"Bulletproof basketball. No weaknesses": Dan Hurley and UConn players reminisce NCAA championship winning roster
The UConn Huskies have won the past two NCAA national championships and now have six of them in program history. Despite having uncharacteristic losses this season, the team is pretty much still in the mix for a potential national title three-peat with a 10-3 start thus far.
In a video posted by the official UConn Huskies YouTube channel on Sunday, the team detailed how it is looking to emulate that success this year even with standouts like Donovan Clingan taking their talents to new heights. As a new crop of Huskies is in the fray, coach Dan Hurley hopes they can be as tough as last year's squad as he reminisced:
"Last year's team was just well put together personality-wise. We just complemented each other in every way. Played such a level of bullet-proof basketball. No weaknesses." (0:14)
Junior forward Alex Karaban, who was a part of the last two championships, resonated the same sentiments as his mentor when it comes to the 2024 champion team.
"I think it was the best college team of all time and just to do what we did in the tournament and just how dominant we were," he said (0:24).
In the hopes of doing the same this season, Karaban said he still has belief in his team.
"We lost Cam, Tristen, Steph and Donovan. It was tough losing those guys, but we got a great team this year," he said (0:32).
Indeed, last year's Huskies squad was dominant as it posted a 37-3 overall record en route to winning it all in the national tournament. As previously mentioned, UConn already has three losses on the year and may have seemingly taken a step back with the loss of key cogs.
But, even though it will most likely cross the three-loss mark this season, the Dan Hurley-coached squad still looks like it has a deep playoff run in it. First things first, however, Big East games will be the Huskies' priority momentarily as they are set to ensue soon.
UConn's next game is scheduled for the first day of 2025 against the DePaul Blue Demons in the opposition's home arena.
UConn's Solo Ball says every team will treat the Huskies like a final opponent
With how strong UConn has fared against the competition in recent memory, there is no doubt that both established and up-and-coming programs will be gunning for its throne as soon as possible.
Second-year guard Solo Ball gave a timely analogy to summarize the kind of fight opponents will give the school this year.
"Every game is going to be a Super Bowl for the other team. So, we gotta bring it," he said (1:20).
As there has been a mix of lopsided games and back-and-forth affairs already for the Huskies in the 2024-2025 season, there is more fire to come their way, especially with championship aspirations.