"We don't kiss the kids' a** during recruiting": Dan Hurley has savage take on UConn's disciplined approach in modern NIL-era
Dan Hurley is on the brink of becoming just the eighth coach in the history of college basketball, and the first since Billy Donovan in 2007, to win back-to-back national titles. Ahead of the UConn Huskies' national championship matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers on Monday night, their coach shared his approach to recruiting.
"Obviously, there's a baseline you need, in terms of size, athletic ability, just ability with the basketball to do things, but we really hold out to get our type of people," Hurley said on Sunday. "The staff continuity, we've made it so good, for guys like Kimani (Young) and Luke (Murray) to not take mid-major jobs, so I've been able to keep my staff intact by making sure they're taken care of that way. But we just haven't changed a lot.
"We don't kiss the kids a** during the recruiting. We don't kiss it while they're on campus. We bring tremendous value to our players because we're old school and we push them to get better and to become better people and we teach them how to become successful."
Check out Dan Hurley's full comments on his recruiting approach below (starting at the 14:13 mark).
Hurley said that while UConn uses analytics in its on-court strategy, he still utilizes the values of old-school coaches, where the coaching staff is in charge and holds players accountable.
His approach has largely been successful as he has the Huskies on the brink of their second title in as many seasons. This comes despite losing three starters to the 2023 NBA draft and two rotational pieces to graduation and the transfer portal.
Dan Hurley reveals discussing repeat efforts with Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan is the last of seven coaches to repeat as national champions, having done so with the Florida Gators in 2007. Dan Hurley said that he has spoken with the now-Chicago Bulls coach about what goes into repeating.
"Billy Donovan, I got (to) talking to him immediately, really a week after the season ended last year," Hurley said on Friday before UConn beat Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday. "And I kind of hit that emotional crash when it's over and it doesn't feel like, maybe, what you thought it would in terms of that sustained euphoria. It kind of disappeared quickly so we talked a lot about that and the emotions of it all."
Check out Dan Hurley's comments on speaking to Billy Donovan below (starting at the 5:53 mark).
Hurley and the Huskies emerged victorious in their toughest test of the NCAA Tournament thus far as they beat the Crimson Tide 86-72. They had won their first four games by an average of 27.75 points. Hurley will now look to join an exclusive list by repeating as national champions when UConn takes on the Purdue Boilermakers on Monday night.