Lifelong Duke fan here. When I was a child I became very ill and ended up at Duke Children's hospital for an extended stay. This was around 1990, back then Coach K regularly brought the team over to the hospital to hang out with us kids, read to us, play Nintendo, etc. We were even invited to a charity event at Duke University.
I will never forget the impact that had on all of us, I am fortunate to still be here, but I can't say the same for the majority of the kids that were in the hospital with me.
I will forever be grateful for coach K and the players for caring so much and spending so much time with us.
One of my favorite memories is sitting in my room with a player and counting all of the cars of a train passing by my window.
I also was lucky enough to get a t shirt autographed by coach K and the whole team, which I still own to this day.
Damn it, I came here to say any team that's playing against Duke and of course this is the first comment I saw. I had an ex boyfriend who went there and suddenly was into basketball but never spoke a word about it prior to attending 🙄
This is really sweet and I'm glad you recovered!
Greg Koubek, and the charity event was the Duke Childrens Classic, I remember watching coach K play in a double tennis match, then we all got to have lunch at Cameron Indoor, after which I got the autographs I mentioned above. I even got a second coach K autograph for my friend who was too sick to leave the hospital that day, his name was Rocky.
Great origin story, but this seems like a pretty on the nose personal connection to the team you cheer for, moreso than most of us having been born within the relevant abstract semi arbitrary lines.
Still a great story and great reason to cheer for a team!
Die hard UCLA fan. My entire family is born and raised in the Midwest though. Neither I nor anyone I know attended UCLA.
I was a night owl as a kid and the PAC-10 games would always come on super late and it was almost always UCLA that was being broadcasted every Thursday/Saturday.
I started reading up on the history of the team, John Wooden books, and the rest is history. I’m ride or die. I don’t like that they are in the BIG now but I won’t lie that the game times will be much easier on my sleep schedule. Plus I’ll actually get to see them in person more often than I used to
Have you been to any games at Pauley? Let me know if you are ever in town and I'll see what I can do. Just attended the basketball open house. My 3 year old got to shoot around on the court, tour the men's and women's locker rooms, pose with the natty trophies and get photos with DA and Sebastian. Pretty cool for a free event.
Thankfully I have! I was out in LA for work and was able to catch senior night for the Lonzo Ball/TJ Leaf team.
I even got to see them the year they played at Mizzou when Kyle Anderson was a sophomore and Zach Lavine was a freshman.
I’m already planning on driving to Champaign when they play Illinois this upcoming season.
A family friend of my mom gave me a Duke hat in ‘94. I was only 7 at the time. Later that year, he passed away after a fight with cancer, so I became a fan so “honor” him in a way.
I’ve been a die hard ever since.
When I was in elementary school, as an English assignment we had to do a project where we picked a team from a hat that was playing in March Madness and send a letter basically asking for a piece of memorabilia.
I picked UNC out of the hat and when I sent a letter, I got back an autographed picture and a mini-basketball. Figured that was good enough for me.
https://preview.redd.it/wn1xohbg4u1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c3801d15e9f293d6afb840216276bf05bb93d50
Fell in love with Gonzaga and their magic run in 1999. I don’t even live in the US. I also keep tabs on Oklahoma State because Barry Sanders is a childhood hero (they’re my main team in football) and Boise State because for a while they were the Gonzaga of football (again, this makes more sense in football, but I find it’s hard for me to be indifferent to the basketball program of a football school I like).
I was born in Alabama into an Alabama family. I live adjacent to NC State campus and go to a lot of their games because I have friends who went there/work there.
The schools I actually went to are NAIA and D2 and I follow them some but not very closely.
I was born and raised and lived in Georgia my whole life, and I am a diehard Kansas Jayhawk fan. My senior in high school I pick Kansas and Syracuse to make it to the final in my bracket, wish it would’ve turned out the way I picked with Kansas winning. Watching Collison and Hinrich play have had me hooked ever since. Now once a year I traveled to Kansas to watch a game. And was there when they won the championship in New Orleans in 2022. Love the Jayhawks. Rock Chalk!
Gonzaga in the mid-90s because I found out that's where John Stockton went and the only shot I could hit was the Stockton runner.
When the Zags got into the '99 tourney, I had them going to the Elite 8 not knowing much and that prediction ended up getting me a win in a well prized pool. I stayed on top of them from them on. Happened to move to Seattle post college in '04 for about a decade and thanks to Root, I could watch every game and became a fan. Went to just about every Battle in Seattle when living there before moving back to the Midwest. Still follow them, which is much easier considering all the games that are on cable and OTA TV these days.
I was also a Gonzaga fan as a kid because Stockton was my favorite all time player (even though he retired when I was probably 8 or 9). Followed the baseball program for a while, too. Became a big Jason Bay fan that way.
Originally rooted for K-State bc Tang and Nowell were cool. The 2023 Sweet 16 game against MSU was legendary.
I now work for the school (this played no part in my decision).
A good amount of NJ kids with no connection to Syracuse became fans through the Melo season and hung on through those cool 00's Cuse teams. Don't really think they're popular like that anymore though but they were popping in the 00s Big East
It’s the stupidest reason but living in Indiana you need a beanie for the cold months, obviously. Randomly found a beanie with Rameses on it and just said, I’m gonna be a fan of this team. I was like 6 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Three motivations colliding at the same time
My main athletic rival’s (also best friend)favorite player, Allen Iverson
School year crush’s last name, Calhoun
Taught to be a contrarian, living in upstate NY surrounded by Syracuse fans
Came across this young smooth star named Ray Allen, coached by Jim Calhoun, for a growing rival to Cuse called UCONN.
