Dan Hurley made one irrefutable point this week. There are coaches who are rehired over and over, and even revered despite some serious, even egregious transgressions … because they win.
It’s a growing list, and that’s the business. So why should a coach with back-to-back men’s basketball championships be vilified for cursing at officials? I mean, isn’t that as American as apple pie?
Like it or not the old standards of decorum, demeanor are long gone in all walks of life — sports, media, entertainment, politics. Sure, I, too, prefer the old ways, class over crass, but this is reality in 2025 and what a coach says on the court, or walking off in the heat of a moment, is pretty much small potatoes in the scheme of things.
Come down to it, Hurley got two technical fouls all season. I just can’t work up much outrage over “two rings, Baldy,” or “I’m the best coach in the (bleeping) sport,” or “I hope the refs don’t (screw) you like they did us,” puerile as those things were.
UConn’s Dan Hurley reflects on behavior, how exhausting season ended in an unfortunate incident
That said, a public person does have to make a choice, to let it all hang out, be who they are and not care what people think, or, if worried about the perceptions, modify the behavior. Can’t have it both ways; can’t just do what you do and then ask why you’re not a beloved figure.
And neither a coach nor his communications staff can control the prevailing narrative in outside media, or prevent anything outside a closed locker room from being seen, heard, recorded and posted by somebody and becoming viral, as was the case in the tunnel in Raleigh’s Lenovo Center.
Hurley is a Hall of Fame-caliber basketball coach, and he only proved again with UConn’s game plan and performance in the loss to Florida that, well, he is one of the best coaches in the … sport. The focus should be on those things, but going forward he would need to moderate some of his behavior to keep the focus where he wants it.
What if he doesn’t change? He wins, plays by the rules, stays out of trouble away from the arena, and he’s still here. UConn can live with the histrionics, one would think.
More for your Sunday Read:
SCSU’s Keith Ridley? Believe it or not
UConn and Yale combined their Pro Day for NFL scouts, and 30, from 30 teams came out to see a ton of local college players. Sean Stellato, the agent for Giants quarterback Tommy “Cutlets” DeVito, was in Storrs in his customary garish garb, looking after one of his clients. He proved yet again that while some of us can pull off the fedora look, some of us can’t.
Among those working out was Keith Ridley, the quarterback at Southern Connecticut, who started as a tight end at Boston College, then to Bryant to play QB, his preferred position, and finally to D-II SCSU to get on the field and show what he can do. In two seasons, 20 games with the Owls, Ridley, 6 feet 4 and 230, impressive positional size, completed 60 percent of his passes for 4,420 yards, 31 touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions, and picked up a master’s degree.
“Southern gave me a chance and I made the most of my opportunities,” Ridley said. “I played quarterback my whole life, I just played tight end for that one semester. This is my dream. I believed in myself, my family believed in me, to make that decision. … They brought me in with loving arms, felt like family from day one. I love Southern, Owl Pride is a real thing.”
The biggest difference between D-I and II, Ridley believes, is the size of the linemen.
“But there is potential at the skill positions no matter where you go,” he said after participating in all the drills he was asked to do. “I took what I was taught at BC and Bryant and brought it to Southern, and I had some success. I was super prepared going into (Pro Day). I have a great trainer, just came out here and had fun. That’s all you can do.”
Ridley, from Saugus, Mass., and represented by Jimmy Durkin of NA 3 Sports, an agent with 11 years’ experience, said he has fielded some interest from the Packers, Lions, Colts and some CFL teams. Certainly, he could get a training camp invite, with teams always willing to take a look at arm talent.
“I’m big guy, it’s hard to get one guy to tackle me back there (in the pocket) so I can extend plays,” Ridley said. “And a lot of perseverance, too. I’ve fought through a lot of things in my life and I can bring that to the football field. I’ve just got to get my feet wet somewhere.”
Dom Amore: For Mike Cavanaugh, UConn hockey, the moment has arrived
Huskies’ hockey gray beard
Which one is Hugh Larkin? “He’s over there,” Hudson Schandor said, pointing across the UConn dressing room, “the guy with the beard who looks like the oldest guy in the room.”
Larkin, who turned 26 this week, is still playing college hockey as a grad transfer for UConn and he ended up scoring the first NCAA Tournament goal in Huskies history, setting the tone for the 4-1 victory over Quinnipiac on Friday night. Soooo, still in college at 26?
“Oh, it’s crazy, but I’ll tell you, it’s amazing,” Larkin said. “I love it. College hockey is something else. You can’t find this type of love, this type of love for teammates in any other pro or hockey level, junior, you won’t find it. Here, it’s a family and it’s awesome. I wish I could play more.”
