College Basketball

'The pursuit is the best part': Inside Dan Hurley's quest to lead UConn to a 3-peat

Updated Nov. 6, 2024 1:30 p.m. ET

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

STORRS, Conn. – Alex Karaban walked out of UConn's film room and into the lobby of the Werth Basketball Center with a smile on his face. He and his teammates had just wrapped an in-depth practice and video session with Dan Hurley that dissected every single area and detail within the 2024-25 roster.

The junior forward sat down in front of a backdrop consisting of clipped nylon netting, a row of gold and wooden NCAA championship trophies representing the six national titles the Huskies have won since 1999, and a pair of Waterford Crystal NABC National Championship Trophies for the program's past two titles. And despite being surrounded by the incredible hardware and having played a key role in the program's back-to-back title runs, you'd never know it because it feels like Karaban is focused on chasing something bigger.

"I want to chase history," said Karban, who tested the NBA Draft waters this offseason before electing to return to school. "I want to be a part of history, and as a collective group, it's about chasing something that hasn't been done since the Wooden days and, individually, being one of the winningest college players of all time."

For a program that has won 12 NCAA Tournament games by a combined 260 points in record-breaking fashion, just how much better can it get?

Karaban and the Huskies are looking to find the answer to that question as the program looks to pursue something only John Wooden and his historic UCLA teams have accomplished: win three consecutive national championships. And as the 2024-25 campaign gets underway Wednesday night with a season-opening matchup against Sacred Heart, it's clear that Karaban isn't the only one with that mindset.

"Somehow, Coach Hurley has risen to a whole other level right now," Karaban told FOX Sports. "I thought he was intense my freshman year, but then going into my sophomore year, he went up another level. And right now, this man is on a whole different level, and that's what makes him special. He's hungrier than ever, and he wants to make sure that we're not satisfied no matter how the past two years went. He wants to make sure that we want more. That's exactly what he's getting out of us."

The bond between Hurley and his players is felt as you walk through UConn's facility, with larger-than-life Fathead portraits of Adama Sanogo, Andre Jackson, Jordan Hawkins, Tristen Newton, Donovan Clingan, Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle and the countless others who have contributed to the program's recent success, reestablishing itself as one of college basketball's blue bloods.

Karaban's hunger for history matches that of his head coach, Hurley, who owns a 141-58 record since arriving at UConn back in 2018. The son of a four-time national champion and 26-time state champion in Bob Hurley Sr., Dan's mentality since getting what he calls "a little bit of sleep" on the flight back from Phoenix to Storrs following his program's second consecutive national championship has been about the pursuit to join Wooden, excluding the five-day cycle in which he entertained the idea of an NBA jump to the Los Angeles Lakers.

But as Hurley sat down with FOX Sports for a preseason interview, it became abundantly clear that he belongs in Storrs, and the thought of him doing anything different from what he's done up to this point at UConn is nonexistent. Being a member of a family that is focused on winning at the highest level means the work doesn't stop, and the hunger to climb the ladder and cut down the nets does not waver. Hurley simply embraces the spotlight on him and any form of doubt that exists about him or his beloved program.

Put in simple terms: Hurley and UConn are a perfect match for one another. The 51-year-old head coach is wired to compete 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, constantly looking to add the next trophy to the hardware shelf at a place that is filled with sky-high expectations, a fan base that will let you know of its greatness, and a group of players that back it up.

"I think it's about pushing harder," Hurley told FOX Sports. "It's really hard to get where we are, but it's really even harder to stay where we are. When you climb the top of the mountain, and you're the top program, you're the top dogs and everybody's gunning for you, everybody's studying what you do and trying to put together something to take you out to beat you, you've got to be even more obsessed. You've got to be even more pathological in your pursuit of improvement.

"It's about continuing to evolve, to adapt, to get better and tougher. And, it's about perfecting a style of basketball that is unbeatable."

Perfection. It's a scary word that many people don't like using because nothing ever seems perfect. But the truth is, UConn has been as close to that word as one could imagine in the last two NCAA Tournaments.

That drive for perfection started on March 17, 2022, when the Huskies got knocked off by 12-seed New Mexico State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 70-63. That night caused Hurley to dissect everything within his program. He talked to the likes of Jay Wright and Jim Calhoun, and rolled his sleeves up to not get good, not get great, but to get to the point of becoming the best program in college basketball.

"For us, leading the climb back up to the top, for this program, is special for everybody," Hurley said. "When you're top-of-sport, the way the program was from 1999-to-2014, and you've got the four championships, and then this whole thing takes a dip, the climb back to the top is gratifying. When you know how much work has gone into it, with the struggles and failures along the way, to discover a formula, both with putting together the right staff with the right players, then playing a type of basketball that's bullet-proof.

"In NCAA Tournament play, the way we've been able to do it, it's been amazing. And then, it's seeing the lives you've impacted when you win big. When you win big, it changes the lives of everyone – all the players and coaches. The opportunities created through being the best in the sport, I like this a lot better than I did when I was leaving Buffalo [against New Mexico State] a few years back when there were questions about whether we could get there."

Those questions are no more, and for UConn junior Samson Johnson, the formula is pretty point-blank for the players when you know what you signed up for. The Huskies just don't take anyone. They have a specific DNA they're looking for, and it's producing results.

"It comes down to putting the work in day in and day out, getting held accountable for everything you are doing and going through every single detail that it takes to be great," Johnson told FOX Sports. "Every practice, we go at each other hard. That's the culture piece, too. We have a strong culture, and we try to stick with it everywhere we go. That's toughness, togetherness and relentless effort. It's attention to detail."

