UConn’s Return to Prominence Has Been a Household Affair
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Dan Hurley obtained choked up when requested about his dad on the eve of UConn’s Candy 16 sport.
Tears flowed once more earlier than the Huskies’ Elite Eight sport, this time from fascinated by what he considers his different household.
“I really like teaching this staff. I’ve gotten emotional,” Hurley stated after UConn steamrolled Gonzaga Saturday night time. “I simply can’t take into consideration teaching this group for the final time. It makes me unhappy.”
Hurley will get to educate them at the very least yet one more sport, subsequent week in Houston.
UConn has blitzed its manner by means of the bracket to this point, successful every of its 4 NCAA Match video games by at the very least 15 factors.
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The Huskies turned what was alleged to a dream Elite Eight sport right into a nightmare for Gonzaga.
UConn dominated at each ends, beating the Zags 82-54 within the fourth-most lopsided Elite Eight sport for the reason that NCAA Match expanded to 64 groups in 1985.
That places the Huskies within the Remaining 4 for the primary time since successful the 2014 nationwide title and again on monitor to as soon as once more being an elite program.
UConn will play Texas or Miami subsequent Saturday in Houston.
“I noticed them in November and I simply thought they had been such an entire staff there,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few stated. “They’ve obtained nice measurement. They’ve depth. Their bigs are totally different. So they create totally different qualities.”
The run has been a gratifying one for Hurley.
His father, Bob, is among the few highschool coaches to be inducted into the Naismith Corridor of Fame, a demanding coach who led St. Anthony Excessive Faculty to 26 New Jersey state titles.
Bobby Hurley, Dan’s brother, received two nationwide titles as a participant at Duke and led Arizona State to its third NCAA Match since 2018 this season.
Dan performed at Seton Corridor earlier than working his manner up the teaching ladder. He spent two years at Wagner earlier than main Rhode Island to consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Tasked with returning UConn to nationwide prominence, Hurley regularly rebuilt this system, main the Huskies to their first NCAA Match berth in 5 years in 2021.
The knock on Hurley: he could not win in March. UConn obtained bounced out of the NCAA Match’s first spherical every of the earlier two seasons, together with to No. 12 seed New Mexico State final yr.
The Huskies regarded like nationwide title contenders early this season, went by means of a funk, then began taking part in their greatest basketball on the excellent time.
After the win over Gonzaga, Dan now has some bragging rights of his personal and celebrated with hugs from his household after clinching a Remaining 4 spot Saturday night time alongside The Strip in Las Vegas.
“We’re simply blessed that we grew up in Jersey Metropolis and located basketball and had a dad that pushed us,” Hurley stated. “And I’m simply proud that he’s been in a position to journey with us and now I get to take my dad to a Remaining 4.”
And he is taking that different household with him.
Collegiate athletics create a novel expertise, the numerous hours spent collectively chasing a typical objective. Faculty basketball gamers spend as much as 11 months a yr with one another between the season and offseason exercises, so bonds come naturally.
Some groups are nearer than others. These Huskies are a tight-knit pack.
“You really are — you’re household,” Hurley stated. “And to do that collectively is particular, not simply the good moments, however having to choose one another up after nice failures. Simply doing all of it collectively, the curler coaster trip. It’s prefer it’s a bond that you’ve with different those who most individuals don’t get to expertise.”
Subsequent up for Hurley and the Huskies is a very distinctive expertise: taking part in within the Remaining 4.
AP March Insanity protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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