Dan Hurley is old school.
That much is obvious, with his fiery sideline demeanor and the unapologetic nature in which he defends it. His energy translated seamlessly to his past two teams, who took the court with a swagger, believing that they were the best in the country and their opponent would eventually agree.
When things aren’t going their way, Hurley wishes his team’s passion and accountability would threaten to boil over at times. It happened in 2023, when UConn lost at Seton Hall and captain Andre Jackson Jr. took his anger out on the visitor’s locker room at the Prudential Center, leaving destruction in his wake as the season threatened to spiral, the incident first detailed by The Athletic. When UConn suffered a similar loss this year in the same building, it was a much quieter, more sorrowful reaction.
Alex Karaban, the obvious selection for captain this season, is more of an introspective, lead-by-example type.
“Do I wish we had more of an alpha mentality on the team? Do I wish that after some of those losses there were like, guys close to getting into a fight in the locker room because of the frustration from not being where we want to be? Yeah, I wish there was more of that,” Hurley said after Saturday’s 75-63 win at Providence, which clinched his fourth consecutive 20-win season.
Hurley and Karaban had a conversation about entitlement and how the team ended up in the position it was in after that Feb. 15 loss in Newark, its fifth in a 10-game stretch. Karaban had been struggling for about a month, his jump shot absent and affecting other areas of his game. Speaking to local reporters after the loss, Karaban placed blame on himself and his teammates for coming in with the wrong approach, saying they hadn’t been taking every game seriously enough.
During his conversation with Hurley, Karaban reflected on an eventful summer that began with him testing NBA waters alongside four of his teammates and ultimately deciding to return to Storrs for another opportunity to grow as a player and as a leader, also to compete for a third national championship in a row. Less than two weeks later, Hurley turned down a head coaching opportunity with the Los Angeles Lakers with the chance at making history among his reasons for staying.
Dom Amore: A study in accountability, Alex Karaban puts another UConn loss on himself
After two years at the top of the mountain, Hurley and Karaban two major factors in getting there, UConn was reminded of how difficult the climb actually is.
“I think really when I started struggling, at least for my own play, when I started struggling I think I realized that I’ve got to embrace the situation that I’m in and kind of just reflect on everything that got me to this point since the summer and I’m realizing how much more I could do and how much harder I could’ve worked,” Karaban said, remembering the conversation on Saturday.
“And that’s for myself, whether that’s offensive variety or defensively strength-wise, I was able to control that in the summer and I didn’t do enough work for that and now I’m just facing the consequence of it. But it’s not too late to change how the season’s going, it’s not too late to change how I’m playing. So just continue to live in the moment, embrace what’s happening right now and just fix it.”
Hurley has said that UConn’s season will only go as far as Karaban takes it.
Saturday, the first day of March, seemed to be a return to form.
Karaban made winning plays, highlighting the hot hand of Tarris Reed Jr. and supporting the transfer center’s career game with 17 points of his own on 6-for-13 shooting, 2-for-4 from beyond the arc with both of his 3s coming in important moments. He made a steal and grabbed five rebounds, all in the second half.
Dom Amore: This UConn bear has been poked and as he comes to life the Huskies couldn’t be happier
“I just liked how aggressive he was,” Hurley said. “Like getting the shoulders downhill at the rim and like we’ve talked about, making more plays. Don’t be so reliant on half-court actions but looking to drive closeouts, looking to play in the ball screen, just playing off script more, creating more offense.”
UConn, currently fourth in the Big East standings, has two regular season games left at Gampel Pavilion, first against Marquette on Wednesday, then Seton Hall Saturday.
During their performance in Providence, the Huskies looked confident and refreshed. If they can get an all-around effort like that on a consistent basis, there won’t need to be any locker room fights to make another run possible. But it all starts with Karaban.
“I wasn’t playing or being like Alex Karaban during my month of struggles,” Karaban said. “I wasn’t leading as much as I should’ve been, I wasn’t obviously playing as well as I needed to. This team is really going to go as far as myself and the rest of the guys (take it) and I’ve got to lead the charge and I’ve got to continue to be that piece for us offensively and defensively. Today I thought was a step in the right direction but we’ve got to go off this momentum and continue to play well.”
Originally Published: March 2, 2025 at 2:27 PM EST