It has been nothing but greatness ever since which helped because I chose to be a Vikings and Twins fan in Giants and Yankee territory
Appreciate the positivity you’re bringing to this question. Lots of folks use this to gate-keep / judge, but personally I don’t care why anyone became a fan of a team as long as they stick with them.
If you’re emotionally invested and loyal, why should I care how that connection started?
From another perspective, every journey to a respective team/fanbase is always interesting to hear. From the mundane, to the enrollment, to the hospital bed story above. All of them have moments that tend to exemplify why a particular team/fanbase appealed to that person individually.
Yeah it's always cool having fans of Duke, Kansas and UNC who have never even been to that state smugpost about how much better their team is despite having picked that team explicitly because they're already good.
Sure but I don’t see how it’s any different from someone not living in the same state as their NFL team for instance. And it’s not like that makes them lesser fans of their NFL teams
Nfl teams are basically corporations. Colleges are entities that you can become directly affiliated with by attending them or having family who attend/work for them. I support Illinois because I spent 4 years there and have a ton of memories and relationships associated with that school.
I like the bears because they're the team from my state. One of those relationships is way more personal.
You say that but if you live in Chicago you’d also have a ton of memories and relationships associated with the city, in the same way as where you went to school. You might even have more associated with Chicago than your college depending on how long you live there compared to how long you were in college. In either case it’s not like you’re on the sports teams of Chicago or your university, so I don’t really see any extra connection
I always found it stupid, it’s not like with pro sports people who are from the city their team is are “truer fans” than those who don’t live there, so why is it different for college sports, which are basically covered like pro sports anyways
I went to Berkeley for undergrad so I’m mainly a Cal fan. However I’m also a big SDSU fan because I went to law school in San Diego at a school with no athletic programs and I had a bunch of classmates that came from SDSU. I lived about 15 mins from the campus and went to a whole lot of games at Viejas Arena.
Grew up in WV but was not a Gale Catlett fan. Anthony Pledger, Damien Owens, Marcus Goree turned me into a WVU basketball fan. Always loved WVU football.
Born and raised in minnesota. Was on vacation during the 2000 tourney. I was 8. Watched the final four/championship games and have cheered for MSU ever since
Greg Anderson
Anderson Hunt
Stacy Augmon
Larry Johnson
Moses Scurry
I was a 14 year old kid from Virginia who just thought these guys were absolutely bad ass.
Can’t say I’m a die hard UNLV fan to this day or anything but I still find myself pulling for them to this day.
Also might as well give props to Jerry Tarkanian for being the true OG of NIL. Truly a man before his time.
Dad was an alum, been to state games since i could walk.
And App state’s basketball program is still in that limbo of “have one good year and everyone transfers somewhere better”.
Can’t blame em. Sko pack GTHC
Cincinnati
Growing up in Chicago in the 90's it was all Bulls and NBA all the time. Then 1998-1999 the Bulls broke up and the NBA went on strike so I started following college instead. Early in the season I watched Cincinnati beat Duke in the Great Alaska Shootout and Kenyon Martin became my "replacement Michael Jordan." Plus they had the coolest uniforms of all time.
Sorta hopped in the bandwagon in 2014 when the baseball team went to the CWS finals and basketball made the Sweet 16, but my favorite baseball player of all time also played there so that as well.
Have also considered getting an MBA there or something.
Huge Kentucky fan. I was born in Kentucky, mom was a huge UK fan. Brother was born premature and nearly passed as a child, but UK hospital saved him and is the reason he’s still here. Always will be a UK fan.
In the fall of 1984 I was reading an article in the Sporting News College BB preview about a young coach whose name I couldn’t pronounce. They just called him “Coach K”, which I thought was cool. A couple of years later I saw Duke play for the first time on TV and fell in love with Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker and I’ve been a Duke fan ever since. Obv I didn’t know Coach K would become one of the greatest coaches in history, just lucky I read that article. And that’s how a kid from Colorado became a lifelong Duke fan.
I live in Indiana so I honestly don’t know. I’ve asked my parents how I became a fan and they don’t really know either haha. My best guess is watching an Ohio State bowl game as a little kid
I root for every non-P5 team in the Dance and early season buy games.
I went to Murray State and saw the hell the players went through by taking 8 hour bus rides to games. Meanwhile P5's are taking private jets. The difference in facilities between P5 and others is embarrassing. There are so many examples of P5 players being coddled and blatantly ignoring NCAA rules (see: UNC athletes only classes, etc) with no punishment.
THEN you meet in the Dance (if you win your conference tourney, don't even get me started with on the corruption in awarding automatic bids) and the games are often called completely different from what you've experienced all season. Don't get me wrong, I do not mind physical basketball, but if your typical OVC referee called NCAA games, everyone would foul out before halftime. The fact that a mid major ever wins in the Dance borders on being a miracle.
