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UConn MBB Coach Dan Hurley FF Thurs · Coaches Corner

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  Sam and then we'll take some questions. Coach. Yeah, I just wanted
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  to uh to thank the uh you know, the folks, the welcoming committee,
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  the great people of Phoenix that that that met us when we got in.
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  Uh that was to stay out there for us, really made it,
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  uh you know, really special. And uh you know, my brother was
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  right, you got incredible people out here. Uh you know in this Phoenix
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  area. I know he loves it uh out here. And then thank Dan
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  Dan Gabbott for being out there. He's always been great to me and uh
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  and uh so we appreciated that that welcome yesterday. First question is going to
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  be on the left side, Dana Dan O'Neil at the Athletic Dan, how
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  was your flight? It was not you know what it was nice? Uh
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  you know what it's like. Uh you know, I know, yeah,
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  I had a lot of thoughts because I've had a lot of time uh to
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  think just in a stationary situation. But you know it's like, I think,
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  what goes through your mind once you're done, you know, kind of
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  complaining and cursing and muttering and trying to you know, you just start saying
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  yourself, you know, like you don't really deserve to show entitlement such an
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  honor to get a chance to and a once in a lifetime experience to go
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  play in a final four. Coaching the final four that you know, it's
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  just you know, once kind of that edge war off you start, you
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  know, lucky to be here. We're lucky to get an opportunity to come
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  play in the final four. And then who doesn't deal with problems with the
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  airlines. I mean, people deal with it during the holidays and it's just,
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  uh, it's something that you you know, just got to get through.
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  But it sucked up front end center. Dan donald Boy from the Current
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  I know you alluded to it, I think during the week somewhere, but
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  can you give us your take on what you've seen from the women's team,
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  if you've been able to watch them the other night and what they've been able
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  to do with what they've been up against. Yeah, just to see it
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  in the building, because you you walk by the training room and they got
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  like a top five team in the country. That's hurt they're not playing so
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  uh, I mean it's you know, it's why Geno's you know, one
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  of one of the best coaches of his generation and obviously the you know,
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  you know, uh, you know Page and and and their crew. They're
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  just it's special. And to do it with everything that they've dealt with the
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  last two years. Uh, it's just you know, it's it's it's incredible,
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  and it just speaks to the level of of of Geno and his staff
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  and and yukon women's basketball and why they've been the premier program. Yeah.
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  Uh in the country. Coach will go to the center of the room.
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  Jeff. Then you looked terrific for somebody that didn't get any sleep. Terrific.
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  Yeah, well I got two on the plane and then I got another
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  two at the hotel. You look good. Caffeine. That's why God made
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  caffeine. You know, everybody's talking about your team and this one's a layoup.
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  Right. You're gonna beat Alabama no problem. You've said you you kind
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  of make up some stuff to motivate your team. What have you made up
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  so far to motivate your group so far? Yeah? I don't think you
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  at this point. You know, with what Alabama's shown in terms of what
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  they're capable of to beat a number one seed in North Carolina, and just
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  with how good their offense is I mean, it's you. It'll be the
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  best offense that we've guarded. Uh, you know this year, you know,
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  as good as Illinoi's was, this is better just because I think they're
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  you know, they're they're they're deeper, just more athletics, you know,
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  just more guards that can break you down. And then look at the you
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  know, we we've you know, we've lost three games. I mean we've
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  got you know, we got crushed, uh at Creighton and you know at
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  Seaton Hall we got we got our we got our butt kicked too. So
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  if we're not on our identity like we're we're vulnerable like everybody else. But
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  you know, again, if we play elite offense, eve elite defense and
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  beat you on the backboard, we're tough to beat. Left side, just
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  to the right of the aisle and Dave borders Hurst, Connecticut Media. In
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  the past, you've said you've preferred not to certain, for instance, play
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  against your brother at Arizona State or former team like you or I or guys
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  you know, well, does does does Nate fall into that purview? In
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  a perfect world you wouldn't have to go up against a good friend like that
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  or Yeah, I mean, he definitely fits into the category. You know,
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  I would say, you don't rather not play Bob or Nate or anyone
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  that you're close to, maybe in the first round of the tournament or maybe
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  an Elite eight game. But you know, this one, I think I'm
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  excited too, you know, to compete against a friend and you know,
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  and in such a you know, big spot. You know, this is
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  like the Final four. I think kind of changes it a little bit for
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  me because you know, we've both done something incredible with the season and then
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  you know, somebody that I really care about is gonna play for a national
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  championship, preferably me, But I also care about Nate too, to a
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  much lesser degree, same area of the room, Chris Chris butt in with
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  the ESPN when you look at the people that have won back to back,
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  and Billy Donovan said he reached out to Bill Belichick. Kirby's Mornick Georgia did
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  a deep dive into the New Zealand All Blacks. I'm wondering who you've reached
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  out to, who you've studied on how to sustain success? Yeah, Bill,
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  you know Billy Donovan I got, you know, talking to him.
