UConn head coach Dan Hurley, center, talks to guard Tristen Newton (2) as he comes to the bench … (+)
For years, Dan Hurley admired Billy Donovan, another New York-area point guard who played in the Big East Conference before embarking on a successful coaching career.
In 2006 and 2007, Donovan coached the University of Florida when the Gators won back-to-back NCAA championships. Since then, no men’s team has been able to duplicate Florida’s feat. But this year, Hurley is coaching a University of Connecticut team that may have the best chance to become the first back-to-back national champion since Florida.
The Huskies (31-3) enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed, the first time the vaunted program has earned that distinction. They begin their quest for the sixth title in UConn history Friday afternoon in a first-round game against No. 16 Stetson at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, about 140 miles from campus.
Hurley said he talked with Donovan about how to approach coaching the year after winning an NCAA championship. Donovan, now the coach of the Chicago Bulls, was also a conversationalist on other topics.
“I talk to him a lot,” Hurley said Saturday night after UConn’s Big East tournament victory. “He’s a mentor, an idol and a legend. He brings me a perspective beyond just the pursuit of success — that servant leadership, the real part of coaching, the relationships, improving your players’ lives, setting them up for success, the impact you have as a coach.”
Donovan is nearly eight years older than Hurley and has a calmer demeanor on the court than the fiery Hurley. But the two can relate to each other through their shared playing experiences (Donovan at Providence College and Hurley at Seton Hall) and their tortuous paths to becoming an elite coach.
Before Donovan and Hurley won their first national titles, they were considered coaches who couldn’t win big games. Donovan reached the Final Four in 2000, his fourth season at Florida, but the Gators failed to advance to the opening weekend for the next five years.
Florida entered the 2005-06 season unranked in The Associated Press preseason poll after the departure of its top three scorers (Anthony Roberson, David Lee and Matt Walsh). But the Gators won their first 17 games and climbed to No. 2 in the poll. They went 5-6 in their next 11 games before winning their final two regular-season games and the Southeastern Conference title.
During the NCAA Tournament, with the exception of a 57-53 Sweet 16 victory over Georgetown, the No. 3 seeded Gators have won their other five games by at least 13 points, including 73-57 over UCLA in the championship game.
Heading into the 2006-07 season, Florida faced very different expectations than the previous year. The Gators’ top seven scorers were back, including three players (Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Al Horford) who could have been selected in the first round of the NBA draft had they left school. Not surprisingly, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll.
Still, the 2012 season wasn’t always easy for Florida. Matt McCall, the team’s director of operations, said the players, especially Noah, who once enjoyed their college lives, were now in the national spotlight, surrounded by fans and attention everywhere they went. Florida finished February with three losses in four games before beating Kentucky in the final game of the regular season. The Gators went on to win the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Championship, ending a sometimes difficult season in the best possible way.
“The second year was tougher for me, and it was tough for everybody because of the expectations,” McCall said. “I always tell people that expectations are the hardest thing to deal with in sports. You see teams that have great runs, that have great teams, and then the next year they’re not as good even though they’re down a few pieces. To me, that’s what’s most impressive about Danny Hurley and this UConn team.”
Indeed, Hurley has seen the Huskies play better than anyone in the country, but he also knows all about late-season disappointments. Before last season, Hurley hadn’t won a single NCAA Tournament game at UConn, failing to qualify for the tournament as a freshman in 2019, missing out in 2020 because the event was canceled and losing in the first round in 2021 and 2022 as the top seed both times.
Last year, UConn was unranked in the AP preseason poll, but it won its first 14 games to climb to No. 2 by the end of December. It then lost six of its next eight before finishing the regular season winning eight of nine. It lost in the Big East tournament semifinals by two points to Marquette and was awarded the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament’s West Region.
At halftime of the first-round game, No. 13 seed Iona led by two points. But UConn rallied in the second half and won 87-63. From there, the Huskies dominated, winning every game by at least 13 points, including 76-59 over San Diego State in the championship game.
Still, after losing leading scorer Adama Sanogo, first-round draft pick Jordan Hawkins and second-round draft pick Andre Jackson, few thought UConn would be in contention for another NCAA title. Sure, the Huskies were ranked No. 6 in the AP preseason poll, but they were much better than most observers would have anticipated.
The Huskies have won 21 of their last 22 games, with their only losses coming at Kansas by four points on Dec. 1, by 15 points at Seton Hall on Dec. 20 when star center Donovan Clingan was out with an injury and by 19 points at Creighton on Feb. 20 when the Blue Jays shot 54.7 percent from the field and made 15 of 25 three-pointers.
UConn has two first-team All-Big East selections in guards Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, as well as two players (Clingan and freshman guard Stephon Castle) who are likely lottery picks in June’s NBA draft. Alex Karaban, a 6-foot-10 forward, is the fifth starter and is averaging 13.9 points per game, while the backups include guard Hassan Diarra, post player Samson Johnson and freshman forward Jaylin Stewart, who plays an increased role in the Big East tournament.
UConn is class Auburn ranks first in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency margin (32.21) and offensive efficiency rating (126.6) and 11th in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency rating (94.4). Auburn is the only other team in the top 11 in both offense and defense.
Hurley’s teams are often known for their aggressive defense and relentless on-court play, but this year’s team also has an elite offense. Only three teams have had a better offensive efficiency rating since KenPom began tracking the data in 1998-99: Wisconsin (129.0) in 2015, Villanova (127.8) in 2018 and Duke (127.7) in 1999. Villanova won the national title that year, while Wisconsin and Duke lost the title games in those respective years.
“They have more balance and are harder to defend (than last year’s team),” said McCall, who was UMass’ head coach for five seasons and is currently an analyst for the Field of 68, NBC Sports and Sirius XM. “Would I have called them the best team in the country based on what they lost last year going into the season? No. But they embody everything their coach stands for. They have a culture. They have an identity and they have talent. That’s a recipe for winning a lot of basketball games … They have a legitimate chance to (win another title).”
McCall understands, however, that the NCAA tournament is unpredictable. Unlike the NBA playoffs, where the best team usually emerges from a best-of-seven format, a college team must win six straight games to claim the title. One bad night can lead to early elimination.
For example, McCall was an assistant on the 2014 Florida team that entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed, went undefeated in the SEC regular season, won the SEC Tournament title and entered the Final Four on a 30-game winning streak before losing to No. 7 seed UConn by 10 points in the Final Four.
“We felt like we were the best team in the country, hands down,” McCall said. “And then we played the UConn Huskies and Shabazz (Napier) and (Ryan) Boatrght … They were the best team that night. Were we the best team in the country that year? I still believe that … When you play a healthy team and you have a bad night, that’s why it’s so hard to repeat that.”
Hurley, who is in his 14th season as a college head coach, is well aware of the fickle nature of the NCAA Tournament. For most of the past three months, the Huskies have been dominant, including last weekend in the Big East Tournament. Still, as he spoke with a handful of reporters after Saturday night’s win over Marquette, Hurley said it was okay for the team to celebrate a little, but not too long. He was already looking forward to seeing the team on Sunday and making sure their egos were in check.
“I’ll also do an edit of the mistakes of the last two days to humiliate them a little bit, because that’s who I am,” he said.