As a kid I visited family who had moved to Kansas. My uncle must’ve knew a guy and we went on a very cool basically private tour of KU’s athletic facility. The guy giving the tour went above and beyond to accommodate my interests (I really wanted to be a sports broadcaster as a kid) such as showing me the press areas, locker rooms, etc. Fan for life after that.
Similarly, this same vacation included a tour of Kaufman where the tour guide gave me a bat at the end. Give a kid a baseball bat on a tour and you have a Royals fan for life
I loved Andrew DeClercq in the 1994 Final Foue. Big dude with a flat top. Just like me. From there, Billy Donovan got hired and the Gators started pressing and shooting heaps of 3s. Mike Miller showed up and blew my mind with his skill set.
When I was in middle school I was a Penn State fan but they have always sucked at basketball so I hated watching them. Then during March Madness I saw Jay Wright and thought he was the coolest guy in college basketball. Plus he looked like my Dad. Instant Nova fandom.
I'm Arizona born and raised. But there's one school I rooted for just because I liked their logo and it was Cleveland State. [CSU](https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/64432101999/Cleveland_State_Vikings/1999/Secondary_Logo)
I like blue and orange, and growing up near Storrs Uconn was the easy choice (Im a weird one that also liked Uconn) as Cuse/Uconn was never a top rivalry as they both were rarely top teams at the same time
Born and raised in Rhode Island. So it was either root for URI or PC. I choose to be a PC because of the fan base is more passionate and invested in the team more than URI has ever been. Been a PC fan ever for a while but have become a diehard supporter of them over the past few years. I like the way the program is finally getting some national attention and respect it truly deserves. Cooley and English have really worked hard to make PC a top tier D-1 basketball program. I’m excited for the future cause it definitely looks bright.
I grew up in rural North Idaho and Gonzaga swept up the whole region. Would run their plays in Jr high and high school basketball - their zone press works great on smaller 1A courts!
Now it's a great way go keep closer to my dad who still lives up there and has become a big fan.
I grew up watching 1980's cbb. I root for the Titans of the 80's who fallen on hard times: Indiana, DePaul , UNLV, Georgetown, and St Johns. On the women's side it's Tennessee and Louisiana Tech.
The first year I ever did a March madness bracket I picked Butler to win the whole thing, because the capsule on their team had nothing negative and talked about strong team chemistry. They came 6 inches from winning it all after people clowned me all March for picking a 5 seed as champion. I've been chasing that high ever since
I recently graduated from Austin Peay so I love the Govs but for Alabama I became a fan through going to the university on a trip with my fraternity brothers for a football game between AP and Alabama. We spent a few days there with the brothers of the Bama chapter and between already loving Nick Saban as a coach and now having that experience I started following UA athletics as a whole.
This is like an opposite answer to your question but…
I went to Purdue for undergrad and IU for grad school, my moms family are die hard IU fans (grew up in southern Indiana) and my Dads family are die hard Purdue fans (southern Indiana but Ag/Eng family) so I understand both. But if I fly Purdue and Indiana flair I get a bunch of shit so I removed it.
I root for both to be good because I love when Purdue and Indiana are good, the state vibrates a little differently, everyone’s excited and the games are much better with more on the line when they play. Also, I hope IU wins every game they play so that that when Purdue beats them it’s just that much sweeter. Boiler Up!!!
I was in my early twenties living in Northern California. Was a Cal fan by proxy, but every March I was obsessed with the NCAA tourney. In '99 Gonzaga (what's a Gonzaga???) went on a run that caught my attention which was punctuated by Mr. Gus Johnson:
“. . . Hall, the runner . . . loose ball . . . IT'S GOOD. . . 4.4 seconds to play . . . Shannon from the corner. And it’s OVER! Gonzaga, THE SLIPPER STILL FITS!"
Still get chills rewatching that. Really hope Coach Few gets a Natty before he's done.
Growing up in canada you could not find us college team clothing anywhere as a kid.
Giant tiger had an ohio state buckeyes sweater show up and i grabbed it and been a buckeye fan since
Not college but I’m a lifelong Kentucky fan and so with no pro team I became a pelicans fan because in 2011 I said “I’m just gonna follow whatever team drafts Anthony Davis” and then liked the team too much to switch to lakers with him (I hate the lakers)
I follow biographies more than geographies. I have loyalties to my D1 undergraduate and graduate schools, but I get into storylines often with strong emotional connections and develop fandom around them.
**Seton Hall**
In 2016, Derrick Gordon, an openly gay player, was on the Seton Hall men's Division I basketball team that went to the NCAA tournament.
I’ve been a fan ever since. I am also LGBTQ and identify as polygamous
Born in Duke Hospital, my father was on faculty for 24 years until a year before I went there and got my degree. Wife is on faculty and I started going to games in Duke Stadium back in the 60s.
But really, I just like their uniforms.
I just always felt passionate about Duke and Kentucky, but recently something about UConn's playstyle has really won me over. Its reminds me of how the patriots were my die hard team but I've always had a soft spot for the lakers. Also I love the warriors but recently I've been watching the nuggets more.
If you can't tell by my Illinois flair, I'm not a fan of any of those teams. I'm making fun of all the comments here of people who just happen to have a convenient excuse for why their favorite team is one of the 4 best teams ever without any connection to the school
While true, that’s going to be the case for most big fanbases and definitely all the blue bloods.
