Tag: UConn Basketball

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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How to buy UConn vs. San Diego State 2024 NCAA Tournament March Madness Sweet 16 tickets

Want to watch UCONN vs. San Diego State in person? Tickets are still available for this Sweet 16 matchup in Boston, MA.

Take a breath, Huskies and Aztecs fans, your teams are moving onto the Sweet 16!

No. 1 UConn routed No. 9 Northwestern 75-58, led by 20 points and 10 assists from senior Tristen Newton.

No. 5 San Diego State dispatched the penultimate double-digit seed, No. 13 Yale, 85-57 on Sunday night, capping the Round of 32.

Both teams advance to the Sweet 16 in the East Region, and will play in Boston on Thursday, March 28, in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship Game.

Tickets are still available to the UConn vs. San Diego State Sweet 16 matchup for as little as $294.

Tickets include access to both Sweet 16 games, the other game will feature the No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Illinois.

Weekend passes are also still available, and include both Sweet 16 games and the subsequent Elite 8 game in Boston.

At the time of publication Boston Regional weekend passes are still available for as little as $500.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UConn vs. SDSU Sweet 16 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/9OX99AD”]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Boston Regional weekend pass” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/deqP1wN”]

How to buy UConn vs. San Diego State 2024 NCAA Tournament March Madness Sweet 16 tickets

Want to watch UCONN vs. San Diego State in person? Tickets are still available for this Sweet 16 matchup in Boston, MA.

Take a breath, Huskies and Aztecs fans, your teams are moving onto the Sweet 16!

No. 1 UConn routed No. 9 Northwestern 75-58, led by 20 points and 10 assists from senior Tristen Newton.

No. 5 San Diego State dispatched the penultimate double-digit seed, No. 13 Yale, 85-57 on Sunday night, capping the Round of 32.

Both teams advance to the Sweet 16 in the East Region, and will play in Boston on Thursday, March 28, in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship Game.

Tickets are still available to the UConn vs. San Diego State Sweet 16 matchup for as little as $294.

Tickets include access to both Sweet 16 games, the other game will feature the No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Illinois.

Weekend passes are also still available, and include both Sweet 16 games and the subsequent Elite 8 game in Boston.

At the time of publication Boston Regional weekend passes are still available for as little as $500.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UConn vs. SDSU Sweet 16 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/9OX99AD”]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Boston Regional weekend pass” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/deqP1wN”]

UConn celebrated Geno Auriemma’s 70th birthday with hilariously customized shirts after first-round win

Now this is a great way for UConn to celebrate Geno Auriemma’s 70th birthday.

After the team’s opening-round victory over Jackson State in the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament on Saturday, the UConn women’s basketball team celebrated its head coach in a very spirited manner.

As it was longtime Huskies coach Geno Auriemma’s 70th birthday, the team wore customized shirts after the win to celebrate the coach and poke a little fun at him in the process.

Shirts included funny photos of Auriemma and one of the character Carl Fredrickson from the Pixar film Up.

This was a very funny way for UConn to honor its legendary basketball coach as the team attempts to win another national title.

We’ll see how far Auriemma’s team can get in what should be a very competitive women’s NCAA tournament this year.

With heavy hitters like South Carolina, USC and Iowa also contending this spring, it’s going to be a tough task for Auriemma’s team to win another championship for the school.

If they do, it’ll be a heck of a way to celebrate Auriemma’s 70th birthday season in style.

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UConn’s Dan Hurley shared a self-deprecating ‘Game of Thrones’ meme after shocking Creighton loss

Everybody, go home. Dan Hurley has won the internet.

Dan Hurley knows that UConn’s loss to Creighton is not good. But he’s taking it all in stride because he shared an epic Game of Thrones meme from his social media account that reflects he’s heard the criticism surrounding his team.

The UConn men’s basketball team did not have a good Tuesday evening. They lost to the Creighton Bluejays horrendously. Creighton shot over 50 percent from deep and was already up 14 at halftime. UConn had no answer for anything the Bluejays threw at them, and their 14-game winning streak went out the window. Before the team could even truly make it back to the locker room, Uconn head coach Dan Hurley was seen possibly threatening to knock out a student.

However, Hurley appears to understand that sometimes a bit of self-deprecation is necessary to get better. He shared a glorious Game of Thrones meme to his social media that referenced Cersei Lannister’s walk of shame after she was found guilty of a crime.

UConn’s Dan Hurley seemingly threatened to knock out a fan after massive loss to Creighton

If true, this was not Dan Hurley’s most shining moment.

The UConn men’s basketball team is no longer ranked No. 1, and head coach Dan Hurley had a very rough night. Newly released footage of Hurley walking off the court following a stunning loss to Creighton shows him exchanging heated words with a fan. Lip-readers think he was saying he would “knock the fan out.”

On Tuesday, the Creighton Bluejays took down the UConn men’s basketball team, and it wasn’t even close. The Bluejays were up 14 at the half and shot over 50 percent from 3-point range, making it hard for UConn to recover. The Huskies’ 14-game winning streak went POOF, and their road record against ranked opponents dropped to 0-21 all-time.

The win was so huge that fans were seemingly shouting colorful phrases at Uconn head coach Dan Hurley mid-game (Warning: NSFW language). To add salt to an already festering wound, as Hurley was leaving the court following the loss, footage captured by people in the building shows him having a heated exchange with a fan in the crowd.

Lip-readers think he told the fan, “I will knock you out.”

Update: Dan Hurley tweeted out a Game of Thrones meme possibly referencing his behavior during Tuesday night’s matchup and UConn’s head-scratching loss.

2024 NBA Mock Draft 3.0: Projecting the first round with Ja’Kobe Walter leading the way

The 2023 NBA Draft is challenging to predict but that won’t stop us from trying.

The 2024 NBA Draft is a genuinely challenging class to predict but that isn’t going to stop us from trying.

At this point in the season, there aren’t many players who have separated themselves as “can’t miss” prospects. Similarly, many players have clumped together in a similar tier and it is hard to differentiate much between many of those names.

If you’re into uncertainty and like the thrill of the unexpected, this is a fun group of players to evaluate because anything can happen and lots can (and will) change. But for those who want something more clear-cut, this process may become more frustrating.

Our mock draft looks different than some others around the industry and we expect that to remain true until the draft happens. Lots of factors will weigh into how teams evaluate these prospects and so that makes predictions even more hard to pinpoint than usual. While there is a lot we have learned, there is lots more to learn as well.

Unless noted otherwise, all data outside of the NCAA was pulled from our friends at Cerebro Sports — you can create a free account to evaluate player performance across all levels globally.

Our order was determined based on expected wins averaged out from ESPN, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. The teams outside the top eight in each conference were considered lottery squads. Trades were pulled from this database at RealGM.

The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Texas falls to No. 5 UCONN in Empire Classic, 81-71

Texas fought hard against UCONN but it wasn’t enough.

The Texas basketball program endured its first loss of the 2023-24 season. The loss came at the hands of last season’s national champion in the No. 5 UCONN Huskies.

There’s no shame in losing to a program of Connecticut’s pedigree, but it is a missed opportunity. There aren’t many out-of-conference tests on the Longhorns’ schedule, so the game could be viewed as one that got away. Such perspective doesn’t give adequate respect to the challenge Texas faced on Monday.

The Longhorns were undersized on the night, and it didn’t help that they had to face one of the biggest players in college basketball. Connecticut center Donovan Clingan towered over the Texas front line standing at 7-foot-2.

While Clingan’s height presented issues for the Longhorns, it was the Huskies’ well rounded forward Alex Karaban who did the most damage. Karaban shot 8-for-14 from the field with four three-point baskets and 20 points to lead UCONN in scoring.

Texas had a solid enough day offensively shooting 45.2% from the field and 76.9% from the free throw line. It will still need to improve to reach the level that Connecticut is playing at right now.

The Longhorns will next take on the Wyoming Cowboys on Nov. 26.

No. 19 Texas basketball wins thriller over Louisville, 81-80

Texas basketball will next face No. 5 UCONN after defeating Louisville in the Empire Classic.

The Texas Longhorns basketball team won on Sunday afternoon. The nation’s No. 19 team (4-0) defeated the Louisville Cardinals (2-2) to win their first game in the Saatva Empire Classic.

The game will not likely go down as a signature win later this year given Louisville won only four games last season. It’s still a huge early win for a team looking to gel with several new players.

The Longhorns looked good in a handful of areas. Virginia transfer forward Kaden Shedrick is proving better than expected when Texas brought him over through the transfer portal. Shedrick made a couple of highlight plays on his way to a career high 27-point game.

True to form, Texas forward Brock Cunningham made huge plays around the basket. Late in the game, Cunningham blocked a close range attempt to keep the Longhorns within striking distance of a win.

After a missed Shedrick free throw while trailing 77-76 with under two minutes left, the veteran forward grabbed a rebound and drew a foul. Cunningham knocked down the free throws.

On the following possession after a Louisville three by transfer guard Skyy Clark, Texas forward Dillon Mitchell crashed the boards to grab a rebound before being fouled.

Though the team was unable to capitalize on much of its all-out effort, it was hustle plays that got Texas back into the game. Down by one point, a defensive scramble for the ball led to a Louisville shot clock violation with 7.9 seconds. Out of a sideline inbound, Texas guard Max Abmas promptly hit a game-winning fadeaway jumper with 0.4 seconds left.

The team is off to a hot start. It will continue to push for more wins in nonconference play. The Longhorns will next face the defending national champions and No. 5 ranked UCONN Huskies in the Empire Classic.

Former Rutgers guard Cam Spencer breaks down why he picked UConn in the transfer portal

Cam Spencer talks about why he left Rutgers for UConn.

Former Rutgers basketball standout guard Cam Spencer said his move to UConn this offseason was all about fit. Spencer, who had a very strong season with Rutgers last year, entered the transfer portal this offseason and joins what is now the third team of his college basketball career.

Spencer transferred from Loyola-Maryland to Rutgers last year. In his lone season with the Scarlet Knights program, he averaged 13.2 points per game.

His decision to leave the program after one year was a bit of a surprise given how seamlessly he fit into head coach Steve Pikiell’s team.

In an interview this week, Spencer was asked by college basketball insider Andy Katz  “Why UConn?”

“It was a great fit from the first call, we spoke early,” Spencer told Katz.

“The assistants, we just meshed well, very blue-collar people, competitive people like myself. Really just meshed very well, it was a perfect fit for me.”

UConn are the defending national champions after they beat Miami to win the title.

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Katz followed up his brief interview with Spencer when he asked about how he fit in with the Huskies.

“It’s really a bunch of good guys who are well-coached and just all about the team. Very unselfish, all about winning and I think I fit right in,” Spencer said.

“I’m here to do whatever it takes to help the team win on both ends of the floor. Really just happy with the coaches and all the guys on the team so far. Can’t wait to get the season started.”