Video: Vanessa Bryant Gifts UConn MCBB Unreleased Kobe 6 Shoes Before Sweet 16

Vanessa Bryant—the widow of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant—gifted the No. 1-seeded UConn men's basketball team pairs of yet-to-be released Kobe sneakers on Wednesday.

As seen in the following video on the UConn Men's Basketball X page, the players were taken by surprise and expressed gratitude for the offering:

According to TMZ Sports, the shoes given to the UConn players were Nike Kobe 6 "Italian Camo" Protros, which will not be available to the public until next month.

TMZ added that the Italian Camo aspect of the shoe is meant to pay tribute to Kobe's time in Italy, as he was raised there for part of his childhood while his dad played professional basketball in the country.

It was also noted that Kobe and his late daughter, Gianna Bryant, were fans of the UConn men's and women's basketball teams and attended games together, which is why Vanessa chose the Huskies for the gesture.

UConn surprised the college basketball world by winning the national championship last season, but it wasn't able to sneak up on anyone this season.

Even so, head coach Dan Hurley's squad has been the team to beat throughout the year, posting a 33-3 record and earning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament.

The Huskies dominated in their first two tourney games, blowing out No. 16 Stetson 91-52 and No. 9 Northwestern 75-58.

On Thursday night at 7:39 p.m. ET, UConn will play its Sweet 16 game, and it will be a rematch of last year's national championship game against fifth-seeded San Diego State.

A win over the Aztecs would mean a trip to the Elite Eight and a matchup with either No. 2 Iowa State or No. 3 Illinois this weekend for a spot in the Final Four.