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  Immediately really a week after the season ended last year, and I kind of
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  hit that emotional crash when it's over and it's doesn't feel like maybe what you
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  thought it would in terms of that sustained euphoria kind of disappeared quickly. So
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  we talked a lot about that and uh, just the emotions of it all,
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  and then you know, then the mindset with the team. The difference
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  is I had a whole new team basically, you know, uh, you
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  know, coach k and Billy Donovan the last you know, two coaches to
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  do it. You know, they returned pretty much intact and entire dominant team.
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  And you know, we've done this while losing five of our first five
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  of our top seven or whatever it was scores and only taking one in the
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  portal, So doing it through player development and doing it through trusting freshmen and
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  strategic portal. So it was different. And we I'd say that we did
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  talk about, like you know, reigning and defending, uh more than I
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  was told to, because I actually what we talked a lot about with Tristan
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  Donovant and UH and akh Caraban was like, you guys got a chance to
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  make history at a place that is impossible to make history, and that was
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  probably what we leaned into a lot with that returning corps that could have been
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  complacent because you know, been there, done that, Final four national championships.
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  You know I did it already. Why do we got to push so
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  hard? Well, you got a chance to make history in a place that
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  is impossible to make history. Back of the room, to the right of
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  the aisle. Kyle Tucker with the athletic with sorry, Kyle, No,
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  you're good in a in a final four that's got a bunch of really unique
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  big guys. What makes your your guys special? Yeah, I just think
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  you know, his impact all over the court because he moves so well,
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  and he's got such great mobility Donovan, and you know, he's got the
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  motor and the feel. He could really pass, so we can move him
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  around offensively in terms of like five out or passing out of the post if
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  he commands a double team. You know, he's devastating in the ball screen
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  game because he puts so much pressure on the rim as a roller, changes
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  the gravity of the court that way. And then obviously, you know,
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  running the court and transition the threes that he creates in the driving lanes because
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  of his presence is a game changer. And then the defensive end is where
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  he's at his best. Uh, he could get up in ball screen defense
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  and slower guard's momentum down, but still deal with the roller, which is
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  gonna be critical tomorrow. So just when you're seven to two sixty, a
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  move like that, you know, that's why he you know, not bad
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  for honorable mention all Big East. Back to the room on the left of
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  Fanta Dan John Fans of Fox Sports. You have talked at times about some
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  of your the things that you do to distract yourself in key moments, such
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  as yoga. You took a painting at one time, mental exercises that are
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  therapeutic. When you were stationary for seven hours, what did you do to
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  pass the time last night? Yeah, I mean I ruminated, uh a
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  lot. I spy and then I had my head in my hands a lot.
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  I know Andrea story that pose yesterday. Yeah, because that the toughest
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  part. We got a chance to go home, which was nice. So
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  we sent the guys back to campus because then you know, we were gonna
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  leave at eleven thirty. But then that that that that it was a real
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  mindful exercise, uh, from eleven thirty to like one on the tarmac.
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  You know, the it was therapeutic to watch the de icing out the window.
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  That was that was probably the best part of it. John, we'll
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  go up front coach Michelle Gardner, Arazona Public coach. You last year beat
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  people badly in the playoffs. This year you're beating people worse than you did
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  last year. What's enabled you guys to just sustain that level of play and
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  literally not have any close games? Just just to have a special group of
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  players that have that that combination of h of talent and humility and a willingness
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  to uh to not make it about themselves, a commitment to both ends at
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  the court doing what's in the best interest of the team, and then you
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  know, making the hustle and the effort plays on the backboard, you know
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  that way, preparing the right way, just from a coaching staff standpoint,
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  from a player standpoint, just getting the absolute perfect group of people around you.
