UConn's Return to the College Hoops Summit
It has been quite a journey for the University of Connecticut men’s basketball program since they last cut down the nets in 2014. After leaving the Big East and moving on from 2x national championship winning coach, Kevin Ollie, the future of UConn hoops was uncertain. The solution? Well, athletic director David Benedict would choose Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley, son of Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley and brother of arguably the greatest college point guard of all time Bobby Hurley, to turn the tide. Hurley was basketball royalty and a proven program saver. Although, UConn was a different beast. With 4 national titles since 1999, expectations were much higher than just a winning record and consistent tournament appearances. It was championship or bust for a lot of die hard Husky fans, but that didn’t intimidate the then 46 year old coach by any means. Fast forward to Monday evening as the confetti rained down in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. UConn was officially back at the mountaintop of college basketball, led by none other than Coach Dan Hurley.
When Hurley first arrived in Storrs, Connecticut, UConn basketball was a shell of its former self. The Huskies were licking their wounds, coming off a second straight and only second total losing season since 1986-87. This was far from the norm for the basketball blueblood, who had the most national titles of any program since the turn of the millenia, but had missed out on their second straight NCAA tournament for the first time in almost 30 years. Hurley had a plan to restore UConn to national prominence, one centered around hard work, discipline, commitment, and leadership. And while the 2023 squad that just blitzed their way through this year's tournament, boasted its fair share of top 100 recruits, they became just the second team since 2007 to win a title without a single 5-star. Their success relied more on those intangible qualities preached by Hurley, fostering a culture in the Husky locker room that kept the team together after dropping 5 of 6 in the middle of the season, and will exist long after this 2022-23 team has left campus.
Strategic recruiting, getting the right guys not necessarily the best guys, combined with stellar player development has been a staple of Hurley led teams, dating back to his days coaching at St Benedict’s Prep in Newark, NJ. Due to UConn’s lackluster performance in recent years and with the program residing in the group of 5, Hurley knew that high profile prospects couldn’t be his initial focus. This was nothing new to the former Seton Hall point guard. His entire career had been spent coaching at high school or mid-major programs where success relied heavily on player development. Prior to stepping on UConn’s campus, Hurley had taken a 13-17 Wagner team to 25-6 in just one year. He then led an 8-21 URI squad to two straight NCAA tournament bids and a conference championship. He knew the formula, and he had one of the greatest basketball minds to ever do it as a mentor. So Hurley got to work, scouring the country for the right guys: young men with high character, who yearned to be held accountable, and pushed to their fullest potential. Hurley would describe them simply as “winners.” Another thing Hurley looked for in his guys? Bad intentions. Not in the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons sense, but rather a tenacity that is being lost as the game of basketball evolves more and more into one that values flashiness and finesse. Not the Huskies though. Hurley wanted to do it his way, his father’s way.
This year's UConn team is littered with those guys. At the heart and soul, and a perfect example of the tenacious, team focused, winning mentality that Hurley preaches, stands Andre Jackson Jr. Jackson is a 6’6” hyper-athletic floor general who coach Hurley has touted as UConn’s MVP and fearless leader. After the win on Monday night, Hurley credited Jackson, “We had tremendous leadership from our older players… Andre Jackson, he is like an old-school captain, like a Derek Jeter-type of presence – all about the team, all about winning.” Jackson was a dominant high school basketball player from Albany, New York, grabbing the attention of every recruiter in the country with his athleticism and lockdown defense. He was a top 50 recruit, but his game was unpolished. Hurley didn’t care. He saw the potential in Jackson because the wiry high-flier possessed all the intangibles that Hurley was after: toughness, loyalty, basketball IQ, and leadership. Hurley knew if he got enough of these guys together and coached them up, that special things could happen. Jackson knew it too, along with guys like Jordan Hawkins and Adama Sanogo, modestly rated recruits who bought into this same championship vision.
It wasn’t before long that Hurley’s vision flashed signs of reality. UConn was back in the tournament, and in the Big East during Jackson and Sanogo’s freshman year. Hawkins would join the more experienced sophomore duo the following season where UConn posted its best winning percentage since their title run in 2014. Heading into this season, UConn looked poised to make some noise. They were underrated by many preseason pundits, but Hurley had his guys. Jackson and Sanogo were experienced centerpieces. Hawkins was showing flashes reminiscent of UConn legend Ray Allen. They added key perimeter guys in Tristen Newton and Naheim Alleyne. Plus a blossoming culture, and the rest is history.