Many people are surprised by how dominant UConn has been in the NCAA Tournament, but head coach Dan Hurley called it years ago.
Hurley was named the head coach at UConn in 2018 when the Huskies hired him away from Rhode Island. UConn did not make the tournament in Hurley’s first year on the job, and there was no tournament in his second season due to the pandemic. The Huskies then had a frustrating season, in 2020-21 in which they lost several close games and were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a 7-seed. They also lost in the first round last year.
After a tough loss to Villanova in January 2020, Hurley issued a warning to the college basketball world.
“People better get us now, that’s all. You better get us now, because it’s coming,” Hurley said.
Boy, was he right.
Hurley has done an outstanding job of recruiting, and it shows in the results. The 4-seed Huskies steamrolled Gonzaga on Saturday night in an 82-54 rout. They beat Iona by 24 in the first round, St. Mary’s by 15 in the second round and Arkansas by 23 in the Sweet 16. No team has looked anywhere close to UConn’s level thus far.
One of the reasons for the success is Hurley’s passion for the job, which was on full display even with his team up 30 on Saturday. Hurley is the type of coach who is an easy target for jokes when things aren’t going well, but he was clearly a great hire for UConn.
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