WATCH: Dan Hurley “loses his sh*t” just three minutes into UConn vs Memphis
UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley started his Maui Invitational quarterfinal against Memphis on Monday (Nov. 25) on an absolute heater. Only three minutes into the game, Hurley blew up at the refs.
Watch his reaction below:
The Memphis game is nothing new as Hurley has a history of getting into it with fans and refs over the years.
Dan Hurley has confrontation with fan and gets a tech
One such Hurley-fan incident occurred in March 2024 during the Big East tournament semifinals against St. John's. Dan Hurley called for security to remove a fan from a nearby seat at Madison Square Garden.
“And then there was a guy — there was a short guy in a red blazer that was on the court yelling at the refs, and then he started yelling at me and moving in my direction,” Hurley told AP News. “So I was just kind of pointing out to (referee James Breeding) that he was behaving worse than Coach Pitino (who had been given a tech previously).
“And then I got a technical for pointing out more increasingly aggressive fans. At courtside, you shouldn’t end up on the court,” he said.
This exchange came six days after Hurley got into it with another fan near the end of their game against Providence.
“I just told him, ‘I’ve got a national championship ring, and we won the regular season in the Big East, and we’re champions,’” Hurley told AP News after the game. “‘And you should shut up, and you shouldn’t be running your mouth at that point in the game. You know, just get out of here, you know? Just go.’”
Hurley also yelled "you'll get hurt" at another fan in the arena.
For Dan Hurley, his temperament has allegedly been a lifelong buildup of pressure and emotional toil. FOX Sports analyst John Fanta appeared on ESPN’s "The Sports Reporters" and shed some light on Hurley’s background being a key driver behind UConn’s dominance and his courtside manners.
“He's a Hurley, and he lived in the shadows of his father and of his brother who accounted for the back-to-back national championships at Duke in the early 90s, and I think … that drives Dan every day in a lot of ways,” Fanta said.
“(Hurley) doesn't get complacent because it's not in his blood."
It will interesting to hear his thoughts postgame on the Memphis reaction.