2023. 2024. 202…? The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is a few months away from getting the result of their three-peat quest in the NCAA. However, as the Huskies prep for the upcoming season, head coach Dan Hurley has a big task on his shoulders after losing four of his main stars from the previous season. While many feel that Hurley’s campaign won’t end positively, the 51-year-old head coach, who rejected a $70 million offer from the NBA to continue his current NCAA role, believes that his strategy can set things right for him.
On Thursday’s media session, Hurley revealed the reason behind his belief in winning the Championship title a third consecutive time. While initially it had created doubt in his fans, his argument ultimately did buy them in.
“Yeah. It’s a lot. I mean to lose seven NBA guys and nine rotation guys and to be banking as heavily as we are on our ability to have players increase the role that they had the year before or to develop like freshmen that in solo ball, Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross like to put the amount of expectations that we’re going to put on some unproven players. Now,” Hurley stated.
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via Imago
This season, Hurley lost four of his starters from the championship-winning squad to the NBA. Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan were the fourth and seventh overall picks in the professional league, drafted by the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers, respectively. Meanwhile, Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton were picked in the second round by the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, respectively.
However, Hurley will be looking to develop, as per his own admission, players like Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross, who only played for 8.9 and 4.4 minutes per game in the last season.
Furthermore, Hurley was all praises for Stewart for helping his team in the Eastern Conference by scoring three out of the pointers he attempted in the Finale against the Marquette Golden Eagles last season. Therefore, as per Hurley, there is a scope to develop these players.
“I mean, we’re banking on our ability to kind of do the development thing and our culture and continuity is going to carry us a long way. And that our tactical offense, and just it’s going to all kick in, and we’re going to catch that magic. I could see when you look at our roster and you say, well, it might not measure up to these other people that just went portal crazy. Yeah, I see that,” Hurley remarked.
Plus Hurley also cited how he had rebuilt the team after Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, Joey Calcaterra, and Andre Jackson Jr. had departed after the 2022-23 season. Therefore, according to the New Jersey-born, if he could do it the previous time, he could also perform the same drill once more to power his team to their third consecutive title. However, it remains to be seen which stars can step up in the starting five.
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Can Dan Hurley get his hands on the hardware for a third consecutive time?
The Huskies have been ranked third in the AP polls and are at the cusp of making history as they will be the first team after John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins if they win the third in a row. However, as mentioned before, the challenges are many this season since their main stars have departed. Nonetheless, the Storrs coach can turn things around for himself if the three of his core players perform this year.
Most eyes will be on Alex Karaban, who scored 81 threes last season and averaged 13.3 points per game. He did consider going into the NBA but dropped the idea for the chance of getting a three-peat. It remains to be seen if he will get so many open spaces this year after the core offensive players are not a part of the program anymore.
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Another player who can help the Huskies quest is Aidan Mahaney. Mahaney, last season, had 83 shots from beyond the arc with 87 assists for Saint Mary’s. Therefore, the freshman is expected to fill up the role of Spencer, and hopefully, he will live up to the expectations. The third player who can turn the tide for the Huskies is Liam McNeeley. He must be happy getting a chance with a team that does not have many seniors since the freshman can perform well and get a chance to be drafted by some of the best NBA teams if he decides to declare after a year.
While the Huskies have won the first game against Rhode Island, it remains to be seen if they will be consistent at it. And whether Hurley’s scheme can propel the Connecitcut-based team to another NCAA title.
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