"Any great player wants to be coached hard": UConn's Dan Hurley believes coaches help players reach "levels they can't take themselves"
Dan Hurley, a two-time national champion coach, has fostered a championship culture at UConn. Since joining the Huskies men's basketball team in 2018, his focus has been on building a roster with a winning mentality, which he has achieved. With two championships in two years, Hurley believes the key to unlocking the potential of players is proper coaching.
On Aug. 1, Hurley sat down with UConn's legendary coach Jim Calhoun for NBC Conneticut's "UConn's Past & Present" to discuss their coaching philosophy. When asked about their coaching methods and how they perceive changes in the game over recent years, Hurley said:
"Yeah, I think those old school values are really, really important, your work ethic, your accountability, your responsibility to a group, your discipline, your competitiveness. ...So obviously those components are essential to a team functioning at a high level.
"But as being like the last person in these players' lives are going to teach them anything, in terms of preparing them for the future, I think we got a great responsibility and I think any great player wants to be coached hard. You know coaches take players to levels they can't take themselves, so what great player doesn't want to be coached hard?" he added.
Coach Calhoun, who led the Huskies to three NCAA titles, agreed with what Hurley said and the two coaches shared similar insights on developing players both on and off the court:
"Well, if you take two hours a day, I'm gonna kick your bu**. I'm gonna make you hate me, which is okay. Team Unifiers, they get something in common they hate me at the time," Calhoun said. "But my important thing. They also know for the next 22, I got their back. Danny knows how important that ... They need someone to have their backs, they need someone to tell them how great they can be."
Dan Hurley is positive about freshman Liam McNeeley
Looking ahead to the 2024-25 season, Hurley has high hopes for UConn freshman Liam McNeeley and believes he will quickly adapt to the team's winning culture:
"He's wired different, obviously," Hurley said Friday, after wrapping up their summer workouts. "You’re talking about a fourth-generation college basketball player, a great basketball family. Any time you deal with that, you're getting a serious individual coming into your program."
After passing on the opportunity to coach the LA Lakers this summer, Hurley aims to achieve a historic three-peat next season. Although he will be without some of his star players from last season like Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan and Cam Spencer, who all left in the 2024 NBA draft, he is confident that the new players can repeat the success they have enjoyed the past two seasons.
Do you think Dan Hurley can lead his team to a third consecutive national championship? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.