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  And yeah, I mean we've this tournaments the hardest thing to do.
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  I mean you could see it. The programs, the you know, with
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  the most best resources, biggest brands have a hard time getting here because of
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  the changes in the game recently, so we've made an incredibly hard tournament to
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  advance in look easy and probably a lot easier than it really is. I
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  pay no attention to what's happening at this time. We're gonna go to Matt
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  and then Dan. Matt nor lean Er CBS Sports. As you watch the
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  de icing solution kind of wash over the plane. I do have a genuine
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  question for you, knowing how you are wired, Dan, your players landed
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  at about six fifteen body clock time, East Coast time. What adjustments have
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  you made, if any, to get them Dan, you're paying attention.
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  Yes, I'm listen. We're also de icing you know what? Yeah,
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  exactly, I can wait. No, no, I'm listening. I got
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  you. I'm following. What adjustments have you made when it comes to prep?
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  Obviously they had no media availability here today, but you care a lot
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  about the details and all that, so I'm wondering what adjustments. I know
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  you're very key into the prep for Saturday nights. Tip. Yeah, we
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  just you know, we push things back a little bit, maybe like an
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  hour and fifteen today. The guys we're able to sleep in a little bit,
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  you know, we did our same routine. We did our video at
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  the hotel, and we knew we only had an hour and a half on
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  the court, so it's important to take advantage of shooting and get a little
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  bit of live play. So we just get adjusted to you know, much
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  much bigger setting. And so I think we you know, we obviously took
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  a little bit off the practice plan, and you'll just make sure that we
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  do a little bit less tonight. Let these guys get their rest. I
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  mean, listen, these guys were getting in a van driving fourteen hours to
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  the Peach Jam and playing two hours later. So there's no excuses. I
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  mean, shit, I was driving a mini cheese Bush to prep school games
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  not too long ago. So uh yeah, you know, we we're in
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  the final four here, man with a chance to uh you know, to
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  advance, to repeat his national champions and make history. You know, we're
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  way past that shit. Dan, Yeah, Dan walking us to today and
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  they was in here earlier and basically said that getting to know the hurlies and
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  especially your dad sort of made him realize that if he never advanced beyond becoming
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  a high school coach, that that was okay. What was it about him?
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  That the Hurleyes liked and that you guys sort of vibe with. Yeah,
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  it's like he was running a college program in high school just like my
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  dad. If you went and watched Saint Anthony, just the way the program
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  functioned, from the pregame pregame meal that that was my dad was literally cooking
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  on his own to game day shoot arounds, to film sessions. Like the
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  quality what my dad was doing at the high school level was what was the
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  quality of what the top programs in college were doing, you know, obviously
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  based on the resources available. Right. So that was the thing I noticed
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  about Nate when we recruited a EC was like, this guy's wired different.
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  Number one is a different level of the energy about him, just the way
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  he shows up when you meet him, and then just the way he ran
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  his program. I went and watched them before a state tournament game. Have
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  one of the most detailed video scouts that you you'll see, and in the
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  back they had spaghetti cooking on the stove. You know, it was you
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  could see he was a he was a high level guy that just happened to
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  be coaching in college. Second row center, We're gonna use the front left
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  or the front right Micropan excuse me, second row, Benport and Oyesports Business
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  Journal Dan. Around the time that you got to Yukon, there are some
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  pretty well documented financial issues for the athletic department as a whole. But when
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  you look at the way things have changed over the time that you've been at
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  Yukon, whether that's as a basketball program or for the athletic department as a
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  whole, what's that been like to see some of that growth and some of
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  that changed kind of see where you guys are at now. Yeah, I
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  mean even going back to the nineties, I think when when when you'd pull
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  up the campus and see how the university has changed into you know, just
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  a world class university, when an incredible campus, and how stores as a
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  college town has uh has really elevated. So yeah, you know, I
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  think, uh, you know, when you get when you get your program
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  playing back to top of sport and you find yourself on these big stages,
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  there's obviously opportunity for the university to take advantage of these things. And what
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  we did last year and what we've done this year and the attention that the
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  men's and women get. Uh, yeah, the University's got to figure out
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  every way to capitalize. Adam Dan Adam Zagoria, NJ dot Com. Glad
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  you made it here safe. Uh we got a Big East team in the
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  final four. Here, we got a Big East team in the championship game
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  of the n i T. What does that say about the Big East?
