UConn's Hurley is in the Final Four again, trying to enjoy it

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — UConn had just finished Friday's public practice at the Final Four. Coach Dan Hurley had paced around the court for the better part of an hour clutching a tablet, staring and poking at the screen seemingly as much as he watched his players get up shots in massive Lucas Oil Stadium. Yet as he came to the edge of the court, he looked to the stands to make eye contact with his parents, then gave a wave before before descending the stairs and locking back in for the walk to the locker room. "You have to enjoy the journey," his father, Hall of Fame prep coach Bob Hurley Sr., said afterward. "It can't be about the destination." Merely a small moment, a glimpse of what has become a recurring theme for Hurley in bringing a third team to the Final Four in four seasons. The man who pushed the Huskies to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024 is trying — trying, mind you — to take an extra beat and enjoy these moments a little more. Yet that doesn't mean he's mellowing or even turning down the volume on those fiery, impassioned and sometimes boorish sideline antics — evidenced by the bizarre sight of him staring forehead to forehead with veteran referee Roger Ayers while in a haze after the Huskies' stunning last-second shot to beat Duke in the Elite Eight. No, Hurley remains authentically Hurley heading into Saturday's national semifinal against Illinois. "Yeah, I'm not a victim," Hurley said before Friday's practice. "I've done everything, I did what I did. We don't allow victims in our program, and I'm not a 53-year-old man sitting up here like I'm some victim. "I don't want to waste a lot of time with it because it takes away from the team. But for me, the way I view what we're going into in the game, when some people, again view it as a game, just my family, how I was raised in the sport, where I'm from in Jersey, we look at it more like a battle." Unrelenting style There's no questioning Hurley's on-court results. He's one of just three active Division I coaches who have won multiple national titles, joining Kansas' Bill Self (2008 and 2022) and St. John's Rick Pitino — who led Kentucky to the 1996 crown and Louisville to one in 2013 that was later vacated by NCAA sanctions. How he gets the Huskies there is fair game for analysis, oft-replayed dissection and criticism. He remains a divisive figure as he stalks the sideline with emotion erupting into full-blown angst. That's typically directed at officials, with Hurley admitting Thursday: "It's not easy to work my games." Ask UConn players for stories around the Final Four locker room about their first experiences with understanding things had to be done Hurley's way. They have plenty, often shared with a chuckle. For Malachi Smith, it came early after transferring in following four years at Dayton, with Hurley giving him a practice instruction and Smith responding in today's youthful vernacular to draw an immediate rebuke. "He got mad at me," Smith laughed. "I just said 'OK bet." And then he told me, 'Say yes, coach." Or there's junior Jayden Ross, a freshman on the 2024 title winner. He recalled the team performing so badly in a practice his freshman year that Hurley kicked the team out after only about 15 minutes, then assigned them a grueling conditioning workout instead. "The way that he coaches you, the way that he is off the court kind of forces you to adapt and come out of your shell a little bit," Ross said. "And in that way he just pushes you past your limits so much. I've just grown so much overall, I would say that's the biggest thing." Lessons from 2025 While the 2023 and 2024 titles were validating, the grinding chase of a rare three-peat title provided a lesson lasting into this year. The talk of whether UConn could become the first team to win three straight titles since UCLA's run of seven straight from 1967-73 followed the Huskies all last season. To listen to associate head coach Kimani Young, part of Hurley's staff since arriving at UConn in 2018-19, it became a smothering goal conflicting with how Hurley had brought the Huskies to the sport's pinnacle. "Along the way of those six years, we never talked about end results," Young said. "We never talked about championships. We never talked about going back to back. It was about winning the day. "And I think in '25, we started talking about three-peat a little bit more than we probably should've looking back. Because that's not who we were. We've always been process-driven, not results-driven. I think going through the season we went through last year just gave us all our perspective back." UConn's three-peat bid ended with a second-round loss to eventual champion Florida last year. "We were all so tensed up trying to go every single day extremely hard to get this three-peat with a lot of added pressure," said senior Alex Karaban, a starter on those two title winners. "So now it's like play with more joy, just enjoy the present, enjoy the journey and that's what he's done this year." The pivot Change isn't always huge. It might be as simple as Hurley letting himself look out the window on the team bus to take in the scene without worrying about losing his edge. It's Karaban saying Hurley — who he says is shockingly quick with jokes as "one of the funniest people I've ever met" — mixing funny clips into film sessions to add levity alongside the Xs and Os. It's the players getting a chuckle watching replays of Hurley's headbutt-esque interaction with Ayers. "It actually makes the game fun, playing for a coach like that," starting guard Solo Ball said. "You might score a bucket like that and he just brings all the energy to you. He's pumping you up, like, 'Let's go, let's go!' That's the coach you want to play for." It showed in moments Friday as Hurley studied that tablet while repeatedly pacing across the giant Final Four midcourt logo at practice. He paused to have a quick handshake with NCAA Tournament selection committee chairman Keith Gill. He chatted on the sideline with retired Auburn coach and CBS analyst Bruce Pearl while watching his Huskies work out. He did it while sporting a blue shirt pronouncing UConn basketball as "EVERYTHING," a marketing slogan that works perfectly in describing Hurley's all-in manner — even with added appreciate-the-moment vibes. "We know we've got to flip the switch and be maniacal in our pursuit of getting to Monday night," Hurley said. "But I'm going to let myself enjoy the parts that you should enjoy." ___ AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness