Dan Hurley has frequently been overshadowed by his father and elder brother, but he is one victory away from leading UConn on one of the most dominant March runs in history.
One of the finest high school basketball coaches in history is the father of Dan Hurley. He is the younger brother of a legendary point guard in collegiate basketball history. He is 40 minutes away from establishing his own claim to greatness, which may jeopardise his act.
Infused with Jersey wiseacre humour, the UConn coach has long emanated an unusual demeanour. This is one of the most accomplished families in the history of the sport, the Harbaughs of basketball. Bob Hurley Jr.’s younger brother and son, Bob Hurley Sr., has done a lot, but he hangs out with a rough crew. Dan is therefore far more prone to talk about his flaws, failures, phobias, and exaggerated sorrow than to accept the truth that he is very competent at what he does.
You can see why his son Andrew, a reserve for the UConn team, described his father as “bizarre” while he was here in Houston.
On the eve before competing for the national title, Dan held a press conference on Sunday. Among the subjects discussed were how poor he is as a painter (one of his allegedly effective stress relievers), and why he first “sucked” as a high school coach. Dan displays pride in his players while making fun of himself while wearing a hat that is turned around backward on the platform. If you listen to him long enough, you’ll be astounded at how he manages to get out of bed and into the gym each day.
“The half-empty glass? With a Saint Anthony High School cap on his head and UConn perspiration all over his body, Bob Sr. exclaims, “It’s a swindle. “I’m aware it’s a con. He enjoys giving you all rides on the flying carpet.
UConn is the only team on the flying carpet as it returns to prominence and dominates the men’s NCAA tournament. With an average victory margin of 20.6 points, every Huskies victory has been by 13 points or more. The last team to win every NCAA tournament game by at least 13 points en route to a championship was Indiana in 1981, yet the Hoosiers only needed to play five, not six, games.
Of course, UConn still needs to complete the job on Monday against a San Diego State squad that rode its own magic carpet to its first championship game. The Aztecs eliminated Florida Atlantic on Saturday with a historic, win-or-lose Final Four buzzer beater after defeating Creighton in the Elite Eight on a free throw with 1.6 seconds remaining (after a contentious foul call).
UConn has a strong chance of winning its fifth NCAA championship and first under Hurley. Hurley is poised for a possibly lengthy run at the top of the sport at the age of 50 thanks to a certified power programme. Hurley is also about to secure his own place of honour in the family company. It gets a bit more difficult, but maybe he can still use every news conference as a humorous trip to the therapist’s couch.
When asked how Dan would react if he won it all on Monday, Bob Hurley Sr. responded, “He’ll minimise how thrilled he is, No. 1, and No. 2 he’ll cry tears again.” “Many tears are being shed at this moment. He has a strong emotional bond with this group of youngsters, and they have a strong bond with him. A excellent recipe, really.
Dan has advanced to the pinnacle of his industry more quickly than others, yet his father and older brother were his role models in basketball while he was growing up.
In Jersey City Saint Anthony, Bob Sr. had a legendary record of 1,185-125, won 28 state championships, and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame—much of it while holding down a day job as a probation officer. He aided other local athletes in finding their way to colleges. At that level of coaching, he might have had enormous success, but he didn’t want to upend his family or their deep connections in the community.
We grew up in Jersey City, got married, and I attended Saint Peter’s College, so it was all my wife and I knew, according to Bob Sr. “I began coaching in the early 1970s, and I don’t recall growing up with anyone who wanted to be a college coach. I was content with the chance I had at Saint Anthony’s. It’s not like I sat around and thought, “Man, I should have been a college coach,” even if I could figure out how to pay my expenses. Never.”
Dan and Bob Jr. both excelled while playing for their fathers in high school. Yet Bobby rose to greatness. He received a scholarship at Duke at a time when the university was becoming a national force, and as the starting point guard on back-to-back championship squads, he helped the Blue Devils complete their ascent to the top. Bobby won the 1992 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player award, but not before he and Duke defeated Danny and Seton Hall in a tense Sweet 16 match in Philadelphia.
If you think the Hurleys are stressed out on a regular basis, try to picture how things were when the two brothers, who had grown up as seasoned sibling rivals, squared off in the NCAA tournament. Bob Sr. claims that the game was torturous.
Despite being a star, Bobby said the situation was terrible (his play backed that up, scoring four points and committing six turnovers). At that point, Danny was a high-energy reserve player with little responsibility, but he was not relishing playing his big brother in an elimination game.
Dan adds, “I just remember just the nervousness, just the tension, simply because of the media hype.” City of Brotherly Love, Hurley brothers. At that time in my career, I wasn’t really at the peak of my game, and I was competing against Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and my brother.
So, yes, I was aware of my predicament. I was in a complete panic. To be completely honest with you, I played as hard as I could, but when it was finished, I was quite glad.
Not relieved enough to attend the regional final, still possibly the most famous game in college history, in person two days later. Danny was enjoying some beer back on school in a Seton Hall dorm when Laettner struck the March Madness walk-off shot for the ages to defeat Kentucky.
Bobby’s NBA career lasted five years, but it almost ended abruptly when he was involved in a near-fatal vehicle accident his first season. He followed Danny’s example and entered coaching by a more detourned route.
Before accepting the position of head coach at Buffalo, Bobby served as Danny’s assistant at Wagner and Rhode Island. Hurley got the position at Arizona State in 2015 and has been there ever since, leading the Bulls to the NCAA tournament in his second season. For the third time this season, he led the Sun Devils to the NCAA tournament, which assisted in removing him off the firing line.
And Dan Hurley’s run could only be beginning. The already packed family trophy cabinet may become even more so in the coming years.