"I can't stop the ice cream": When Dan Hurley revealed his struggles with sugar and caffeine despite maintaining healthy diet
UConn coach Dan Hurley's Huskies were finally dethroned as national champions after back-to-back championships and establishing a dynasty in Storrs. The Huskies had a turbulent season this term, with Hurley often grabbing the headlines due to his clashes with the officials on the sidelines.
During a September 2024 segment of "In-depth with Graham Bensinger," the charismatic UConn coach revealed his struggles with his diet and his love for sugary foods (6:00).
"For me, diet was really bad," Dan Hurley said. "Sugar sh*t is bad, man. I'm worried about it. That's why I won't go see the doctor and get the blood test. It's like I'm a machine until 9 o'clock, but then I can't stop the ice cream. Like there's nothing better than a well-made carrot cake. A bad carrot cake, there's nothing worse than that. Or like a warm, chocolate chip cookie with a big glass of milk. I mean, like, I can't help it."
Hurley further revealed his level of dependency on specific flavors of coffee, including carrying a Keurig coffee maker during road games.
"I've gotta have my specific coffees for game day," Hurley said. "I'm a creature of habit. It's my armor. I don't wanna have to make a lot of decisions either. I know what gets me going. So, I've gotta have my mushroom coffee at an exact time before tip-off. Then I gotta have my bulletproof with the MCT oil at a very specific time right before the anthem."
Dan Hurley has peculiar game-day rituals
Dan Hurley propelled himself to infamy with his viral antics on the sidelines and his passionate coaching manner. He became the subject of an offer to coach in the NBA with the LA Lakers last year after leading the UConn Huskies to back-to-back national championships.
Last year, Hurley made headlines by revealing that he wore not only the same suit, socks and shoes throughout the Huskies' March Madness run, but he also put on the same briefs for luck.
During a March segment of CBS' "60 Minutes," Hurley revealed more of his peculiar game day traditions (1:30).
"For me, it's sprinkle the court with holy water," Dan Hurley said. "Sage the court. The M&Ms pregame, you know. The blue M&Ms, unless we share the same color, and then I gotta go to red, which is the alternate color. Or if we share red and blue, I'll go to green. The underwear, obviously. Socks, sports coat. Just everything."
Dan Hurley has written himself into college basketball lore not only for his winning streak with the Huskies but also for his outgoing and sometimes downright peculiar mannerisms during games.