In three years, the expectations for a rejuvenated UConn men’s basketball program went from getting out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament to winning the whole thing.
There was a cacophony of factors that led to the Huskies ultimately falling short of that goal of three-peating last year, which was unrealistically high from the start, and seeing their season end in the second round at the hands of their eventual title-winning successor, Florida.
They were all on display in November, inside the pressure cooker that was Maui’s Lahaina Civic Center, an intimate high school gym where 2,400 fans hovered over the court, the first row no more than five feet from the floral stage where all of UConn’s vulnerabilities were exposed.
Dan Hurley, a ticking time bomb scowling in a Hawaiian shirt on the sideline, had wound himself up around the idea of coaching the first program to three consecutive national championships in more than half a century. What he got in Maui was three straight losses, a last-place finish in the tournament and a national debate over his self-control on the sideline.
“You saw Maui. You saw the monstrous intensity and maniacal egomaniac that was imploding on the island,” he said at Big East media day last week.
After the season ended in Raleigh, N.C., Hurley took a few days to wind down, and get himself together, but it wasn’t long before he got back to work in constructing a roster that addressed those broken areas: the porous defense, the depth and the will.
Now there is less pressure, but the ceiling remains a third national title in four years – which, Hurley will remind you, still constitutes a dynasty.
“I’m in a state right now where I’m going to dial up the intensity and the energy when I need it,” he said, “but I do think there’s a calmness about getting back on the pursuit as opposed to reigning and defending that just has me in a better state leading the team.”
Hurley has built his career on rebuilding programs. And this time he’s not starting from scratch.
Problem No. 1: Defense
It was clear in Maui, when UConn’s opponents shot 52% from the field and 53% from beyond the arc, that the Huskies had a real problem on their hands. The perimeter defense was porous, it allowed easy catches and drives to the basket, where often out-of-position bigs racked up fouls to the tune of 98 free throws allowed in three games.
The defense started to improve once star freshman Liam McNeeley returned from his high ankle sprain around the midpoint of the season, but it was far too late.
UConn finished the year ranked No. 75 in the nation by KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric – the worst ranking of any Dan Hurley-coached team that wasn’t in a clear rebuilding year.
“That was our Achilles heel last season,” said Solo Ball, who was challenged more than anyone to improve in that area.
“We earned the season that we got,” Hurley said. “A lot of it was centered around not having the defense and not having the toughness and the will, the rebounding and the junkyard-dog mentality and that identity that my teams have had for a long time, that I took for granted that we’d had. We’re back to that now.”
The solution: Back to the blueprint
The Huskies went out and got Silas Demary Jr. to upgrade the point guard position with a player who has a similar size and skillset to two-time national champion Tristen Newton. In addition to his well-rounded offensive game and underrated playmaking ability, Demary was one of the highest-rated defensive guards in the SEC at Georgia last year, according to EvanMiya.com analytics, and will be backed up by Malachi Smith, a Dayton transfer who brings that “junkyard dog” intensity.
UConn won’t exactly have the one-two punch it did with the lottery pick duo of Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan in 2024, but center Tarris Reed Jr. was the third-highest rated defensive player in the Big East last season and 7-foot-1 freshman Eric Reibe has the length to be a menacing rim presence.
“Last year’s fouls we were just getting driven on our heels and just kind of flailing at the ball,” Hurley said after the Huskies were called for 34 fouls in their second exhibition against Michigan State. “I thought (in the exhibition) we were making assertive mistakes, aggression mistakes, maybe trying to make too many plays on the ball, getting into the ball with too much physicality. You’d much prefer to be in that situation and now try to reel these guys back in with the aggression than the situation we were in last year where we literally just watched teams reverse the ball and drive the ball at will without any resistance.
“We’re putting up a great deal of resistance, right now we’ve just got to be able to apply that resistance without the lack-of-discipline fouls.”
Problem No. 2: Depth
When McNeeley went down, holding his ankle near the Blue Demon logo in the center of DePaul’s court on New Year’s Eve, Hurley knew he’d be in for a long winter.
UConn dealt with injuries during its national championship seasons – Andre Jackson Jr. missed a few games with a broken pinky finger in 2022-23, Castle hurt his knee and missed time the following year, as did Clingan (foot) – but they were never so devastating that the next man up couldn’t help the team win anyway.
Last year, however, McNeeley didn’t have as many contributors around him to make up for his production and UConn saw its NCAA Tournament seeding potential drop as it lost three of eight games early in Big East play. During that time, and continuing even after McNeeley returned, Hassan Diarra had taken over at point guard and was running himself into the ground, battling through a knee injury.
There were times the team didn’t have enough healthy players to practice five-on-five.
The solution: Loading up
That won’t be the case this year. Hurley’s staff took advantage of the increase in the scholarship limit to 15 players.
“It’s going to give us an ability to practice to the max, but then keep the team fresh,” Hurley said. “So hopefully that’ll be a big advantage, especially for the way that we practice.”
Playing in its second preseason exhibition against a physical, experienced Michigan State team ranked in the preseason on Tuesday night, UConn was without two starters in Reed (hamstring) and star freshman Braylon Mullins and still led wire-to-wire, holding onto a double-digit advantage for most of the night.
Each one of UConn’s starters were recognized among the best 20 at their position heading into the year. And, as they showed in the exhibition, the Huskies have plenty of options to come in as reserves – much like the first national championship roster in 2022-23.
“I really love the depth of the team,” Hurley said back in July. “To be in the rotation and to get minutes, you’re gonna have to bring real value to the team. You’re gonna have to play well and help the team play well to get minutes on this team.”
Problem No. 3: Ego
When the refs called an over-the-back foul on McNeeley with 40 seconds left in overtime against Memphis in the first game in Maui, the game tied, Hurley put his hands to his head and dropped to his knees in disbelief. He even crawled a few feet before he was awarded a technical foul, essentially giving away the game.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said after UConn ultimately came two points short. “I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call, or maybe I tripped.”
The national media jumped on him right away. The coach who had been all over sports talk television, celebrated for winning back-to-back national championships seven months earlier found himself as the lead story again, only this time as college basketball’s villain.
Hurley toned down his sideline antics once he got off the island, only enough to avoid crossing that line. But it was only about two months later when he was caught on camera during a stoppage telling referee Nathan Ferrell not to turn his back on him, because he’s the “best coach in the (expletive) sport.”
He was admittedly embarrassed by the comment and reached out to several coaches he respected to apologize. But the media cycle continued.
He went viral a few more times for his interactions as he walked off the court after games, like the “Two rings, baldy!” comeback after winning at Creighton, and the “Don’t let them (bleep) you like they (bleeped) us!” message he had for Baylor after the NCAA Tournament loss to Florida. Rather than the fight his team showed in that game, coming two points short of beating the eventual national champs, that was the lasting image of the Huskies’ season.
The solution: Self-reflection
Hurley won’t change who he is on the sideline, in the heat of the battle, but he’s made a concerted effort to control himself before stepping over that line again. His goal this year is to be able to simply get on and off the court without issue.
“It’s been nice to get back to the pursuit,” he said. “It’s been a little freeing. I think last year was very valuable in terms of getting a reset. The ego exploded last year. I didn’t have my best year as a coach, both in terms of the way I led the group and the group that I put together, and then the way I handled myself and the team throughout the year. So I think I’m in a much better position to get the most out of my team… I think it has all made me a better coach, and I’ll have a better year.”
