NEW YORK — Coach Dan Hurley is well known as a creature of habit, and he has made winning championships a habit for UConn men’s basketball.
Following the winning habit, Hurley is trying to do all the same things that preceded the Huskies’ repeat championship as he goes for the “threepeat.” That includes the tour of the region’s famous ballparks, Fenway on June 15, and Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
“We’re doing everything we did last year after we won it,” Hurley said, chatting behind home plate. “Precisely everything and we’re not doing anything new. So, yeah, we’re superstitious. If we do everything we did last year, we’ll be back.”
Dom Amore: In a region of champions, Dan Hurley’s Huskies are the dynasty in residence
As in his appearance in The Bronx last July, Hurley slipped on a Yankees jersey with Thurman Munson’s retired No. 15, stepped to the top of the mound, took a short windup and delivered the ball, a little high. He had joked he was dealing with shoulder soreness and elbow inflammation from taking his half-court shots before practice, another of his superstitions.
There are a few more stops to make on this year’s victory tour. Hurley, who was at the Yankees-Red Sox game with his family, watching from an owner’s suite, is between summer sessions on campus, players scattered.
“Alex (Karaban) was dealing with a foot issue the last week,” he said. “Liam (McNeeley) sprained an ankle working out on the Fourth of July back home. He should’ve just grilled like normal people and sat by a pool, but he’s a cyborg. The group is excited and talented. It’s a talented team.”
Much of the effort for the chase for another championship will center around sophomores Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross, Solo Ball, and Youssouf Singare, all of whom will be competing for bigger roles as the minutes left behind by the four starters drafted are up for grabs.
“We bet heavy on them,” Hurley said. “We were not as active in the (transfer) portal as a lot of other programs. We trust our player development and our evaluation of their talent. It’s my job as a coach to make sure they’re in a position to keep us were we’re at as an organization.”
‘Can you believe it?’ CT’s Joe Castiglione, voice of the Red Sox, is taking his place in Cooperstown
While Hurley is on top of the game, considered by some a spokesman, if not the face of the Big East and college basketball, he still approaches his coaching life as if there is something to prove.
“That’s not as comfortable a space for me because I don’t look at myself that way,” he said. “We have the confidence of a championship program but we work like we haven’t won anything. I’m so careful not to change in any way. I’m a much better coach when I’ve got a chip on my shoulder, and I think we’re undervalued and people think I (stink). So I’m going to look for slights, or create them where they don’t exist just to keep that chip on UConn’s shoulder. Always fuel the program.”
If slights and criticism are what Hurley needs to thrive, he came to the right venue: Yankee Stadium at a time the Yankees have been struggling, losing 14 of 18 to fall out of first place. There were those among Yankees fans, in the ballpark and on social media, expressing the idea that a fiery Hurley rant might be just what they need. But he compared the Yankees recent struggles to what the Huskies went through in January 2023 before righting things.
“They’re the Yankees, man,” he said. “It’s amazing when you walk in here, the organization treats you so well and waking down the hallway and seeing all the pictures of the champion Yankees. It’s a highlight.”
Hurley, from Jersey City, is a long-time fan of the Royals and George Brett, but the rest of his family are Yankees fans. Now coaching in New England, Hurley straddles the fence between Yankees and Red Sox. As he spoke behind home plate, Red Sox manager Alex Cora came by to say hello.
Thank you to @UConnMBB head coach Dan Hurley — winner of back-to-back NCAA championships — for throwing out today’s ceremonial first pitch! 👏 pic.twitter.com/chcmQVvT2z
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2024
So if you are scoring at home: Opening Bell on Wall Street, check, Fenway, check, Yankee Stadium, check. The White House visit has not been scheduled yet, but it is anticipated for later this summer. In 2023, Hurley and his staff visited Citi Field and Giants training camp. No word on any of that yet.
“You spend so much time working and recruiting and getting your team ready for next season,” Hurley said. “These are really the only moments you get to appreciate the accomplishments. This is the cool stuff you get to do, the parade, first pitch at Yankee Stadium, going to the White House. But then the work is waiting for you pretty quickly.”
In the third inning, Hurley visited the YES Network booth with Michael Kay, Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi.
