STORRS: Conor Geary has perfected the technique of rolling a T-shirt into the shape of a beer can, which generates the aerodynamics and density required for a correct throw into Gampel Pavilion seats from the concourse below.

He vowed, “I’m not the laundry guy at my house.”

More crucially, Geary has mastered the modulation and innovative techniques required to be the dominant voice in UConn basketball stadiums. “GameDay Conor,” the Huskies’ in-game emcee for the men’s and women’s games in Storrs and Hartford, does more than just plan crazy moments involving shirt throws.

He utilizes loud speakers to infuse extra excitement into the customary pageantry as he leads cheers, interacts with supporters, and delivers announcements with flair. Geary’s performance combines the booming beat of hip-hop with the screams and whispers of audiences larger than ten thousand. At every UConn game, he consistently creates a roller coaster of sound by holding the microphone to his lips and rocking back and forth.

“I don’t just walk into my kitchen at home and say, ‘Let’s have a glass of orange juice!'” said Geary. It’s a part. I feel like I fit right in with it.

The 36-year-old Geary exudes charm by nature and becomes much more so when working. He is a Manchester native who performed in plays for most of his early years. Since the 2018–19 season, he has worked at UConn athletics. Every summer, he uses a similar gimmick to host minor league baseball games for the Hartford Yard Goats.

Geary uses a 20-page skeleton screenplay for UConn games, which is a simplified version of the event’s full “run of show” breakdown. Sponsorship and marketing pitches are required, with many of them having to be read aloud or almost aloud. Though there’s lots of potential for creativity, Geary has the chance to develop a sight-and-sound experience that elevates game-going beyond simply keeping up with the action and scoreboard.

“Students at UConn, what’s going on?” Around eight minutes before the latest men’s game at Gampel Stadium versus New Hampshire began, on November 27, Geary exclaimed. “Everybody stand up! Let’s get this started properly!

Geary led the renowned “UConn… Huskies” chant among the student section. Afterwards, it was the chant U-C-O-N-N. He would come and go from midcourt to a nearby tunnel for a two-plus-hour work window that is most hectic during game timeouts in order to be ready for the next contest, announcement, cheer, or promotion. As is customary, supporters stand at the start of every half until the Huskies score, or until they yell, “Score… ore… ore… ore!” in Geary’s distinctive, cascading rallying cry.

“This really piques my interest,” said Geary, who has experience in entertainment and food and beverage services. One of his first adult steps toward becoming what he is today—a modest celebrity among the most devoted and active UConn basketball fans, with a growing reputation for the Connecticut entertainment industry—was working as the team’s first mascot back in 2017.

Geary works for UConn as a temporary special employee under contract. He isn’t getting rich doing what he is well-known for. For example, there is no 401K involved. This part-time employment is quite noticeable. Geary has a 9 to 5 office job in Bridgeport, Monday through Friday. That’s what covers the expenses. However, he is likely paving the way for a career as a full-time presenter and entertainer by using a microphone in the same manner that Dan Hurley and Geno Auriemma use a clipboard.

Geary has UConn games, Connecticut Sun games, and the NCAA men’s lacrosse national finals at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Rentschler Field in East Hartford. He has emceed games and events at the majority of well-known sports facilities in Connecticut and is increasingly being recruited as a host or auctioneer for corporate events.

No act is appropriate for everyone, thus his isn’t. In his debut season, Geary experienced firsthand the depressing sensation of being called out by supporters on social media.

“I recall being called out and receiving criticism in a generally negative manner,” Geary remarked. It wasn’t, ‘Change the way you speak.’ It was not ‘You’ve overlooked anything.’ I had never experienced being publicly humiliated in such a way and was ill-prepared to deal with it since, although I was obviously visible to the public, I didn’t think of myself as someone in the public eye at the time. It accomplished several goals. I made a greater effort to talk to individuals about the work and to be more approachable in order to remove any obstacles. And I got others to stand up for me. I say, ‘I’m open to recommendations.’

Critics are, however, scarce. Geary is now a member of a thriving and successful basketball community. His booming voice has been a part of the home soundtrack as that program has ascended back to the top of the collegiate basketball mountain. During contests, he displays a men’s national championships ring on his right middle fingers. At women’s events, he is just as animated, leading cries like “Blue… White…” that split the stadium during a match. Yes, during his rookie season, he made the mistake of referring to Auriemma’s squad as the “Lady Huskies,” which was quickly brought to his attention.

Overall, he elevates the entertainment value for the marketing department at UConn, to which he reports, giving two outstanding basketball goods a showman’s touch. He converses with a lot of fans at both arenas. Some people request his autograph.

Geary participated actively in CAST (Children’s Associated Summer Theater) as a child in Manchester. When he was in middle school, his family relocated to East Hartford, and in 2005, he received his diploma via East Catholic High in Manchester. He grew up being an avid supporter of both UConn basketball teams, but for his own education, he picked a private out-of-state institution. At Siena College, he majored in marking and management and minored in philosophy. He graduated in 2009.

From then, Geary established himself as a successful professional in the restaurant industry. He managed the comedy club Brew HaHa at City Steam on Main Street and Ted’s Montana Grill on Front Street while employed as a manager in Hartford. When the Yard Goats’ home, Dunkin’ Park, opened in 2017, Geary and his future wife were residing in Downtown Hartford.

Geary and his family sat in a dugout suite as a surprise for his father Denis’s 60th birthday. For Geary, it was one of the best evenings of his life. He emailed Yard Goats executive Tim Restall after the game, saying something like, “Leave me know if you have a job that fits what I do.”

