Dan Hurley holds net aloft after UConn repeated as national champions this past April. Hurley and Huskies will now shoot for third straight title together after the coach turned down Los Angeles Lakers’ offer to remain in Storrs. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
Hurley has frequently referred to Storrs as the basketball capital of the world, using the program’s off-the-beaten-path geographic location as a way to feed the competitive fire he and his players share in an environment void of tabloid distractions and professional sports sensationalism. He has often said other programs want what his currently owns, which is more trophies in its case this century than any other Division I school. And at the center of this relentless pursuit of perfection, much like the tag lines of the old Lexus commercials, lies a man driving a luxury car of a basketball power while vehemently not content with just being the best.
That, more than anything, is why Hurley spurned the Los Angeles Lakers and a lucrative $70 million payday to stay in his own slice of paradise, tucked inside the northeast corner of Connecticut. Even though he harbors a dream of eventually moving on and coaching in the NBA, his current undertaking remains unfinished. Immediately after UConn defeated Purdue to win its second straight national title, the first thing on Hurley’s mind — and the minds of his players as well — was using the recently concluded dominant run as a foundation for a potential three-peat. It was somewhat ironic that he was nearly wooed to Los Angeles to begin what would be the next phase of his Hall of Fame career when he is looking to become the first coach to win three championships in a row since the late Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden.
But there is always a method to Hurley’s madness. A creature of habit, bordering on maniacal at times, he simply cannot walk away until satisfied. And the satisfaction has never lasted long enough to justify moving on to something new. The determination is so evident that two trips to the top of the mountain have not fazed Hurley in the grand scheme of things, their luster wearing off after a fleeting moment like chewing gum losing its flavor, replaced by the process of retooling and doing it again.
Hurley was confident in this coming season and the group he brings into it, the ability to cut down the nets in April for a third straight year. It is also why Alex Karaban returned, why he plucked Aidan Mahaney and Tarris Reed out of the transfer portal to help fill the voids left by Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, why five-star recruit Liam McNeeley flipped his commitment from Indiana to UConn.
“When you win a national championship,” Hurley posited at Big East media day last October before the Huskies did the same thing six months later, “you know your way works.”
The familiarity with what Hurley knows prevailed over the great unknown. Comfort with what he has on the court compared to the rest of the Big East, and to a greater extent, the country. An intimacy of having his family in close proximity as opposed to being 3,000 miles away with nothing or no one to turn to for guidance in situations he would normally find a voice, a warm body. A general contentment with what he has created, not wanting to sacrifice it or leave it in the hands of someone else to finish a mission he almost took personally two months ago.
Why mess with happy?
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