Tag: Dan Hurley

Dan Hurley credits Kyle Shanahan as inspiration for UConn’s championship offense

The back-to-back national champion basketball coach mentioned Kyle Shanahan as an inspiration behind his offense with the UConn Huskies.

Over the last two seasons, college basketball has been run by one team, the University of Connecticut Huskies. With another recent win over the Purdue Boilermakers to cap March Madness, UConn became the first team to win back-to-back national championships in basketball since the Florida Gators won a pair of titles in 2006 and 2007.

Coming off the success of another national title, UConn head coach Dan Hurley mentioned the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in a recent interview. In an appearance on Tommy Alter and J.J. Reddick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three,” Hurley gave credit to Kyle Shanahan for inspiring his different offenses with the Huskies.

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Via The Old Man and the Three:

I think the inspiration the last two years, especially this year is like — watching college football now or [Kyle] Shanahan from the NFL, they’ll have like — obviously the pace and the tempo of their cuts and their actions.

But like how they’ll have trips out of the shotgun, with two in the backfield, and out of that formation, there’s like seven or eight different things they do out of — There’s a sweep, a play action, you know, a deep post right, all these different things.

So I think going into this year, me and Luke Murray, we got together, and we’re like, ‘you know, we want to have like, you know, 10 different formations…’

Via @RonStewart_ on Twitter:

Listen to the full podcast between Hurley and Reddick here.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Why does UConn head coach Dan Hurley pass on certain players while recruiting?

Dan Hurley talks recruiting and parents in building his UConn basketball program.

Dan Hurley’s success at UConn can be traced back to his recruiting philosophy. And for Hurley, the juggernaut that he has built at UConn is based on not getting the best athlete available.

In fact, Hurley, who comes from a family of storied coaches, said he avoids “neon players” who won’t buy into the program.

UConn has won back-to-back national championships, clinching this distinction with an emphatic win on Monday over Purdue.

In terms of recruiting, Hurley looks at certain critical factors, and many of them are away from the basketball court. In assessing a recruit, Hurley looks and asks “Have they played on seven different travel teams? Have they transferred to four or five different high schools?”

“They tell on themselves, they drop hints. You get the wrong kind of people in that inner circle around your players, they’ll sink your program,” Hurley said during a recent CBS interview.

“The locker room is so important, the personalities in that room. What they’re saying in that room after a tough loss.”

Hurley sees certain traits in a recruit – and their entourage – as big red flag. Certain recruits and their families have tendencies of “Becoming coach killers and program killers.”

 

“With the way we do things as well as the focus that we put on winning here those five national championship banners and the 11 on the women’s side you prioritize winning here as a head coach or you won’t be coaching for very long.

“And we’ve passed on players with incredible measurable height and athleticism off the charts to bring somebody in here that is going to give us a better chance to win.

“And (that is) somebody that if the losing does start is going to help you be able to to respond.”

ESPN lists Duke as the No. 1 team in their Way-Too-Early Top 25

Duke the top team in the country in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.

Less than 48 hours after Dan Hurley’s Connecticut Huskies completed one of the rare college basketball feats of repeating as national champions, the page has already turned to 2024-25 for the rest of the college basketball world.

ESPN made sure to get its Way-Too-Early Top 25 up late on Monday night, and the number one team in those rankings resides in Durham, NC.

Duke bowed out of the NCAA Tournament this season in the Elite Eight to an NC State team that spent the last 12 games playing incredibly inspired basketball. Duke led in the first half, but State overwhelmed Duke with incredible shotmaking and suffocating defense in the second half to send the Blue Devils home.

Duke is now in the process of reflecting and retooling for next year. There’s a renewed energy around the program as Scheyer will welcome the nation’s top recruiting class, highlighted by one of the most heralded number one high school basketball players since LeBron James, forward Cooper Flagg.

ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello, who put the rankings together, said this about his decision to put the Blue Devils at the top spot.

“Duke entered this past season as a national title contender, but never quite seemed to put it all together for an extended stretch and ultimately fell in the Elite Eight. Jon Scheyer will have two of the best NBA prospects in the country next season, in No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg and projected top-five NBA draft pick Khaman Maluach, but the Blue Devils could have point guard issues if Jeremy Roach decides not to take advantage of his fifth option year.”