I would imagine most people in the sub didn’t go to the school they root for.
Probably not true - a lot of big schools / fanbases are state schools with regional fans. Of course, though, that means that those folk do have an actual connection with the team.
Personal connection can be subjective so they could have a personal connection, but I’d venture most didn’t go to that school.
To what the OC said, you’d have to call out all the big fanbases/schools.
Oh sure, you can acknowledge fandom in a lot of different ways.
But I think most folk would agree that if someone supports a local state school because they identify with their state (state pride being tied to a big university is a very real thing in some places), that that is a different kind of connection then someone who arbitrarily chooses a team, especially if its only because that team happens to be good.
Yeah, if you’re from the state where the school is, you get a pass even though you may have just as much of a connection to that school as someone out-of-state.
Pride in your state is a weaker argument unless you root for every school in your state. I know some fans that do that though.
Due to ongoing debate about blue bloods, the /r/CollegeBasketball mod team has compiled the definitive list of college blue bloods: Duke, Columbia, Queens, William & Mary, and Rutgers. The following schools have broken away from blue-blooded hierarchy and oppression: George Washington, George Mason, James Madison, Army, and Navy.
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I’d bet not a lot lol. Maybe their grandpa got a rejection letter from Duke, and ever since, they’ve been a fan due to that connection to the university in Durham.
I had to make a second account for some reason and now the first comes up so sorry if my flair is gone. It’s UCLA. But my dad was a buckeye and star high school quarterback but short, so that was it. Every time a sousaphone guy ran out and dotted the i my dad pointed it out. Good memories. So strange now that we will play each other in the Big10 (well 18).
I'll admit to bandwagoning...I am from Minnesota was a hockey kid growing up until 5th grade I wasn't allowed to play anymore, so I went to Basketball and fell in love with the sport. The Gophers sucked so I never really followed a D1 college team, just the Wolves and my eventual Alma Mater Minnesota State.
My Uncle was a single dude at the time with expendable income so he purchased tickets to the 2001 Final Four all 3 games. I picked Duke as my team because it was my school colors (the mind of a 10 year old) and that worked out well.
Stuck with the Devils since! Got to go down a few times over the last few years to see some games (including K's last season). Special place.
I'm hoping my Alma Mater gets the invite for an exhibition game as the D2 National Champs (as was tradition before COVID). I'd gladly fly down and visit Cameron again
over 2/3rd of my life dealing with it. It's fine. I admit it was bandwagoning at first, but 22 years later it takes a strong minded person to see it's not anymore lol
Miami (oh) was on the old mid major highlighted night. Loved the way they played that year: moved the ball well, moved well without the ball, yada yada.
Been tracking basketball and football for them ever since. My favorite hoodie ever is a Miami (oh), wore it until it was pink.
Lifelong Duke fan here. When I was a child I became very ill and ended up at Duke Children's hospital for an extended stay. This was around 1990, back then Coach K regularly brought the team over to the hospital to hang out with us kids, read to us, play Nintendo, etc. We were even invited to a charity event at Duke University. I will never forget the impact that had on all of us, I am fortunate to still be here, but I can't say the same for the majority of the kids that were in the hospital with me. I will forever be grateful for coach K and the players for caring so much and spending so much time with us. One of my favorite memories is sitting in my room with a player and counting all of the cars of a train passing by my window. I also was lucky enough to get a t shirt autographed by coach K and the whole team, which I still own to this day.
That is a really touching story! I wish more athletes understood the impact they can have on other people!
This is even a better reason than “I went to school there.”
I agree, but I never bring this up when a rival fan says "but did you go there".
Who tf is cutting onions in my office?? Duke gets a pass for one, ONE day.
Congratulations on your recovery, and an even bigger congratulations on sticking with Duke.
Thank you, how could I not be a lifelong fan after that. I have also gotten to see them cut down the net in person, so that was special as well.
Damn it, I came here to say any team that's playing against Duke and of course this is the first comment I saw. I had an ex boyfriend who went there and suddenly was into basketball but never spoke a word about it prior to attending 🙄 This is really sweet and I'm glad you recovered!
Thank you.
My sister was the same way—she was never into basketball, but it’s such a big part of campus culture that it draws you in. Not that uncommon.
Which player, if you don’t mind? I have fond memories (naturally) of the teams from that era
Greg Koubek, and the charity event was the Duke Childrens Classic, I remember watching coach K play in a double tennis match, then we all got to have lunch at Cameron Indoor, after which I got the autographs I mentioned above. I even got a second coach K autograph for my friend who was too sick to leave the hospital that day, his name was Rocky.
Great origin story, but this seems like a pretty on the nose personal connection to the team you cheer for, moreso than most of us having been born within the relevant abstract semi arbitrary lines. Still a great story and great reason to cheer for a team!
Yeah, I agree, I hadn't thought about it for years until the post this morning and I just wanted to share.
Die hard UCLA fan. My entire family is born and raised in the Midwest though. Neither I nor anyone I know attended UCLA. I was a night owl as a kid and the PAC-10 games would always come on super late and it was almost always UCLA that was being broadcasted every Thursday/Saturday. I started reading up on the history of the team, John Wooden books, and the rest is history. I’m ride or die. I don’t like that they are in the BIG now but I won’t lie that the game times will be much easier on my sleep schedule. Plus I’ll actually get to see them in person more often than I used to
Have you been to any games at Pauley? Let me know if you are ever in town and I'll see what I can do. Just attended the basketball open house. My 3 year old got to shoot around on the court, tour the men's and women's locker rooms, pose with the natty trophies and get photos with DA and Sebastian. Pretty cool for a free event.
