WATCH: UConn HC Dan Hurley throws first pitch while donning NY jersey during Red Sox-Yankees game
UConn coach Dan Hurley has had an eventful off-season after leading the Huskies to a second consecutive national championship win in April. He turned down the lucrative LA Lakers coaching job after which he attended the 2024 NBA Draft, where two of his players were picked in the first-round.
Most recently, Hurley, who hails from Jersey City, was at the Yankee Stadium to throw the ceremonial first pitch in the game pitting the New York Yankees against the Red Sox while wearing a No. 15 Yankees jersey.
Here's the video:
Dan Hurley gives the Yankees advice
Dan Hurley knows how to win having won two consecutive national championships with the UConn Huskies. It was not always that way, though, having to go through difficult periods at the start of his tenure.
The New York Yankees have had a torrid year, losing 15 of their last 20 games, before Dan Hurley came into town to throw the first pitch.
After throwing the first pitch, Hurley compared his early struggles with the Huskies with the poor run of form the Yankees are going through and gave the team some advice.
"I know they're in a tough stretch," Hurley said. "We went through a really tough stretch the January of the first year we won it.
"Getting through those tough stretches, coming together as a team, getting back to your identity as an organization and staying together gives you a chance to really form a strong team when you go through the struggles."
In January 2023, Hurley's UConn went through a poor run of form, going on a 3-6 run, which put pressure on the charismatic coach.
His team responded with a dominant run to its first national championship win and quickly followed it by another one in 2024 alongside an impressive 51-5 record since then. So he might have an inkling on how to ride out poor form.
"They've (Yankees) had a tough last 20 games, but in the end, it's about the culture of the team," Hurley said.
"Turn off the external noise. Obviously, it's incredibly hard to do in New York. But, to win championships, you've got to go through some hard (stuff). And they're going through it right now."
Whether or not the New York Yankees can replicate the Huskies' run of form will be of no concern to UConn fans who will simply be thankful that Dan Hurley returned to Storrs for an extra year.