UConn ousts Quinnipiac, 4-1, advances to NCAA hockey Elite Eight
From Livonia, Mich., Larkin played at Western Michigan from 2020-2024, where he had NCAA Tournament experience, but with teammates finishing up and moving on, he looked for a new horizon to play out his extra year of eligibility and found UConn at the right time. With as many as eight freshmen in the lineup, Larkin has added another grown-up voice to grad student captains Schandor and John Spetz, and he is part of a productive fourth line for the Huskies, who play for a chance to go to the Frozen Four on Sunday against Penn State.
“We’ve got something special in this room,” Larkin said.
Sunday short takes
*Championships are championships and never need apology or qualification, but it would have meant a little more for the eventual 2025 women’s basketball champ to have had to go through a USC team with JuJu Watkins to get there, which makes her injury even harder to process. You want to be the best by beating all of the best along the way.
*College basketball coaches get fired at the first sign of donor dissatisfaction, so I can’t blame a coach to striking for a better job while he is hot. But Sean Miller leaving Xavier three years after they threw him a lifeline just hits different.
*Heard a while ago that CCSU coach Patrick Sellers would be a candidate for the Fordham job if the Blue Devils made the NCAA Tournament. Multiple reports have had him in the thick of it anyway, and it would be unusually astute for a school to hire a coach from a mid-major based on a body of work rather than one conference tournament game. Sellers has an outstanding body of work in his first, and long overdue opportunity to be a head coach at Central and is adept at spotting undervalued talent in the portal. By Friday night, Fordham was zeroing in on UC Riverside’s Mike Magpayo, according to ESPN.
*The XL Center, even as is, would be an excellent site for an NCAA hockey regional.
*UConn may have a difficult situation on its hands, financially speaking, in finding out why the Gampel Pavilion roof leaked and nearly caused cancelation of a key late-season men’s game vs. Marquette. Apparently, when ice melts and slides off the roof it takes some of the weather stripping between the metal panels with it, and it’s likely to continue to happen.
*Wethersfield’s Danny Griffin scored Hartford Athletic’s only goal in a 1-0 loss at Pittsburgh on March 22. Hartford opens the home season against El Paso on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Trinity Health Stadium.
*If I should get elbowed or boxed out of a media scrum by a camera-toting David Horwitz, a West Hartford guy now reporting on news and sports for NBC Connecticut (Ch. 30), I’m blaming the UConn women’s basketball team. They toughened him up when he was one of Geno Auriemma’s practice players.
*Picking all the favorites was bound to pay off one of these years, right?
*Don’t tell me we’re going to have to go through yet another hideous cable provider/sports network blackout during the baseball season. Comcast and YES Network kicked things to the end of the month, until Monday at midnight at least, but still don’t have a permanent agreement. … Wait, I asked you not to tell me that.
*SCSU is honoring legendary former men’s soccer coach Bob Dikranian on May 21 at Aria Banquet in Prospect. Dikranian was 227-94-31 in 21 seasons at Southern, winning the national championship in 1987, the first of the program’s six. Soccer and Southern luminaries from all over the world are expected. For tickets and info go to southernct.edu/dikranian.
*Will go to my grave believed that MLB needs a salary floor, rather than a cap.
*As baseball kicks off, here are my top five baseball player/manager appearances on classic TV shows. 1. Leo Durocher, the Munsters (1965); 2. Leo Durocher, Beverly Hillbillies (1963). Leo the Lip, who roomed with George Raft and married Laraine Day, had real acting chops; 3. Sandy Koufax, Mr. Ed (1963). 4. Reggie Jackson, The Love Boat (1979); 5. Willie Mays, Bewitched (1966).
UConn’s Geno Auriemma expresses hatred for NCAA Super Regional setup: ‘They’ve ruined the game’
Last word
Okay, the joke’s over. Auriemma was spot on in Spokane, Wash., though “ruined the game” might be a little strong. We can go back to having the four NCAA Regionals in four cities for the women’s basketball tournament. At a time when interest in the sport is growing, why cram eight teams each into Birmingham, Ala., and Spokane? The game, too, has outgrown some of the regional sites of the past. There’s no reason why the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games couldn’t play to big crowds in places like Brooklyn, Madison Square Garden, UBS Arena, Providence, Boston, Hartford, Newark, Baltimore, D.C., etc. It’s may be time to consider moving first- and second-round games to neutral sites.
Originally Published: March 29, 2025 at 10:55 AM EDT