Those have been the points of emphasis that Hurley and his staff have focused on heading into this season.

"It begins on the plane back from Phoenix once you've had a little bit of sleep," Hurley said, referencing the team's trip back home after securing the program's second straight national title last April. "That's a long flight back from Phoenix to Connecticut, so at some point in that, you're thinking about what we already knew: 'We're going to lose Steph (Castle) and Donovan (Clingan). … Your mind shifts into what we need to do, where we need to go in the transfer portal, and what we must do in the transfer portal. And then, it's about reinventing yourself in a different way to continue to adapt. But your mind doesn't stay on the accomplishment very long."

In the world of NIL bidding wars and the chaotic climate of college basketball's offseason, many programs don't know exactly who they will have as part of their roster until summer workouts get underway. But that's not the case at UConn.

"The new players we've brought in, they're seeing the back-to-back championship sweatshirts and banners, and they want that title like they need oxygen," Hurley said. "In a weird way, it's a perfect storm."

Heading into the new campaign, the Huskies will count on fifth-year senior guard Hassan Diarra to run the point, Karaban to be a focal point of everything they do, and Johnson to take on an increased role at the center position. But even with that returning star power, the Huskies' depth should be one of their best traits. Whether it's All-WCC first-team selection Aidan Mahaney, who transferred in from Saint Mary's, five-star freshman Liam McNeeley, who is a perfect fit in Hurley's program, Michigan transfer Tarris Reed, or a sophomore class that looks poised to make a major leap, UConn has no shortage of options.

Mahaney, who averaged 13.9 points, 2.6 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting 39% from the floor last year, was a major transfer portal splash this offseason. With plenty of interest from elite programs across the country, Mahaney's thought process when it came to joining the Huskies is a perfect example of what the program is about.

"I wanted to maximize myself on and off the court, and to do that, you've got to be pushed to a different level," Mahaney told FOX Sports. "Who better to do that than Coach Hurley? He knows how to do it and has a track record for it. He's been running the best program in all of sports for the last two years. So, I'm somebody who's blessed and honored to be here."

Mahaney understood the magnitude of the program when he took his visit to UConn, with his father Mark stating that his palms were sweaty throughout the day in Storrs. Yes, UConn was recruiting Mahaney, but he wanted to make an impression on them as well.

"I was excited," Mahaney said. "I was thinking, ‘God, are we doing this? Is this real life?' It was that anticipation of, ‘You know what, this is where I need to be.' To me, this is the step in my career, the one I was supposed to take. I try to embody the UConn culture and just put in the work every day."

Ranked No. 3 in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll, UConn is a worthy title contender once again this season. Are there some things to figure out? Yes. But Hurley is hinging on his three key returnees to set the tone.

"Coach told me that I have to use my voice and become that better leader," Karaban said. "He doesn't always worry about what I'm doing on the court, but it's more so about how I'm using my voice and whether I'm helping my teammates out. He's mad at me when I'm not doing that, and he's been brutally honest with me. That's something I'm pushing myself on too, to ensure I'm doing that."

So, how does a program with a 68-11 record over the past two seasons and back-to-back national championships avoid complacency?

The place labeled "The Basketball Capital of the World" wouldn't dare give that word a millisecond of thought.

"Number one: we've got our own trophies," Hurley said when asked about his journey at UConn. "We've finally got our own trophies. We've got our own jerseys hanging up in here – the All-American status, the lottery picks, the national championship banners and the trophies – we've got our own stuff. We kind of felt like guests for a while. Now, we feel like we're at home. We feel like we belong here.

"There was a little bit of an impostor thing going on until you've contributed to the history and tradition of this place with what basketball has been. Just the evolution of everything with the culture going from where it was to now. I think it's as good of a culture that you can have in sports as the way we're functioning right now. It's the way we play together, the way we develop our people. And then the product we put on the court, the way we go about our business.

"I think it's what everyone loved for a long time about sports. We're about winning, we're about championships and then, obviously, the byproduct of that is the opportunities that get created for the players and coaches."

As for the hunt to chase Wooden, Hurley doesn't shy away from the fact that he could join such elite company. He wants his name next to the man he calls the G.O.A.T.

"Growing up as a coach's son, and all of the different adages and euphemisms that my dad took from him, the greatest coach in the history of our game, the one everybody looks up to, it's amazing," Hurley said. "To think that not too long ago I was kind of a high school coach, not sure if I'd get another crack to be a college coach, to now be sitting in a spot where you can accomplish something that only he has accomplished, it's incredible. And we've got to acknowledge where we are and the enormity of the season and what it means for all of us to attack the whole situation."

After sending four of its five starters from last year's national title team to the NBA, two of whom were selected in the top seven of the draft, the thought of remaining king of the Big East and the college basketball world might seem daunting to some. But Hurley has mastered a system that can contend for titles year-in and year-out, and he has the personnel that, if fully blended together, can win it all again.

Could there be adversity? Of course there will be. But it's Hurley's response to a question about the road to March that encapsulates why he is the face of college basketball right now.

"You get these nice reminders of the titles here and there, but what you discover about yourself when you've won it a couple of times is you love the work. You love the chase.

"The pursuit is the best part of the whole thing. … Well, not the best part. I mean, actually winning it, there's this little moment you do enjoy. … But overall, the pursuit is better."

And that pursuit of a historic three-peat — as difficult as any accomplishment not just in college basketball but any sport — is about to begin.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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