Dan Hurley wasn’t shy in showing his emotions as UConn’s bid to win three consecutive NCAA Tournament championships came to an end on Sunday.
UConn’s head coach held back tears after the Huskies’ 77-75 loss to Florida in the Round of 32. During his postgame interview with CBS Sports, he reflected on the Huskies’ run over the last three seasons and said there was “an honor in the way we went out” as eighth-seeded UConn nearly took down the top-seeded Gators.
“This year’s been a real battle,” Hurley added. “We’ve battled and we’ve had to battle, battle and battle. At times, I don’t think we liked each other a whole lot with some of the things we had to go through together. But I don’t think I’ll ever love a team more than how hard they fought for what we were trying to accomplish and for the honor they played with today.”
While the Huskies made the tournament, this year’s team didn’t experience the same peaks that the previous two under Hurley had. UConn went 24-11 this season and had a rough patch in November, when it lost three games in the Maui Invitational. After that, the Huskies opened their conference schedule with uneven play as they were 8-4 in the Big East in early February.
UConn found its footing in the final weeks of the regular season, ensuring it would make the NCAA Tournament. However, not many expected the Huskies to make a run once the brackets were revealed. UConn needed to beat a Florida team that entered the tournament as arguably the best in the nation and a popular pick to win it all.
Still, UConn kept Sunday’s game close throughout. The Huskies even led for the majority of the second half, with Florida taking its first lead since the first half with less than three minutes left.
The fact that UConn was so close seemed to make the loss an even bigger pill to swallow.
“Unless it ended in San Antonio cutting the nets down again, it was going to end in a real emotional way for us,” Hurley told reporters. “Part of it is probably, too, just the season, just how tumultuous the season’s been, how hard the team battled and fought just to qualify for the tournament. Then for how the game played out, up through the last media [timeout], two free-throw rebound mistakes now.”
As Hurley expressed sadness in his interviews, he also showed some anger following the game. The UConn coach had a profane-laden message when his team left the court ahead of the Baylor-Duke game in Raleigh.
“I hope they don’t f— you like they f—ed us, Baylor,” Hurley told the Bears team, who was looking to upset top-seeded Duke but lost.
Hurley mentioned his frustration with a non-call in which he believed Alex Karaban got fouled while UConn had the lead late in the second half, but he didn’t offer up any more specific issues he had with the refs beyond that.
“A lot of emotion, man,” Hurley told reporters of the loss. “We’re a passionate program. The players play with it. I coach with it. You’re always f—ing drained when it’s over.”
Hurley was joined by Karaban, Samson Johnson and Hassan Diarra at the podium after the game. Those three players were the only scholarship players on the team to be a part of both national championship rosters. Sunday’s game also marked the last time Johnson and Diarra will play for UConn as they’re graduating. Karaban has one more season of eligibility, but he didn’t say what his future plans are following the loss.
“They change your life. Young men like that change your life,” Hurley said of those three players. “I was a coach, not necessarily on the hot seat going into 2023 — you’ve got to ask [UConn athletic director] Dave Bennett — but until these men, until Alex Karaban put on the uniform and Samson (tearing up) — the players change your life when you have such special people.”
UConn’s back-to-back championships elevated both Hurley and the program. Last June, Hurley even publicly flirted with leaving Storrs to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, Hurley and the Huskies will get some time they didn’t have over the last two offseasons, when they were making the post-championship media rounds, to breathe. Hurley is looking forward to it.
“I would say going into the year, there’s a lot of rewiring and things I’ve got to do in the offseason because you just get caught up in this tidal wave of success that we’ve had,” Hurley said. “You lose perspective. You struggle with the ego at times because you’ve been on this incredible run.
“It will be nice to get to a normal offseason and just get back to myself as a coach and not have to throw out first pitches. You should only be ringing stock market bells and throwing out first pitches when you win the major championship. I won’t have to do things like that. I’ll be able to just focus on the upcoming season and make better decisions with all aspects of coaching.”
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
