Dan Hurley cuts down net after UConn won East Regional and returned to Final Four Saturday. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
BOSTON — March 17, 2022. Buffalo, New York.
It was on that night, in that locale, in an auxiliary locker room in the bowels of KeyBank Center, that the foundation was laid for perhaps the greatest two-year run of any college basketball program this century.
After UConn suffered a second consecutive first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament, this setback coming to a No. 12 seed in New Mexico State, Dan Hurley was at a loss for words after Teddy Allen had strafed the Huskies for 37 points in a 70-63 upset.
March 30, 2024. Boston, Massachusetts.
Fresh off a 77-52 decimation of Illinois in the East Regional final, Hurley looks back at that seminal moment in Husky history for the benefits it afforded, a Dr. Frankenstein of sorts marveling at the chaos his monster hath wrought as it now measures Alabama in its crosshairs as the next potential victim.
“(It was) a long look in the mirror at me as an offensive coach. I’ve always done a lot of things right, but there were blind spots for this program to become elite. That sucked, man. That was some deep, dark depression for a week, 10 days, two weeks, but coming out of that, we made all the right moves. We’ve been the best program in the country, really, since that moment.”
What UConn has done in the 744 days following the early exit to New Mexico State has captured the heart and attention of the sport. The Huskies’ return to college basketball’s upper echelon has propelled the 51-year-old Hurley into the rarified air occupied by recent luminaries of the game such as Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Mike Krzyzewski, and even the patron saint of Connecticut basketball, Jim Calhoun. Hurley may have had basketball in his bloodstream before he said his first word, but when asked if he viewed himself among the game’s elite, he offered his customarily candid appraisal of himself.
“I think if I am one of those people, I’m probably a good one because I’m authentic,” Hurley admitted. “I am who I am. I’m basically a high school coach that’s like, masquerading up at this college level. I don’t really care what people necessarily think of my intensity or my passion. It obviously shows up the right way with my team…we don’t cheat, we don’t lie, I think we’re about all the right things. I’m just, at times, an asshole.”
Someone very close to the UConn coach saw things in a similar lens, dispelling the notion that he had still lived in the shadow of his surname and family, giving credence to the masterful stroke of the paintbrush that has yielded a championship mural.
“That shadow stuff is long gone,” the person conceded. “He’s an outstanding coach, and I’m humble in his presence. What he does at the college level, the culture and everything about it, it’s just amazing. I thought last year, what was accomplished was unbelievable, and then five of the top eight scorers are gone. This is a different team, and they’re playing so well again. They’re really good, but in a different way.”
“Who said that?” Hurley shot back, almost refusing to believe the source.
When informed a second time that the praise came from his father, Bob, a Hall of Fame mentor in his own right, the younger Hurley was visibly overcome with emotion, speaking in equal tones of pride and reverence.
“He’s turning it on for you guys, man!” Dan exclaimed. “My dad has never said that to me. He doesn’t throw compliments around very frequently. I’ve gotten more recently. My dad’s one of the best coaches of his generation. If he did the career thing and went for the money, went for the climb up the mountain, he’d be up there with the best…Coach K, Coach Knight, Phil Jackson, all the giants of the game. To hear that from him is incredible.”
After making short work of a turnaround in his first collegiate job at Wagner College, where he won 38 games in two years, Hurley took over a more daunting challenge at the University of Rhode Island in 2012, a move he justified at the time as wanting to step outside his comfort zone. Six seasons, an Atlantic 10 championship, and two NCAA Tournament appearances later, the same results he delivered on Staten Island followed him up the New England Thruway, and attracted a suitor at a higher level. In March 2018, after an acrimonious divorce with former player and national champion coach Kevin Ollie, UConn athletic director Dave Benedict hired Hurley, who stood out almost instantly for not just his track record, but an intensity and edge about him that was reminiscent of Calhoun.
“I just think Dave Benedict saw something in me as a mid-major coach that was having some success,” Hurley said. “He just felt like I had the perfect combination of, you know, just being a Hurley — so I’d have the thick enough skin to deal with the comparisons — and then (that) I had the fiery personality that’s perfect for this fan base. You can’t have an empty suit over there with these people. You better have a monster on the sideline.”
The monster of which Hurley speaks is self-sustaining more often than not, but the coach adds his own fuel to the fire when necessary. In various walks of life, some people tend to become complacent after reaching the summit of their chosen professions, adopting a more nonchalant approach to their livelihood.
Dan Hurley is not some people. In fact, he admitted to placing more pressure on himself after leading UConn to a national championship last year.
“It was important for me to show my fan base and my players that they’re not gonna get some guy that’s gonna rest on his laurels after winning one, and he’s just gonna go and ring the bell at the (New York) Stock Exchange and go hang out with (President) Biden, and then he’s gonna take a year off and do the honeymoon shit,” he declared. “I’m an obsessed coach, and I’m gonna be more maniacal the next couple days than I was in the ones leading up to this, I promise you. And when this season’s over, it’s gonna get worse.”
Hurley said at this season’s Big East media day that he felt unfulfilled shortly after the national title, wanting to go back to work right away to begin the process of defending the hardware. That vision is still paramount, but on Saturday, he allowed himself to enjoy the moment for a brief minute more, reaffirming the ethos that was crafted from the bones of defeat two years ago.
“You never see us complacent, and that’s why we have the results that we have,” he said. “We’re just gonna play every possession like we’ve won nothing, but we also come into these games with the confidence of champions that expect to win.”
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