Last March, Lori Rubinson welcomed in UConn head coach Danny Hurley on Selection Sunday, and the Huskies went on to cut down the nets a few weeks later. Being as superstitious as both are, Lori had to have Hurley on again this year, although this year, the quest is harder, yet lighter?
“I feel, and I think the program just feels, a lot lighter in terms of less pressure, not carrying the weight of early eliminations,” Hurley said. “Since February of last year, we, we've been a pretty dominant program, so we're incredibly hungry and know we're trying to do something historical; it's gonna be a great challenge, but we're also very confident.”
But how did they get, and stay, that way?
“You look for a coaching staff that obsesses over, over the team and the development of the players and their love and passion for coaching and basketball, and you surround a group of super competitive, extremely talented, obsessed athletes that have a humility,” Hurley said. “Maybe they have some old school parents or old school values in terms of allowing your coach to be the coach, to take the player to places that they don't think that they could necessarily get to on their own. So, we really look for old souls, and young men that will allow them to allow us to develop them and also allow for winning to be the number one thing in our organization.”
That, he says, is something that was started in the Jim Calhoun era, and continued with some of his early players that didn't win, but paved the way for, this era of Husky hoops.
“This was established years ago with Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo, all the men that helped build this championship culture with their utility and their total commitment,” Hurley said. “Those elements are throughout the program in terms of the mindset, and it also comes down to how you recruit a player and what you say during that process. What we promise recruits is we're gonna teach you how to be successful, what it is to be a professional, how to work hard and sacrifice and put together a daily schedule to help you reach your fullest potential. And if you handle those types of things, the NBA will come calling for you, you won't have to chase that. So unpack your bags, and learn how to be a winner and learn how to succeed, and everything else will just take care of itself.”
And that passion and winning mentality are traits he learned from his dad, who impacted hundreds of young men in New Jersey – but none more than sons Bobby and Danny.
“It's emotional just to think that our whole lives have been centered around the game. I think it's been the central figure, and we've developed our character and so many relationships,” Hurley said. “You learn so much about yourself, the growth as human beings and as competitors through the game. My dad put the basketball in me and my brother Bobby's hands, and he made incredible sacrifices in his career. He’s a community guy and he loves Saint Anthony and Jersey City, so he never climbed the ladder as a college coach – but I feel like I represent what he would have been as a college coach. I think he would have been, you know, at least slightly better, but I feel like I carry the flag for what my dad would have been as a college coach if he would have chased a career as opposed to impacting lives at the high school level.”