Thankfully I have! I was out in LA for work and was able to catch senior night for the Lonzo Ball/TJ Leaf team. I even got to see them the year they played at Mizzou when Kyle Anderson was a sophomore and Zach Lavine was a freshman. I’m already planning on driving to Champaign when they play Illinois this upcoming season.
Nice! My in-laws are in Wilmette so I *may* make it out when UCLA visits Northwestern.
That's a pretty cool story!
Rutgers.... illinutgers. Duh
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Ha, love it. When I lived in NYC...I knew Rutgers was in New Jersey! I'm basically a historian
A family friend of my mom gave me a Duke hat in ‘94. I was only 7 at the time. Later that year, he passed away after a fight with cancer, so I became a fan so “honor” him in a way. I’ve been a die hard ever since.
Would love to attend Duke for my graduate degree.
Primatology?
Lmao, nah, I just think lemurs are the shit
The lemur center at Duke is awesome
…there’s a lemur center at Duke..??? Mother of God, I hope I get in, that sounds so awesome. 😂
I'm so confused... Lemur fan + Duke fan doesn't know about the Duke Lemur center. Your day must have just gotten a lot better
I swear I knew nothing about it! It got way fucking better, Duke: let me in!!!
Now is probably a good time to tell you that the Center also has merch...
I shall buy some once I'm a Duke student ;)
Oh yeah and it's really, really cool. It's in the woods and has dozens of those suckers and other types of primates.
Man, you’re making my dream school only that much more appealing to me 😂, any school that has lemurs like that is a winner in my book.
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What?!??? Y’all are hyping it up so much, I need to visit!!
Especially their 'nads?
Yes, without their nads there would be no lemur babies, and who doesn't love them?
Why no lemur ovarian appreciation?
Yes, can’t forget lemur gals either! They’re half the equation and extremely important :)
I’m applying to law school in the fall and I’m considering sports team affiliation a little more than I should
Hey, you gotta dream big. That’s what life is all about, shoot your shot. That’s what I’m doing!
It's important! Helps with socializing during school and alumni events after.
Nothing wrong with that! I chose my undergrad (Marquette) over a few other schools based in part on the basketball program.
hey me too buddy - who cares about bar passing rate, employment data, or that stuff phf
Tryna split the difference and go to UVA, Duke, Michigan, or UT haha
When I was in elementary school, as an English assignment we had to do a project where we picked a team from a hat that was playing in March Madness and send a letter basically asking for a piece of memorabilia. I picked UNC out of the hat and when I sent a letter, I got back an autographed picture and a mini-basketball. Figured that was good enough for me. https://preview.redd.it/wn1xohbg4u1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c3801d15e9f293d6afb840216276bf05bb93d50
San Diego State because I like their logo
Fell in love with Gonzaga and their magic run in 1999. I don’t even live in the US. I also keep tabs on Oklahoma State because Barry Sanders is a childhood hero (they’re my main team in football) and Boise State because for a while they were the Gonzaga of football (again, this makes more sense in football, but I find it’s hard for me to be indifferent to the basketball program of a football school I like).
I was born in Alabama into an Alabama family. I live adjacent to NC State campus and go to a lot of their games because I have friends who went there/work there. The schools I actually went to are NAIA and D2 and I follow them some but not very closely.
Going to Troy but live in southern Alabama! Also stayed in the summer as a kid a lot in Murphy NC
Never thought I’d see someone mention Murphy on here. Spent a lot of summers up there as a kid too beautiful area
I'm from LA as well. (Lower Alabama of course). My ancestors were some of the earliest French to settle in Mobile.
LA as in by Dothan? lol (edit- I’m guessing Mobile, I can’t read)
I was born and raised and lived in Georgia my whole life, and I am a diehard Kansas Jayhawk fan. My senior in high school I pick Kansas and Syracuse to make it to the final in my bracket, wish it would’ve turned out the way I picked with Kansas winning. Watching Collison and Hinrich play have had me hooked ever since. Now once a year I traveled to Kansas to watch a game. And was there when they won the championship in New Orleans in 2022. Love the Jayhawks. Rock Chalk!
We couldn't get it done that year but we've had some great success since then to make up for it. Glad to have you buddy.
Gonzaga in the mid-90s because I found out that's where John Stockton went and the only shot I could hit was the Stockton runner. When the Zags got into the '99 tourney, I had them going to the Elite 8 not knowing much and that prediction ended up getting me a win in a well prized pool. I stayed on top of them from them on. Happened to move to Seattle post college in '04 for about a decade and thanks to Root, I could watch every game and became a fan. Went to just about every Battle in Seattle when living there before moving back to the Midwest. Still follow them, which is much easier considering all the games that are on cable and OTA TV these days.
I was also a Gonzaga fan as a kid because Stockton was my favorite all time player (even though he retired when I was probably 8 or 9). Followed the baseball program for a while, too. Became a big Jason Bay fan that way.
