Upcoming UConn dates

It may be football season, but basketball season isn't all that far away, either. Here are some upcoming dates for UConn men's basketball fans to keep in mind:

• The UConn men's hoops team will be signing autographs prior to Saturday's UConn-Syracuse football game at Rentschler from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at the Fan Fest area. The football game starts at 1 p.m. At the conclusion of the first quarter, UConn players will be presented with a hand-crafted surfboard, recognizing their participation in this year's Maui Invitational in November.

• The annual Husky Run will be held on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. This will be toned down from recent years, with just UConn players participating.

(Oh, and did you see what Donyell Marshall's doing in his first year as CCSU's head coach on Wednesday? Looks familiar!)

• UConn's first official practice is on Saturday, Oct. 1.

• UConn's First Night festivities will be held on Friday, Oct. 14. Bit of a different wrinkle this year, 

Here's the schedule of  First Night events:

3 p.m.: Doors open for First night/UConn women's volleyball (4 p.m. match)

First 50 students in line will be granted premium courtside seating. Also, the first 300 fans to sign up at the marketing table inside the South entrance will be granted entrance into a "Selfie Session" with the teams. 

4 p.m. UConn volleyball vs. UCF

5:30 p.m. Selfie session begins in the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center

7 p.m. Fan promotions and on-court entertainment begins

7:30 p.m. Showtime

The highlight of the festivities will be the Blue vs. White scrimmage, which will consist of four, five-minute segments - two featuring men vs. men, two featuring women vs. women. 

The teams will be chosen beforehand, but fans will be able to vote for which team they would like to see coached by Geno Auriemma and which they would like to see coached by Kevin Ollie. Voting will take place on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram starting on Sept. 29 and ending on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

• Finally, the AAC's Media Day will be held Monday, Oct. 24 in Philadelphia.