Globe Pequot Press Paperback English
Hurley's Heroes
Uconn's Return to College Basketball's Elite
By David Borges
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The UConn mens basketball program had won three national championships in a span of 15 years, its most recent just four years earlier. But by 2018, the program was in shambles. The Huskies had finished with a losing record in consecutive seasons for the first time in nearly 40 years. It had suffered a string of embarrassing, blowout losses, a mass wave of transfers out of the program and, worst of all, was embroiled in scandal involving recruiting and other violations. Enter Dan Hurley. A former Big East player and member of one of basketballs most famous families, Hurley had performed impressive renovation projects at his three previous stops, St. Benedicts Prep, Wagner College, and the University of Rhode Island. Now, Hurley was hired to clean up the mess at UConn and return it to past glories. He had a plan, a blueprint: recruit high-character, high-level kids and by his fifth season, he had turned the Huskies into national champions, the programs fifth title in twenty-four years. How has Hurley done it? Dogged recruiting. Intense practices. An 11-month season, with players on campus all summer. And most importantly, establishing a culture at UConn that transcends whatever talent is on the floor and makes his teams as connected as any in the country. In Hurleys Hereoes, award-winning UConn beat writer Dan Borges tells the inside story of a driven coach and his teams return to their rightful place among the NCAAs elite.
The UConn mens basketball program had won three national championships in a span of 15 years, its most recent just four years earlier. But by 2018, the program was in shambles.
The Huskies had finished with a losing record in consecutive seasons for the first time in nearly 40 years. It had suffered a string of embarrassing, blowout losses, a mass wave of transfers out of the program and, worst of all, was embroiled in scandal involving recruiting and other violations.
Enter Dan Hurley.
A former Big East player and member of one of basketballs most famous families, Hurley had performed impressive renovation projects at his three previous stops, St. Benedicts Prep, Wagner College, and the University of Rhode Island.
Now, Hurley was hired to clean up the mess at UConn and return it to past glories. He had a plan, a blueprint: recruit high-character, high-level kids and by his fifth season, he had turned the Huskies into national champions, the programs fifth title in twenty-four years.
How has Hurley done it? Dogged recruiting. Intense practices. An 11-month season, with players on campus all summer. And most importantly, establishing a culture at UConn that transcends whatever talent is on the floor and makes his teams as connected as any in the country.
In Hurleys Hereoes, award-winning UConn beat writer Dan Borges tells the inside story of a driven coach and his teams return to their rightful place among the NCAAs elite.