By: Spencer McCraw

For his entire life, Dan Hurley has been chasing something, always overshadowed and overlooked. As the son of one of the greatest high school basketball coaches ever and the brother to a two-time national champion in Bobby, the littlest Hurley has always been hungry to create his own legacy. 

Now in his thirteenth season as a head coach, he has done just that. Hurley has done something that neither his father nor his brother have accomplished: coaching their team to a national title. 

Not only has he reached the mountaintop in only his fifth season as the head coach of UConn, but he has also restored national prominence to one of the most proud and celebrated college basketball programs of the last two decades. 

After Jim Calhoun retired following the 2012 season, there was a sharp decline in the level of output by the Huskies (Yes, Kevin Ollie did win a title in 2014, but those were mainly Calhoun’s players). Because of this, Dan Hurley was called upon in 2018 to revitalize this historic program, and slowly he enacted change.

Hurley’s energy and unrelenting pursuit of perfection attracted players like James Bouknight and Tyrese Martin, which has helped to completely change the culture. Hurley now has a national title under his belt and the no. 4 overall recruiting class coming this summer, so it is safe to say the Huskies are back. 

When Dan Hurley came to Storrs, CT, he had a vision. Now, that vision has come to fruition. Hurley envisioned a team that defended, pushed the tempo, and most importantly, hustled. For most of this year – other than a stretch in January – his Huskies did just that. 

UConn dominated their non conference schedule, starting the season 11-0. This was when the rest of the country started to take notice of the Huskies, as they shot up from unranked to the no. 2 overall seed in the AP Poll.

The national attention and high seeding made the Huskies veer away from their identity at the start of Big East play, losing six of eight games at one point. Jim Calhoun and Dan Hurley both agree that this was the best thing that could have happened to the players. This stretch of losses allowed the Huskies to realize who they were, but more importantly who they weren’t. Without this stretch, says Calhoun, they would have not made it deep into March. 

The Huskies rolled through the rest of the year, only losing two games and ultimately lifting the trophy in Houston. The common theme during UConn’s run in March was utter domination. Not a single team had an answer for what Hurley tossed at them, winning every game by double digits. This run through the tournament was reminiscent of 2021 Baylor and 2018 Villanova – two of the most dominant teams in the last decade. 

No matter how the rest of Dan’s career goes, he has created his own legacy. Bobby’s little brother has taken hold of the Hurley name and has written his own chapter to ensure that they will be cemented as one of the greatest basketball families of all time. From Bob – the high school coach – to Bobby – the college point guard – and now to Dan – the college coach – all three have climbed to the top in their own way. 

The culture shift that Hurley brought about in Storrs will ensure that the Huskies will stay near the top.