In his opening statement, UConn head coach Dan Hurley offered generous praise to Purdue, its program, and head coach Matt Painter. After a brief pause, he exhaled.
“What can you say?” he mused, a shrug punctuating his sentiment before he drew a deep breath. “We won – by a lot. Again,” he finished.
Despite Hurley’s relatively calm demeanor, this victory held significance far beyond the ordinary. It catapulted the Huskies into rarefied air, etching their names as the first team to clinch back-to-back titles since the 2006-07 Florida Gators.
A 17-year gap underscores the rarity of such an achievement, a feat attained only by eight schools in the tournament’s storied history. Over the past half-century, only three teams have won back-to-back national championships: The 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils, the 2006-07 Florida Gators, and the 2023-24 Uconn Huskies.
However, UConn was undoubtedly the most impressive out of that group, and Hurley knows it.
“I think it’s up there in terms of the greatest two-year runs that a program has maybe ever had,” Hurley said. “It’s the best two-year run in a very, very, very long time just because of everything we lost from last year’s team.”
“To me, it is more impressive than what Florida and Duke did.”
Despite his evident confidence, Hurley refrained from further comparison out of respect for his brother, Bobby Hurley, who was with Duke for both national championships. Yet, his implications were clear and undeniably valid.
That Duke team returned four of their five starters between championships. Out of the starters in 1991 -- Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Bill McCaffery, and Thomas Hill -- McCaffery was the only one not to return.
Florida retained all five starters: Taurean Green, Joakim Noah, Lee Humphrey, Corey Brewer, and Al Horford.
On the other hand, UConn lost three starters to the NBA: Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Andre Jackson. Yet, they didn’t miss a beat.
Seven-foot-two sophomore Donovan Clingan, now projected as a consensus lottery pick, stepped up and delivered a big year for the Huskies, as did freshman guard Stephon Castle and sixth man Hassan Diarra.
Meanwhile, the steady contributions of returning starters Tristen Newton and Alex Karaban, alongside the addition of sharpshooter Cam Spencer from Rutgers, further solidified Uconn.
The Huskies, behind their top-10 offense and defense, made things look easy, outscoring opponents by 140 points in the tournament, setting a single tournament record for most all time. In their six tournament games, the Huskies trailed for a total of 5:42 and never faced a deficit greater than five points.
In their last 12 tournament games, UConn has outscored each of its opponents by at least 13 points. They are the only team in history to win all six tournament games by 13 or more points, and they have done it in back-to-back years.
“We just recruit really talented NBA players that are willing to not make it about themselves, and to be part of a winning group, to go for all the championships,” Hurley said after the win.
What Hurley is building in Storrs is nothing short of special. He has established himself and his program as the best in college basketball. Bar none. And he’s not finished yet.
“I don’t think that’s a concern,” Hurley said, laughing when asked if he would entertain any conversations with any other programs.
“My wife, you should have her answer that,” Hurley said, still chuckling. “She’ll answer that question better than I can.”
There has only been one three-peat champion in tournament history – and it is way more than a three-peat. Under John Wooden, UCLA won seven straight national championships between 1967 and 1973.
Related