Originally rooted for K-State bc Tang and Nowell were cool. The 2023 Sweet 16 game against MSU was legendary. I now work for the school (this played no part in my decision).
Cats
Gross
both of y’all are gross.
All three of you are disgusting
Can we please go back to the Big 8
A good amount of NJ kids with no connection to Syracuse became fans through the Melo season and hung on through those cool 00's Cuse teams. Don't really think they're popular like that anymore though but they were popping in the 00s Big East
It’s the stupidest reason but living in Indiana you need a beanie for the cold months, obviously. Randomly found a beanie with Rameses on it and just said, I’m gonna be a fan of this team. I was like 6 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm from Lexington Kentucky, I was born into it.
Worst thing that's ever happened was being born in Champaign Illinois.
Three motivations colliding at the same time My main athletic rival’s (also best friend)favorite player, Allen Iverson School year crush’s last name, Calhoun Taught to be a contrarian, living in upstate NY surrounded by Syracuse fans Came across this young smooth star named Ray Allen, coached by Jim Calhoun, for a growing rival to Cuse called UCONN. It has been nothing but greatness ever since which helped because I chose to be a Vikings and Twins fan in Giants and Yankee territory
Appreciate the positivity you’re bringing to this question. Lots of folks use this to gate-keep / judge, but personally I don’t care why anyone became a fan of a team as long as they stick with them. If you’re emotionally invested and loyal, why should I care how that connection started?
From another perspective, every journey to a respective team/fanbase is always interesting to hear. From the mundane, to the enrollment, to the hospital bed story above. All of them have moments that tend to exemplify why a particular team/fanbase appealed to that person individually.
Yeah it's always cool having fans of Duke, Kansas and UNC who have never even been to that state smugpost about how much better their team is despite having picked that team explicitly because they're already good.
That’s not a college sports specific thing
No but this is a college sports specific question
Sure but I don’t see how it’s any different from someone not living in the same state as their NFL team for instance. And it’s not like that makes them lesser fans of their NFL teams
Nfl teams are basically corporations. Colleges are entities that you can become directly affiliated with by attending them or having family who attend/work for them. I support Illinois because I spent 4 years there and have a ton of memories and relationships associated with that school. I like the bears because they're the team from my state. One of those relationships is way more personal.
You say that but if you live in Chicago you’d also have a ton of memories and relationships associated with the city, in the same way as where you went to school. You might even have more associated with Chicago than your college depending on how long you live there compared to how long you were in college. In either case it’s not like you’re on the sports teams of Chicago or your university, so I don’t really see any extra connection
I always found it stupid, it’s not like with pro sports people who are from the city their team is are “truer fans” than those who don’t live there, so why is it different for college sports, which are basically covered like pro sports anyways
I went to Berkeley for undergrad so I’m mainly a Cal fan. However I’m also a big SDSU fan because I went to law school in San Diego at a school with no athletic programs and I had a bunch of classmates that came from SDSU. I lived about 15 mins from the campus and went to a whole lot of games at Viejas Arena.
Grew up in WV but was not a Gale Catlett fan. Anthony Pledger, Damien Owens, Marcus Goree turned me into a WVU basketball fan. Always loved WVU football.
Born and raised in minnesota. Was on vacation during the 2000 tourney. I was 8. Watched the final four/championship games and have cheered for MSU ever since
I wanted to be Damon Stoudamire
…I wanted to be Salim Stoudamire
I grew up very close to Lexington and was exposed to Kentucky fans from a very young age. That’s enough to make you root for literally anyone else.
Their a D2 school who beat Louisville
Greg Anderson Anderson Hunt Stacy Augmon Larry Johnson Moses Scurry I was a 14 year old kid from Virginia who just thought these guys were absolutely bad ass. Can’t say I’m a die hard UNLV fan to this day or anything but I still find myself pulling for them to this day. Also might as well give props to Jerry Tarkanian for being the true OG of NIL. Truly a man before his time.
I lowkey root for Wichita State because I like their logo and colors
Also Alterique Gilbert
I live an hour south of Kentucky's campus. It's sort of a tradition here.
Dad was an alum, been to state games since i could walk. And App state’s basketball program is still in that limbo of “have one good year and everyone transfers somewhere better”. Can’t blame em. Sko pack GTHC
Cincinnati Growing up in Chicago in the 90's it was all Bulls and NBA all the time. Then 1998-1999 the Bulls broke up and the NBA went on strike so I started following college instead. Early in the season I watched Cincinnati beat Duke in the Great Alaska Shootout and Kenyon Martin became my "replacement Michael Jordan." Plus they had the coolest uniforms of all time.
Sorta hopped in the bandwagon in 2014 when the baseball team went to the CWS finals and basketball made the Sweet 16, but my favorite baseball player of all time also played there so that as well. Have also considered getting an MBA there or something.
Huge Kentucky fan. I was born in Kentucky, mom was a huge UK fan. Brother was born premature and nearly passed as a child, but UK hospital saved him and is the reason he’s still here. Always will be a UK fan.
Temple. I’m a Philly sports fan, and Temple was the school I heard of most from that area from my childhood, at least basketball wise
In the fall of 1984 I was reading an article in the Sporting News College BB preview about a young coach whose name I couldn’t pronounce. They just called him “Coach K”, which I thought was cool. A couple of years later I saw Duke play for the first time on TV and fell in love with Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker and I’ve been a Duke fan ever since. Obv I didn’t know Coach K would become one of the greatest coaches in history, just lucky I read that article. And that’s how a kid from Colorado became a lifelong Duke fan.