Borzello also published a projected starting five that featured Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster, Mark Mitchell, and Maluach. The issue is that Mitchell announced his intent to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon, so he will not be on the 2024-25 version of the Duke Blue Devils. Duke will likely opt to find a shooter to help space the floor with Flagg and also give those minutes vacated by Mitchell to rising sophomore Sean Stewart should he opt to return.

Tyrese Proctor has not announced whether he plans to enter the portal, opt for professional opportunities, or return to Duke. If we assume Proctor returns, he’s likely a captain and must leap like Wendell Moore. There’s a lot of talent there, but it needs to become consistent. A decision from Jeremy Roach also remains up in the air, and having a fifth-year senior could be massive.

All that aside, Duke plans to utilize the transfer portal, too, so Duke’s roster construction for next year is far from done, with more names expected on their way out, i.e., Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, expected to be drafted in the first round.

Kentucky is rumored to make a massive offer to Connecticut’s Dan Hurley

There are reports that Kentucky is offering Dan Hurley as huge contract.

Current Connecticut coach Dan Hurley is the top option to replace John Calipari at Kentucky for most fans. He is also the apple of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s eye if reports are correct.

There are conflicting reports out there, but some are that Kentucky has made an offer to Hurley for $11 million per year for five years. That would make the two-time defending national championship coach the highest paid in the college basketball world.

John Calipari spent 15 years with the Wildcats, making several trips to the Final Four and winning a championship. However, in the last five seasons, the Cats struggled in March, winning just one NCAA Tournament game, and were on the receiving end of a couple of big upsets.

With Coach Cal off to Arkansas, Kentucky and Barnhart are leading their first coaching search in quite a while. A number of candidates have had their names mentioned, but Dan Hurley would be the homerun pick.

Hurley took over the Connecticut Huskies program in 2018. He got them back into the NCAA Tournament in 2021, and two years later they won a national championship. Then, they repeated as champs this year.

The hire of Hurley would be a big one for Kentucky, but an expensive one. However, it would likely pay dividends. He has proven he is an elite coach, and Wildcats fans would be happy about it.

For now, there are only reports and no evidence, so fans will continue to wait for news on all of the candidates, but Hurley most of all.

Kentucky’s reported men’s basketball coaching candidate list unsurprisingly features big names like Dan Hurley

Kentucky’s reported list of men’s basketball coaching candidates is not a surprise.

Kentucky’s reported list of possible men’s basketball coaching candidates to replace John Calipari is about what you’d expect it to be.

Kentucky Sports Radio’s Matt Jones shared on Tuesday night a ranked list of candidates for the school, which understandably had UConn’s Dan Hurley at the top.

Hurley downplayed the idea of him joining the Wildcats after winning his second national title with the Huskies on Monday night, but he didn’t say no outright. It’s very possible that Kentucky could make a Godfather-style offer that Hurley couldn’t refuse, but so could UConn, hypothetically.

Baylor’s Scott Drew was second on the list as a primary backup to Hurley, and Jones added he’d be “very surprised” if that list got past the second option.

Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was third, as he’d make a leap back to the college ranks after nearly a decade in the NBA if he decided to take the Kentucky job.

Hurley leaving UConn feels like a shaky proposition after the massive success he’s found at the school, making Drew the most likely option for the job at this juncture to Jones.

Drew won a championship with Baylor in 2021 and has spent more than two decades with the school. However, he’s only 53 and has plenty of coaching ahead of him. Hurley is the slam dunk in this situation, but Drew offers a ton of experience and would be very smart for its own reasons.

We’ll see how this all shakes out, but it’s not surprising to see these three major names linked to one of the biggest college jobs in the country.

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Big Ten Notebook: UConn secures back-to-back championships with win over Purdue

UConn and Danny Hurley won the NCAA Tournament on Monday night over Purdue.

On Monday night, Purdue’s magical March Madness run ended in the National Championship with a 75-60 loss to UConn. While Zach Edey continued to dominate, the Boilermakers could not prevent UConn from making history.

As the Huskies became the first team to win back-to-back championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007, they were relentless on the boards. The Huskies outscored the Boilermakers in the paint 44-40. They also were better from beyond the arc, making seven three-pointers compared to Purdue’s one.

While Monday ended in disappointing fashion for Purdue, there were a few bright spots, such as Zach Edey. The talented center scored a team-high 37 points while adding 10 rebounds to his resume. He also got some help from Braden Smith, who scored 12 points.