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  And did the did the NCAA tournament screw up by allowing succeed Hall in this
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  tournament. I'm trying to move on. Man, It's like you people are
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  trying to yeah, oh man, hey, listen, yeah, I mean
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  shaheen. He's uh, he's just an awesome coach. And the n i
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  T has been a blast. I got a chance to watch a bunch of
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  the games. But that Indiana Cincinnati game, Uh, I watched that one
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  night. That was an incredible game. Some of those n i T games
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  have been awesome. I mean, listen, you you you saw our Big
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  East tournament games. You saw a game against Sint John's. You saw what
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  Seaton Hall did to us in the regular season. You saw the season that
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  Providence had the high end wins. Those teams you know very well, you
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  know could have should have been in a tournament. Obviously, there's things that
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  we got to do as a league better. You got to look in the
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  mirror two across the board. You know, you gotta win non conference games.
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  You gotta win big non conference games, and then you you know,
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  you can't lose by games like nobody can't do stuff like that too. So
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  as a whole in the entire league, it's got to come through in a
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  non conference. But obviously there was more teams deserving, but you know a
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  lot of teams, you know, yeah, there were some bids that were
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  stolen. But listen, some of our hardest games this year have obviously come
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  in the Big East. So yeah, you said it, front row on
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  the left side, Coach Hey, Coach Blake, even Sun Devill source kind
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  of the full circleness of Bobby here, and he said yesterday that he'd roll
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  out the red carpet for you guys, and you just being welcomed here.
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  Can you just kind of talk about the full circleness of him trying to go
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  back to back as a player, and then you guys now being back to
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  back final fours here and doing it in Bobby's college town. Yeah, it's
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  awesome to be out here. And I see why Bob loves it so much.
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  And and obviously, uh, you know you you know the time I'll
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  spend with him the next couple of days. You know, him sabotaging these
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  other programs for me at his site there is going to be give me a
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  distinct advantage too, which I appreciate from Big Bro. Yeah, and it's
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  just, uh, you can see why he loves it here. You could
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  see why he values his job here. And and uh, you know,
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  I think when he's in a position you have to have all the resources that
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  a lot of us at this final four have. When he has that at
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  his full disposal, you know he'll be up on this dais and someday I'll
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  be I'll be I'll be supporting him. Final question for coach, let's go
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  over to the front row. You've gun radio wayn Norman Yukon Sports Network last
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  week. You really signed the praises of Kristin Newton being one of the greatest
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  guards in Yukon history. I'm just wondering, do you think he's playing better
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  this year than he did last year because he knows the plays better, he
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  knows what the open man is going to be. Do you feel he's made
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  a big step from last year when he was great to this year. Yeh,
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  he's made a big step, a lot more on his shoulders. From
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  a leadership standpoint, I mean, a dama. Andre Jackson's like one of
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  the great leaders all time in sports. A Dama by example led like a
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  few men you know could lead. That guy, you know, Hawk was
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  quietly you know, a tough guy with with obviously game changing abilities. Joey
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  California, Nahim Alin, they were like older men who were were great rotation
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  pieces. So you know, Tristan lost so much of his wingmen and UH
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  had to assume so much responsibility and and be you know, last year he
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  was a he was a fourth starter, fifth starter to now the driving force
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  you know behind this team. So it just you know, with the guys
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  that chose to come back, like Donovan who could have been a top twenty
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  pick but came back. And now it looks like that that that bet on
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  himself and us is going to pay off UH in terms of where his draft
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  stock is. And and Tristan, this has got exactly the way you know
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  we told Tristan after the draft. Combine the reason that every reason why he
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  should come back to school has absolutely come to fruition and you just love when
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  it works out that way. Uh. It makes obviously it it's that bond
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  between you greater. It's gonna help in recruiting. Uh. And then you
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  know he uh, you know he is his career as a guard at Yukon.
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  Again. I don't know what happens from here with him. I think
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  he's got a great chance to play in the NBA for a while. But
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  just you know, guards having warned the uniform with what he's done in terms
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  of winning and accolades, you know, it's tough to beat his two years
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  of accomplishments. Thank you Ayne, and thank you coach. Thank you,
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  beg you tomorrow afternoon. Slip on