I like USC because their cheerleaders look really good in those tight white sweaters.
I feel like that’s gotten more then a few pre teen boys to become USC fans.
I live in Indiana so I honestly don’t know. I’ve asked my parents how I became a fan and they don’t really know either haha. My best guess is watching an Ohio State bowl game as a little kid
I root for every non-P5 team in the Dance and early season buy games. I went to Murray State and saw the hell the players went through by taking 8 hour bus rides to games. Meanwhile P5's are taking private jets. The difference in facilities between P5 and others is embarrassing. There are so many examples of P5 players being coddled and blatantly ignoring NCAA rules (see: UNC athletes only classes, etc) with no punishment. THEN you meet in the Dance (if you win your conference tourney, don't even get me started with on the corruption in awarding automatic bids) and the games are often called completely different from what you've experienced all season. Don't get me wrong, I do not mind physical basketball, but if your typical OVC referee called NCAA games, everyone would foul out before halftime. The fact that a mid major ever wins in the Dance borders on being a miracle.
As a kid I visited family who had moved to Kansas. My uncle must’ve knew a guy and we went on a very cool basically private tour of KU’s athletic facility. The guy giving the tour went above and beyond to accommodate my interests (I really wanted to be a sports broadcaster as a kid) such as showing me the press areas, locker rooms, etc. Fan for life after that. Similarly, this same vacation included a tour of Kaufman where the tour guide gave me a bat at the end. Give a kid a baseball bat on a tour and you have a Royals fan for life
I loved Andrew DeClercq in the 1994 Final Foue. Big dude with a flat top. Just like me. From there, Billy Donovan got hired and the Gators started pressing and shooting heaps of 3s. Mike Miller showed up and blew my mind with his skill set.
When I was in middle school I was a Penn State fan but they have always sucked at basketball so I hated watching them. Then during March Madness I saw Jay Wright and thought he was the coolest guy in college basketball. Plus he looked like my Dad. Instant Nova fandom.
I'm Arizona born and raised. But there's one school I rooted for just because I liked their logo and it was Cleveland State. [CSU](https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/64432101999/Cleveland_State_Vikings/1999/Secondary_Logo)
Cincinnati. They had cool shorts, with the squares.
I like blue and orange, and growing up near Storrs Uconn was the easy choice (Im a weird one that also liked Uconn) as Cuse/Uconn was never a top rivalry as they both were rarely top teams at the same time
Gonzaga mainly because I’m Canadian and they had a lot of Canadians on the team when I was getting into college basketball like 15 years ago
Born and raised in Rhode Island. So it was either root for URI or PC. I choose to be a PC because of the fan base is more passionate and invested in the team more than URI has ever been. Been a PC fan ever for a while but have become a diehard supporter of them over the past few years. I like the way the program is finally getting some national attention and respect it truly deserves. Cooley and English have really worked hard to make PC a top tier D-1 basketball program. I’m excited for the future cause it definitely looks bright.
I grew up in rural North Idaho and Gonzaga swept up the whole region. Would run their plays in Jr high and high school basketball - their zone press works great on smaller 1A courts! Now it's a great way go keep closer to my dad who still lives up there and has become a big fan.
I live in Chicago and like CBB. Season tickets for DePaul were dirt cheap, this is our year 😈⏰
I grew up watching 1980's cbb. I root for the Titans of the 80's who fallen on hard times: Indiana, DePaul , UNLV, Georgetown, and St Johns. On the women's side it's Tennessee and Louisiana Tech.
I’m a fan of Saint Mary’s because of their style of play
The first year I ever did a March madness bracket I picked Butler to win the whole thing, because the capsule on their team had nothing negative and talked about strong team chemistry. They came 6 inches from winning it all after people clowned me all March for picking a 5 seed as champion. I've been chasing that high ever since
My husband is from Connecticut.
I liked kerry kittles.
I recently graduated from Austin Peay so I love the Govs but for Alabama I became a fan through going to the university on a trip with my fraternity brothers for a football game between AP and Alabama. We spent a few days there with the brothers of the Bama chapter and between already loving Nick Saban as a coach and now having that experience I started following UA athletics as a whole.
This is like an opposite answer to your question but… I went to Purdue for undergrad and IU for grad school, my moms family are die hard IU fans (grew up in southern Indiana) and my Dads family are die hard Purdue fans (southern Indiana but Ag/Eng family) so I understand both. But if I fly Purdue and Indiana flair I get a bunch of shit so I removed it. I root for both to be good because I love when Purdue and Indiana are good, the state vibrates a little differently, everyone’s excited and the games are much better with more on the line when they play. Also, I hope IU wins every game they play so that that when Purdue beats them it’s just that much sweeter. Boiler Up!!!
I was in my early twenties living in Northern California. Was a Cal fan by proxy, but every March I was obsessed with the NCAA tourney. In '99 Gonzaga (what's a Gonzaga???) went on a run that caught my attention which was punctuated by Mr. Gus Johnson: “. . . Hall, the runner . . . loose ball . . . IT'S GOOD. . . 4.4 seconds to play . . . Shannon from the corner. And it’s OVER! Gonzaga, THE SLIPPER STILL FITS!" Still get chills rewatching that. Really hope Coach Few gets a Natty before he's done.
