelmed.
‘He is extremely confident, charismatic, he can be intimidating, especially for a teenager,’ Bird said. ‘I just remember sitting in his office, listening to him talk about who knows what, and I was just … Like, what’s going on right now? And then you fast forward, and you get to the whole process.’
Auriemma honored Bird on Sunday calling her: ‘Maybe, wait, no maybe, she is the greatest point guard to play basketball, man or woman.’
Bird had a nothing but praise for her alma mater, which is currently ranked No. 1 and won its 11th national championship against South Carolina last spring.
‘There’s something really wonderful about, not just what they built, in terms of the winning, but it’s why you’re doing it,’ Bird said. ‘They’ve really built something where, when players come here, it’s because something is speaking to them, something’s connecting for them.
‘For me, it was being at a place where I knew I was going to get challenged.’
Bird averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 assists in 118 games for the Huskies. She won the 2002 National Player of the Year and was the first UConn player to be drafted No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft. Bird won four WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020). She also captured five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020) and four FIBA World Cups (2002, 2010, 2014, 2018).
Bird has spent most of 2025 being honored. First, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June. Then, the Storm unveiled a statue of Bird in front of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle in August. Finally, she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
‘What’s been great about this year, is it’s been in this excuse to get all my family, all my friends, all my former teammates, former coaches, you name it, anyone who has touched my life in any way, shape or form, it’s been bringing them together,’ Bird said. ‘… To get to share it, I already mentioned, like, reminiscing, that’s really what all of these moments have represented.’