BASKETBALL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD#EVERYTHING pic.twitter.com/aUUx92LiTG

— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) April 9, 2024

Although Purdue put up a good fight, there was no denying this UConn team. Over the last two years, the program has put together a dominant run that head coach Dan Hurley is not taking for granted.

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“I think it’s up there in terms of the greatest two-year runs that a program maybe has ever had,” Hurley told ESPN. “I just think it’s the best two-year run I think in a very, very long time just because of everything we lost from last year’s team. To lose that much, and again, to do what we did again, it’s got to be as impressive a two-year run as a program’s had since before whoever did it before Duke.”

As Purdue turns their focus to the 2024-2025 campaign, they have plenty to be proud of. 

Dan Hurley calls UConn’s fanbase ‘obnoxious as [expletive]’ after win over Illinois

Do you agree, UConn fans?

UConn head coach Dan Hurley didn’t mince words when it came to the Huskies fanbase.

After UConn took down Illinois in the Elite Eight to clinch another Final Four berth in March Madness, he was asked about pumping up the crowd late in Saturday’s game. He replied that he wanted to celebrate with fans, which included how “it’s us against the world of college basketball.”

Then, he said this: “Our fanbase, again is as obnoxious as [expletive] on social. So everyone hates us.”

LOL. Well said, coach. Here’s the video of that postgame moment, with a WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE AHEAD!

Dan Hurley shared a heartwarming moment with his son after UConn’s Elite Eight victory

For the Hurleys, March Madness is a family affair.

UConn men’s basketball punched its ticket for the 2024 Final Four on Saturday in a lopsided victory over Illinois in the Elite Eight.

The Huskies are trying to win a second-straight national title under coach Dan Hurley, and making it to the Final Four of the men’s NCAA tournament is just one step closer to the ultimate goal.

Hurley’s son Andrew is a walk-on senior guard for the Huskies, so father and son get to make a second championship push together in this year’s tournament.

After Saturday’s Elite Eight win, the Hurleys shared a really sweet moment with each other on the court as they embraced in a big hug in their celebratory hats.

It’s always neat when somebody gets to play for their dad in any sport, much less one as big as college basketball.

It’s a family affair for the Hurleys, and we’ll see if more celebrating will be in order for this father-son duo as the tournament continues.

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Dan Hurley, please wash your own lucky underwear

Never make your superstition someone else’s problem

UConn head coach Dan Hurley has a pair of lucky underwear.

As far as sports superstitions go, this one is pretty tame, if not especially common among athletes. It’s all well and fine and mostly harmless.

In Hurley’s case, we’re talking about a pair of MeUndies red boxers with dragons on them. I know this, so you need to know this. He wore a similar pair all last March during the Huskies’ title run and lo and behold they’ve returned this year.

Hurley, thankfully, isn’t superstitious enough to abstain from washing his underwear, but apparently the coach relies on his wife, Andrea, to clean them in between games. After UConn defeated San Diego State in Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup, Hurley shouted out the practice in his postgame interview on the court.

It’s totally fine that Hurley has lucky underwear. It’s great that he can joke about them. It’s even better that will make sure they are clean.

All of that said— Dan Hurley, please wash your own underwear. You really don’t have to make that someone else’s problem. You are 51 years old. I have no doubt you can figure this out.

At the very least, that’s a lot of pressure to put on someone else. At worst, well, college basketball in March has never been kind to the stomach or bladder.

That should be a thing that Dan Hurley and only Dan Hurley gets to visualize.

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Dan Hurley compared athletes frequently using the transfer portal to changing out your daily underwear

That is certainly an interesting metaphor.

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley took a pretty sound stance on Wednesday against the NCAA’s widening of the transfer portal for athletes.

As Hurley explained to the media, from his perspective, it’s not healthy for the players to be able to jump around with ease between programs, especially while an NCAA tournament is underway.

He went so far as to compare players making these moves with such frequency to someone changing out their daily undergarments.

“I just don’t think it’s healthy for somebody to be able to change schools like underwear,” Hurley said about his disdain about the increasing frequency of athletes using the transfer portal.

There will always be a stark irony to how coaches view players moving around between schools when you consider how coaches can do the same with relative ease throughout their careers when given the opportunity.

Between the transfer portal and NIL deals, athletes have more power swaying in their direction than they ever have in the sport’s history. Hurley joins the voices who feel that it’s a step in the wrong direction.

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