Following the 2017 campaign, Restall made contact. The Yard Goats required a somebody with experience in food and beverage to redesign their pre-game activities at the stadium. As director of event services, Geary was appointed. The Yard Goats made a change for in-game entertainment before of the 2018 season. Geary was asked by a different creative team boss, “You worked in a comedy club, right?”

“Do you think any performers really are interested in the job?” she said.

Geary offered her a few names, but the truth was that he was interested in the job and would continue to do event services even if it required 100-hour workweeks. He was quickly appointed host, and it was during a summer baseball game at Dunkin’ Park that the UConn athletics and marketing departments took note of and expressed appreciation for the first time.

When UConn asked him to play football, Geary was unable to commit because of unforeseen circumstances with his schedule. After that, he was requested to play hoops.

“The idea for starting a business came from the fact that I can be hired on an as-needed basis,” said Geary, whose moniker “GameDay” stuck after a UConn band member gave it to him a few years ago. “This is my platform, folks. I’ve gone through an amazing progression of stages. However, what does this actually mean?? Is this really a part-time job where I perform for two hours and then end it? That’s basically the essence of it. However, it has increased annually. When I win a national title, people become more aware of me and are shocked to find that I’m not a full-time employee.

“I’ve gotten recognition from folks that I wasn’t looking for or anticipating. It never would have occurred to me that it would become this.

Gamedayconor.com is the website that Geary uses to manage his company. Along with his spouse Victoria and their one-year-old daughter Harper Rose, he resides in Wethersfield. His work is done after the UConn game is over. Almost three hours after arriving, he is making his way back toward his car.

Those three hours are jam-packed with information. Geary has highly specific tastes. Every announcement’s wording and tenor are carefully considered, and he makes necessary adjustments. He and other event crew members argue back and forth on the loudness of the microphone and speakers. Never does Geary utter “um.” He has long since overcome his stage fear, and he mostly uses muscle memory. Even when it doesn’t feel like it, everything comes across naturally. Before the New Hampshire game, Geary was gripping the script for the evening and kept returning his attention to a single, about 200-word chunk.

Geary remarked, “I have a read tonight that I have to memorize between now and when it happens.” Although I’ve never done it before, I’ll be more anxious about it than everything else I do. I’ve never thought of those exact terms together. My knees buckled up when I had to step out onto the Lincoln Financial field for the NCAA lacrosse national championship in front of non-UConn supporters, using a sound system I had never used before, and making announcements for sponsorships that I had never had to do before.

Along the way, Geary visits various areas of the arena, getting in a cardio exercise. By the time he made it back to the tunnel, he was drenched in sweat from racing through the student section to distribute vouchers for free wraps at a nearby restaurant (given because New Hampshire missed a string of free throws) and then hurriedly heading toward Section 205 for that intimidating read he needed to commit to memory.

Primarily in jest, Geary stated, “I wanted to pass out.”

It has to do with a loge suite sponsored by Chevrolet. He made it through. The fact that it wasn’t said exactly how he planned would go unnoticed.

Geary stated, “I didn’t say Chevy right away.” By the end, I managed to get it in. The first time, I missed it. as I haven’t done it previously. Was I eventually concerned that I wouldn’t get the read right? No. Was there a bit more experimenting to get the ideal blend? Indeed. Have I covered every ground? Yes, I did. Was it received well? Most likely. It didn’t quite go in the sequence I had practiced.

Geary had committed important phrases and terms to memory: exclusive, pals from Chevy, brand-new Gampel Pavilion loge boxes, four on the concourse, ten individuals, and an email address where fans could get in touch.

“I believe I conflated ‘exclusive’ and ‘ten,’ and I overlooked ‘Chevy,” Geary stated. “I believe I said, ‘This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy, with up to ten of your closest buddies, an exclusive area of Gampel Pavilion.'” That’s not true, however. Up to nine of your pals might participate.

Not to be picky, is it?

“That’s right,” he said. However, that stuck in my head. When 8 and 10 were combined, there was a little pause, and that was when I realized I had missed Chevy and had gone out of order in my sequence. After returning to Chevy, everything sounded good. However, it was not as smooth as I had hoped.

Geary has an amazing memory. Just before halftime, five UConn students chosen at random from the crowd stood in the tunnel with signed assumption-of-risk papers. At halftime, they were to play “musical basketball,” wherein each participant had to score a basket when the music stopped and then return to their positions around the midcourt emblem.

Geary found out the name, grade, and hometown of each young guy. It was told to him once. Swiftly. Then he continued, “Spencer, Joe, Brad, Alex, Justin,” pointing at each of them. It doesn’t matter if you make a layup, a slam dunk, or a halfcourt shot.

Taking notice of someone’s height, Geary grinned and shook his head. Geary readied the audience moments later, and each participant was presented with precision.

Geary remarked, “My wife will tell you I don’t have a great memory.” I can pretty well recollect it, therefore that’s the greatest description I can provide. It’s not like I would know their names if you asked me tomorrow. I distinguish between recall and memory. My skill is being able to hear something once and then recite it in front of 20,000 people while holding a microphone.

Geary’s ideal job is this one. He claims that all he would do is “rub the lamp.” It’s likely that he’s headed in that direction. Much of it still seems strange, as when Ray Allen was first introduced to the XL Center audience in Hartford or when Andre Jackson approached him during the national championship match in Houston and gave him a clipped piece of net.

By focusing on the small things throughout time, these are the significant memories that are made possible.

similar to having a T-shirt that feels and looks like a beer can.

If the odds are favorable, Geary added, “I can hit the second deck.”