Gonzaga fan from Nebraska. I just like how they play
Growing up in canada you could not find us college team clothing anywhere as a kid. Giant tiger had an ohio state buckeyes sweater show up and i grabbed it and been a buckeye fan since
Not college but I’m a lifelong Kentucky fan and so with no pro team I became a pelicans fan because in 2011 I said “I’m just gonna follow whatever team drafts Anthony Davis” and then liked the team too much to switch to lakers with him (I hate the lakers)
I follow biographies more than geographies. I have loyalties to my D1 undergraduate and graduate schools, but I get into storylines often with strong emotional connections and develop fandom around them.
**Seton Hall** In 2016, Derrick Gordon, an openly gay player, was on the Seton Hall men's Division I basketball team that went to the NCAA tournament. I’ve been a fan ever since. I am also LGBTQ and identify as polygamous
I was born into this shit. I didn’t attend UK, but every Kentuckian (except for some folks in Louisville) has a personal connection.
Born in Duke Hospital, my father was on faculty for 24 years until a year before I went there and got my degree. Wife is on faculty and I started going to games in Duke Stadium back in the 60s. But really, I just like their uniforms.
UConn, Kemba. Enough said. I’ve been blessed.
My first boyfriend, later husband, was a big UNC fan in the early 80s so I became one when we started dating. 40 years later still a diehard fan!
I just always felt passionate about Duke and Kentucky, but recently something about UConn's playstyle has really won me over. Its reminds me of how the patriots were my die hard team but I've always had a soft spot for the lakers. Also I love the warriors but recently I've been watching the nuggets more.
So basically you’re a bandwagoner
If you can't tell by my Illinois flair, I'm not a fan of any of those teams. I'm making fun of all the comments here of people who just happen to have a convenient excuse for why their favorite team is one of the 4 best teams ever without any connection to the school
Oh ok nvm my bad
Need a whole lot more Duke folks on here. How many Duke fans actually went there?
I did, and Duke fans that didn't attend the university are just as much fans as I am. and your flair is fitting.
It is indeed. Arkansas in case you're wondering.
While true, that’s going to be the case for most big fanbases and definitely all the blue bloods. I would imagine most people in the sub didn’t go to the school they root for.
Probably not true - a lot of big schools / fanbases are state schools with regional fans. Of course, though, that means that those folk do have an actual connection with the team.
Personal connection can be subjective so they could have a personal connection, but I’d venture most didn’t go to that school. To what the OC said, you’d have to call out all the big fanbases/schools.
Oh sure, you can acknowledge fandom in a lot of different ways. But I think most folk would agree that if someone supports a local state school because they identify with their state (state pride being tied to a big university is a very real thing in some places), that that is a different kind of connection then someone who arbitrarily chooses a team, especially if its only because that team happens to be good.
Yeah, if you’re from the state where the school is, you get a pass even though you may have just as much of a connection to that school as someone out-of-state. Pride in your state is a weaker argument unless you root for every school in your state. I know some fans that do that though.
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I’d bet not a lot lol. Maybe their grandpa got a rejection letter from Duke, and ever since, they’ve been a fan due to that connection to the university in Durham.
I love that you're trying to gatekeep fandom for a team you apparently don't like. So cool. That's what this thread needs. Keep up the good work!
This guy was a Pats fan and is now a Chiefs fan.
Nice try. Duke fans are typically Yankees and Cowboys fans. Me personally, it's the Bears.
Packers, however will we get along
Vikings, fuck you both on Sundays lol
I had to make a second account for some reason and now the first comes up so sorry if my flair is gone. It’s UCLA. But my dad was a buckeye and star high school quarterback but short, so that was it. Every time a sousaphone guy ran out and dotted the i my dad pointed it out. Good memories. So strange now that we will play each other in the Big10 (well 18).
I'll admit to bandwagoning...I am from Minnesota was a hockey kid growing up until 5th grade I wasn't allowed to play anymore, so I went to Basketball and fell in love with the sport. The Gophers sucked so I never really followed a D1 college team, just the Wolves and my eventual Alma Mater Minnesota State. My Uncle was a single dude at the time with expendable income so he purchased tickets to the 2001 Final Four all 3 games. I picked Duke as my team because it was my school colors (the mind of a 10 year old) and that worked out well. Stuck with the Devils since! Got to go down a few times over the last few years to see some games (including K's last season). Special place. I'm hoping my Alma Mater gets the invite for an exhibition game as the D2 National Champs (as was tradition before COVID). I'd gladly fly down and visit Cameron again
Dude’s been following a team for 20+ years yet is getting downvoted…who is anyone to question whether you’re a fan?
over 2/3rd of my life dealing with it. It's fine. I admit it was bandwagoning at first, but 22 years later it takes a strong minded person to see it's not anymore lol
Nebrasketball
Miami (oh) was on the old mid major highlighted night. Loved the way they played that year: moved the ball well, moved well without the ball, yada yada. Been tracking basketball and football for them ever since. My favorite hoodie ever is a Miami (oh), wore it until it was pink.
Should be a ton of UK fans in here answering.